The OnePlus Watch 2 was one of the best Android watches to launch in 2024. Despite newer offerings from Google and Samsung, the OnePlus Watch 2 stands out with its dual-OS and dual-chipset approach, offering over four days of battery life. When you look beyond battery life, the OnePlus Watch 2 falters in key aspects, including health tracking and software experience.
With rumors of the OnePlus Watch 3’s launch picking up steam, here are five features and improvements I’d like to see on OnePlus’ next flagship smartwatch.
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Watch our review
OnePlus Watch 2: Is this the best Android watch?
The OnePlus Watch 2 launched a while ago, but after several updates, is it better than at launch? Is it one of the best Android smartwatches?
5
Better stock watch faces
A bit more attention to detail and polish
The OnePlus Watch 2 (and Watch 2R) are preloaded with several watch faces. However, most are poorly designed and lack the polish you’d expect from a first-party watch face. You’ll find many great watch faces for Wear OS watches on the Play Store. Still, that is no excuse for OnePlus to ship its wearables with sub-par watch faces.
I’ve used the Pixel Watch 2 for over a year and switch watch faces every few days. Many of my favorite faces are designed by Google, which stand out for their polish and high-quality design. The OnePlus Watch 2 packs only a few watch faces worth trying, as most fall short in quality.
To improve the software experience on the OnePlus Watch 3, OnePlus should revamp its watch faces and give them a much-needed polish.
Related
After a year of using the Google Pixel Watch 2, these are my 7 favorite watch faces
Plenty of options to choose from
4
Rotating crown that helps with UI navigation
A rotating crown should not be present only for cosmetic reasons
The OnePlus Watch 2 features a rotating crown, like on the Pixel Watch and Apple Watch. On the latter two watches, you can rotate the crown to navigate through the UI. This is a handy way to quickly go through long lists instead of swiping multiple times on the display.
For reasons best known to OnePlus, the OnePlus Watch 2’s rotating crown does nothing. Rotating the crown doesn’t help you navigate the UI. It is only present for cosmetic reasons.
A rotating crown or bezel, like on the Galaxy Watch 6 Classic, is almost a must on a smartwatch as it makes navigating the UI significantly easier. With the OnePlus Watch 3, we hope the company makes the rotating crown functional instead of keeping it around for cosmetic reasons. Early leaks point to this being a possibility.
3
More accurate health tracking
The companion OHealth app also needs a big upgrade
A smartwatch should do more than mirror the notifications on your phone. It should track your key health metrics, like heart rate, heart rate variability, step count, and sleep cycle.
On paper, the OnePlus Watch 2 covers the basics with its health-tracking features. However, as our Google editor Taylor Kerns noted in his OnePlus Watch 2 review, the health tracking is inconsistent.
This mirrors my experience with OnePlus’ flagship watch. In my testing, I found its step count to differ notably from that of the Pixel Watch 2 and my old Galaxy Watch 4. Even the heart rate tracking was not as accurate as that of the other two watches.
If there’s one area where the OnePlus Watch 3 must improve over its predecessor, it is its health tracking. It needs to get significantly better.
Besides health tracking, OnePlus must improve the companion OHealth app. It is inferior to Samsung Health and Pixel Watch’s Fitbit app in presenting the recorded health data for analysis. Even the Health Connect syncing is wonky, with the app delivering a buggy and sub-par experience.
Considering the crucial role of a companion app in syncing health data from a smartwatch, OnePlus should prioritize enhancing it for the OnePlus Watch 3.
2
Advanced health sensors
Time to bring ECG and blood pressure monitoring to your flagship watch
If the inaccurate health tracking is not enough, the OnePlus Watch 3 misses out on several health features, such as ECG, blood pressure monitoring, and skin temperature sensing. These features are commonplace in flagship Android watches. Plus, for $300, it is difficult to justify the OnePlus Watch 2’s lack of these health sensors. Even its cheaper sibling, the Watch 2R, lacks them.
Apart from more accurate health tracking, this is another drawback that OnePlus should address on the OnePlus Watch 3. There’s almost no reason for the company not to include these features on its next flagship watch.
Rumors suggest the OnePlus Watch 3 could feature ECG and high blood pressure monitoring, giving it an edge over its predecessor.
1
Speedier software updates
Show the OnePlus Watch 3 the same love as your phones
The OnePlus Watch 2 launched with Wear OS 4 in March 2024, and almost a year later, it is still running the same OS. In comparison, Samsung and Google have updated their smartwatch lineups to the newest Wear OS release. Then there’s OnePlus, which has not announced when the OnePlus Watch 2’s Wear OS 5 update will roll out.
OnePlus has sporadically released software updates for the OnePlus Watch 2 since its launch. The last major update arrived in May 2024. Since then, the watch received one update in late October, bumping the security patch to September 2024.
This is in sharp contrast to how OnePlus updates its phones. It was among the first to roll out Android 15-based OxygenOS 15 to its devices. It has not shown the same love for its Wear OS smartwatch. Hopefully, the company will improve its software support with the OnePlus Watch 3.
OnePlus Watch 3 can be a winner for the company
The first OnePlus watch was a disaster, panned for its poor software experience. With the OnePlus Watch 2, the company took its time and went back to the drawing board. Despite some flaws, the smartwatch is a step up from its predecessor in almost every aspect.
With the OnePlus Watch 3, OnePlus should focus on addressing the shortcomings of its predecessor. If it nails the execution, the OnePlus Watch 3 should be a winner for the company, much like its newest flagship phone: the OnePlus 13.