The new Mi Watch unveiled with Xiaomi’s take on WearOS
Xiaomi has been playing in the smartwatch space for a few years now with its fitness-centric Amazefit watches, but the company has finally unveiled its first device which it will be pitting against smartwatches form Apple and other Wear OS manufacturers. As you’d expect, the Xiaomi Mi Watch is powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon Wear 3100 processor with 1GB of RAM and 8GB of storage. Like Apple’s smartwatch, the Mi Watch features a squarish 1.78-inch AMOLED display which makes it stand out from the usual Wear OS devices we’ve seen over the past few years.
The watch also comes with GPS and NFC for mobile payments, eSIM support with 4G connectivity for making calls, a heart rate sensor for fitness and sleep tracking and a 570mAh battery which Xiaomi claims is enough to get most users through a day and a half before needing to be recharged.
ON the software side, the Xiaomi Mi Watch is running MIUI For Watch which is Xoaimi’s variation of Wear OS. Since the software deviates slightly from Google’s official built of the operating system (and that the watch is available exclusively in China at launch), it features its own app store so that users can download and install additional applications to run on the smartwatch. Xoaimi ahs take some liberties with the UI which makes it look completely different than what we’ve come to expect from WearOS and given it new features like the ability to browse the web and watch videos.
The basic model which features an aluminum frame will be sold for 1299 RMB ($186) and is available now. The Xiaomi Mi Watch with the stainless steel body will go on sale in December for 1999 RMB ($286). Both models will be exclusive to mainland China at launch.
