The original OnePlus Watch was somewhat underwhelming when it launched back in 2021, and one widely leveled criticism was the extreme limitations of its very basic proprietary Real-Time Operating System (RTOS).
We know that the OnePlus Watch 2 is set to launch in a matter of days at MWC 2024 in Barcelona, and the company has already teased an impressive-sounding 100-hour battery life. While OnePlus is yet to reveal whether it will keep the RTOS, we now have a hint that it could switch to Google’s Wear OS when it launches next week.
The hint comes from OnePlus’ sister company, Oppo, which announced on X that its upcoming Watch X will launch on February 29.
Meet your all-in-one companion, the #OPPOWatchX. Launching on 29 February 2024. Stay tuned! #ElevateEveryMoment pic.twitter.com/b0wekt1coqFebruary 23, 2024
You’ll note that the hardware looks near identical to the early press images of the OnePlus Watch 2, right down to the angular side-mounted buttons. And this is no surprise given the two companies share hardware designs — just compare the Oppo Find N3 and OnePlus Open or the OnePlus 8 Pro and Oppo Find X2 Pro.
But the more important thing to spot from Oppo’s tweet is the tiny “Wear OS by Google” logo underneath the strapline. A footnote at the bottom of the image adds that it requires Android 8.0 or later.
If Oppo is using Wear OS, then it seems almost certain that OnePlus also is. It’s technically possible that the OnePlus Watch 2 could diverge from Oppo and persist with its RTOS but it doesn’t seem likely given what we know about the two company’s relationship.
On top of that, an FCC listing has revealed the OnePlus Watch 2 to be packing a 500mAh battery, and that would likely give a lot longer than 100 hours on RTOS. After all, the original OnePlus Watch went 14 days (336 hours) on a single charge, and it only had a 402mAh cell.
To be clear, 100 hours — or just over four days — with Wear OS would be an impressive achievement. Even the TicWatch 5 Pro, with its enormous 628mAh battery, only promises 80 hours, so it will be interesting to see what sacrifices OnePlus has in mind to hit the 100-hour target.
We don’t have long to find out. The OnePlus Watch 2 will officially be revealed on Monday, February 26, and suffice it to say we’ll have all the details and analysis you could want here on the day itself.
