Redmi Watch Move review: Redmi Watch Move review: Stands out in a sea of budget smartwatches
The new Redmi Watch Move ( ₹1,999) by Xiaomi is a budget-friendly smartwatch that aims to deliver a compelling set of features without breaking the bank. It's an important intervention by Xiaomi, since most affordable smartwatches in India while looking good and loading specs sheet with features often come with heavy compromises and significant inaccuracies in fitness tracking.
For long, Xiaomi's Mi Bands have been my consistent recommendation for entry-level fitness tracking, and the company is now trying to win back its lost ground (to the likes of noise, boAt, Fire-Boltt et al) with the Redmi Watch Move.
Look and feel
The Redmi Watch Move sports predictable, yet a modern and clean design with an all-glass display with a metallic frame with curved sides. And at under 40 grams, its pretty lightweight as well—but thankfully, doesn't feel cheap. It does have a larger footprint making the watch feel a tad chunky on slender wrists. Some people though, prefer a bold design and it looks the part.
But within this predictable chassis, Xiaomi punches above its weight. The 1.85-inch AMOLED display is one of the biggest and brightest displays in the segment—there's vibrant colours, deep blacks, and pretty good contrast. Plus, a peak brightness of 600 nits contributes to pretty good visibility even in outdoor settings. The lack of auto-brightness is a little disappointing, though.
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The Always-On Display (AOD) feature adds convenience, allowing you to glance at the time and notifications without waking the device, though it may impact battery life. You can alternatively opt to set it to wake the display when you raise your wrist or simply tap on the display to wake it.
One of the highlights of the Redmi Watch Move is a crown—it does not just augment the visual appeal but is a fully functional crown that you can rotate to scroll through apps and menus aiding in navigation and providing quick access to functions. In terms of design, the impressive display and a utilitarian crown make the Redmi Watch Move stand out in a very crowded segment.
The watch also comes with an IP68 rating, resisting dust and water—you can actually go swimming with it.
The performance
The Redmi Watch Move is powered by Xiaomi's HyperOS which delivers a smooth and intuitive user experience. The UI is quite fluid and responsive, and the large icons and gesture-based controls make the navigation intuitive even to first-time smartwatch users.
You can customize the interface via the companion Mi Fitness app (available for both Android and iOS). The watch also supports Hindi this time around to widen its cache of users. A special note for the large collection of watch faces that Xiaomi offers. There are more than 200 options, and some of them are delightful, and you can even create your own using AI.
Setting up the watch on first run via the Mi Fitness app is seamless, by the way. I mention this obvious step for a reason, because this is mostly a hit-and-a-miss with most budget fitness trackers and smartwatches. Setting up app permissions is still a chore, but not a showstopper.
A key feature of the Redmi Watch Move is the support for Bluetooth voice calling. The watch has a built-in speaker and microphone, enabling users to make and receive calls directly from their wrist. There's a full dial pad, call logs, and the ability to send quick replies. While it's socially awkward to talk to your wrist in most scenarios, it is a handy feature for when you are out and about for a run or in the field for a match with your phone at home or in the locker room. It's not the greatest experience, especially outdoors, but good enough for the purpose.
Xiaomi claims that the Redmi Watch Move can last up to 14 days on a single charge with typical usage. In real-world usage, with really pushing it hard, it easily lasted me for over a week, and that's pretty good. That said, with the Always-On Display feature enabled, the battery life comes down to only few days. A full charge takes just 75 minutes. But a quick 10-minute charge can provide you enough juice to last you over a day.
Accurate fitness tracking
The Redmi Watch Move is equipped with a range of health and fitness tracking capabilities. It offers continuous heart rate monitoring, SpO2 tracking, sleep analysis, and stress monitoring giving users comprehensive insights into their overall wellness. Additionally, it provides menstrual health tracking for women.
For sports enthusiasts, the watch supports over 140 sports modes, with auto-detection for several popular activities. For activities like walking, the watch can utilize the paired smartphone's GPS for more accurate tracking (there's no on-board GPS, which is par for the course in this price segment). You can also track board games as activities which I guess is just a fun addition with no qualitative purpose.
The step count accuracy is reasonably good, though there might be slight discrepancies compared to actual numbers. A lot of other smartwatches in this segment offer as many features as this one but most tend to have erratic readings. What really makes the Redmi Watch Move special in its segment is the level of accuracy it delivers while measuring health and fitness parameters—I did compare the readings with an external heart rate monitor and oximeter. Sleep tracking too, compared via my much more expensive Garmin smartwatch on the other wrist, was notably accurate for a budget smartwatch.
Should you buy it?
The Redmi Watch Move delivers a compelling combination of features, all at an affordable price in a good-looking chassis. It offers excellent value for money, making it a good option for first-time smartwatch buyers as well as those seeking a reliable wearable for fitness tracking.
There's an impressive array of features that overwhelm any limitations or mishits. It doesn't aim to be an ice-cream sundae but contended to offer a very rich vanilla flavour.
For ₹1,999, it's a no-fuss smartwatch that's easier to recommend amidst a sea of middling, and often avoidable, smartwatches. It's a standout budget smartwatch that follows the good ol' Xiaomi's value-for-money playbook to the tee.
Also read: The mastery and music of movement
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