OnePlus Watch 2 and 2R users in India received the update late last year and quickly noticed their signature 3-day battery life was insufficient.
What you should know:
– OnePlus deployed Wear OS 5 to Watch 2 and 2R devices in the final week of December 2025, albeit only in certain regions like India.
– Users who got the update have reported significant battery depletion, reducing the 3-day forecast to 1–2 days.
– OnePlus initially promised the update in Q3 2025 but later adjusted its timeline to Q4 2025.
– OnePlus’s version of Wear OS 5 mainly features standard updates, including enhancements to Google apps and changes in animations.
Similar to a college student submitting their assignment to the professor at 11:59 p.m., OnePlus released its Wear OS 5 update to select OnePlus Watch 2 and 2R users on December 29, just making it under their self-imposed end-of-year deadline. As anticipated, this last-minute release has been creating issues ever since.
The OnePlus Watch 2 and Watch 2R, both launched in 2024 with Wear OS 4, were originally expected to get Wear OS 5 between July and September 2025; it wasn’t until Android Authority inquired about the delay in October that the company indicated the update would be available “in the near future.”
Now, some OnePlus Watch owners have received the update, but not all; for instance, my U.S.-based OnePlus Watch 2R still displays Wear OS 4 and the May 2025 security update. However, this might turn out to be a hidden advantage, considering the update’s consequences.
This Reddit discussion and numerous OnePlus forum threads have noted that the update is leading to severe battery drain. The Watch 2 and 2R could typically last around three days in smart mode before the update; currently, some users report it won’t even last a full day, despite attempting factory resets and other remedies.
“I’m completely disheartened and irritated by the significant battery drain issue affecting my OnePlus Watch 2 after the Wear OS 5 update,” laments one user. “My OnePlus Watch 2 drops from a full charge at 1:00 PM to a critical 10% by 11:00 PM with light usage.”
“Previously, I easily got 2.5 days with most settings on (at least 2 days)… Now I’m barely getting 1 day,” adds another user. A response indicated that his battery drain wasn’t as severe, but he had gone from 3–4 days down to “a strict 2 days” now.
Several users highlight specific applications responsible for the drain, such as the Weather app, Play Store, or “Wear OS” itself, yet the diversity implies this is a systemic issue rather than being tied to a single app.
What adds to users’ frustration is that stock Wear OS 5 is (A) a subtle update with minimal notable changes and (B) intended to enhance the efficiency of Wear OS, as observed on Pixel and Galaxy Watches. The OnePlus Watch 3 has been running this version since April without issues, making this unoptimized update on previous models disappointing.
Any brand can release a problematic update, but two weeks later, I expected OnePlus to either revert it or provide a timeline for fixes. Instead, OnePlus hasn’t made any official statement, based on what we’ve observed. My colleague contacted OnePlus regarding the update a few days ago, but we’ve yet to receive a response.
Having recommended the OnePlus Watch 2R as my top budget Android smartwatch choice, primarily due to its battery life, this update raises significant concerns for me. OnePlus must demonstrate that its commitment to two Wear OS updates and three years of security updates isn’t merely hollow promises, and that it will adequately support these devices.
As it stands, it’s noteworthy that the recent OnePlus Watch Lite completely bypassed Wear OS, utilizing a proprietary RTOS like the original OnePlus Watch.