If there’s an Android phone in your pocket then you might be keen to slap an Android smartwatch on your wrist. Of late, the best choices you had were either the Google Pixel Watch 2 or Samsung’s superlative Galaxy Watch 6 or Watch 6 Classic – but OnePlus has surprised us by announcing it’s returning to smartwatches with the OnePlus Watch 2, a watch the company says has 100 hours of battery life.
While the teaser announcement is light on details, the new smartwatch looks like a stunner in both black and silver with a classic circular design and distinctive buttons on the right side with a unique flat edge.
“After a three-year hiatus and a reflective pause following the OnePlus Watch 1, the Watch 2 re-emerged, and we are more confident than ever about this product,” said Kinder Liu, the COO and President at OnePlus. “This confidence is not unfounded, it’s built on a foundation of substantial advancements in our technological ecosystem and capabilities. Watch 2 indicates our determination to transform from “Flagship Killer” to “Ecosystem builder”. It will provide you with experience that’s not just improved, but transformed.”
We hope the watch turns out to be as good as the OnePlus 12, a phone Express.co.uk recently gave an Editor’s Choice award review to, calling it “a very good Android phone for hundreds less than the best Samsung has to offer”.
A decade ago, OnePlus released its first phone, the OnePlus One, which helped coin the term ‘flagship killer’ – a term to describe smartphones that have much of the same specs but costs much less than other high-end rival products.
The firm is now clearly hoping to build on the success of its phones by selling improved smartwatches. Its first OnePlus Watch came out in 2021 but suffered from terrible performance.
OnePlus hasn’t said what operating system the OnePlus Watch 2 is running, but we’re hoping it’s Google WearOS – the same as the Pixel Watch and Galaxy Watch. This would mean it would run the same Android apps and be a much better partner to your Android phone than the original OnePlus Watch, which was more of a glorified activity tracker with odd software.
It also remains to be seen how the Watch 2 will be able to eke out 100 hours of battery life. In a press release, the firm said this is achievable in “Smart Mode”, which will probably strip back several battery draining features to keep the wearable at least telling the time.
We’ll get answers – including that all-important price tag – when OnePlus fully announces the OnePlus Watch 2 at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona on 26 February.
