OnePlus Watch 2’s up to 100 hr battery life promise on Wear OS is largely a marketing trick; we tell you why

OnePlus has unveiled the Watch 2 with an audacious claim of up to 100-hour battery life on a Wear OS device. Anyone familiar with Wear OS-powered smartwatches understands the challenges with its typically subpar battery life. OnePlus asserts that they’ve successfully addressed this issue with the Watch 2, offering a potential solution to the longstanding problem. Let’s delve into the specifics.

The defining feature of the OnePlus Watch 2 is its battery life. Sporting a 500mAh battery, the watch claims an impressive usage time of up to 100 hours (equivalent to about 4 days), even when running on the notorious Wear OS. However, there’s a caveat to this bold assertion. The “Up to 100-hour battery life” claim holds only in the ‘smart mode,’ not in the standard mode. If the watch is used extensively, it’s suggested that the Watch 2 provides up to 48 hours of battery life.

Upon closer examination, the improvement might not be as substantial as anticipated. I’ve observed a little over a day’s battery life on 5-year-old Wear OS smartwatches in 2023 under heavy use. This suggests that OnePlus may not have achieved a significant advancement in this aspect. The claim of “Up to 100-hour battery life” appears more like a marketing tagline, and real-world usage might reveal only a 3-4 hour difference. So, don’t be fooled by such claims.

Moving on, OnePlus also claims that the Watch 2 can be fully charged in just 60 minutes using a 7.5W VOOC fast charger. We will test all such claims upon reviewing the wearable.

Beyond its bold battery claim, the Watch 2  boasts several notable upgrades. The OnePlus Watch 2 has a 1.43-inch AMOLED display boasting a 466 x 466 pixels resolution and up to 600 nits of peak brightness. OnePlus has maintained the circular dial with a 47mm diameter, coupled with a 2.5D sapphire crystal cover. Designed to meet the US military standard MIL-STD-810H, the watch 2 has an IP68 water and dust resistance rating. Weighing 49g without the strap and around 80g with it, the Watch 2 should feel comfortable on the wrist.

Powering the OnePlus Watch 2 is Qualcomm’s Snapdragon W5 SoC and the BES 2700 MCU Efficiency chipset. Offering 2GB of RAM and 32GB of storage, the smartwatch runs on Google’s Wear OS 4, delivering a responsive and seamless user interface.

OnePlus Watch 2 Price and Availability

Priced at Rs. 24,999, the OnePlus Watch 2 comes in Black Steel and Radiant Steel color variants. Once again, there’s no 40/42mm variant, and you only get just one 47mm dial size option, once again a missed opportunity. The OnePlus Watch 2 will be available on Amazon, Flipkart, Reliance, Croma, and OnePlus Experience stores from March 4, 2024, at 12 pm.