Xiaomi Watch 2 Pro review

Chinese language firm Xiaomi has been releasing wearables since 2014, but it surely’s by no means fairly nailed down the premium smartwatch class. 

Makes an attempt up till now have boasted nice {hardware}, but at all times been let down by Xiaomi’s personal model software program. Regardless of providing loads of well being and health options, its main flaw is the shortcoming to obtain third-party apps. 

There seems to be a quite simple answer to this: swap to Google’s Put on OS and that’s precisely what Xiaomi has accomplished on the Watch 2 Professional with spectacular outcomes. 

Alongside a fair higher design than normal, it’s Xiaomi’s best smartwatch so far, however that doesn’t essentially imply you can purchase it. 

Design & Construct 

• Enticing round design with bezel
• Premium, sturdy construct
• Helpful bodily buttons

In a world the place many Android-based smartwatches look comparable, the Watch 2 Professional really stands out.

That’s primarily attributable to its giant stainless-steel bezel, which surrounds the 1.43-inch show. It’s larger than the one on the Samsung Galaxy Watch 6 Traditional, although in contrast to that gadget, it doesn’t rotate. 

Even so, the bezel immediately offers the watch a premium look, shimmering attractively because it catches the sunshine. The all-black mannequin I examined (full with matching fluororubber strap) is flexible sufficient to go along with just about any outfit. 

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However there are additionally loads of methods to make it extra vibrant. The primary is by choosing the silver mannequin as a substitute, which retains the black bezel however modifications the color of the lugs. 

Alternatively, you may simply swap out the strap for one more color or one comprised of leather-based. Whereas these are bought individually (£14.99 for fluororubber, £21.99 for leather-based), it’s a reasonably cheap method to shortly change the appear and feel of the watch. 

In my view, the Watch 2 Professional is the best-looking smartwatch I’ve ever used. However attributable to its sheer dimension, it gained’t be an excellent match for everybody. 

A big 46mm case is your solely choice, so it’s not a good selection you probably have smaller wrists. And at 11.6mm thick and 54.5g in weight, it’s additionally one in every of bulkiest smartwatches round. 

I discovered the Watch 2 Professional uncomfortable to put on whereas sleeping, and will always remember about it being on my wrist through the day, in contrast to with some slimmer watches such because the Google Pixel Watch 2 (and unique). Nonetheless, this comes down to private choice, and may not be a problem for you. 

After all, that additional weight is a direct consequence of the premium supplies used. Not solely does the stainless steel construct look good, but it surely additionally feels impressively sturdy. And whereas there’s no Gorilla Glass on the display right here, the raised bezel ensures it’s protected against direct influence in a fall. 

Even after a number of weeks of testing, the watch appeared pretty much as good as new. In case you keep away from pointless dangers, it ought to final for a very long time. That features exposing it to plenty of mud or sand, as there’s no IP ranking. 

However you’re effective to make use of it whereas swimming. The Watch 2 Professional has a 5ATM ranking, which means it could face up to water strain equal to round 50m underwater. Naturally, getting caught within the rain or protecting it on within the bathe gained’t be a problem. 

The Watch 2 Professional is primarily a touchscreen gadget, however there are nonetheless three bodily controls. A rotating bodily crown makes it straightforward to scroll menus or transfer between the app listing and fundamental watch face. An extended press triggers the Google Assistant. 

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The button above it’s reserved for fast entry to exercises, although the one beneath is extra versatile. A single press opens the final used app, a double press opens Google Pay and a protracted press brings up the facility choices. 

Every part works as marketed and feels very intuitive. I simply want you could possibly remap the bodily buttons to do no matter you needed, one thing which is feasible on Samsung’s Galaxy Watches. 

Display & Audio

• 1.43-inch AMOLED display
• Glorious in all conditions
• Respectable speaker and microphone

Not like many premium smartwatches, the Watch 2 Professional is barely obtainable in a single show dimension.  

