Xiaomi Watch S4 review

The Xiaomi Watch S4 sees Xiaomi replace the most affordable of its trio of smartwatches the place its social gathering piece as soon as once more is the flexibility to take away the bezel to alter its look.

Together with refining the way in which that bezel-switching works, Xiaomi can also be including within the newest model of its HyperOS working system that brings a brand new person interface look, gesture options and likewise needs to make it simpler to take management of Xiaomi’s sensible house units.

Just like the Xiaomi Watch S3, the Watch S4 worth stays very cheap at simply £129.99, making it an choice for each Android and iPhone customers that don’t need to spend massive on an Apple Watch, Samsung Galaxy Watch or Google Pixel Watch.

It gained’t provide you with all the options these smartwatches will, however it’s about doing what it will probably do effectively and it does actually do this in most departments.

The Watch S4 was introduced at MWC alongside loads of different new Xiaomi units.

Design & Construct

• Detachable bezel design has been upgraded
• Is available in black or silver case colors
• Waterproof as much as 50 metres

The easiest way to explain the change in look on the Watch S4 from the S3 is that issues simply really feel a bit extra refined as Xiaomi takes that bezel-heavy design and goals to raise it.

Mike Sawh

It’s not simply concerning the bezel both. It ditches the highest bodily button for a rotating crown one with the underside button remaining now assigned to present you a shortcut to the fast settings menu.

The aluminium alloy case is available in black or silver finishes and measures solely barely bigger at 47.3mm (up from 47mm) and stays the identical thickness at 12mm. Whereas the stature of the S4 feels much like the S3, its total look doesn’t.

We’ve been right here earlier than the place smartwatch makers need to create the phantasm that you just’re carrying a basic timepiece and it jogs my memory of Samsung’s effort with the Watch Basic on that entrance. It doesn’t look as low-cost as the value suggests it is going to be.

Mike Sawh

These bezels now really feel increased high quality, with eight appears to be like to select from. That additionally consists of straps which are woven, constructed from flurorubber or leather-based. I had a further carbon bezel and flurorubber strap with a sewing impact designed to make it really feel extra premium than it truly is.

The bezel regarded so much nicer than the strap. The straps, just like the bezels, are simple to clip away from the watch case and as a bundle, stays waterproof as much as 5ATM making them appropriate for a swim as much as 50 metres depth.

Display & Audio 

• Options brighter 1.43-inch AMOLED show
• Could make Bluetooth calls
• No LTE connectivity

Xiaomi sticks to the identical dimension and backbone AMOLED display screen used on the Watch S3. That’s a 1.43-inch, 466 x 466 decision one which does help an always-on show mode. The change right here is now how brilliant that show can go now.

It guarantees a peak world brightness of 1,500 nits and peak brightness of two,200 nits. To place that into perspective, a similar-sized Apple Watch guarantees as much as 2,000 nits. Given the Watch S3 managed as much as 600 nits, that’s fairly a step up.

I can’t say I had huge struggles seeing the S3’s display screen outdoors, however having a show that’s able to going brighter can solely be a great factor.

Mike Sawh

Brightness apart, it’s a lot of the identical with the display screen. It’s an excellent AMOLED panel, simply not one of the best you’ll discover on a smartwatch. If shows on the Apple Watch and smartwatches just like the Samsung Galaxy Watch and the Google Pixel Watch are the top, this one sits under these.

It’s vibrant and presents correct colors and whereas there’s some black bezel across the display screen to cope with, it’s slim sufficient to not really feel prefer it’s consuming into the obtainable display screen property.

Whereas Xiaomi has rolled out an LTE model of the Watch S4 in China, we’re not getting the identical on the worldwide model. So if you wish to use it to deal with calls, that’s completed over Bluetooth.

The decision high quality is aided by twin microphones to cut back exterior noise and wind, that means it’s appropriate for chatting in your watch as an alternative of your cellphone with sufficient readability and total loudness.

Software program & Options 

• Runs on Xiaomi’s HyperOS 2 
• Stronger integration with Xiaomi sensible house units
• Promised improved third social gathering app help

Xiaomi is sticking to its personal in-house smartwatch working system for the Watch S4, transferring from HyperOS to HyperOS 2. That is still an OS that does work with Android telephones and iPhones.

