Advertising and marketing for the brand new OnePlus Watch 2R kinds it as a sporty, long-lasting Put on OS look ahead to “inspiring an energetic life-style,” with a lighter design for “those that worth all-day health” monitoring. I like watches that cater on to me, however my colleagues who examined the OnePlus Watch 2 bashed its well being knowledge as its Achilles’ heel. So I made a decision to check the Watch 2R accuracy for myself.
With the unique OnePlus Watch 2, our reviewer Harish complained that it “simply is not dependable at every day step counts or exercise monitoring,” that it misjudged burned energy after exercises, and that its stress knowledge was artificially elevated.
In the meantime, my colleague Nick did a one-week OnePlus Watch 2 take a look at and had related complaints about underestimated steps and considerably decrease HR numbers throughout anaerobic exercises. Each Nick and Harish suspected that the watch used its low-power RTOS coprocessor to deal with well being and health sampling and that it wasn’t quick or constant sufficient to get correct readings.
This made me leery about testing the OnePlus Watch 2R, a health watch that theoretically could not deal with health all that nicely. So, identical to my Galaxy Watch Extremely health take a look at final week, I strapped on two smartwatches to see how the Watch 2R might match up in opposition to my Garmin Forerunner 965 for coronary heart price and dual-band GPS accuracy.
My OnePlus Watch 2R health take a look at
OnePlus’ OHealth companion app would not allow you to export TCX/GPX recordsdata like Samsung Well being, and I had some points getting Well being Join to ship my knowledge correctly, so I could not do my normal HR or GPS charts for a direct comparability; I am going to use tables instead for now.
| Run #1 | OnePlus Watch 2R | Garmin Forerunner 965 |
|---|---|---|
| Distance | 3.05 miles | 3.09 miles |
| Avg. / Max HR | 146 bpm / 159 bpm | 147 bpm / 158 bpm |
| Cadence | 161 steps per minute | 162 steps per minute |
| Stride size | 3.28 ft | 3.35 ft |
| Avg. Vertical Ratio | 8.8% | 8.7% |
| Avg. floor contact time | 301ms | 283ms |
| Burned energy | 318kcal | 421kcal |
For my first jog, the OnePlus Watch 2R stayed totally on monitor with the Garmin Forerunner 965. I spot-checked coronary heart charges at ten completely different timestamps, and the 2R matched the 965 4 occasions and was 1bpm quick six occasions, which dovetails with the 1bpm-lower common.
GPS accuracy largely remained on level. It is troublesome to say if OnePlus’ dual-band accuracy is kind of dependable than Garmin’s since each maps had me straying off the sidewalk at odd moments, however I appreciated that each fell into the identical common ballpark for a run with some signal-blocking foliage.
As for operating dynamics, the OnePlus Watch 2R synced fairly nicely for stride size and common vertical ratio, however measured my vertical oscillation as 1cm shorter and common floor contact time as 18ms longer.
| Run #2 | OnePlus Watch 2R | Garmin Forerunner 965 |
|---|---|---|
| Distance | 3,315 meters | 3,220 meters |
| Avg. / Max HR | 174 bpm / 191 bpm | 176 bpm / 191 bpm |
| Cadence | 180 steps per minute | 174 steps per minute |
| Stride size | 4.42 ft | 4.43 ft |
| Avg. Vertical Ratio | 6.0% | 6.6% |
| Avg. floor contact time | 241ms | 223ms |
| Burned energy | 194kcal | 229kcal |
I ran eight 400m laps for my second monitor run, and Garmin predictably stayed on level as a result of it makes use of saved monitor maps to guage your possible location. OnePlus had extra points: the Watch 2R buzzed my wrist with lap or mile occasions at concerning the 350m mark, persistently. It was as if the start line was utterly mistaken, however then the GPS was pinpoint-accurate after I hit that incorrect spot. Nonetheless, it threw my calculated tempo off by a good margin.
