Oneplus 8 Pro 3d View

[Chanelle Glugla]

Marketingfor the new OnePlus Watch 2R styles it as a sporty, long-lasting Wear OS watch for "inspiring an active lifestyle," with a lighter design for "those who value all-day fitness" tracking. I love watches that cater directly to me, but my colleagues who tested the OnePlus Watch 2 bashed its health data as its Achilles' heel. So I decided to test the Watch 2R accuracy for myself.

With the original OnePlus Watch 2, our reviewer Harish complained that it "just isn't reliable at daily step counts or activity tracking," that it misjudged burned calories after workouts, and that its stress data was artificially elevated.

Meanwhile, my colleague Nick did a one-week OnePlus Watch 2 test and had similar complaints about underestimated steps and significantly lower HR numbers during anaerobic workouts. Both Nick and Harish suspected that the watch used its low-power RTOS coprocessor to handle health and fitness sampling and that it wasn't fast or consistent enough to get proper readings.

This made me leery about testing the OnePlus Watch 2R, a fitness watch that theoretically couldn't handle fitness all that well. So, just like my Galaxy Watch Ultra fitness test last week, I strapped on two smartwatches to see how the Watch 2R could match up against my Garmin Forerunner 965 for heart rate and dual-band GPS accuracy.

OnePlus' OHealth companion app doesn't let you export TCX/GPX files like Samsung Health, and I had some issues getting Health Connect to send my data properly, so I couldn't do my usual HR or GPS charts for a direct comparison; I'll use tables as an alternative for now.

For my first jog, the OnePlus Watch 2R stayed mostly on track with the Garmin Forerunner 965. I spot-checked heart rates at ten different timestamps, and the 2R matched the 965 four times and was 1bpm short six times, which dovetails with the 1bpm-lower average.

GPS accuracy mostly remained on point. It's difficult to say if OnePlus' dual-band accuracy is more or less reliable than Garmin's since both maps had me straying off the sidewalk at odd moments, but I appreciated that both fell into the same general ballpark for a run with some signal-blocking foliage.

As for running dynamics, the OnePlus Watch 2R synced pretty well for stride length and average vertical ratio, but measured my vertical oscillation as 1cm shorter and average ground contact time as 18ms longer.

I ran eight 400m laps for my second track run, and Garmin predictably stayed on point because it uses saved track maps to judge your likely location. OnePlus had more issues: the Watch 2R buzzed my wrist with lap or mile times at about the 350m mark, consistently. It was as if the starting point was completely wrong, but then the GPS was pinpoint-accurate when I hit that incorrect spot. Still, it threw my calculated pace off by a decent margin.

Again, OnePlus' running dynamics data diverged from Garmin in small ways. I don't quite get how OnePlus said I took more steps per minute while leaving my feet on the ground for longer. However, I realized after my run that OHealth had my height listed as 5'7 (I'm 6'1), so maybe that skewed the results for things like vertical oscillation. Regardless, running form data isn't worth obsessing over, in my opinion.

That said, it's still quite basic compared to other tie-in fitness apps. OHealth provides a lot of individual run data, but its long-term training load and workout summary data is on the simplistic side. If I used the Watch 2R long-term, I'd most likely auto-sync the data to Strava and rely on that instead.

Garmin watches beat every other brand in my first and second step-counting tests, so I'll treat the first number as an accurate control group. About 100 steps off across 11,000 steps is almost a rounding error, and significantly better than the OnePlus Watch 2 vs. the Pixel Watch 2 across the same distance (1,860 short). The same goes for my recent Galaxy Watch Ultra test against the Forerunner 965 after 10,000 steps (348 steps short).

OnePlus did underreport my burned calories compared to Garmin, but to be honest, I've never seen any two watch brands agree on how many calories you've burned. I don't know what goes into that algorithm and how to tell which ones flatter or sell you short. So I'm not too fussed about it looking like OnePlus is on the low end, since it's just an estimate.

Really, my biggest complaint with the OnePlus Watch 2R is the same one I have with the Galaxy Watch Ultra: the lack of a crown. OnePlus gave the Watch 2 an inactive crown that spins and does nothing, while the Watch 2 has two simple buttons, one of which pulls up workouts by default unless you change the shortcut. I do appreciate that, but the sweaty-stained displays in the pics above should show why I don't like relying on swipes during workouts. Give me up/down buttons or a crown any day.

