For years, Samsung has largely stood unchallenged in the Wear OS smartwatch segment, but the landscape is set for change this year. Two major smartphone brands, OnePlus and Xiaomi, have stepped into the arena with their new Wear OS-powered smartwatches, which will go head-to-head with Samsung’s Galaxy Watch 6.
New Contenders: OnePlus Watch 2 and Xiaomi Watch 2
The OnePlus Watch 2 marks OnePlus’s inaugural foray into Wear OS smartwatches, while Xiaomi is building on its range with the Xiaomi Watch 2. Both models feature 1.43-inch circular OLED displays boasting a resolution of 466 x 466 pixels. Powering these devices is the 4nm Snapdragon W5+ Gen 1 processor, accompanied by 2GB of RAM and 32GB of internal storage, and they operate on Wear OS 4.
The OnePlus Watch 2 promises up to 100 hours of battery life, thanks to its 500mAh battery and a dual-processor system. A secondary BES 2700 chip handles lighter tasks like notifications and time display, conserving power for when users access full apps and features where the primary Snapdragon chipset takes over. Conversely, the Xiaomi Watch 2, which has a slight design resemblance to the Galaxy Watch 4, offers a 495mAh battery with up to 65 hours of battery life.
Features and Specifications
Both smartwatches come equipped with essential sensors, including an accelerometer, barometer, dual-frequency GPS, gyro, heart rate sensor, and pulse oximeter for comprehensive health and fitness tracking. However, they do fall short in features like ECG and Fall Detection, which are absent from both models. The Xiaomi Watch 2 stands out with its Bioelectrical Impedance Analysis (BIA) sensor for assessing body composition.
Other similarities include a microphone, loudspeaker for voice calls, IP68 dust and water resistance, as well as Bluetooth 5.2/5.3, Wi-Fi b/g/n, and NFC for connectivity. Notably, Xiaomi offers an LTE option for its watch, which the OnePlus counterpart lacks. In contrast, Samsung’s Galaxy Watch range consistently provides LTE variants for users.
Charging Features and Pricing
Charging methods diverge as OnePlus and Xiaomi opt for pogo pins, while the Samsung Galaxy Watch series employs a more user-friendly induction-based wireless charging solution. The OnePlus Watch 2 is priced at around €299, and Xiaomi Watch 2 starts at a lower price point of €199.
When compared to the Galaxy Watch 6’s €269 starting price in Europe, Samsung’s offering includes additional health features like a brighter screen, blood pressure monitoring, ECG, and Fall Detection, plus the potential for faster and longer software update support due to its close relationship with Google.
With Samsung’s longstanding presence and commitment to updates, it’s yet to be seen how these new competitors will fare against the Galaxy Watch 6, which boasts a highly customizable experience and advanced health-monitoring capabilities. Watch a detailed review of the Galaxy Watch 6 Classic for more insights.
Check out the Galaxy Watch 6 Classic review video below for further details:
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