I figured the center price for a hard-paced monitor exercise can be the sticking level, however its HR common was extra correct than the Galaxy Watch Extremely throughout my monitor exercise final week. It definitely fell in need of Garmin’s outcomes — usually 1–3 bpm quick at a given second — however usually leveled out to the proper quantity given sufficient time. Definitely, the Watch 2R did a lot better than the Watch 2 on this space.
Once more, OnePlus’ operating dynamics knowledge diverged from Garmin in small methods. I do not fairly get how OnePlus mentioned I took extra steps per minute whereas leaving my ft on the bottom for longer. Nevertheless, I noticed after my run that OHealth had my peak listed as 5’7 (I am 6’1), so possibly that skewed the outcomes for issues like vertical oscillation. Regardless, operating type knowledge is not value obsessing over, in my view.
Total OnePlus Watch 2R health impressions
This would possibly merely be a case of low expectations skewing my impressions, however the OnePlus Watch 2R seems like a robust funds health watch. It has a cushty weight for its show dimension, three-day battery life with Put on OS 4, Google Assistant, and a $229 price ticket that I might count on from an Amazfit watch — not one thing with correct app assist.
OHealth gives some in-depth and surprisingly accessible knowledge for operating, providing detailed context for sure stats like coaching impact, operating dynamics, VO2 Max, and restoration time — although Garmin needs me to relaxation an additional day and has my VO2 Max barely decrease.
That mentioned, it is nonetheless fairly fundamental in comparison with different tie-in health apps. OHealth gives a whole lot of particular person run knowledge, however its long-term coaching load and exercise abstract knowledge is on the simplistic aspect. If I used the Watch 2R long-term, I might almost certainly auto-sync the info to Strava and depend on that as an alternative.
Circling again to my colleagues’ complaints concerning the authentic OnePlus Watch 2, my ultimate step rely throughout each runs was 11,670 for the Forerunner 965 and 11,560 for the Watch 2R.
Garmin watches beat each different model in my first and second step-counting exams, so I am going to deal with the primary quantity as an correct management group. About 100 steps off throughout 11,000 steps is nearly a rounding error, and considerably higher than the OnePlus Watch 2 vs. the Pixel Watch 2 throughout the identical distance (1,860 quick). The identical goes for my latest Galaxy Watch Extremely take a look at in opposition to the Forerunner 965 after 10,000 steps (348 steps quick).
OnePlus did underreport my burned energy in comparison with Garmin, however to be trustworthy, I’ve by no means seen any two watch manufacturers agree on what number of energy you have burned. I do not know what goes into that algorithm and tips on how to inform which of them flatter or promote you quick. So I am not too fussed about it trying like OnePlus is on the low finish, because it’s simply an estimate.
Actually, my greatest grievance with the OnePlus Watch 2R is identical one I’ve with the Galaxy Watch Extremely: the lack of a crown. OnePlus gave the Watch 2 an inactive crown that spins and does nothing, whereas the Watch 2 has two easy buttons, considered one of which pulls up exercises by default except you alter the shortcut. I do admire that, however the sweaty-stained shows within the pics above ought to present why I do not like counting on swipes throughout exercises. Give me up/down buttons or a crown any day.
I want extra time for a full OnePlus Watch 2R evaluation that dives deeper into the well being and sleep aspect of issues. However I am rather more bullish about its probabilities of being worthwhile for informal athletes than I used to be every week in the past — and matching up in opposition to the finest low-cost Android watches for high quality.
Inexpensive Put on OS health watch
The OnePlus Watch 2R has a Snapdragon W5 CPU, 500mAh battery, 1.43-inch show, dual-band GPS, NFC tap-to-pay, Google Assistant, and detailed post-run metrics. It isn’t as fashionable or rugged as the unique Watch 2, however it’s a lot lighter, extra inexpensive, and seemingly lacks the identical HR points.