{"id":219854,"date":"2025-06-27T23:35:16","date_gmt":"2025-06-27T23:35:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/219854\/"},"modified":"2025-06-27T23:35:16","modified_gmt":"2025-06-27T23:35:16","slug":"the-oneplus-watch-2r-is-the-best-budget-android-watch-ive-tested-and-now-its-another-50-off","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/219854\/","title":{"rendered":"The OnePlus Watch 2R is the best budget Android watch I’ve tested, and now it’s another $50 off"},"content":{"rendered":"

I’m always looking for better battery life in my smartwatches. I expect weeks of life in a fitness watch, but OnePlus impressed me last year with the OnePlus Watch 2R<\/a> by delivering 3\u20134 days and the full Wear OS experience with Assistant. It slipped under the radar for many Android fans, but its deal price now makes it worth a second look.<\/p>\n

The OnePlus Watch 2R normally costs $229 \u2014 already a good value \u2014 but drops down to $179 on OnePlus’s site<\/strong><\/a> with the discount code “JUNE25.” It’s not that much cheaper than the Galaxy Watch 7 at $199<\/a>, to be fair, but some Android fans should seriously consider my dark-horse favorite watch from last year.<\/p>\n

For about half the price of the upgraded OnePlus Watch 3<\/a>, you get the same performance as most other Wear OS watches<\/a>, but paired with 500mAh capacity and OnePlus’s unique coprocessor that’s more efficient at running background tasks. My Galaxy Watch Ultra<\/a> hits about the same battery life with 590mAh capacity, and it costs and weighs much more.<\/p>\n

The OnePlus Watch 2R is on the thick side for a watch, but since it weighs 22g\/0.8oz less than the OnePlus Watch 3, I don’t think you’ll mind. And I think you’ll like its sporty look, with the silver case and 24-hour GMT scale bezel around the display.<\/p>\n

Need evidence? I held a smartwatch beauty pageant with my family<\/a> last Christmas, and the Watch 2R beat the Pixel Watch 3, several Galaxy Watches, an Apple Watch, and some fitness watches; it only lost to a hybrid watch, which barely counts. For non-techie people, the Watch 2R makes an impression.<\/p>\n

OnePlus Watch 2R or 3?<\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n

(Image credit: Michael Hicks \/ Android Central)<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, the OnePlus Watch 3<\/a> costs about double the 2R ($349), but you get several key hardware upgrades<\/a> like a functional crown, new health sensors, a brighter display with faster refresh rates, an extra year of software support, and an upgraded coprocessor.<\/p>\n

The downside is that it’s quite heavy compared to the 2R, but OnePlus will launch a smaller Watch 3 43mm<\/a> on July 8, though we don’t know the official price or battery life yet. You can save $30<\/a> by subscribing to OnePlus’s newsletter, so assuming the price hasn’t changed, you must choose whether $319 for the best experience or $179 for the Watch 2R fits your budget.<\/p>\n

Even though the Watch 3 43mm will be technically better, the Watch 2R doesn’t feel like a compromise compared to other brands. It’s due to receive Wear OS 5 soon, and most likely Gemini with it, so the software will still feel fresh. And it’ll spare you the headache of frequent charging you get with most smartwatches.<\/p>\n

OnePlus Watch 2R alternatives<\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n

(Image credit: Michael Hicks \/ Android Central)<\/p>\n

The Galaxy Watch 7<\/a> is a good alternative right now at $199. It’s our current pick for best Android watch<\/a>, at least until the Galaxy Watch 8<\/a> supplants it, and it’ll get one more year of support despite arriving the same year as the Watch 2R.<\/p>\n

But I still think some people will prefer the OnePlus Watch 2R option, simply for that extra efficiency and charging speed. It’ll depend on which type of Android phone you have: Samsung watches have a lot of exclusive features requiring Galaxy phones, while the Watch 2R works seamlessly on any Android brand.<\/p>\n

You can also go even cheaper with a Galaxy Watch FE or TicWatch Pro 5<\/a>, both majorly discounted right now on Amazon. Of the two, the Pro 5 has comparable performance, display quality, and battery life, but Mobvoi’s slow updates and lack of Google Assistant make it a little harder to recommend. And Samsung’s Fan Edition hardware is too outdated, in my opinion. Look at your options, but consider the Watch 2R first.<\/p>\n

Today’s best Android watch deals<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"I’m always looking for better battery life in my smartwatches. I expect weeks of life in a fitness…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":219855,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3160],"tags":[1685,53,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-219854","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-gadgets","8":"tag-gadgets","9":"tag-technology","10":"tag-uk","11":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114757955603736152","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/219854","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=219854"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/219854\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/219855"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=219854"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=219854"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=219854"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}