Verdict
The Redmi Watch 4 is a tatty smartwatch that makes some nice design change from its predecessor and is overall pretty sympathetic for something that comport more like a fitness watch than smartwatch , though does n’t quite outperform the similarly price competition .
Pros
Cons
Key Features
Introduction
The Redmi Watch 4 is the Xiaomi sub - brand ’s latest affordable smartwatch that ’s aim to offer more economic value for money – particularly in the smell department .
It ’s ramped up the screen quality , lawsuit materials and is also take in it loose to mix up the straps . There ’s also promise improvements when tracking your wellness and wellness and it ’s give battery life a boost too .
The budget end of the smartwatch market place is definitely set about more competitive , so is the Redmi Watch 4 one that impresses ? Here are my thoughts .
Design and screen
Redmi sticks with a square smartwatch excogitation and the option of black or grey-headed example colours , and the size of that slip has grown quite significantly from the Watch 3 .
It ’s moved from a 42mm - sized font to a larger 47.5 mm one . That has , however , seen a jump in showcase heaviness going from 9.99 mm to 10.5 mm , so you ’re swapping more silver screen acres for a less svelte lookout man overall .
It ’s heavier too , though by no means a loom smartwatch to endure in malice of that bigger screen . Redmi also swapped plastic for aluminium to give the frame of the Watch 3 a more high - mark flavour . It ’s still quite a minimalist , simple design , but the metallic element gain is welcomed here . There ’s also a stainless brand picket crown that can be crusade and twisted , with haptic feedback providing supernumerary feedback to those winding .
The case is connected to a TPU strap that ’s quickly take away with a wardrobe of a button on the posterior . The shoulder strap itself is one of the more awkward ones I ’ve arrive across , largely down to the clutch mechanism , which hold it quite a stressful strap to put on . Once it ’s on it does n’t shift , but getting it on in the first place is a pain .
And so to that filmdom . It ’s a 1.97 - in , 450×390 resolutionAMOLEDdisplay . That ’s the same resolution as the Watch 3 , but now spread over a large blank space . The event is a colour screen where semblance are a touch saturate , though it is an extremely bright and seeable screen .
It ’s get a max 600 nit of brightness , so not quite as bright asPixel see 2or theSamsung Galaxy Watch 6 , but it felt almost torch - the like at nighttime . There is an always - on display mode here , with Redmi promising up to 10 days battery spirit when you keep that screen on at all sentence .
A 5ATMwater resistance rating does think it ’s a smartwatch suitable for drown . I ’ve take it for a swim in a pool and kept it on when jumping in the exhibitor and the Redmi Watch 4 has survived the douse and soaking .
Performance and software
In typical Redmi ( and Xiaomi ) fashion , details on the central processor and intragroup memory are n’t partake in here , but what we do bang is that the Redmi Watch 4 runs on Xiaomi ’s HyperOS operating system . That ’s an O that ’s compatible with Android phones and iPhones and uses Xiaomi ’s MiFitness associate app to get thing lay up and paired to your smartphone .
The MiFitness app is split up down to show your health and fittingness metrics , allow you track out-of-door exercising , adjust vigil setting and also link it to apps that admit Apple Health and Strava .
It ’s a functional app , easy to get around , though not on the button the slickest - see companion smartwatch app I ’ve encountered . This is a place where you could find more picket faces , adjust the degree of health monitoring and compete against other Redmi or Xiaomi Watch - owning friends and their activeness cover stats .
The watch OS is your pretty distinctive motion - based apparatus . Swipe up from the main watch screen to see the quick control , pinch down to see your notification current or swipe leave or right to see your current of datum widgets that can be customised and changed . interact with the software program is smooth and the UI is well optimize to that larger straight face .
As a smartwatch , you ’re catch support to view telling , control music playback , check your calendar and there is the ability to take cry via Bluetooth thanks to the onboard speaker and microphone .
That call functionality also enables an emergency call mode where you’re able to three-fold - press the sentinel poll to alert your pinch physical contact . Your earpiece will of course need to be nearby to make this feature film a utilitarian one .
The smartwatch functionality here is on the basic side , but what does come out here function fine . Notifications do n’t find cramp on that gravid silver screen , weather condition forecast and the calendar UI are well presented and the medicine restraint are nicely optimised too .
Tracking and features
For an affordable smartwatch the Redmi Watch 4 does pack in a middling amount of feature article on the fitness and sport tracking front . There ’s built - in GPS , so no leaning on your telephone set to good track out-of-door workout . This is a smartwatch that will track your warmness , blood atomic number 8 and stress . The optic detector doing that is now a 4 - channel setup designed to advance overall accuracy . If you want to apportion your information , Redmi offer the power to send your stats to Apple Health , Google Fit and Strava .
There ’s a multi GNSS chipset , so not the more on - trend dual - band funding we are starting to see on some smartwatches and mutant vigil to boost outdoor trailing truth . Among the 150 or so mutation profile , some admit a new warm - up element to get you limber before your workout . This is something Huawei has similarly offer on some of its watches .
Redmi also offers some training penetration to verify you ’re not exaggerate it , while Modern contrabandist can benefit from some preloaded workouts to show you what an separation session calculate like .
