OnePlus Watch 2R vs OnePlus Watch 2: Save yourself some money
Intro
After establishing itself as a serious player on the smartwatch market, OnePlus is trying hard to crack the smartwatch market these days.
It's new OnePlus Watch 2R is here, and it's a more affordable yet mostly similar offshoot of the OnePlus Watch 2 that was released just a couple of months ago.
Both smartwatches pack similar features, but the materials and price tags set them apart. One offers premium stainless steel and sapphire, while the other opts for a lighter, more affordable build.
Which one should you get, and why are we gravitating to the newer watch?
OnePlus Watch 2R vs OnePlus Watch 2: differences
- Aluminum vs stainless-steel body
- Plastic 2D glass vs sapphire
- More affordable vs pricier
Table of Contents:
Also read: OnePlus Watch 2R: Hey, not half-bad!
Design & Sizes
Like two peas in a pod
The design language is on point (Image by PhoneArena)"
Okay, let's get it out of the way: the only real difference between the OnePlus Watch 2 and the OnePlus Watch 2R are the design and the price tag.
The new OnePlus Watch 2R comes along with an aluminum case, while the OnePlus Watch 2 had a more pronounced and more premium looking stainless-steel one. There's a significant design difference in the frontal design as well: the new wearable has a monochrome dial printed up front, whereas the OnePlus Watch 2 is more subdued and reminiscent of a proper dress watch.
Thanks to the use of lighter materials, we get some significant weight reductions with the new smartwatch: it weighs just 37gr without the band, which is way less than the 49gr that the premium smartwatch weighs. Might not sound like such a major difference, but this is something that you will come to cherish once you wear the OnePlus Watch 2R to bed in order to make use of its great sleep tracking.
The new smartwatch is lighter, which is pretty important (Image by PhoneArena)
Both devices are similar in terms of size: 46mm. This makes them not very appropriate for people with thinner wrists. Both feature 1.43" OLED displays that are super vibrant and crisp, but there's a major difference in what protects the display. While the OnePlus Watch 2 features scratch-resistant sapphire glass, the OnePlus Watch 2R gets plastic 2D glass, which definitely would not be that resilient.
Either one of OnePlus' latest smartwatches are IP68-rated, which means they will survive in up to 1.5m of water for up to 30 minutes. OnePlus cautions that the watches should not be carried while engaging in diving, snorkeling, visiting saunas, hot springs, or encountering rapid currents, though.
Bands
Nothing beats the standard
The standard band attachment mechanism (Image by PhoneArena)
You can use any standard 22mm band with either the OnePlus Watch 2 or 2R. OnePlus doesn't try to reinvent the wheel with a bespoke band attachment mechanism; instead, it uses the tried and tested 22mm lug and spring system that has been around forever.
That said, the stock bands are okay, but absolutely nothing to write home about. With the OnePlus Watch 2R, we get a grippy silicone strap with a stainless-steel buckle, which feels good and offers decent perspiration.
The OnePlus Watch 2 one is made of fluororubber, OnePlus says, but it feels similar to the silicone one on the newer device despite the fancier name.
Software & Features
All smartwatches need two chips on deck
One common feature of both the OnePlus Watch 2 and the OnePlus Watch 2R is that they come with two operating systems on deck––Wear OS and RTOS.
Smart Mode is what the Wear OS environment is called, giving you all the standard smartwatch features and functionalities. RTOS becomes active when you turn on the Power Saver mode.
In Power Saver mode, you can only use a few things like keeping track of your heart rate and breathing, tracking your sleep, doing workouts, setting alarms and timers, controlling your media, and using the compass app to navigate, which is a vert barebones selection of functionalities. What's more, most third-party apps, fancy watch faces, and SOS calls are unavailable.
What you get in return is superb battery life on either device, but we will get to that later.
You pair the smartwatches with the OHealth app on your Android phone. You can use it with any Android device, but iOS is not supported. OHealth is fairly decent; it delivers in both customization and health/workout data representation. It definitely lags behind apps like Samsung Health in terms of data management, though.
You pair the smartwatches with the OHealth app on your Android phone. You can use it with any Android device, but iOS is not supported. OHealth is fairly decent; it delivers in both customization and health/workout data representation. It definitely lags behind apps like Samsung Health in terms of data management, though.
You can also use NFC with full support for Google Wallet with either watch, which is always a cool feature to have.
Heart Rate Accuracy
Heart rate monitoring and SpO2 tracking are available; however, other health tracking options are limited. The heart rate accuracy is also not ideal. With either watch, it takes sometime before a seemingly accurate heart rate reading is achieved.
Even when the watches are taking a reading, there's a big difference between the min and max readings. Heart rate is some 3-4bpm off the Apple Watch, which I certainly have more faith in when it comes to accurate health-related data.