However this 1.43-inch AMOLED display is undoubtedly the most effective round should you’re after a bigger watch. A excessive decision of 466×466 means all content material appears impressively clear and crisp.

Colors are wealthy and vibrant, but there’s loads of alternative all through Put on OS to indicate off these deep true blacks, that are a key energy of OLED panels. 

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A 60Hz refresh fee is excessive by smartwatch requirements. Scrolling via menus and switching between apps feels impressively clean and responsive. 

And regardless of being fairly a reflective show, it additionally will get impressively vivid. I had no drawback utilizing the watch in all lighting circumstances, together with outdoors on a sunny day. It’s exhausting to think about how the Watch 2 Professional’s show may get any higher.

After all, the audio gained’t rival a smartphone, but it surely’s higher than I used to be anticipating. The built-in speaker provides first rate readability and will get pretty loud, making it an excellent different to connecting headphones. Nonetheless, it’s price noting that some third-party apps gained’t allow you to play audio direct from the speaker. 

I’m additionally very impressed with the built-in microphone. It really works nice for calls and Google Assistant instructions, recognising what you’re saying with out the necessity to maintain it near your mouth. 

Specs & Efficiency

• Qualcomm Snapdragon W5+ Gen 1
• Strong all-round efficiency
• Elective 4G by way of eSIM

The Watch 2 Professional is powered by the Snapdragon W5+ Gen 1. Regardless of being launched in 2022, that is nonetheless Qualcomm’s newest and best chipset for smartwatches. 

And it reveals. Alongside 2GB of RAM, the commonest quantity for a flagship smartwatch, efficiency is stable. Swiping between screens, scrolling menus and toggling settings all feels very fluid and responsive. 

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Opening apps is the one actual state of affairs the place you’ll discover some slowdown. However that is often solely 1-2 seconds of hesitation, and doesn’t negatively have an effect on the general expertise. 

For context, the efficiency right here is much like the Samsung Galaxy Watch 6, which makes use of the Exynos W930 chipset. It’s about pretty much as good as you’ll get on a smartwatch proper now, however there may be positively room for enchancment sooner or later. 

All Watch 2 Professional fashions have built-in Wi-Fi, which means it may be used fully independently of your telephone when you’re at house. 

The costlier model additionally provides 4G LTE help by way of eSIM, although it requires a separate contract and solely works on Vodafone or O2 within the UK. I wasn’t capable of take a look at this for myself, but it surely’s actually a pleasant choice to have. 

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There’s Bluetooth 5.2 help whatever the mannequin you select. In my expertise, it was capable of set up and retain a stable connection to each my telephone and earbuds on the identical time. 

The Watch 2 Professional has 32GB of on-device storage, which is greater than sufficient for all of your apps and loads of downloaded songs or audiobooks. Until you want offline entry to your complete audio library, I can’t see why anybody would want extra storage. 

Software program & Options

• Runs Put on OS 3.5
• Intuitive and simple to navigate
• Google Play Retailer app help

Switching up the software program has been transformative for the Watch 2 Professional. Earlier Xiaomi smartwatches have used the corporate’s personal software program, however we now have Google’s Put on OS for the primary time. 

Visually, the 2 aren’t too dissimilar. However Put on OS has one large benefit: the flexibility to obtain third-party apps. With the ability to entry the Google Play Retailer out of your wrist is a recreation changer, and there are many apps which might be price your time. 

My private favourites embody the meditation app Calm, Audible for audiobooks and WhatsApp, which speaks for itself.

The latter is surprisingly intuitive on such a small show, permitting you to compose messages by both typing or utilizing your voice. Movies are the one factor you gained’t be capable to see. 

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Quite a lot of music streaming providers are additionally natively supported, together with Spotify, Amazon Music and YouTube Music. All Xiaomi’s personal apps are additionally nonetheless right here, however they’re built-in into the Put on OS expertise reasonably than being the one ones obtainable. 