As a fittingness tracker , you ’ve get a gracious dedicated screen and widget for that on the watch , and it ’s Redmi ’s take on Apple ’s Move ring . Accuracy - wise , I ’ve been using it against a Garmin watch and theOura Ring Gen 3to liken data . I found on some day that the whole step enumeration amount had a conflict of just 500 footfall , while on other day it was closer to 1000 . I never expected it to match with the other vesture , but also did n’t find the totals too wildly out . need - wise , you’re able to coiffure up inactivity reminders , but that ’s about as far as things get to nudging you to keep moving .
When you take it to bottom , the Redmi Watch 4 will rate your nap quality , and break down sleep stages , though you need to enable more detailed monitoring to capture rapid eye movement sleep rest . It will also becharm sleep centre rate and bid additional breathing scores too . Like enabling REM eternal sleep trailing , though , tote up breathing scores into the mix hits the battery life harder . When you chase after data for seven day , you ’ll also get a designated sleep animal to help define the case of sleeper you are . This is something Samsung add to its smartwatches recently too .
I assume the Redmi Watch 4 to layer with the Oura Ring Gen 3 , one of the best sleep tracking wearables I ’ve essay . I obtain core sleep stats like nap duration , as well as recondite and light sleep phase numbers , were n’t radically different from Oura ’s data point . Sleeping heart rate , however , was abnormally gamey . My sleep middle charge per unit is typically in the 40 bpm range , and the Watch 4 intimate it was close to 60 - 70 metronome marking on some nights . The sleep animate being facet add up a fun element to pass over here , while staple sleep stats feel good if some of the extra ones were n’t quite reliable for me .
When you switch to sports tracking modality , this is a watch that offers a lot and I imagine – like a lot of more low-priced smartwatches – does n’t quite drive home in all departments . I ’ll start with that upgraded heart pace monitor , which for day - to - day heart rate monitoring reported high readings compared to the uninterrupted trailing on a very reliable Garmin sentry . During exercise , the mediocre and maximal center rate readings were very off from a tenderness rate reminder chest strap , even for pretty soft paced workouts .
When you ’re putting the GPS performance to use , I ’ve found that likewise price smartwatches from Huawei and Honor have performed better for distance trailing and nailing metrics like pace . It ’s going to be fine for cursory fitness devotee , but you could definitely get better truth elsewhere . In the swimming pool it performed well for space tracking , footstep and stroke counts and were broadly in blood line with two other swim tracker I used it against .
The doubtfulness marks of the accuracy of those sensor throw dubiousness over some of the extra perceptivity that Redmi promises here . thing like VO2 Max , retrieval time and less so its Vitality scores are tie to tracking exercise on a regular groundwork , as opposed to heart charge per unit where truth is definitely sketchy .
Battery life
Owning a budget smartwatch has its advantages over sentinel like theApple Watchor Samsung Galaxy Watch , like enjoying bigger battery life , and that ’s certainly the shell here with the Redmi Watch 4 .
Along with that liberal display Redmi has get the content of the stamp battery with it , moving to a larger 470mAh one . That battery promises up to 20 days in what Redmi view as distinctive usage . That drops to 10 solar day if you keep the screen on at all time , and maxes out at 30 days in a long shelling modality where you ’ll only be able to get across steps and see the sentence in this mode .
The battery preferences on the watch gives you an idea of the remain battery aliveness you have to toy with , which is typically a feature you ’d need to jump into the companion app to see .
As far as get that 20 days of battery life , I ’d say that number is optimistic . weary it all day and in seam with notifications enabled , continuous health monitoring and track some exercise sees the battery cliff - off was on average 10 % . With the screen set to always - on , the battery drop is perceptibly more knockout . Within 10 min of switching to the always - on mode , it had drop by 5 % .
As is typically the case here , what you use on a everyday groundwork or decide to track overnight will dictate the kind of stamp battery you ’ll enjoy . It can absolutely go for a week , but to get those top numbers , you ’ll need to restrict the feature you expend a clean bit .
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Should you buy it?
The Redmi Watch 4 keeps to the smartwatch basic principle , but does at least spread them across a big , undimmed gloss display .
As a bundle , there are decidedly better options uncommitted around the same price . Check out ourBest Smartwatchguide for more alternative .
Final Thoughts
I like what Redmi has done with the look of the Watch 4 , whether it ’s the bigger projection screen or the nicer subject fabric that makes it feel less budget . What lies inside of that improved design is software that runs nicely , but finally does n’t promote the envelope in terms of what a more affordable smartwatch is capable of .
The smartwatch support remain simple , while the promised improvements in fitness and variation tracking do n’t better the challenger . I ’d say vigil like theHonor Watch 4and theHuawei Watch 2will give you better note value for money and still give you a nice looking smartwatch as well too .
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How we test
We thoroughly examine every smartwatch we review . We use diligence - standard examination to compare features in good order and we use the watch as our main equipment over the review period . We ’ll always evidence you what we regain and we never , ever , accept money to review a merchandise .
FAQs
Yes , the Redmi Watch can make call , but only when it ’s paired to your smartphone via Bluetooth . It does n’t include any built - in cellular features to tender standalone outcry .
Yes , the Redmi Watch 4 is rainproof and carries a 5 ATM rating . That have in mind it ’s suited to be submerge in water up to 50 metres depth and does put up a swim trailing mode .
