Unboxing the OnePlus Watch 2

Much to my wife’s chagrin, I will tell you that I love watches.  All kinds of watches.  It doesn’t matter what brand or what size, either.  I love a good timepiece, though I do have my preferences –  I like big watch faces (45mm and bigger).  I prefer self-winding watches to manual winds or electric watches (those with a battery) because, depending on the watch, changing the battery can be a real PITA.  This is one of the reasons why I like smartwatches like the OnePlus Watch 2.

Both Chris G. and I have recently jumped on the OnePlus train.  We’ve had both good and bad experiences with the OnePlus Open.  Whether the device’s build quality is more hit than miss will vary with your mileage.  So far, my repaired device is performing very well.

When I learned that OnePlus was coming out with a WearOS watch in the Watch 2, I knew I would need to take a very close look at it. If their battery life claims were close to what they were claiming, I knew it would be a winner. My unboxing video is below. In it, I go over the specs and compare it to the Mobvoi TicWatch Pro 5. Both devices are GREAT battery sippers. Let’s go to the tape…

Setting up the OnePlus Watch 2

The software used by the OnePlus Watch 2 is different from the Watch 1.  The Watch 1 uses an app called OneHealth.  The Watch 2 doesn’t use OneHealth.  It uses a similar but different app called OHealth.  OHealth, by a company called Bravo Unicorn PTE, LTD., is the only health app by a company that seems to be a game developer.  They don’t have any apps other than games; this one is a non-game app.  That may be why I had issues trying to set up the Watch 2.

The OnePlus Open and the OnePlus Watch 2 are kissing cousins, meaning pairing the two devices together so that they can communicate and the phone can sync data to and from the watch should be easy. It should have been so easy that I could have done it blindfolded.

Yeah… not so much. This was perhaps the most difficult smartwatch setup I have EVER completed! And Ive set up over two dozen different smartwatches over the past (almost) 10 years.  The setup process for this was so bad, that if I were NOT a tech journalist with over three DECADES of experience – if I were a novice or regular everyday consumer – I wouldn’t have been able to get this set up.  I would have needed to call or contact OnePlus support, and if you recall from my portion of the article Chris Gavula and I wrote on our OnePlus Open experiences, you’ll recall that OnePlus support leaves a GREAT deal to be desired in a support organization.  If I had received the same level of service, I would have asked for an RMA and a refund.  Device setup should never be this difficult.

So what was my problem? Bluetooth. The device and the health app, OHealth, would not connect. The device could see the phone, and the phone could see the device. The device would CONNECT to the phone, but the app, OHealth, could not connect to the device.

Step 1 – OHealth Statement	Step 2: Google Terms
Step 3 – OHealth Terms	Step 4 – Initial Connection Dialog
Step 5 – Pairing the devices after the numbers match step	06 – Pairing Request Asking to confirm the device-to-device identification

You’re not confused or wrong if the last two screenshots seem out of place.  This is where the process fell down – a LOT.  The devices would not pair.  I repeated this process about seven (7) different times, thinking that one side had timed out while the other wasn’t quite where it needed to be or that some other basic communication issue might be preventing them from pairing.  OnePlus anticipates this and includes a dialog (that wouldn’t screenshot for me…) that instructs the user to run the standard connectivity troubleshooting steps:

1. Turn BlueTooth on and off on one, the other, or both devices and try again after each on/off on either side of the connection
2. Reset the watch and start from scratch.
3. Reset the phone and start from scratch and make setting up the Watch 2 the first action.

I completed steps one and two several times. Nothing worked. I did not complete step 3. It seemed too draconian. You should not have to nuke your phone to get a Bluetooth peripheral of ANY type to connect.

After repeating this insanity for about 50 minutes, I decided I had to do SOMETHING different.  The ONLY way I was able to get the device to pair with OHealth was to turn off every other Bluetooth device around me physically.  It was ONLY after that that the OnePlus Open and the Watch 2 were able to pair.  Which, in my opinion, is completely bogus.

I should NOT have to turn off every other device from the OnePlus Open for the Watch 2’s health app to connect with the watch, and I should not have to constantly check to see that the watch and the health app can talk!

OHealth Device Screen Page – Notice the connection error notation

It appears that the Watch 2 doesn’t connect “directly” to OHealth.  It appears to “piggy-back” its own connection on top of the connection that the Watch 2 creates with your device.  My OnePlus Watch 2 consistently connects to my OnePlus Open without issue.  The app appears to recognize that, but OHealth requires an additional connection or secondary communications channel to sync data back and forth.  If it didn’t, there wouldn’t be a nearly constant connection error issue between the two.

OHealth Health Screen

OHealth Device Screen Page

I like the Health screen that OHealth presents.  Its a nice dashboard and gives me a lot of trackable metrics where I can see them. Tapping on each tile takes you to additional, detailed information about that metric.

