Xiaomi has announced the Redmi Watch Movie, a watch with a passing resemblance to an Apple Watch that costs just a small fraction of the price.
The watch has only been announced for the Indian market so far, where it will cost INR 1,999, equivalent to a little under $25.
While it’s likely to cost more if it does eventually arrive in the U.S., its specs are still remarkable considering its position within the wider market.
The Redmi Watch Move has a high-resolution 1.85-inch AMOLED screen of 450 x 390 pixels, with sharpness comparable with just about any smartwatch available today. And while its 600-nit brightness won’t trouble an Apple Watch Ultra, which can reach up to 3000 nits, it’s still high enough for sound outdoors visibility.
Xiaomi claims it’s the “brightest & smoothest” screen in its class. But as its maximum refresh rate is 60Hz, this doesn’t seem a particularly substantive or meaningful claim.
The display does support an “always-on” display mode, another important addition that makes a smartwatch or fitness watch a much better watch.
This will reduce the battery life, but you’ll still looking at five days of use rather than the 14 days without the mode switched on — a fairly typical stamina level for a watch of this style.
The design does beyond the pure basics too. Its side-mounted crown acts as a rotary controller, for scrolling through the interface, and connecting with your phone’s assistant.
You can also make Bluetooth calls with the Redmi Watch Move, suggesting it has speaker as well as the pinhole microphone visible in Xiaomi’s product images.
To top off the impressive spread of features, it has a frankly excessive 140 exercise modes, and Xiaomi claims 97% tracking accuracy for its “health monitoring.” That includes heart rate and blood oxygenation, while the watch can also monitor sleep, stress and menstrual cycles.
Redmi Watch Move: The Cons
Where’s the catch? There are a couple of important ones.
The Redmi Watch Move only has IP68 water resistance, which is great for a phone but you ideally want 5ATM minimum for a watch. I wouldn’t recommend swimming with this thing on.
“The warranty does not cover liquid damage caused by conditions other than test conditions,” says the website, and the limit is holding it at 1.5m depth. Movement causes additional pressures on the watch’s water resistance.
The Redmi Watch Move does not have GPS either, so is not an advanced fitness watch. I expect it may be able to borrow a connected phone’s GPS signal, though, which is the next best thing.
April 24 is the Redmi Watch Move’s release date, although a release outside of India is yet to be confirmed.