Even when the watches are taking a reading, there's a big difference between the min and max readings. Heart rate is some 3-4bpm off the Apple Watch, which I certainly have more faith in when it comes to accurate health-related data.
Sleep Tracking Accuracy
OnePlus' smartwatches do a solid job with sleep tracking. While the OnePlus Watch 2R is more lightweight and comfortable to wear through the night, the sleep tracking accuracy of either device is on par with other smartwatches. You get sleep stage tracking, sleep breakdown, and a sleep score assigned to every one of your sleeping sessions.
After waking up, you can review your sleep data directly on the watch. It breaks down the details of your sleep and gives you an overall sleep score, allowing you to track your sleep patterns over time.
GPS Accuracy
Both the OnePlus Watch 2 and 2R come with dual-frequency L1+L5 GPS on board, just like the Galaxy Watch Ultra and the Apple Watch Ultra. This GPS delivers enhanced accuracy in metropolitan areas with high buildings that could otherwise obstruct the signal. Both deliver fairly accurate GPS readings during workouts, with an acceptable amount of inaccuracies on deck.
Battery and Charging
Battery champs
Exceptional battery life (Image by PhoneArena)
The OnePlus Watch 2R and OnePlus Watch 2 both offer impressive battery life, thanks to their dual-chip architecture and efficient use of power. The Snapdragon W5 Gen 1 and BES2700BP chips inside the duo manage background tasks efficiently, allowing up to four days of battery life in Smart Mode. Disabling Smart Mode can extend battery life up to 10 days, though at the cost of reduced functionality.
Both devices are battery champs. From my experience with both, with regular use they waste around 25% battery per day in Smart Mode, so you have to charge them twice per week at best.
Similarly, the OnePlus Watch 2 benefits from this dual-architecture setup, providing up to three to four days of battery life in Smart Mode and up to 12 days in Power Save mode, which limits features to essential functions like workouts and health monitoring.
Honestly, for the sake of it, I'd say that using these two in Power Saver mode is more than manageable!
Both models require a reboot to switch from Power Save back to Smart Mode, which can be slightly inconvenient. Charging times are fast for both watches, taking about an hour to fully recharge, with a 10-minute charge providing enough power for a day’s use.
Overall, these watches balance battery efficiency and performance, making them strong contenders in the smartwatch market.
Models and Prices
Not much going on here: each smartwatch is available in a singe version. The OnePlus Watch 2R costs $230, while the more premium OnePlus Watch 2 goes for $300.
Voice Calls and Haptics
You can make and take calls on the OnePlus Watch 2 or the OnePlus Watch 2R, but you will have to have the paired phone nearby, since they don't have LTE connectivity on their own.
Haptic feedback on both watches is terrible, though. It's wonky, weak, and high-pitched; I ended up turning it off, it's that annoying.
Specs
Here's how the new and old OnePlus smartwatches stack up against one another. Spoiler alert, they are pretty much identical.
| Specs | OnePlus Watch 2R | OnePlus Watch 2 |
|---|---|---|
| Models (Size, Weight, Prices) | 46mm, $230 | 46mm, $300 |
| Processor, RAM, Storage | Snapdragon W5 Gen 1 / BES2700BP | Snapdragon W5 Gen 1 / BES2700BP |
| Software | Google Wear OS 4 / RTOS Android 8.0+ phone required iOS/Android Go not supported | Google Wear OS 4 / RTOS Android 8.0+ phone required iOS/Android Go not supported |
| Battery and Charging | Up to 100hrs in Smart Mode (Wear OS) Up to 12 days in Power Saver mode (RTOS) | Up to 100hrs in Smart Mode (Wear OS) Up to 12 days in Power Saver mode (RTOS) |
| Sensors | Accelerometer, gyroscope, optical heart rate sensor, geomagnetic sensor, light sensor, barometer, L1+L5 dual GPS, Beidou, Galileo, GLONASS, QZSS, Bluetooth 5.0 | Accelerometer, gyroscope, optical heart rate sensor, geomagnetic sensor, light sensor, barometer, L1+L5 dual GPS, Beidou, Galileo, GLONASS, QZSS, Bluetooth 5.0 |
| New features | IP68 SpO2 NFC 100+ activities | IP68 SpO2 NFC 100+ activities |
Summary
No real reason to pick the more premium model (Image by PhoneArena)
Should you get the new OnePlus Watch 2R? Certainly, if you're in the market for a Wear OS smartwatch to pair with your Android phone. It's superb value, especially at this price point.
Seeing that both of those two have the same feature sets means that there's little reason to get the OnePlus Watch 2. Sure, it has a better design and a sapphire screen, but in the grand scheme of things, those two might not be that important.
While it's not extremely advanced and surely lacks some deeper health metrics and data analysis, it definitely is a worthy purchase for those that want a dependable smartwatch with excellent battery life.
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