Of all the smartwatch connection apps I’ve used – and I’ve used my fair share – there is a new trend of combining a health app inside the connectivity app, and so far, I like the presentation of data here in OHealth.  Smartwatches like Galaxy Watches, Tag Heuer, and Fossil Smartwatches use a separate watch manager from the health app they also connect to.  The management app ensures that the watch connects to your phone.  The health app reads and collects data from the watch and categorizes and aggregates it so you can see, read, and understand how the watch’s sensors work with your body.  That’s traditionally how it all works.

With watches like the OnePlus Watch 2, the Google Pixel Watch, and the TicWatch Pro 5, you get a health monitoring and watch management integrated app.  While this is nice, it can lead to some of the connectivity issues I’ve outlined above.  With separate connectivity apps, health data synching is reliant upon the Bluetooth connection managed by the device.  Singular functionality tends to lead to better performance or connectivity in this case.

Battery Life, Configurations, and Information

Here is the battery mode information that I mentioned in the video.  The mode configurations are very specific, and if you don’t configure your watch to work EXACTLY as they are documented, you won’t get near the battery estimates they provide.  That’s not to say that the battery claims are bogus.  They’re just aggressive, in my estimation.

Three (3) configurations/modes can provide a great deal of battery life.  The following configurations will provide up to the noted battery life.  Please note that, in my opinion, your mileage may vary depending on your experience.  Achieving the actual claimed amounts will be very difficult, but you will get close.  Regardless, using some or all of these suggested configurations will get you great battery life between charges.

In order to get anywhere near 100 hours on a single charge, you MUST adhere to the above configuration. To be honest, sticking to the limits depicted there isn’t realistic. Who knows how many notifications you’re going to get or how many active hours you’re going to have with Bluetooth connected to your phone? (I’m usually at work—including commuting time—more than 14.2 hours a day.)

I’ve noticed that using an “officially supported” watch face is the only way that the Watch 2 is “happy.” You can use any WearOS-compatible watch face, but if it’s not one of the faces included with the Watch 2, the watch COMPLAINS at you more than once before you actually start using it.  I find this to be completely unacceptable.  The one “thing” more than one reviewer said was missing from the Watch 1 was WearOS.  If WearOS was the missing component, a Watch 2 user shouldn’t have to take a 52% battery hit to use one of their favorite native WearOS watch faces or a watch face app like Facer or Watchmaker.  The watch – and any other WearOS-compatible watch, for that matter – should be able to handle the battery draw without too large of a hit.

While some of the usage and configuration points above are more realistic, I still think there are issues.  Depending on your usage, limiting yourself to only 30 minutes of music listening or only using the GPS on your watch for 15 minutes a day will be hard.  It seems like a mighty short workout session or run to me. Also, limiting yourself to 2 hours a day of WiFi connectivity and only allowing yourself to sleep 6.5 hours a day is not only unrealistic, it’s not completely healthy.

If you’re going to adhear to these guidelines, you may as not even own a smartwatch.  These settings are completely ridiculous.

Conclusion

The OnePlus Watch 2 has a great deal of growing to do.  There are connectivity issues and problems between the Watch 2 and the OHealth app.  The connection between the device and the app drops frequently, though it seems to have no issues staying connected to its paired smartphone, in this case, my OnePlus Open. The app regularly drops the connection between it and the Watch 2.  I have no idea whether or not the watch retains the data until it fully syncs over to the watch or not, or if there is or is not an issue. Despite the app showing a connectivity error, I seem to be getting notifications from the OnePlus Open.  That’s not supposed to happen when the app shows the error.

The device’s battery life is good, nearing great. I normally get between 48 and 72 hours of battery life off of a single charge, which is really great. However, the Watch 2 wants you to use its native watch faces to make this happen. Thankfully, I really like the one default watch face that comes with the watch and is chosen by default. I just changed the color from red to gold/yellow.

I am NOT a fan of the silicone band that comes with the Watch 2. I much prefer a metal bracelet. However, I have yet to find a compatible metal band, even on Amazon, and it’s not yet warm enough outside to really make my wrist sweat under the watch. I have some time before I have to find a different band.

I own (or have owned) nearly a dozen smartwatches (especially if you count upgrades to the same watch series).  While there is only one Apple Watch, many different brands of wearOS watches provide many options and variations on watch faces, case designs, and functionality.  For a first-generation wearOS watch, the OnePlus Watch 2 is a great choice, offering decent functionality at a reasonable price.  The case design is new and unusual, with buttons at the top and bottom of an interesting right-sided case design.  While watch bands are currently a bit on the scarce side right now, they should become readily available soon.

The price is right for this device, though, at its MSRP of $299.99 USD, it should include a cellular radio instead of just a WiFi-GPS option. Despite that, at the time of this writing, OnePlus is offering some great discounts on the device.  The OnePlus Watch 2 is a great device and has been on my wrist nearly constantly since it arrived.

The post Unboxing the OnePlus Watch 2 appeared first on iTechGear.org.