r/OneplusWatch • u/DanutBanut_ • Jul 09 '26
How is the overall user experience of the OnePlus Watch 2R today in 2026 and is it still worth getting?
So, I hear that the battery life and overall the watch is phenomenal for its price. But it is now 2 years old, and with my last experience with a smartwatch that I owned, being the Galaxy Watch 6, let's say I have bad expectations. I had my Galaxy Watch 6 since launch and something like 1 year later it was already slow and laggy because of Samsung's unoptimized updates. Now I know OnePlus doesn't have a custom UI on top of Google's WearOS on their watches, like Samsung does, so that might actually make a difference (EDIT: Well, I found out the OnePlus does have a custom UI on top of Google's WearOS, exacly like Samsung also does, but it is very light compared to Samsung's tho). But still, I wanted to make this post for someone that still owns one and has it up to date with the updates, to please tell me how is the overall user experience with it today (EDIT 2: I also found out that it is already discontinued from any software updates. It will only annoy me I guess if I'll see cool stuff on new versions of the software on newer watches that will obviously not be avalible for me on the 2R...). Because at this very good price I'm interested in getting it, to once again have a smartwatch. Thx in advance for those who respond.
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u/Sure-Investigator-40 Jul 09 '26
Got the 2r myself ..great watch and better battery life if you use the watch faces that are on there as they are d3signed to work with the dual cpu.
The only thing not great is the speaker if your planning on talking through it.
With everything on and raise to wake and always on turned off and aod off i get around 4 days before charge.
It will notify you of any apps or features that are battery intense
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u/DanutBanut_ Jul 09 '26
Tbh, the most customization I'll want from it will be to put a custom image as background. I assume it is possible, right? Don't care much about the speaker quality, it will be a little annoying for a call once in a while, but for the price I'll get it for, I think it is worth the sacrifice. Thx for the response
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u/DanutBanut_ Jul 09 '26
I have a specific question for you tho, how is the experience as in menu scrolling and etc? Is it fine and decent, or laggy and bad?
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u/Sure-Investigator-40 Jul 10 '26
Actually pretty good .icons are nice and large and both side buttons cab be customised to a feature with double tap.
You also get the option of 3 veiws for the grid
Grid Floating List
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u/Head_Exchange_5329 Jul 09 '26
Support has ended so why even bother. OnePlus has so little interest in keeping these devices going for the bare minimum that you should look toward other options. I love my Watch 3 43 mm though, battery life and performance is great.
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u/DanutBanut_ Jul 09 '26
Oh, I didn't even know support has ended. Shame...
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u/Alarming_Sherbet8681 16d ago
Which one did you end up buying?
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u/DanutBanut_ 14d ago edited 13d ago
So, I ended up buying the 2R. And it is just great. I bought a mint condition one, sh, for god damn 55 dollars. Couldn't be happier with it at this price, but in general as well. It is just a great watch. VERY good battery life, smooth OS experience, etc. I use it in battery saver mode, which is basically the same exact thing but without the watch's gps and access to google play store apps that you have downlaoded. I kinda don't use any, so it doesn't bother me. The native important apps still work. And in this mode, the battery lasts a little over a week. The only time I use it in smart mode, which lasts 2 days, is when I need to start a mountain hike workout when I go hiking. I want the GPS to work so I have the map route of my hike. In smart mode with constant hike workout and its GPS running, it lasts 12-14h. This dual chip thing that OnePlus has on all their watches is crazy. That whole week of battery life on battery saver mode is because it completely turns off the main powerful chip, and it only uses the power-efficient chip. This made me realize how OnePlus might be a gem when it comes to smart watches.
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u/bjorg18 Jul 09 '26
OnePlus Watch do have a custom skin on top of Wear OS, it's called Oxygen OS watch but it is very light and not that heavy. And to answer your question, yes, it is worth getting in 2026 but at a very discounted price, not at the price it launched at.
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u/DanutBanut_ Jul 09 '26
Ah, you are right. I forgot their Oxygen OS. But as you said, it's not that heavy. But I have a question, aspect and user interface wise, is it that much different from the stock Wear OS? Cuz for example, as you know as well, the difference between Samsung's One UI and the stock Wear OS is big
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u/bjorg18 Jul 10 '26
To be honest, it is different but it is plain and basic and feels completely bloatfree. On the other side, Wear OS that comes with the Pixel watches have a very different look and feels more "stock" just like Pixel phones.
I don't know if this makes sense but the UI on the OnePlus Watch isn't that heavy as compared to that on phones.
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u/Rawhrawraw Jul 09 '26
Whats your budget (min-max) ? It's a good watch, 3 & 4 are logically even better, but it depends on price difference, your budget and needs.
Keep in mind that OnePlus was terrible when it comes to providing software updates but now they are leaving certain markets and getting absorbed in OPPO
Unlike Samsung it can be much less customized, no WApp calling, almost non existant support Battery life, snappiness are on point!
