Last week, I returned from a week-long trip to Barcelona, Spain, to attend the annual Mobile World Congress. The show is packed with mobile tech announcements, and what better way to test one out than by wearing it the entire time?
Of course, I’m talking about the OnePlus Watch 2, which debuted in Barcelona. Our resident wearables editor Michael Hicks has compared the OnePlus Watch 2 to the Google Pixel Watch 2 based on our review, and I wanted to see which one I’d prefer to wear on such a long trip. There’s nothing wrong with a second opinion, right?
On this trip, I wore a OnePlus Watch 2 on my left wrist and a Google Pixel Watch 2 on my right wrist, both paired to the same phone. I sat on a plane for hours on end, walked through many neighborhoods day and night, spent a lot of time walking between the booths and halls of Barcelona’s Gran Via Exhibition Center to put these watches to the test and look at me Which one do you prefer.
I come away with a different opinion, neither watch everything Okay, but everyone does a specific thing very well. If you’re looking to spend $300 on a new smartwatch, you should consider one of these.
Step counting and fitness tracking
In the head-on fitness tracking race, OnePlus never stood a chance. At the Barcelona launch event, the company touted the OnePlus Watch 2’s fitness tracking capabilities, but my experience didn’t match up with the company’s claims. Instead, the Pixel Watch 2 has the full power of the Fitbit app behind it.
As Harish pointed out in our OnePlus Watch 2 review (and I experienced it a few weeks later), OnePlus usually has at least a 15% discount on its tracking stats. In my experience, this makes me want to take off the watch and never use it for fitness tracking again.
On my busiest day in Barcelona, according to the Pixel Watch 2, I took 27,246 steps. The OnePlus Watch 2 only recorded 24,978 steps. While it’s hard to tell which one is more accurate in one day, the rest of my trip (and pre-departure testing) told me that the Pixel Watch 2 was more accurate.
Another day, I took a lot of steps, but still found that the OnePlus Watch 2’s 9,217 steps were far fewer than the Pixel Watch 2’s 11,077 steps. Every day, the OnePlus Watch takes about 10-15% fewer steps than the Pixel Watch. 2. The difference is more than just rounding error.
Likewise, the OnePlus Watch 2 had another round of low data on the first day of workouts at my hotel. The total health data accumulated during this trip was consistent with what I saw on the OnePlus Watch 2, which was 10-15% lower across the board.
The OnePlus Watch 2’s health tracking stats are typically 10-15% lower than the Pixel Watch 2’s.
The only possible metric where OnePlus might win is its dual GPS tracking feature, which is believed to provide more accurate GPS tracking in certain situations. Unfortunately, I didn’t experience a situation where the Pixel Watch 2 couldn’t accurately track my walks in the city, and I saw no noticeable difference in the data during 6 days of testing.
It’s worth noting that Google’s Fitbit app offers a lot more health data than OnePlus’ OHealth app. In addition to this, health data is synced to your Google Fitbit account so you can view it on other devices. OnePlus doesn’t offer health sync or transfer functionality at all, but the company is working on an update to add it.
Battery Life
One of the worst things about any modern smartwatch is that they all have a unique charger. If you happen to forget your charger on a long flight across the ocean—like a friend of mine did—you’re out of luck if you’re wearing a Google Pixel Watch 2.
On average, the OnePlus Watch 2 lasts three days on a charge, and a fourth day if I don’t use it regularly. The first day to Spain included a 10 and a half hour flight, which meant my watch was in airplane mode and barely used any battery during this time.
I had to charge the Pixel Watch 2 four times before I had to charge the OnePlus Watch 2 once.
This allowed me to get through the first four days without any worries, and if I really needed to, I could go even longer if I used battery saver mode.
While the Pixel Watch 2’s battery life is decent compared to most other Wear OS smartwatches, the OnePlus Watch 2’s battery life puts almost all other smartwatches in the dust. During the six days I was away from home, I only had to charge the OnePlus Watch 2 once.
In contrast, the Pixel Watch 2 requires charging every night. Otherwise, I would end up with a dead battery the next day.
Messaging and apps
Both the Pixel Watch 2 and OnePlus Watch 2 support the same apps downloaded through the Google Play Store, but using apps on the watch is much better due to the size of the watch.
The Pixel Watch 2 is probably the most comfortable smartwatch I’ve ever worn, and a lot of that comfort comes from its size. It’s small, but that also means using apps and tasks (such as texting) on it isn’t very fun.
Apps and typing are much more pleasant on the OnePlus Watch 2 due to its larger size.
The OnePlus Watch 2’s larger display makes typing very easy, and I found that I really enjoyed replying on the watch. In contrast, I rarely type anything on the Pixel Watch 2’s tiny display, even though both watches maintain the same level of functionality – and use the same Gboard keyboard!
A 19% increase in display size doesn’t look like much on paper, but on the wrist, the larger display leaves extra space for keyboard keys and other important software buttons.
The biggest drawback is that the OnePlus Watch 2 doesn’t have a rotating crown, so I often had to wipe fingerprints off the screen during the day. Of course it’s not a deal breaker for me, but it would be nice if it was done less often.
judgment
If you don’t care much about health tracking, the OnePlus Watch 2 is a good choice. This is especially true for traveling to another country, as multi-day battery life makes it easy to wear the watch and enjoy the sights without having to worry about battery life along the way.
The larger display on the OnePlus Watch 2 also makes it easier for me to use apps, navigate, and reply to messages without having to pull the phone out of my pocket. If you find yourself in a public place and feel unsafe with your phone in your hand, this could be a game-changer.
But if health tracking data is the most important smartwatch feature to you, the Google Pixel Watch 2 is the king. Not only are the health tracking statistics themselves more accurate (including steps, heart rate tracking, stress data, sleep tracking, etc.), but the Fitbit app is better suited to health tracking data than OnePlus’ OHealth app.
I have no doubt that OnePlus will continue to improve and build its apps over the years, but for now, the Pixel Watch 2 is the watch to buy if you want to track workouts and steps or just make sure you get a good rest.