Xiaomi Mi Watch review

That’s why Xiaomi’s Mi Watch seemed, at first glance, a tough proposition: a smartwatch, but one pitched at the very bottom of the price range. Anything below this, and you’re in fitness band territory. We loved the Xiaomi Mi Band 6, but that comes with a £39.99 price tag, but the Mi Watch is three times the price. Is it worth the extra spend?

Read on to find out what we made of the Xiaomi Mi Watch. For an in-depth run-down of our favourite wearables, don’t miss our best smartwatch and best Android smartwatch lists.

Jump to:

• What is the Xiaomi Mi Watch?
• How much is the Xiaomi Mi Watch?
• Design
• Features
• Xiaomi Mi Watch set-up
• Our verdict
• Where to buy

Xiaomi Mi Watch review: summary

Our infatuation with Xiaomi continues with this pretty and reliable, though not entirely perfect, mid-range wearable. The Chinese brand has truly impressed us with the Mi Watch’s substantial 1.39-inch AMOLED display and easy-to-navigate UI system. You’re unlikely to get much from the blood oxygen and stress functions, but if you’re after an affordable wearable that looks good outside of the gym or running track, this is the best we’ve put to the test.

The Xiaomi Mi Watch is available at Amazon. We've listed the best current offers below.

What is the Xiaomi Mi Watch?

Although it’s the brand’s most expensive smartwatch, the Mi Watch is very much Xiaomi’s mid-range offering in the wearables market (the brand’s remit is affordable and youth-focused). It has a noticeably better quality build and larger display than the budget-friendly Mi Band 6, which is £80 cheaper.

You’ll also find there’s a Mi Watch Lite available. We’re yet to put this to the test, but we can tell you that the main differences between the two wearables are that the Lite features a tap-based screen and a boxy display. There's a substantial price difference: the Lite is £70 cheaper.

What does the Xiaomi Mi Watch do?

The Mi Watch offers the following features:

• 24-hour heart rate tracking, along with a blood oxygen (Sp02) sensor and a stress tracker that measures your HRV (heart rate variability).
• 117 workout modes are included, which will measure stats during exercise, like the distance you’ve covered and the calories you’ve burned.
• The Mi Watch offers built-in GPS, so you can leave your phone at home while you’re out running.
• Your sleep quality is measured and ranked to a score between one and 100.
• It will relay notifications like texts, emails and social media alerts from your smartphone, and can be used to operate the music you’re playing.

How much is the Xiaomi Mi Watch?

The Mi Watch has an RRP of £119.

Is the Xiaomi Mi Watch good value for money?

Very much so. Xiaomi is a brand that aims its products at the budget-friendly and mid-range corners of the market, and does so with great aplomb with the Mi Watch.

At the price of £119, we would argue it still constitutes a budget wearable, but its classic design and large display make it look like a piece of tech that you might easily spend another £100 on.

Yes, its features wouldn’t warrant that extra spend - but they’re by-and-large very good for this price point.

Xiaomi Mi Watch design

Where Xiaomi’s Mi Band watches are bright, simplistic and sporty-looking, the Mi Watch looks more like a classic timepiece, with a traditional lug-style strap and muted colour range. The strap itself is incredibly comfortable and held neatly in place by two separate toggles.

The Mi Watch is available in three colours: beige, navy blue and black. Our test sample was the beige-coloured version, and we genuinely liked it. Xiaomi has clearly thought about colours that won’t look too garish in general day-to-day life: you could very much wear this at the office and it wouldn’t look out of place.

Interestingly, it’s that ample 1.39-inch display that might turn some people off the Mi Watch: it might look a bit over-sized on smaller wrists. It might be because we’re now old enough for reading glasses, but we really liked the plus-size display. It's not often we find ourselves wondering if a smartwatch's display is too big, after all. Better still was the ‘always-on’ option, which will keep the Mi Watch’s display on indefinitely, rather than just for the typical five seconds. Yes, it will takes its toll on the battery, but we always think there’s nothing sadder than seeing a blank wearable on your wrist.