In fact, there are a frustratingly excessive variety of telephone apps with out a watch equal, however that’s a problem that impacts all Put on OS watches. Apple’s watchOS is the one wearable software program that does it higher. 

And the excellent news is all of your telephone notifications could be delivered to your wrist (should you’d like), together with calls. They’re straightforward to view and handle by way of a easy swipe down from the primary watch face. 

A swipe up (the other to the Pixel Watch) reveals a variety of fast settings toggles which might be straightforward to activate or off. Swiping left or proper permits you to transfer between a variety of various widgets, with the default choice together with exercises, climate and key well being metrics. All of it feels very seamless and intuitive. 

A choice of completely different faces can be found from the watch itself, or you may obtain extra by way of the Mi Health companion app. With so many to select from, there’s one thing to go well with everybody. 

The introduction of Put on OS, mixed with NFC help, means the Watch 2 Professional could make contactless funds by way of Google Pay. It really works as marketed, although you’ll have to set an annoying display lock as safety to allow it. 

One other app you’ll most likely need to use is Google Maps, particularly with built-in GPS right here. Once more, it’s surprisingly straightforward to make use of, and beats getting your telephone out for turn-by-turn instructions. 

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Nonetheless, it’s price noting that the Watch 2 Professional runs Put on OS 3.5 on the time of writing, regardless of Put on OS 4 arriving with the Pixel Watch 2. It’s not clear how for much longer you’ll have to attend, or what number of years Xiaomi will help the look ahead to with software program updates. 

Health & Monitoring

• Over 150 supported exercises
• In-depth information on some actions
• Spectacular sleep monitoring

When it comes to well being monitoring, the Watch 2 Professional doesn’t do something out of the abnormal. However all of the core options are right here, and practically all of them work nicely. 

That features help for greater than 150 completely different sports activities modes. Most of those present solely fundamental information on coronary heart fee (together with VO2 max), length and estimated energy burned, resembling my HIIT (high-intensity interval coaching) exercise.

It’s attention-grabbing to see the knowledge, however not significantly helpful for future exercises. 

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Nonetheless, there are just a few actions the place the knowledge is far more in-depth. It consists of common strolling, the place you’ll get info in your common tempo, elevation change, cadence, stride size and even altitude. 

Comparable information is obtainable after a run, although the longer session I did additionally included an estimate of restoration instances. This may be genuinely helpful in serving to you enhance or monitor progress over time. 

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For any exercise the place you’re masking distance, the built-in GPS permits you to observe precisely the place you’ve been on a map, which I actually like. Although I’d advocate turning off the in-workout voice prompts, which shortly turns into annoying.

And in contrast to some wearables, the Watch 2 Professional can’t observe any exercises routinely. Ensure you manually begin one in order for you it to be recorded.

Total, coronary heart fee information seemed to be fairly correct more often than not. You may also use the watch to measure blood oxygen ranges, pores and skin temperature and physique composition, every of which takes just some seconds. 

One other device claims to have the ability to monitor stress ranges. However I didn’t belief the outcomes – my ranges have been apparently at all times ‘gentle’, regardless of intentionally testing at a hectic time. The Pixel Watch 2 is healthier at this, though it nonetheless has its flaws on this space.

After all, the opposite large characteristic is sleep monitoring. I discussed above how the Watch 2 Professional isn’t probably the most snug to put on at night time, however should you can put up with it, there’s a powerful quantity of sleep information. 

You get an summary of how lengthy you have been asleep for, plus how a lot time you spent in every stage (gentle, deep or REM) and the way that compares to what try to be getting. Mixed with coronary heart fee information and respiratory rating (if enabled), you’re given an total ‘sleep rating’ out of 100. 

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The latter appeared to roughly match how I felt within the morning, although recommendations on find out how to enhance it are very generic. A enjoyable contact is that after seven consecutive nights, you’ll be matched with a ‘sleep animal’ in keeping with your tendencies.

