OnePlus has just dropped the first official look at its upcoming smartwatch ahead of the official reveal later this month at Mobile World Congress 2024. But more than looks, what really caught our attention was the brand’s bold claims about battery life.
“With up to 100-hour battery life in Smart Mode, it sets a new industry standard, ensuring that your watch keeps pace with your life, uninterrupted,” says the company. Now, that’s a rather ambitious claim, irrespective of the operating system that powers the watch.
OnePlus hasn’t officially confirmed the operating system of its next smartwatch, but leaks suggest it is going to side with Google’s Wear OS this time around. The company’s official teaser line — it’s time to do it right — is also a sign that the company plans to go all the way this time around.
Wear OS naturally means a much deeper integration with the Android ecosystem, but all that functional boost comes at the cost of battery life. And that makes the 100-hour battery claim sound almost outlandish, even as it instills a whole new world of hope.
In my experience with Wear OS smartwatches made by the likes of Samsung or Google, I can barely touch two days without having to find a charging plug. And that’s when activity tracking or workout logging is not active. Yes, I am lazy. When pushing all its bells and whistles, though, with GPS and phone syncing working at full steam, the battery needs to be topped up every night.
Now, the OnePlus Watch 2’s 100-hour battery claim comes with a Smart Mode battery caveat, which should ideally tone down some “smart” functions. But if OnePlus manages to achieve even two-thirds of that moonshot without nuking a whole bunch of “smart” capabilities, I can see it setting a new standard in the segment.
As far as the design goes, OnePlus appears to be chasing the look of classic timepieces rather than the overtly nerdy screen-heavy aesthetics of modern-day smartwatches. That’s a breath of fresh air, and I quite like the barrel-shaped design on the side, which hosts the round dial and a multifunction button.
The official renders show the OnePlus Watch 2 in two color options. There’s a classic all-black color, and then we have a raw stainless steel finish married to a green strap. OnePlus has slotted the latter in the same aesthetic as the cool new emerald green shade of the OnePlus 12. Neat job there, OnePlus!
For now, we don’t have any credible leaks that could offer us a peek inside the device’s chassis. But MWC 2024 is right around the corner, and Digital Trends will be on the show floor to get hands-on insight and a provide full-fledged review exploring all the nooks and crannies of the OnePlus Watch 2. Stay tuned for that!
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