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ZDNET's cardinal takeaways
- The OnePlus Watch 2R usually retails for $230 and is disposable successful Forest Green and Gunmetal Gray.
- It has beauteous overmuch everything you look for successful a smartwatch: multi-day artillery life, fittingness tracking features, and a vivid display.
- However, it lacks important cardinal fittingness metrics, it isn't arsenic durable arsenic I'd like, and OnePlus doesn't connection an LTE option.
This budget-friendly wearable has go adjacent cheaper. For a constricted time, the OnePlus Watch 2R is connected merchantability for conscionable $230 connected the company's integer store.
If there's 1 country of user tech that's ne'er boring, it's smartwatches. Everyone wants a portion of the market, from Apple to Samsung, and they'll spell to large lengths to get it. Lately, however, OnePlus has asserted itself arsenic a marque susceptible of making a coagulated product, arsenic seen with the awesome OnePlus Watch 3 that launched not excessively agelong ago.
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But don't hide astir the 2nd wearable successful its lineup, the OnePlus Watch 2R. It usually costs $229 and offers a astir identical acquisition to the OnePlus flagship watch, with a fewer features near connected the chopping artifact to little the price.
Those features see EKG enactment and menstrual rhythm tracking, and if they're important to you, you'll privation to opt for the modular Watch 2. But if you lone request a coagulated smartwatch to brace with your Android phone, you can't spell incorrect with the Watch 2R.
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From the outside, the OnePlus Watch 2R and the older Watch 2 are astir identical, minus the glossy decorativeness and "flat tire" connected the close broadside of the 2R. The ticker has a azygous lawsuit size: 46mm, the aforesaid size arsenic the Watch 2. It's besides made of lighter aluminum alloy alternatively than stainless steel.
Overall, it's a slim, good-looking watch, and its lightweight assemblage makes it casual to hide aft you strap it on. The lone contented immoderate mightiness person is the lawsuit size since it's rather large for those with smaller wrists. You besides lone get 2 colour choices: matte black/gray (with a achromatic band) oregon metallic (with a greenish band). There are nary golden oregon bluish options here, truthful you'll person to settee for subtlety.
The 2R features a 1.43-inch AMOLED show that's not the astir awesome smartwatch surface I've ever seen, but is perfectly capable fixed the terms point. Thanks to the 466x466 resolution, it tin get up to 1,000 nits bright, and everything from colors to opposition is connected point.
Once you've paired the Watch 2R with your Android telephone of prime (no iOS enactment here, by the way), you'll beryllium successful the satellite of Wear OS 4.0. OnePlus hasn't made a ton of changes to the strategy arsenic Samsung did with its enactment of Galaxy watches, but it did load the wearable with a clump of customized ticker faces, immoderate UI elements, and a fewer first-party apps.
Every clip I travel backmost to cheque retired Wear OS, I'm blessed to study that it's successful a truly bully state. It whitethorn not beryllium arsenic silky creaseless arsenic Apple's WatchOS, but functionally speaking, it's conscionable arsenic capable. You tin rapidly glimpse astatine fittingness trends and calendar appointments with the Tiles interface, and determination are a ton of antithetic apps disposable done the Play Store. It's the champion mentation of Wear OS yet.
It besides performs well. The Snapdragon W5 Gen 1 spot wrong is accelerated and efficient, and I haven't experienced immoderate important slowdowns portion investigating the Watch 2R. It's been capable to grip everything from switching betwixt apps to managing notifications without a hiccup.
We noted that the OnePlus Watch 2 past year set a caller standard for Wear OS watches with its artillery life, which could easy past 2 to 3 days acknowledgment to its unsocial attack to processing powerfulness (and the Watch 3 is adjacent better), combining a accepted Snapdragon spot with a co-processor for handling smaller tasks that drew acold little power. The Watch 2R takes the aforesaid attack and, unneurotic with a 500mAh cell, lasts up to 3 days connected a azygous charge.
I'm impressed that OnePlus has pulled disconnected specified unthinkable artillery beingness connected a 2nd smartwatch. Plus, erstwhile it's clip to recharge, it lone takes astir an hr to spell from zero to 100% with the included charging puck. With immoderate smartwatch, you'll astir apt privation to way your fittingness progress. Unfortunately, if you're a superior fittingness buff oregon idiosyncratic who pays adjacent attraction to wellness metrics, you mightiness find the Watch 2R lacking.
The Watch 2R doesn't person EKG support, menstrual rhythm tracking, a tegument somesthesia sensor, oregon a fleshed-out wellness tracking app. OHealth is bully for basal stats, but its charts and graphs are basal and don't proactively springiness you insights into whether you're progressing successful your semipermanent goals.
Granted, OnePlus has improved the accuracy of different sensors similar the bosom complaint sensor, GPS, and Sp02 sensor for humor oxygen monitoring, which is great. Still, the acquisition feels underwhelming compared to the Galaxy Watch 7 oregon Pixel Watch 3. Instead, the Watch 2R is overmuch friendlier to those who are conscionable starting their fittingness journey.
While we're talking astir the phone's downsides, I've noticed the dip successful durability. The 2R doesn't travel with the aforesaid military-grade driblet protection, and it lacks the aforesaid sapphire solid atop the display. Luckily, it inactive has 5ATM h2o resistance, which means it'll beryllium good astatine depths of up to 50 meters. Just don't spell deep-sea diving with it.
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Lastly, the information that you can't adhd an LTE program to the ticker is simply a small disappointing. I recognize this mightiness not substance to a batch of folks, but I thin to bash a batch of worldly without my phone, and I admit the quality to get notifications and calls close connected my wrist.
ZDNET's buying advice
If you're looking for a accelerated smartwatch with awesome artillery beingness but don't request a agelong database of precocious fittingness metrics, the OnePlus Watch 2R is 1 of your champion options.
Unless you necessitate a classier design, thing smaller, oregon LTE, the Watch 2R volition apt screen each of your bases. Because of its wide acceptable of usage cases, however, it's 1 of the easiest Wear OS watches to recommend.
As per OnePlus, this woody volition extremity connected June 8, 2025.
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The caller US tariffs connected imports from countries similar China, Vietnam, and India purpose to boost home manufacturing but are apt to thrust up prices connected user electronics. Products similar smartphones, laptops, and TVs whitethorn go much costly arsenic companies rethink planetary proviso chains and measurement the outgo of shifting production.
CNET: Tariff Pricing Tracker: We're Watching 11 Products You Might Need to Buy
Headphones and wearable devices, which are predominantly manufactured successful these regions, are present taxable to tariffs arsenic precocious arsenic 54% connected Chinese imports and 46% connected Vietnamese goods. As a result, consumers whitethorn spot terms increases of astir 20% connected these items.
Manufacturers are exploring options similar relocating accumulation to countries with little tariffs, but specified shifts are analyzable and whitethorn not supply contiguous relief. In the abbreviated term, shoppers should expect higher costs for headphones and wearables owed to these commercialized policies.
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This nonfiction was primitively published connected August 1, 2024, and was updated connected June 8, 2025.
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