I need more time for a full OnePlus Watch 2R review that dives deeper into the health and sleep side of things. But I'm much more bullish about its chances of being worthwhile for casual athletes than I was a week ago -- and matching up against the best cheap Android watches for quality.

The OnePlus Watch 2R has a Snapdragon W5 CPU, 500mAh battery, 1.43-inch display, dual-band GPS, NFC tap-to-pay, Google Assistant, and detailed post-run metrics. It's not as stylish or rugged as the original Watch 2, but it's much lighter, more affordable, and seemingly lacks the same HR issues.

Michael is Android Central's resident expert on wearables and fitness. Before joining Android Central, he freelanced for years at Techradar, Wareable, Windows Central, and Digital Trends. Channeling his love of running, he established himself as an expert on fitness watches, testing and reviewing models from Garmin, Fitbit, Samsung, Apple, COROS, Polar, Amazfit, Suunto, and more."}), " -0-10/js/authorBio.js"); } else console.error('%c FTE ','background: #9306F9; color: #ffffff','no lazy slice hydration function available'); Michael L HicksSocial Links NavigationSenior Editor, Wearables & AR/VRMichael is Android Central's resident expert on wearables and fitness. Before joining Android Central, he freelanced for years at Techradar, Wareable, Windows Central, and Digital Trends. Channeling his love of running, he established himself as an expert on fitness watches, testing and reviewing models from Garmin, Fitbit, Samsung, Apple, COROS, Polar, Amazfit, Suunto, and more.

But for all the things I like about the OnePlus Watch 2, it has many shortcomings. Among the biggest is that it comes in only one size, that happens to be way too large for my wrist. I had to move the watch higher on my wrist in order to get accurate heart rate measurements during workouts.

The OnePlus Watch 2 is missing key features that have become standard on many smartwatches, such as fall detection, ECG monitoring and period tracking. The company only guarantees software support for two years, which is shorter than the support timelines that Apple, Google and Samsung offer on their watches.

The OnePlus Watch 2, which launches on March 4 for $300 (269, which is roughly AU$520), feels targeted at a specific audience: Runners and sports enthusiasts who want a big screen and long battery life. That's not a bad thing, but it means it may not be the right watch for everyone. And shoppers who do fall into that camp will likely appreciate the more holistic health readings you'd get from a Garmin watch instead.

But I can't get past the size of this watch. It occupies almost the entire width of my wrist and stands out from a distance, which may be a plus if you want a watch that makes a statement. However, I prefer watches that are more subtle and understated, which the OnePlus Watch 2 definitely is not.

The OnePlus Watch 2 isn't the only watch I find too large; Samsung's Galaxy Watch 6 Classic is around the same size and looks just as awkward on my wrist. Thankfully Samsung at least offers the standard Galaxy Watch 6, which comes in a smaller 40-millimeter size, as an alternative.

There are two buttons along the side of the watch: a top button that functions as a home key, and a bottom button primarily used as a workout shortcut. Both buttons are customizable, which provides a lot of flexibility when it comes to navigation without being too complicated to remember.

The home button will always take you back and forth between the watch face and your apps when pushing it once. But you can change what happens when you press it twice or long press it, with the default long press being set to the Google Assistant.

For the multifunction button, you can change the desired action for single and double presses. I left the single press option programmed to the workout app since I like to quickly record outdoor walks whenever I go outside. I changed the second one to the alarms app, which I found useful for setting my morning alarm before bed.

My only complaint is that I initially kept mistaking the home button for a digital crown like the one on the Apple Watch and Pixel Watch because it has the same shape. I instinctively wanted to twist it to scroll through my lists of apps and notifications, although nothing happened when I did.

The OnePlus Watch 2 has a sapphire crystal display and is rated for IP68 water-resistance, which means it should be protected when submerged in water. The AMOLED screen looks colorful and sharp and provides plenty of space for reading text messages, viewing my previous night's sleep graph and reviewing the route I took during a walk. Like the Pixel Watch 2, the black bezels framing the screen are somewhat noticeable. But since the OnePlus Watch 2 has such a large display, I didn't mind this as much as I did when using Google's watch.

The highlight of the OnePlus Watch 2 is its long battery life. OnePlus says it can last for 100 hours when used in "smart mode," 48 hours with heavy usage and up to 12 days in power saver mode. I haven't had time to put those claims to the test yet since I had to charge the watch to install a software update.

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