The first OnePlus Watch was a bit underwhelming. Despite boasting an incredible nine-day battery life, it was more fitness tracker than smartwatch, and the proprietary RTOS software felt a bit underbaked at launch. While it received a few updates, it hasn’t had one since early 2022 and was quietly discontinued this year.
In the intervening time, OnePlus has released the cheaper, square OnePlus Nord Watch in India, but there’s been no sign of the main wearable getting a follow-up. Until now.
On X, the reliable leaker and AllAbout Samsung editor Max Jambor posted that a round watch would be coming in 2024. When one user replied that the first model “wasn’t good,” Jambor replied that the “OnePlus Watch 2 will be better.”
Circles seem to be OnePlus new signature style: Round OnePlus 11 CameraRound OnePlus 12 Camera Round OnePlus Pad CameraRound OnePlus Open CameraRound… Watch! 😉 Coming 2024!October 6, 2023
Hopefully, that’s insider knowledge rather than blind faith, but if it was, he wasn’t saying.
But Jambor isn’t the only one who has predicted that the OnePlus Watch 2 might be on the way. Last month, the leaker @realMlgmXyysd posted what she claimed to be full specs of the upcoming smartwatch, codenamed "star."
OPlus (OPPO/OnePlus) Watch 4 RoundModel: OWW231Project ID: 23912 (OP5D68)Codename: star (HuaQin ODM)Screen Type: Round (466x466)Color: White #E6E8FA20 / Black #00000010SoC: Qualcomm Snapdragon W5 Gen 1 Wearable Platform (monaco) & BES 2700#leakSeptember 14, 2023
If accurate, we’re looking at a Qualcomm Snapdragon W5 Gen 1 and BES 2700-powered smartwatch with a round face and a resolution of 466 x 466. It apparently supports eSIM, and will feature a blood oxygen sensor, a barometer, a stress sensor and "fist clench gestures."
While the leaker suggests this could be either OnePlus or Oppo depending on the region (the two are owned by the same parent companies), some recent Oppo wearables have had a square face rather than the round one tipped here and seen on the original OnePlus Watch. @realMlgmXyysd states that the switch to round faces is “because Google keeps making it difficult for OEMs who make square watches.”
Otherwise, there is OPPO Watch 4 Pro (or Round) for International Market in code, running WearOS. (Yes, the international version of the OPPO Watch 3 Pro is dead. Because Google keeps making it difficult for OEMs who make square watches.)September 14, 2023
That suggests that the OnePlus Watch 2 would be dropping its underbaked RTOS software in favor of something more familiar. And indeed, the specs list states that the watch features ColorOS for Watch 6.0. That’s based on Android 11 Go, but probably only for the Chinese version, with the global version more likely to opt for the Wear OS platform given the Snapdragon W5 Gen 1 processor (recently seen powering the freshly announced Pixel Watch 2.)
Take all of this with a pinch of salt until officially confirmed, but it feels like OnePlus isn’t done with the world of wearables just yet. We should find out for sure next year — or perhaps even sooner if OnePlus decides to drop a teaser during its upcoming OnePlus Open or OnePlus 12 launches.
