OnePlus Watch 2R Review: The Only Budget Wear OS Watch You Should Buy

OnePlus made waves early this year when it revealed the OnePlus Watch 2, a fully-loaded Wear OS smartwatch with a lofty 100-hour battery life that crushed the competition. Would you believe me if I told you the company managed to deliver everything we loved about the Watch 2 in a cheaper, lighter package that’s available $70 less? It sounds too good to be true, but it is true, and it’s the OnePlus Watch 2R. This budget-oriented smartwatch is barely different from the Watch 2, and frankly, I happen to like some of the changes OnePlus made on the Watch 2R more.

The main cost-cutting measure OnePlus took with the Watch 2R was to ditch the unique stainless steel chassis of the Watch 2 in favor of a more basic aluminum design. The cheaper watch has numbers printed on the glass display, intended to cleverly hide the larger bezel and mimic a real chronometer. Under the hood, there are few differences. The OnePlus Watch 2R uses the same dual-chip and dual-OS architecture, sporting both Wear OS 4 and the company’s proprietary real-time OS (RTOS). This results in great app support, plus outstanding battery life.

To be fair, I haven’t personally tried the OnePlus Watch 2. But I like the OnePlus Watch 2R more, and that’s due to a host of factors ranging from the design, to the improved fitness tracking, to the great battery life. There are some pitfalls, like software features that run you right into dead ends. For example, there’s no mechanism for easily saving your data and migrating to a new phone. Overall, the OnePlus Watch 2R is an excellent smartwatch that punches above its weight class comfortably.

About this review: OnePlus provided a Watch 2R for review. The company had no input in this article, and did not see its contents before publishing.

Budget Wear OS watch

OnePlus Watch 2R

Almost a OnePlus Watch 2 for much less

$200 $230 Save $30

The OnePlus Watch 2R is the budget variant of the OnePlus Watch 2, which offers some of the best battery life of any Wear OS watch. It shares a lot of similarities with its more-expensive counterpart, but features a different design with two side buttons. For a low price, you still get great battery life, Wear OS 4, and basic fitness tracking.

Pros

• The aluminum chassis makes for a lighter watch and a comfortable wear
• I love the numbered accents around the display, and the forest green colorway is stylish
• Uses the same dual-engine architecture as the Watch 2 for superior battery life
• Improved fitness tracking from the Watch 2

Cons

• No LTE option available
• It’s not easy to transfer from one phone to another

Price, specs, and availability

OnePlus debuted the Watch 2 earlier this year, three years after it made the original Watch. Now, the company has a budget-focused version of that model, called the OnePlus Watch 2R. It was announced July 16, and it’s available now on OnePlus’ website. The smartwatch retails for $230, but it’s already discounted to $200 at the time of publishing. It’s available in one, 46mm size and two colorways: Forest Green and Gunmetal Gray.

Design and hardware

A more minimal look featuring a lighter aluminum chassis

The biggest differences between the OnePlus Watch 2 and the Watch 2R are the wearables’ design. The regular OnePlus Watch 2 has a more curvy and distinguished build, whereas the OnePlus 2R is flatter and more minimalist. There’s also the differences in materials: the Watch 2 has a polished stainless steel finish, while the Watch 2R has a brushed aluminum finish. I happen to prefer the look of the Watch 2R — it’s simple and the two-button layout makes this smartwatch look like a stopwatch.

The aluminum chassis is cheaper to produce and decidedly less premium, but it comes with benefits. Despite both watches being fairly large at 46mm, the Watch 2R is 21 grams lighter. My review unit was the Forest Green colorway, which looks stunning. The white-and-green faux chronometer adds a bit of character to the OnePlus 2R, even when it’s off, and it looks way better than a boring bezel. With the athletic-style silicone strap in a complimentary green shade, the whole thing makes for a complete package.

Related

OnePlus Watch 2 review: The rare WearOS watch with good battery life

The OnePlus Watch 2 fixes the biggest issue of the first watch — by running WearOS, it finally has access to Google services that most rely on

On the inside, the OnePlus Watch 2R has a dual-engine architecture. The flagship chip is Qualcomm’s Snapdragon W5 Gen 1 wearable platform, which is tasked with running Wear OS. There’s also the BES2700BP chip, and this is what the RTOS runs on. Basically, certain tasks run on the lightweight RTOS and the efficient silicon, and this helps preserve battery life. As for sensors, there are a bunch of them: an accelerometer, gyroscope, optical heart rate sensor, geomagnetic sensor, light sensor, and barometer.

The display is also way better than I’d expect from a watch in this price range. It’s a 1.43-inch AMOLED panel with great colors and high brightness — the normal brightness mode tops out at 600 nits, with a high brightness mode reaching 1,000 nits.

