Testing the Battery Life of the OnePlus Watch 2: How Long Can It Last?
I recently embarked on my first trip to Europe, and in the midst of packing, I made a grave mistake – I forgot to bring the charger for my OnePlus Watch 2. As someone who was eager to put this smartwatch to the test, this forgetfulness presented an interesting challenge. How long could the OnePlus Watch 2’s battery actually last?
My journey began on a Friday morning, with a long day of travel ahead of me. The OnePlus Watch 2 would be responsible for tracking my steps and heart rate, as well as delivering numerous notifications during a 7-hour layover before my flight across the pond. It was during this layover that I realized my charger was left behind at home. The pressure was on for the battery to endure.
By the time I boarded my flight to Barcelona, the battery stood at 88%. Not bad, but there was still a long way to go. Let’s take a closer look at my settings. I had the watch on OnePlus’ default “Smart Mode,” which promised a maximum battery life of 100 hours. The always-on display was turned off, and I had selected the “Gravity” watch face, known for its efficiency in preserving battery life.
Throughout the flight, I refrained from connecting the OnePlus Watch 2 to Wi-Fi, so I didn’t expect the battery to drain significantly. In fact, all I did during the flight was check my heart rate a couple of times using the measurement app. Surprisingly, after the 6-hour flight, the battery level only dropped to just over 50%. Not the most promising sign.
On Saturday, the OnePlus Watch 2 continued to deliver notifications relentlessly, while still having more energy than I did by the end of the day. By Sunday morning, the battery had depleted to around 25%, even without sleep tracking the night before. By mid-day, it had reached 20%, prompting the watch to suggest turning on Power Saver mode. This mode promised an additional two days of use and opened up a whole new way to utilize the watch.
Unlike other Wear OS watches that offer a mode to extend battery life, the OnePlus Watch 2 simply turns off Wear OS and activates RTOS (Real-Time Operating System). Despite this switch, the watch remains fully functional, able to track health data, deliver notifications, and display a color watch face while conserving power. Of course, there are downsides, such as the inability to access Wear OS apps or reply to notifications, but the overall experience is remarkably similar.
That last 20% of battery life carried me through the rest of Sunday and the entire day on Monday, without any significant battery anxiety. Although I missed certain features like Wallet or Maps directions in this mode, the fact that I could extract so much functionality from that remaining 20% was truly impressive.
Monday night marked the end of my battery life experiment. Fortunately, being at a tech trade show made it easy for me to find someone who could lend me a charger for a quick top-off. When I plugged in the Watch 2, it showed a remaining battery level of 13% after approximately 24 hours in Power Saver mode. This meant that I could have easily gone another full day, if not two, on RTOS. Not bad at all!
OnePlus’ approach to battery life on the Watch 2 surpassed that of any other smartwatch I could have brought with me. If I had been wearing a Pixel Watch 2 and forgotten its charger, I would have been forced to purchase a charger somewhere. The dual-OS strategy employed by OnePlus allowed me to have a fully functional Wear OS watch for a couple of days and a still-useful smartwatch for an extended period.
In the end, the OnePlus Watch 2 lasted approximately 83 hours before I finally charged it up, with nearly half of that time spent in the limited RTOS mode. The endurance of the OnePlus Watch 2 is undeniably impressive, although it did experience a peculiar 30% drop in battery life during my flight. Nonetheless, I doubt any other smartwatch could have handled this situation as well.
The OnePlus Watch 2 is set to launch at a price of $299. Stay tuned for our full review, coming soon. And if you have any questions, feel free to drop a comment below!
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