Xiaomi's budget watch gets a solid screen upgrade but not much else
The Redmi Watch 5 proves that budget smartwatches don't have to look or feel cheap, with the Xiaomi sub-brand continuing to cover the basics well. There's a lot to like here if you're new to smartwatches, particularly if you can pair it with an Android smartphone. However, if you're looking for vastly improved heart rate tracking or upgraded wellbeing features, you'll be left disappointed by this latest update. Utimately, it's not a whole lot different to the Watch 4.
Pros
- Really likeable design
- Slick Xiaomi HyperOS software
- Battery life has improved
Cons
- Heart rate tracking still not great
- Bluetooth call quality is only okay
- Too many half-baked features
The Redmi Watch 5 isn’t here to rival the industry’s best-performing smartwatches, and that’s by design. Instead, the Xiaomi sub-brand aims to deliver a taste of premium features for under $100, offering solid functionality in a sleek design that doesn’t look or feel cheap.
This latest addition is relatively pricey compared to other Redmi smartwatches. However, the trade-off is better materials, a bigger AMOLED display, and more battery life.
We praised last year’s Redmi Watch 4’s bold and stylish design. Yet, we also had reservations about the tracking performance. Has Xiaomi made upgrades that ease our concerns? Not exactly.
However, there are still plenty of users we think this smartwatch can do a job for. Read on for all the details from our testing.
Price and competition
The Redmi Watch 5, like the previous generation, is a very affordable smartwatch. It’s most often found around cheaper (like with our widget above) than its $89/£89 RRP, but, even still, it sits within the bracket of budget smartwatches.
Also like its predecessor, it’s easier to get in Europe than the US, where Redmi’s wearables presence is led by its headphone range.
The key competition here is devices like the Huawei Watch Fit 3, Honor Watch 5, and Amazfit Active 2. Both Huawei and Honor’s smartwatches sit above that $100 mark, but the Amazfit Active 2 will be priced much closer to the Redmi Watch 5 when it arrives in February 2025. All are solid performers.
Design and display
Redmi delivered a notable screen bump with the Watch 4. And for the Watch 5, the brand has gone bigger. While it sticks to the same 47mm case, there’s now a 2.07-inch AMOLED display, up from 1.97 inches on the predecessor. The 2.5D glass above this panel gives it a curvier, more elegant aesthetic.
The screen is very bright, offering up to 1,500 nits of brightness. It may be half the nits featured on the premium Apple Watch Ultra 2, but it’s a vibrant, punchy screen nonetheless—and especially at this price. The colors are rich, the black levels are deep, and it’s nicely responsive to swipes and taps. Thanks to that 2.5D glass design, there’s also some black screen bezel that’s nicely disguised.
The finish is mostly the same, but we don’t mind that. The predominantly aluminum matte alloy case combines well with the new-look screen, elevating the Watch 5’s look. This time, Redmi has delivered a thicker and slightly heavier case. But, again, this doesn’t detract from a very manageable watch to live with day and night.
For this generation, there are also grey, black, or purple straps to choose between. The more exercise-friendly TPU bands are easy to remove and swap for Xiaomi’s optional woven bands (shown above). However, we’ve had both to try and favored strapping on the woven band even during workouts.
On the side of that hulking display is a stainless steel crown that you can tap and twist to interact with Xiaomi’s HypeOS software. Twisting it activates the onboard linear motor, emitting a satisfying haptic vibration – a neat touch. The 5ATM (up to 50 meters depth) waterproof rating also means you can take it for a swim. It survived our dips in the pool and shower time during testing.
There’s plenty to like about the Watch 5’s design. It’s got a screen-dominating look, and, crucially, what’s happening around the display ensures this cheap smartwatch doesn’t feel all that cheap.
Smartwatch features
The Watch 5’s smart features depend on the paired smartphone. Connecting it to Android results in you receiving the full suite, which most notably includes the ability to load music onto it.
