OnePlus and Xiaomi launch Wear OS smartwatches to rival Galaxy Watch 6

Samsung hasn't had any credible competition in the Wear OS smartwatch space for a few years. However, starting this year, the company will face tough competition as rival smartphone brands have entered the Wear OS smartwatch space. OnePlus and Xiaomi have launched their new smartwatches running Wear OS to compete with the Galaxy Watch 6.

OnePlus Watch 2 and Xiaomi Watch 2 use 4nm Snapdragon W5+ Gen 1 processor

OnePlus Watch 2 is the company's first Wear OS-based smartwatch, while Xiaomi Watch 2 is its second Wear OS-based wearable. Both these devices sport 1.43-inch circular OLED screens with 466 x 466 pixels resolution. They use Qualcomm's 4nm Snapdragon W5+ Gen 1 processor, 2GB RAM, and 32GB storage, and they run Wear OS 4.

While the OnePlus Watch 2 uses a 500mAh battery and claims to offer 100-hour battery life, the Xiaomi Watch 2 uses a 495mAh battery for 65-hour battery life. And that's because the OnePlus Watch 2 uses a secondary processor —BES 2700—for smaller tasks like receiving notifications and displaying the watch face. The primary processor (Snapdragon W5+ Gen 1) is used when using apps and other advanced features. The Xiaomi Watch 2 looks like a Galaxy Watch 4 ripoff in terms of design.

Both smartwatches feature an accelerometer, barometer, dual-frequency GPS, gyro, heart rate sensor, and pulse oximeter for fitness, health, sleep, and stress monitoring. They lack advanced features like ECG and Fall Detection, though. The Xiaomi Watch 2 has Bioelectrical Impedance Analysis (BIA) for body composition measurement.

They both feature a microphone and a loudspeaker for voice calls and an IP68 rating for dust and water resistance. Their connectivity features include Bluetooth 5.2/5.3, Wi-Fi b/g/n, and NFC. Only Xiaomi's smartwatch comes with a cellular (LTE) connectivity option. The OnePlus smartwatch lacks a cellular variant altogether. In comparison, all Galaxy Watches come in LTE versions for effortless workouts, calls, and messages when you leave your phone at home.

Unlike the Galaxy Watch series, OnePlus and Xiaomi watches use pogo pins for charging. Samsung's Galaxy Watch lineup uses induction-based wireless charging, which is more convenient. The OnePlus Watch 2 is priced at €299, while the Xiaomi Watch 2 starts at €199.

In comparison, the Galaxy Watch 6 starts at €269 in Europe, which is just €20 higher despite featuring a much brighter screen, blood pressure monitoring, ECG, Fall Detection, and higher customizability. Moreover, Samsung smartwatches will likely get software updates faster and for a longer period due to its closer collaboration with Google. You can watch our Galaxy Watch 6 Classic review in the video below.