The excellent design extends to the Mi Watch’s UI, too. We were very happy to see the various functions laid out in a grid-style display, which you access via a second tap of the home button. This is one of two buttons that make the interface a far smoother experience: we never like to rely on a touchscreen (although the Mi Watch’s is smooth and lag-free).

Xiaomi Mi Watch features

In its various functions, the Mi Watch was more of a mixed bag. Basic features like the heart rate sensor worked faultlessly, and are well displayed in the Xiaomi Wear app. It’s hard to fault the range of 117 sports modes available, either - especially when they’re facilitated by built-in GPS.

That’s a handy feature of the Mi Watch: you needn’t rely on your phone’s GPS tracking if you go out for a walk or run. When we took this smartwatch out for a run, we found it delivered a mostly accurate reading of our location, with only a shortish delay. Such journeys can be stored away in the watch and assessed and compared later.

Other features weren’t unreliable so much as unconvincing. The Mi Watch features an SpO2 sensor that measures your blood oxygen levels, but does little to explain these percentage readings to you. You’re best to mention these stats to your doctor if you want them to mean anything.

In fairness, this isn’t an issue unique to Xiaomi: increasing numbers of wearables feature a blood oxygen sensor, but with little in the form of interpretation. We get the feeling the tech is being introduced to wearables largely as window-dressing right now. With any luck, the next generation of smartwatches will offer more in the way of SpO2 metrics and analysis.

The Mi Watch will serve as a reliable extension of your phone, too, relaying all the usual notifications, though (unsurprisingly at this price point) it doesn’t have a built-in cellular unit for you to make or receive calls. Similarly, you can use the watch to control the music playing from your phone, but it doesn’t offer any built-in music storage.

Outdoorsy types might appreciate a couple of features tucked among the Mi Watch’s features grid, namely an altimeter and compass.

What is the Xiaomi Mi Watch battery like?

Xiaomi promises a maximum of 16 days from the Mi Watch in 'typical usage' and up to 22 days in long battery mode. Then, if you repeatedly use the outdoors sport functions, it should last for 50 hours.

We were impressed by the Mi Watch’s battery life, finding it only dropped by 7% after a morning of various feature and function testing. It was also nice to see a flat magnetic charging connection offered too

Xiaomi Mi Watch set-up: how easy is it to use?

As we’ve already tested another Xiaomi wearable, we had a little head start in the set-up process, as we already had the Xiaomi Wear app downloaded on our phone. But if we were to factor that in, the set-up of time for the Mi Watch is around seven or eight minutes.

Say what you like about tech journalists who get as excited as we do about a product’s packaging, but we really did love the Mi Watch’s fun, slender, yellow box. It’s decidedly un-sporty-looking, which tells you something about the broad appeal of this smartwatch. It was great to open it up to find the watch laid out unbuckled inside.

Take note: unless you’re planning to charge the Mi Watch from a mains-powered device, you’ll need to get hold of a wall adaptor, as there isn’t one included.

The Mi Watch arrives in a state of slumber: we needed to charge it for a few minutes before it came to life at 87% battery. Downloading the Xiaomi Wear app went hitch-free, and when we went into the app to search for the Mi Watch, we managed to pair it with our iPhone with no issue at all.

Our verdict: should you buy the Xiaomi Mi Watch?

If fitness is your focus, we’d advise you to save money and consider Xiaomi’s fabulous Band 6 instead. The truth is that, these days, you can pick up a perfectly reliable series of metrics and trackers on your wrist for less than £50. If you're interested in more advanced fitness tracking you can justify spending more, and consider either the Fitbit Versa or Garmin Forerunner 45.

But, if you’re seeking out a smartwatch that’s comfortable on the wrist and easy on the eye, we would argue the Xiaomi Mi Watch is the best value option out there.

Rating:

• Design: 4.5/5
• Features
  • Functions: 3.5/5
  • Battery: 4/5
• Value for money: 4/5
• Ease of set-up: 4/5

Overall rating: 4/5

Where to buy the Xiaomi Mi Watch watch

The Xiaomi Mi Watch is available to buy at Amazon. You'll find the best offers listed directly below.

Look for a super-cheap wearable? Take a look at our pick of the best smartwatch deals.