Xiaomi has many good cheap fitness trackers you can buy, like the Mi Smart Band 5, but its smartwatches so far have only come out in China, so international buyers couldn’t get them.
Well, that’s changing with the new Xiaomi Mi Watch as it’s getting a global release.
The Xiaomi Mi Watch was unveiled alongside the Mi 10T series of smartphones at a launch event from the company. Don’t confuse this Mi Watch with another product of the same name launched alongside the Mi Note 10, as that only came out in China.
We don’t know too much about the new Xiaomi Mi Watch just yet, as Xiaomi only confirmed a few of the device’s features and specs. We’ll run you through what information we do have, so you’re in the loop with this new smartwatch.
Cut to the chase
- What is it? A new smartwatch from Xiaomi
- When is it out? Currently unclear
- How much will it cost? €99 (around £90 / $115 / AU$160)
Xiaomi Mi Watch price and availability
The Xiaomi Mi Watch is set to cost €99 (about £90 / $115 / AU$160) but we don’t have exact prices for the UK, US or Australia.
A release date hasn’t been confirmed either, though we were told it was coming to the UK ‘later’ so it might see a staggered release.
Xiaomi releases its products in Australia, so it could come out there at some point too, but probably not the US, as the company hasn’t brought its other wearables there.
Design and display
The Xiaomi Mi Watch has a circular, thick body and has two crowns on the right side.
It comes in a variety of colors including black, beige, yellow, red, orange and green. It’s currently unclear what colors you’ll be able to buy as these may change depending on where you live. Both the strap and body come in your color of choice.
There doesn’t seem to be a physical bezel on the watch, and it looks as though the screen is slightly curved to the edges in a similar way to the Oppo Watch.
The display is 1.39 inches and uses AMOLED technology, so we’d expect it to be pretty bright and colorful. We’ve yet to learn much else about the design of the new wearable or how its display works.
Fitness
Xiaomi Mi Watch has 117 exercise modes, so we’d expect there to be many for rather niche sports alongside the usual options you’d expect like running, walking and cycling.
The Mi Watch has on-board GPS, a staple of many fitness focused watches, and it has six health sensors including an air pressure monitor and heart rate sensor. The whole list of sensors and fitness features hasn’t been detailed yet.
Specs and features
Perhaps the biggest piece of information we’re missing on the Xiaomi Mi Watch is the software it runs. The company’s China-only watches have used a fork of MIUI (the software Xiaomi phones use, which is itself a fork of Android), so maybe the watch will run this.
We could also see it on Wear OS from Google, or possibly the software used in Amazfit devices, as that company is owned by Huami which is owned by Xiaomi.
We do know some of the smartwatch’s features though, and they sound impressive. There are over 100 watch faces, the ability to use the watch as a remote shutter for your smartphone camera, support for emojis in notifications (not all smartwatches can do this), and the ability to control the watch with your voice.
In terms of battery life, according to Xiaomi the Mi Watch lasts 16 days between charges, which is pretty great battery life (and also evidence that Wear OS isn’t in use here, because that has a poor battery life). Charging time is aid to be two hours, which is a little slow, but negligible if you can use the device for over two weeks straight.