The Mi Watch offers a familiar square and circular watch form-factors. A bigger screen is definitely appealing for most users because it’s easier navigate and use. The Mi watch’s battery lasts days rather than hours that we see in more premium brands such as the Apple watch. Having one less device to constantly charge everyday is a relief for me. These two smartwatch models borrow a lot of cues from the Mi band series which are Xiaomi’s popular fitness bands. The Mi Watch has most of the features found in the Mi bands such as Watch faces, Music controls, Alarm, Timer, Stopwatch, Weather, Find phone, Flashlight, Notifications, Messaging, Incoming calls alerts, activity reminder, heart rate alert, goal alerts. You also get fitness tracking features like Heart rate monitoring, various fitness modes, Sleep monitoring, breathing exercises, SpO2 Blood oxygen monitor etc. The differences between the Mi Watch Lite and its Pro version are few but significant as we shall later see.
Mi Watch Lite/Redmi Watch GPS
Mi Watch Lite top features;
Heart rate monitor11 workout modes Built-in GPSCompass Air pressure monitor Music controlsFlashlight App notifications 5 ATM water resistance
The Mi Watch Lite weighs 35g, sports a 1.4″ TFT 323 ppi colored touch display, 9-day battery, a built-in GPS/GLONASS and features continuous heart rate monitor and over 100 watch faces.You get upto 11 workout modes such as Outdoor running, Treadmill, Outdoor cycling, Indoor, cycling, Freestyle, Walking, Trekking, Trail run, Pool swimming, Open water swimming, Cricket. I have been using the Mi Watch Lite for a couple of weeks now. I use it to track my workout sessions, steps and calorie count, track sleep quality and of course time. While the watch works most of the time, I feel that it’s still a very unpolished product. This shouldn’t come as a surprise since this is the first iteration of this watch. The setup process took me a while to complete. The GPS wasn’t as accurate as other smartwatches I have used like the Amazfit GTS. The user interface isn’t responsive. Tapping on icons takes a while for an action to register. The raise to wake feature where you raise your wrist to wake the watch sometimes doesn’t work. Overall the experience isn’t that smooth. Read more: Mi Watch Lite(Redmi GPS Watch) review: Budget smartwatch with built-in GPS The Mi Watch Lite lacks an SpO2 blood oxygen monitor which is present in the more costly Mi Watch. SpO2 is kind of becoming a standard across most smartwatches and fitness bands in 2021. Even the cheaper fitness bands like the Mi band 6, Honor band 6 have SpO2 sensor. This Watch Lite is generally good for daily use. For a sub $50 price tag, this Mi watch Lite is the best bargain for a Smartwatch with GPS you can buy today.
Mi Watch
Mi Watch top features;
SpO2 Blood Oxygen monitor 117 workout modes Built-in GPSAlways-on display5 ATM water resistance
The Mi Watch weighs 32g, sports a 1.39″ 326 ppi AMOLED display, 16-day battery, built-in GPS/GLONASS/Galileo/BDS and features SpO2 blood oxygen monitoring, continuous heart rate monitor, and over 100 watch faces. You also get 117 workout modes such as Triathlon, Outdoor running, Treadmill, Walking, Outdoor cycling, Trekking, Open water, Indoor cycling, Elliptical, Trail run, Hiking, Pool swimming, Rower, Jump rope, HIIT, Yoga, Freestyle. The Mi Watch’s AMOLED display is much sharper and brighter than the Lite’s TFT color touch display. Instead of square-shape of the Lite, the Mi Watch follows a circular design language. For an extra $50, you get a more precise built-in GPS that also supports other GPS versions such as Galileo and BDS. So if you are an athlete or serious about the accuracy of your workout sessions, then the Mi Watch is a much better buy than the Lite version. You also get an SpO2 blood oxygen monitor with the Mi Watch. SpO2 measures the level of oxygen in the bloodstream which has its applications such as high altitude hiking or even checking up on your overall health. Read more: Mi Watch is Xiaomi’s Smartwatch with GPS and Blood Oxygen monitoring With a 420 mAh battery, the Mi Watch offers much longer battery life than the Lite version(230 mAh). You’ll get 16-day battery performance with the Mi Watch compared to 9 days battery with the Lite. Also the charging cables of these smartwatches are different owing to their different shapes. You get a circular magnet charging dock with the Mi Watch while the Lite version comes with non-magnet square charging dock.