It’s nice to have such in-depth sleep information, even when it’s not 100% correct. After sporting the Watch 2 Professional to mattress, I felt motivated to make optimistic modifications the following night time. 

Sadly, all this nice well being and health information is displayed within the cluttered Mi Health companion app. The watch and app are appropriate with all gadgets working Android 8.0 or later, but it surely feels clunky to make use of and a few settings are exhausting to seek out. 

Battery Life & Charging

• 495mAh battery
• Underwhelming battery life
• Comparatively quick charging

Battery life is undoubtedly probably the most disappointing factor concerning the Watch 2 Professional.

Whereas the 495mAh capability is respectable for a smartwatch, it barely lasts a full day on a single cost. I totally charged it simply earlier than mattress one night time, and it was empty by round 9.30pm the next night. 

That included sleep monitoring with the superior coronary heart fee and respiratory rating monitoring enabled, however the always-on show disabled. Even with gentle utilization, I can’t see you getting two full days of utilization out of it, one thing that the earlier Watch S1 Professional may comfortably obtain. 

Standby time can also be poor. On a few events, I ended utilizing the Watch 2 Professional for a day or so. After I got here again, it had gone from round 40% battery to fully empty.  

One optimistic is that charging is quick. Utilizing Xiaomi’s magnetic USB-C charger (included within the field), the watch went from 0-60% in simply quarter-hour. A full cost took solely 32 minutes. 

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Worth & Availability

Within the UK, the Xiaomi Watch 2 Professional begins at £239.99. That’ll get you the Wi-Fi-only mannequin, however stepping as much as the 4G LTE model prices £289.99.  

Each are solely obtainable from the Xiaomi UK web site. In case you get the 4G model, you’ll have to pair it with an eSIM plan from Vodafone or O2 to get cellular information. 

The watch isn’t bought within the US, but it surely’s price checking to see should you can import it. 

At that beginning value, the Watch 2 Professional undercuts most of the greatest smartwatches you should buy, together with the Google Pixel Watch 2 (from £349) and Samsung Galaxy Watch 6 Traditional (from £369).  

Its most blatant rivals are the common Samsung Galaxy Watch 6 (from £289), or 2022 Apple Watch SE (from £259) should you’re keen to make use of an iPhone. 

Must you purchase the Xiaomi Watch 2 Professional?

The Watch 2 Professional is one of the best smartwatch Xiaomi has ever made. Put on OS has a transformative impact on the software program, making it a lot simpler to advocate to Android telephone house owners. 

Xiaomi’s normal wonderful {hardware} remains to be right here, together with a surprising stainless-steel design and wonderful show. The construct high quality is superb, and it has all of the well being and health monitoring you’d count on from a premium smartwatch. 

It’s good to have the choice for 4G connectivity, although battery life is a key weak point. You may most likely stay with the cumbersome design and cluttered companion app, however simply in the future per full cost may be a dealbreaker. 

Specs

• 1.43-inch, 466×466 (46mm) round AMOLED always-on show  
• Qualcomm Snapdragon W5+ Gen 1 processor  
• 2GB RAM  
• 32GB storage  
• Put on OS 3.5 
• Bluetooth 5.2 
• NFC  
• GPS  
• Wi-Fi  
• 4G LTE (non-compulsory)  
• Microphone  
• Speaker  
• Coronary heart fee sensor 
• Blood oxygen sensor 
• Barometer 
• Accelerometer 
• Gyroscope 
• Compass 
• Google Assistant 
• Google Pay 
• Help for 150+ exercises 
• Sleep monitoring 
• 5ATM water resistance 
• 4G LTE (non-compulsory, requires eSIM contract) 
• Wi-fi charging  
• 495mAh battery 
• 47.6 x 45.9 x 11.8 mm (46mm case) 
• Colors: Black, Silver 
• Appropriate with Android 8.0 or greater