With its first foray into the connected watch market, the Chinese manufacturer OnePlus has not really convinced. Expectations were therefore high regarding its second generation of smartwatch. And the least we can say is that this time, OnePlus did not disappoint.
A completely revised watch
Since its first smartwatch, OnePlus has understood its mistakes and taken the time to review its copy. This is how three years after the release of the first generation, we find ourselves with a connected watch that has almost nothing to do with it. Exit the discreet and all-purpose design, this time, the Chinese manufacturer wants to impress with a much more imposing product while still being very elegant.
Unlike the competition, OnePlus has chosen to offer only one format of its high-end connected watch. With its 47 mm diameter dialthe watch does not go unnoticed on the wrist, so it will take a little time to adapt, especially since the whole thing weighs 80 grams, bracelet included. A weight which is explained by the use of stainless steel and sapphire crystal for the dial which gives it great resistance – high-end looks, as we told you.
But in fact, the watch will be more suitable for rather large wrists. In our case, we finally got used to seeing such a watch on our wrist quite quickly and we were simply charmed by the dial, as well as the silicone strap provided – the green color helped.
As for buttons, it has two, a sort of crown on the upper edge of the case and a more classic one on the lower edge. And if the crown could suggest that you can navigate the menus by turning it, but this is not the case and some might regret it.
Finally, certified IP68 and 5 ATM, the OnePlus Watch 2 fears neither rain nor swimming at shallow depths and that is rather appreciable. Having tested it in the swimming pool, it is rather effective thanks to a locking system which prevents false commands with underwater movements. We still noted small hiccups in measuring the length of the pool. Small downside.
Optimal display quality
For this generation of watch, OnePlus has opted for an OLED display and a round panel 1.43 inches in diameter, with a definition of 466 x 466 pixels. The display quality is optimalwith great precision and therefore good readability, helped by significant contrasts in most of the menus.
In terms of brightness, again, nothing to complain about, the OnePlus Watch 2 does the job perfectly. We had no problem reading the time or our notifications in broad daylight, especially since the brightness sensor is quite effective and therefore automatically adapts the brightness of the screen to the ambient light.
Another improvement, the addition of Always-On mode. Which can also be programmed not to activate at night, for example, unlike the “lift to activate” function by raising the wrist, which can be disturbing at night. We actually removed it several times because of this.
Finally, we notice quite significant borders around the screen. We would obviously have preferred if the screen took up more space, even if, once again, the display quality and pixel density ensure that readability is optimal.
Not one, but two processors
The Chinese manufacturer did not make the same mistake as on its first smartwatch: exit (or almost) the proprietary operating system and make way for Wear OS. And to ensure that everything works, OnePlus preferred to integrate not one, but two processors. The watch is in fact equipped with a Snapdragon W5 Gen1 chip from Qualcomm, as well as a BES2700 chip which takes care of running background tasks, requiring less power.
Besides, the watch has not one, but two OSsince the chip runs its own operating system for high efficiency. As a result, the use is very fluid, with no slowdown observed, even when switching from one OS to another.
But the fact that OnePlus has given in to Wear OS means that the smartwatch is therefore compatible with a very large number of applications. A big good point.
A convincing smartwatch
Packed with sensors, the watch is not lagging behind in terms of health and sports activity monitoring features. It also allows monitoring for more than a hundred activitiesautomatically recognizes some of them and is particularly effective for several of them. On the health monitoring side, we find the heart rate, the evaluation of stress or the quality of sleep and does the job quite well for a smartwatch.
L’application OHealth which must be installed on your Android smartphone – not compatible with iPhone – allows you to learn more about the health data collected and is rather well thought out. Another good point for the watch, it only requiresonly one application to workunlike other manufacturers who impose two, notably Google or Samsung.
A more than pleasant autonomy
And the icing on the cake of this particularly convincing watch is undoubtedly its autonomy. While the vast majority only last one or two days, the OnePlus Watch 2 can easily last 4 days. Using health and sports tracking features will obviously reduce its battery life, but in a reasonable way.
Especially since OnePlus even offers a power saving mode to keep it going for up to 12 days. Obviously, in this case, you will have to say goodbye to most of the features.
Conclusion
With this second connected watch, OnePlus shows that it has learned from its mistakes and that it has not let itself be defeated. The OnePlus Watch 2 corrects almost all the problems of its big sister and even makes some nice suggestions, including a more imposing but very elegant design, top display quality, a very fluid user experience and Very effective health and sports activity tracking features for a connected watch. Add to this a battery life of up to 4 days, much more than most of the competition, and we end up with a most convincing smartwatch. As for its faults, they are rather minimal (no programming for the “lift to turn on” mode, a useless crown). Ultimately, the real problem with the OnePlus Watch 2 could be limited to its design, perhaps a little too masculine for some.
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