Apple Watch Killer from Xiaomi? Xiaomi Watch 5 : Insane GPS & Battery!
It’s no secret that battery endurance has always been the Achilles’ heel of Wear OS smartwatches, so when Xiaomi announced its Watch 5 with a massive 930mAh silicon-carbon (Si-C) battery, we were instantly intrigued. With claims of up to 6 days of regular use, which extends to 18 days in power save mode, Watch 5 offers the longest runtimes of any smartwatch running Android on the wrist.
Alongside the lofty battery claims, Xiaomi also outfitted the Watch 5 with a big 1.54” AMOLED touchscreen protected by sapphire glass and a premium stainless-steel casing. This is also the first smartwatch we’ve tested with a muscle-reading EMG sensor, which opens up an array of gesture-based controls.
Xiaomi Watch 5 specifications:
Dimensions: 47 x 47 x 12.3 mm
Build: Sapphire crystal glass, stainless steel frame (316L)
Weight (without strap): 56 grams
Straps: Detachable 22mm straps, 135-205mm adjustable length
Display: 1.54” AMOLED touchscreen, 480 x 480 px resolution, 60Hz refresh rate, 1,500 nits max brightness, Always-On Display (AOD), Sapphire Glass, Mohs level 9
Chipsets: Qualcomm Snapdragon W5 Gen 1 (4nm), BES2800 co-processor (6nm).
Memory: 32GB internal; 2GB RAM
Operating Systems: Google Wear OS 6, Xiaomi Vela OS
Features: 5ATM rating (50m depth), Real-time heart rate monitor, 24/7 blood oxygen level monitor, Sleep tracking, Stress monitoring, Sports tracking, Step Counter, Meditation, Notifications, Idle Alert, Phone Finder, Weather Forecast, Music and Camera Control, Alarm, Stopwatch, linear vibration motor
Sports Modes: Outdoor Run, Indoor Run, Outdoor Walk, Cycling, Hiking, Pool Swimming, Jump rope, Freestyle (150+ more in Mi Fitness app)
Sensors: Optical heart rate sensor, Accelerometer, Gyroscope, Ambient light sensor, Electronic compass sensor, Barometer sensor, IMU sensor, EMG sensor
Connectivity: Compatible with Android 6.0+, Bluetooth 5.4, Wi-Fi 2.4GHz, NFC, dual-band L1+L5 GNSS, microphone and speakers
Battery: 930mAh Si-C
Colors: Black, Juniper Green
We’ve been putting the Watch 5 through its paces and are finally ready to share our findings.
Table of Contents:
Design
Xiaomi Watch 5 leans into the traditional watch aesthetic with a fairly understated design. But one thing was immediately noticeable as soon as I strapped it on my wrist - it’s a substantial unit. My daily driver Huawei Watch Fit 3 instantly felt like a toy compared to the Watch 5.
At 56 grams (without the strap), Xiaomi’s flagship watch is even heavier than the Huawei Watch GT 6 Pro, which was my last encounter with a larger-sized wrist wearable. Once you get used to its dimensions, Watch 5 does not disappoint as the substantial weight and size come with the reassuring feeling of a premium, well-built device.
The shiny stainless-steel casing also adds to the premium vibe and is nicely complemented by the rotating crown button, which features a textured surface and tactile clicks. The programmable shortcut key below it also brings a firm click, which launches the workout app by default.
The 1.54” AMOLED touchscreen on the Watch 5 offers great viewing angles with a sharp and vibrant output and thin enough bezels. It’s protected by a sapphire glass layer, which is also used on the back side, where we have the sensors. It also brings thousands of watch face options with varied designs and lots of free options, with most also offering AOD functionalities.
The unboxing experience is pretty uneventful with the in-box contents boiling down to a two-pin magnetic charging puck, which ends in a USB-A connection. We feel like it’s time for Xiaomi to address that last part by either offering a modular puck like on the OnePlus Watch 3 or by implementing a USB-C connector at the end.
Watch 5 comes with a standard 22mm silicone strap, which you can easily swap out for any other design. Our review unit sports the Juniper green hue, and it has a nice textured pattern.
Software and Features
Like recent Oppo and OnePlus flagship smartwatches, Xiaomi Watch 5 takes a dual chipset and dual operating system approach to extend its running time. You get the yesteryear flagship Snapdragon W5 Gen 1 chip, which, even though several years old at this point, is still a mighty capable SoC for a wrist wearable. Xiaomi paired it with the tried and tested BES2800 co-processor, which takes over when you’re dealing with less intensive tasks.
It’s important to note that Watch 5 also uses a secondary real-time operating system (RTOS) that complements Google’s Wear OS 6. Enabling the Power saver mode shuts off Wear OS and all of its third-party apps and leaves you with Xiaomi’s barebones Vela OS.
The latter still provides the basic smartwatch experience, including health tracking and a smaller list of proprietary apps, while greatly extending battery life. By the way, switching back to Smart mode forces the watch to reboot, so you’ll be left with a few minutes of downtime when toggling between the two.
Wear OS is still arguably the most feature-rich wrist wearable operating system around. You’ll feel right at home coming from an Android phone, with all of your favorite apps being just a download away from the Play Store. There is the age-old limitation of not having iOS support on board, but it’s the same way on the other side, with Apple Watches not wanting to play nice with Android phones.