What is OnePlus‘s new contender all about? Does the OnePlus Watch 2 have what it takes to compete with Samsung’s Galaxy Watch 6 series? Let’s find out. The tech company unveiled its second-generation watch at the Mobile World Congress (MWC) 2024 in Barcelona on February 26. The OnePlus Watch 2 comes with numerous upgrades over its predecessor, which debuted in India in 2021.
It includes longer battery life, better design, improved features and runs on Google’s latest Wear OS 4. It’ll be available in Black Steel and Radiant Steel colours, promising a mix of elegance and toughness. Priced at ₹24,999 in India, the OnePlus Watch 2 will be available on all major online platforms including Amazon, Flipkart, Reliance, Croma and OnePlus Experience stores from 12 noon on 4 March 2024 through an open sale.
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The Design Specs
Inspired by the OnePlus 12 series design, the latest OnePlus Watch 2 comes with a 2.5D sapphire crystal cover. The watch’s chassis is made of US military standard MIL-STD-810H stainless steel. The latest smartwatch also boasts IP68 water and dust resistance, and weighs around 49g without the strap and around 80g with the strap.
The OnePlus Watch 2 is equipped with a 500 mAh battery, which is said to deliver up to 100 hours of battery life in ‘smart mode‘ and up to 48 hours of battery life in ‘heavy use‘. The company claims that the Watch 2 can be fully charged in 60 minutes using a 7.5W VOOC fast charger. OnePlus Watch 2 runs on Google’s Wear OS 4 and is paired with a single 2GB RAM and 32GB storage option.
It features a 1.43-inch AMOLED display with a resolution of 466 x 466 pixels and up to 600 nits of peak brightness. The smartwatch runs on Qualcomm’s Snapdragon W5 SoC along with the BES 2700 MCU Efficiency chipset. According to OnePlus, the Snapdragon chipset is used for powerful tasks such as handling Google apps, while the Efficiency chipset is used for background activity and simple tasks.
OnePlus’ Initial Smartwatches
OnePlus launched its first smartwatch in 2021 which was not quite the success story it hoped to be. In a quest to compete with Samsung, the hastily released smartwatch was more like a fitness band. It did not offer a full-fledged operating system, nor was it capable of running third-party apps.
In early 2023, the tech company then launched a budget smartwatch called the Nord Watch. It was marketed as a budget fitness tracker, which lacked several features falling short of a smartwatch; reducing its usefulness to a fitness band. It ran a version of RTOS as its operating system (just like the previous model) and offered the basics when it came to fitness tracking, making it a decent choice for buyers.
As for the OnePlus Watch 2, the tech company is also offering a ₹2,000 instant discount on purchasing the smartwatch while making payment with the ICICI Bank OneCard. They are also giving an additional ₹1,000 discount for customers who link their device to the Red Cable Club between February 26th and March 31st.
So, will you be getting your hands on the OnePlus Watch 2?