Software and battery life

Wear OS + RTOS=great app support and battery life

While Wear OS 5 is already out, the OnePlus Watch 2R is shipping with Wear OS 4. That isn’t necessarily a bad thing, because Wear OS 5 is an extremely minor upgrade and it can’t beat the efficiency of Wear OS 4 and the RTOS working in tandem. The software is generally excellent, providing Wear OS apps via the Google Play Store. However, it wasn’t all great. The first time I tried to use the Nike Run Club app, it froze up, and I lost a bit of my workout. Your experience will also depend on whether the apps you need are available on Wear OS — I’m an Apple Music user, so I couldn’t stream or play music straight from my watch.

Battery life is outstanding, and I averaged about three days of power on a single charge with the OnePlus Watch 2R. Depending on how you use your watch, you’ll get anywhere between 48 hours and 100 hours of battery life on a single charge, according to OnePlus. That aligns with my experience, especially if you use “smart mode.” This is a battery-saving mode that automatically shuts down the Wear OS parts of the watch at night to preserve power. It works well, and you’ll barely notice it’s working in the background.

Related

The OnePlus Watch 2R’s battery life is so impressive that it can even dwarf the Apple Watch Ultra 2 and the Galaxy Watch Ultra in certain situations. It can vary, based on factors like how often you use GPS and whether you use the always-on display. Again, it’s worth noting that the Watch 2R isn’t just good for the price. It’s good, period, and that’s impressive.

Health and fitness

By all accounts, health insights are much improved from the OnePlus Watch 2

The OnePlus Watch 2R ushered in my first experiences with the OHealth app, which is where you’ll view health and fitness insights. I used the OnePlus 12R with the Watch 2R for the majority of this review, but I also tried it with the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 4. My time with the OHealth app, and fitness tracking with the OnePlus Watch 2R in general, is the definition of a mixed bag.

It’s a shame, because the OHealth suite is fantastic, but there’s one thing holding it back. There’s no easy way to transfer or save data to the cloud with OnePlus — you’ll need to manually transfer data between phones when you need to switch. As someone who cares about consistent fitness data and insights, that’s alarming. It means your health and fitness records are one problem away from being lost forever, and I find that unsettling.

Now, onto the good. I love how the OnePlus Watch 2R presents your health, fitness, and sleep data — both on-device and in the OHealth companion app. It’s colorful and inspiring, and easy to understand, even if you’re new to this kind of tracking. There are some oddities — I got high heart rate warnings while in the middle of a running workout for whatever reason — but the data does appear to be accurate. I’m familiar with long-distance pacing and keep to a consistent running route, so I can attest to the Watch 2R’s results. If you don’t believe me, I used the Watch 2R side-by-side with the Garmin Instinct 2 Solar, and the results were nearly identical between devices.

Some metrics are better than others, though. I’d trust the more tangible data points, like pace, distance, heart rate, and others. However, the data points that require deeper analysis and insight seem to be a bit more questionable. For example, my stress score allegedly never topped 60 (on a scale of 100) during more than a week of wearing this watch. I find that to be dubious at best.

Overall, I think you can buy the OnePlus Watch 2R for health and fitness. It’s not the most popular opinion, but the Apple Watch appears to be falling behind in terms of native fitness tracking and software. It’s not that Apple doesn’t have the latest and greatest fitness data, it’s that it isn’t displayed as intuitively as other alternatives. This is something that OnePlus gets right. Not only are the insights reliable, they’re also easy to view and engaging to unpack.

Related

Apple Watch Series 9 review: More of the same, but it’ll be enough

The Apple Watch Series 9 doesn’t look that exciting, but the upgrades it packs make it one of the best smartwatches — again.

Should you buy the OnePlus Watch 2R?

You should buy the OnePlus Watch 2R if:

• You want a quality Wear OS watch for around $200
• You value great battery life and reliability
• You like the design and appearance of the Watch 2R

You should NOT buy the OnePlus Watch 2R if:

• You’re willing to pay more for a more well-rounded alternative
• You want native cloud storage support for fitness and health data
• You want a smartwatch with better sensors and more detailed health data

The OnePlus Watch 2R is an impressive feat, including almost all the great features we loved in the Watch 2 at a significantly lower price. This smartwatch isn’t just a great option in its price bracket, it’s an excellent Wear OS smartwatch overall. There are some caveats to note, most importantly the lack of cloud backup support. However, most Wear OS smartwatches have similar compromises, so it all comes down to what you value most. To me, getting a stylish and useful smartwatch with multi-day battery life for around $200 is a proposition too good to pass up.

Budget Wear OS watch

OnePlus Watch 2R

Almost a OnePlus Watch 2 for much less

$200 $230 Save $30

If you’re looking for a budget Wear OS watch, the OnePlus Watch 2R is the one to buy. It has a stylish design, long battery life, and GPS tracking. However, there are some shortcomings you’ll need to live with.