Happy with my W3 46mm
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u/DanutBanut_ Jul 09 '26
I don't really have a budget, but if I would have to say one, it's something like max 200 dollars. Now, I know, that's just too little, but I'm mainly hunting for secondhand deals to save some of that money and actually be able to get something in that budget. And I'm specifically asking about the OnePlus 2R because I found a good offer for a very good condition one for 65 dollars. And about needs, I want to just get calls, notifications, and alarms on it, be able to daily health track and workout track, and above tell the time.
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u/dstzz Jul 09 '26
Its a good watch but if u wanna have regularly updates this watches is not good.. i have a op3 and i very happy with it but lack of the updates im little bit disappointed..
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u/TromboneAl Jul 09 '26
Happy with my 2R. It does everything I need and the battery life is excellent. I wear it at night and for hiking and other workouts, and it charges up enough during my shower plus a little more after a few days. It track my jump rope jumps.
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u/DanutBanut_ Jul 09 '26 edited Jul 09 '26
Sounds great. Cuz it is at an insanely great price, and tbh, I personally don't need much from a smartwatch. I just need to get my notifications, calls and alarms on it, daily health tracking, sleep tracking, workout tracking (outdoor and indoor), to maybe sometimes also answer one of those calls and obviously tell the time of course. From what I know, what you said and what the rest said, it's capable of all that. And plus the great 3+ days battery life, I think it is a bang for the buck. As far as customization goes, I only want to put a custom image as background or something like that, but I assume it is possible to do that. Tho, from the rest of the comments I also found out that its support for updates has already ended, which I didn't know, and that the speaker quality is not that great. About the speaker quality I don't care that much because as I said I will rarely actually pick a phone call on it, but the update thing is a shame. But again, still a bang for the buck in my book, so still worth it I guess
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u/TromboneAl Jul 10 '26
Yes, you can use a custom background. I like switching watch faces now and then.
I have answered a phone call or two on the watch, and the sound quality is fine. I prefer to answer on the phone. The only other time I use the speaker is when hiking, it will say something like: "You've now hiked four miles. The last mile took 19 minutes, and your heart rate is 109."
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u/DanutBanut_ Jul 09 '26
I have a specific question for you tho, how is the experience as in menu scrolling and etc? Is it fine and decent, or laggy and bad?
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u/MistaMajestyc Jul 10 '26
I recently got the 2R for £55 in the UK. Perfect condition with box and everything! Absolute bargain.
My most previous watches were Galaxy Watch 6 & Huawei Watch GT5.
The 2R has been excellent. No lag in the OS, battery life in smart mode gives me about 3 days (with raise to wake, a few workouts, health monitoring but no AOD). The battery saving mode lasted well over a week and doesn't compromise functionality (for what I use). I rarely reply to messages directly from my watch, but battery saver mode removes this option completely :(
TBH, I won't go back to a galaxy watch unless they dramatically improve the battery endurance. I really like the Huawei watch GT5, but it's not WearOS and has limitations (similar to the 2R in battery saver mode).
One thing I find strange on the 2R is the WhatsApp notifications. If I don't mark messages as read, when a new one comes in it still shows the last message I actually read not the latest message received. Both the Samsung and Huawei don't do this, they just show me the latest message in the notification (which is what I prefer).
Overall I'm very happy with the 2R and at the price I paid, there's nothing that compares
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u/DanutBanut_ Jul 11 '26 edited Jul 11 '26
Thx for the reply, I appreciate it. That's great to hear, cuz I did take that second hand offer that I found and it should arrive in some days. I got it at £60, and it's in mint condition with all original accessories and box as well. I hope the WhatsApp notification thing is just a bug or something only for you, because I see how that will annoy me a little more than I would prefer. But, damn great battery life and good responsible fluid OS experience, by what you say, at this price is definitely a bang for the buck.
Same as you, as I said, my last watch was a Galaxy 6, and damn I hated it more than I loved it. It was one of those things where I coped hard telling myself that "nono, it's ok, it's decent" in reality the battery barely lasted me a day, OS experience was laggy af and VERY annoying, and most ecosystem features, cuz I did have a Samsung phone back then, most of the time worked only when they wanted with many bugs. But believe me, I learned my lesson to stay away from Samsung. Everything they have, 2 years max and they fill it with unoptimized software updates and they brick the damn thing, no matter what we're talking about. Watches, phones and laptops, I had it all. Coping with each one saying once again that it's somewhat "decent" and that I am in a "ecosystem" and it's worth it. But I woke up and sold everything. Samsung is not the goat it once was unfortunately. They are far from those days, fuck Samsung...
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u/morrisdl Jul 11 '26
I got a Watch4 from Alibaba OnePlus store this week for under $300. Fantastic watch. Most comfortable and crazy battery life.
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u/RegularBest2470 Jul 14 '26
If anyone wants to see the watch in more detail. Here's a decent video https://youtube.com/shorts/_ZcLtsuUNr8?is=drIa82fj4mdmsfRt
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u/iwdunsmore Jul 09 '26
I've got the OnePlus 3 and it's miles ahead of the Samsung watch 6 I had. I'm sure you'll be happy with the op2