Everything else is up for grabs across different platforms. Xiaomi’s HyperOS lets you view your smartphone notifications once you’ve enabled support in the Mi Fitness app. A very glanceable widget shows off weather forecasts and features like remote photo capture, phone-finding, alarms, and timers.
Xiaomi has also been keen to highlight the Watch 5’s ability to handle calls over Bluetooth. Users can answer calls from your wrist if they grant full access to your contacts list.
The call quality is fine; it’s clear enough but not exceptionally loud, which is also our criticism of the Redmi Watch 5’s voice recorder app.
However, generally speaking, the software experience is likable. It might not provide the richer smartwatch functionality Xiaomi reserves for its more expensive smartwatches, but the Watch 5 doesn’t shortchange you on smarts. It’s just a shame the music features aren’t offered across all phones.
Sports and fitness tracking
Xiaomi supports over 150 sports here, covering core ones like running, cycling, and swimming, plus more niche profiles like HIIT, yoga, spinning, and racket sports. Should you feel compelled, you can even track chess or bridge.
There’s built-in GPS, supporting the major five satellite systems. Plus, the upgraded optical sensor setup is claimed to improve heart rate tracking accuracy by 5.2% and sleep tracking recognition by 10% compared to the Watch 4.
The GPS performance was as expected. It’s not as polished as a sports watch with more advanced GNSS support, and distance was frequently overreported. The GPS signal tended to notify us it was dropping out, and metrics like pacing and maximum heart rate readings were much higher than a dedicated heart rate monitor.
As all wearables do, the Watch 5 fared better in indoor environments with less hand movement. The swimming data was solid, though, with stroke counts matching the Form Smart Swim 2 goggles.
All told it’s not the worst-performing smartwatch at this price range that we’ve tested. But if you want exceptional sports tracking, don’t expect it from this latest Redmi watch.
Despite improved heart rate performance claims, we didn’t see it during exercise or day-to-day tracking. It typically trended much higher than other watches we’ve come to rely on for continuous monitoring. You can adjust the frequency of that monitoring – yet, even in its most accurate mode, insights like resting and maximum heart rate ranges were off.
Sleep monitoring performance
Mercifully, the Watch 5 is a little better at tracking sleep. Asleep and awake times were roughly similar to our Oura Ring, as were deep and REM sleep stages.
Sleep scores did tend to be more positive, while average heart rate data (again) was higher than our other test tracker. To provide more context around the tracked data, Xiaomi has also included some sleep suggestions and analysis powered by the Chinese Sleep Research Society. It explained why we should go to bed early, and the risks associated with a lack of sleep time.
Yet, the personalized style of advice we’re seeing with pricier wearables is (expectedly) scarce here.
The Watch 5 can monitor blood oxygen levels continuously during the night (and do the same for stress during the day), with the overall presentation remaining consistent and polished.
This data primarily lives in the Xiaomi Mi Fitness app, though you can share it with Apple Health, Google Fit, Strava, and Suunto. We had no issues pairing and syncing.
Battery life
Xiaomi says the Watch 5 offers 20% improved battery life performance compared to the Watch 4. In real terms, that means you now get 24 days in typical usage, up from 20 days. This bump also affects the always-on display (AOD) battery life, which was 10 days on the Watch 4.
As ever, the obvious things drain the battery quicker. The AOD mode is the biggest culprit here, but even the more accurate monitoring of metrics like heart rate and blood oxygen will have a noticeable impact. Regular use of GPS will, too. On that front, a 30-minute outdoor workout saw battery drop by 6%.
On lighter days when we weren’t using GPS or AOD mode, the battery drop was as little as 2-3%. Either of those features added to the mix drains the life much quicker, but the watch is still fully capable of lasting a week of use even in heavier usage.
Charging it requires a proprietary cable. However, the Watch 5 is, at least, relatively snappy at getting up to around 20-30% from flat. It means you don’t have to wait an achingly long time to get a few days of use out of it.
