It’s fair to say that the OnePlus Watch left people a little underwhelmed. The price was appealing, and the watch looked pretty sleek, but the product felt unfinished, and many of the features, such as an always-on mode, weren’t available at launch. It felt like a bit of a missed opportunity, with the OnePlus Watch rushed out before it was truly ready.
Since then, there have been plenty of rumours swirling about the next version of the OnePlus Watch, and this time, it appears that OnePlus is taking its time to get things right, as the OnePlus Watch 2 is still to be officially announced.
What will the OnePlus Watch 2 be like? Will it stick to the same round design, will there be any significant upgrades, and will it still run the same OS? Here’s everything we’ve heard so far about the OnePlus Watch 2.
OnePlus Watch 2 release date
There’s not a huge amount of information to go here; the release date of the OnePlus Watch 2 is still quite vague. Most sources agree that the OnePlus Watch 2 will drop at some point in 2024, but when exactly in 2024 is yet to be confirmed.
The OnePlus Watch 2 has been spotted on the Bureau of Indian Standards website, often indicating that a release is reasonably imminent. This means that we could see the OnePlus Watch 2 released in the earlier part of 2024.
OnePlus Watch 2 price
- Unlikely to see a huge price rise
This is another area where there has been very little in the way of rumours. The original OnePlus Watch launched at $159/£149, which was very competitive when compared to other smartwatches on the market, although with the OnePlus Watch, it did seem to be a case of getting what you paid for. We would expect OnePlus to continue to try to undercut the competition in terms of pricing, so while the price may be a little higher, it’s unlikely to match the price of an Apple Watch Series 9 or Samsung Galaxy Watch 6.
Design
- Circular design remains, with the addition of a mystery bulge
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This is where we do know a lot about the OnePlus Watch 2. That’s because some renders that supposedly show the new OnePlus Watch 2 have been leaked online. These renders show that the OnePlus Watch 2 will keep the same circular design as the original OnePlus Watch.
mysmartprice/OnLeaks
The overall design is fairly similar, but there is one quite clear departure from the design of the first OnePlus Watch. On the right side of the watch, there is a protrusion from the watch case. On the edges of the protrusion are two buttons, just like on the original OnePlus Watch, but in this case, the top button is circular, and the bottom button is elongated.
mysmartprice/OnLeaks
The longest side of the protrusion is the interesting part, however. This is too big not to play a significant role in the new OnePlus Watch 2. Is it a form of digital crown that allows you to scroll through your screen? Is it a fingerprint sensor? Is it the sensor needed to take an ECG reading? Is it all three? It will be interesting to find out because the protrusion does kind of ruin the otherwise sleek looks of the OnePlus Watch 2, so it must be there for a fairly significant reason. We’ll update this article if we find out any more about this mystery bulge.
Hardware
- 1.43-inch AMOLED display and Snapdragon W5 Gen 1 chipset
There are a couple of key rumours about the hardware in the OnePlus Watch 2. The first is that the display will be a 1.43-inch AMOLED display, which is a little larger than the 1.39-inch AMOLED display on the original OnePlus Watch. This display is rumoured to have a 466×466 resolution. It remains to be seen whether this display will have always-on mode at launch, something that was sorely lacking on the first-gen OnePlus Watch until it was added in an update.
The other major piece of hardware news is that the OnePlus Watch 2 is rumoured to run on a Qualcomm Snapdragon W5 Gen 1 chipset. This should offer a significant performance boost over the STM32 chipset in the original OnePlus Watch and should also be more power efficient, too. Other rumoured hardware includes the addition of an ECG, as well as a return of the sensors for blood oxygen monitoring and stress and sleep monitoring.
OnePlus Watch 2 OS
This is another fairly significant change, if true. The original OnePlus Watch runs on OnePlus’s own custom OS based on RTOS. The intent was to try to offer improved battery life and fast and reliable performance. However, it means that the OnePlus Watch is unable to run Wear OS apps.
If the rumours are to be believed, the OnePlus Watch 2 will run WearOS 4, indicating that OnePlus has given up using its own proprietary OS and will instead use Google’s smartwatch operating system. WearOS has its flaws, but this will open up a whole range of third-party apps for the OnePlus Watch 2 that aren’t available on the original model.
OnePlus Watch 2: What’s the story so far?
These are the key rumours we’ve heard so far about the OnePlus Watch 2.
10 November 2023: OnePlus Watch 2 will run WearOS 4
Following on from the leaked images, journalist Max Jambor tweets that the OnePlus Watch 2 will run WearOS 4.
10 November 2023: OnePlus Watch 2 renders leak showing full design and key specs
Mysmartprice published a leak of renders supposedly showing the OnePlus Watch 2. The renders show a circular dial with what appears to be a large button or sensor of some kind on one side. Other details of the leak indicate that the OnePlus Watch 2 will have a 1.43-inch AMOLED display and be powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon W5 Gen 1 chipset.
31 October 2023: The OnePlus Watch 2 spotted on India’s BIS certification site
Mysmartprice broke the news that the OnePlus Watch 2, with model number OPEuroJournal231, was spotted on the Bureau of Indian Standards website, indicating that the product may be launching in the upcoming weeks.
6 October 2023: The OnePlus Watch 2 will keep its round shape and be released in 2024
Max Jambor tweets that the OnePlus Watch 2 will stick with the signature style of the round OnePlus 11 camera, the round OnePlus 12 camera, the round OnePlus Pad camera, and the round OnePlus Open camera. In other words, the OnePlus Watch will also be round and is coming in 2024.
14 September 2023: The OnePlus Watch 2 will run on a Qualcomm Snapdragon W5 Gen 1 chip will come in black and white
Leaker MlgmXyysd tweets that the OnePlus Watch 2 will run on a Qualcomm Snapdragon W5 Gen 1 chipset, come in black and white models, and has a round 466×466 screen.
14 September 2023: OnePlus Watch 2 will feature double button, crown, ECG, and fist clench gestures
MlgmXyysd follows up with another tweet with more in-depth details about the new watch, which it is claimed will feature a double button, crown, ECG, fist clench gestures, eSIM, blood oxygen sensors, a barometer, stress and sleep monitoring, and WeChat Pay.
25 March 2022: OnePlus Band 2 and OnePlus Watch 2 are in the works
Pricebaba reports that it has learned from leaker Mukul Sharma that production on the OnePlus Band 2 and OnePlus Watch 2 has begun in Europe and Asia.