Just like the S3, there’s going to be some options restrictions relying on the cellphone you’re utilizing. Most notably iPhone customers miss out on entry to the onboard music participant.

Mike Sawh

Among the many adjustments, Xiaomi has tweaked the person interface, introduced the rotating crown into play to good impact to make scrolling via menu screens and longer notifications so much nicer to do.

I’d describe the person interface as feeling a bit extra grown up than it was on the S3. From watch faces to widgets and the way notifications are handled, it appears like a greater match for its extra elegant watch case exterior.

Mike Sawh

Together with doing issues like making calls over Bluetooth, enjoying music (when you’re an Android person), remotely taking smartphone footage or checking in your calendar a number of the extra noteworthy new options depend on you proudly owning a Xiaomi smartphone, pill and even Xiaomi sensible house units.

These embody new gesture options to work together with Xiaomi’s tablets or controlling sensible house equipment out of your watch.

It does additionally after all miss out on the third social gathering app help and suite of Google apps you should have entry to on the WearOS-powered Watch 2 Professional and Watch 2. What’s current works effectively sufficient to ensure it does carry out solidly as a smartwatch.

Health & Monitoring 

• Over 150 sports activities modes
• Twin-frequency GNSS
• Promised improved coronary heart charge monitoring

If you would like a smartwatch that may observe your exercises, day by day steps or simply your normal wellbeing, the S4 is fairly effectively stocked on that entrance. 

Mike Sawh

It doesn’t have any regulatory accepted well being monitoring options, although it does promise to conduct a 60-second studying to examine coronary heart charge, blood oxygen ranges, stress and sleep information. Xiaomi says it’s upgraded the algorithms used to crunch coronary heart charge information to spice up coronary heart charge monitoring accuracy to 98%.

On the sports activities monitoring entrance, there’s over 150 sports activities modes to select from, with profiles for swimming, mountain climbing and winter sports activities like snowboarding. There’s devoted coaching classes for working newbies and extra working insights into your coaching load, VO2 Max and fatigue ranges. It’s good to see that there’s dual-frequency GNSS help to vow improved outside monitoring accuracy when taking your train open air.

As a health tracker, you’ve acquired a really glanceable widget on the watch to regulate your progress with some watch faces in a position to show a few of your health monitoring stats. Each day step counts had been properly consistent with two different health trackers I wore on the identical time.

When you’re keeping track of your coronary heart charge through the day, resting coronary heart charge information captured for the day appears to be like okay. Glancing down at readings in real-time, and the readings typically had been noticeably increased. I put a few of that all the way down to a strap that didn’t at all times really feel prefer it was getting that sensor shut sufficient to my wrist, however that is one thing I’ve seen earlier than.

Mike Sawh

When taking it to mattress, you’ll get a pleasant breakdown on the watch of sleep information like phases, time slept and sleep coronary heart charge when you’ve enabled the extra superior sleep monitoring help. The sleep monitoring in comparison with the Oura Ring 4 typically matched up for time slept, sleep scores, with deep and lightweight sleep stage capturing barely extra beneficiant time spent in these sleep phases. Common coronary heart charge was on the excessive facet on most nights as effectively.

Turning it for sports activities monitoring and it’s good to see that there’s quite a lot of modes that provide activity-specific metrics, with many nonetheless retaining that monitoring to capturing exercise length and coronary heart charge.

The twin-frequency GNSS help did come up barely quick with monitoring distance in comparison with a twin frequency-packing Garmin watch, with metrics like common tempo information not far off. Issues didn’t massively enhance on the center charge monitoring entrance the place common readings had been related, however most coronary heart readings had been virtually 10 bpm increased.

Mike Sawh

There are some further options right here like the flexibility to trace stress, observe respiratory workouts and observe Vitality scores, however as I mentioned, significantly concerning the latter, it by no means really feels a part of day by day monitoring proceedings.

Your information lives primarily inside the Mi Health companion app, the place I nonetheless suppose it might show information in a method that doesn’t really feel prefer it’s simply been dropped on the web page. You do moreover have the choice to share information with Strava, Suunto and Google and Apple Well being if spending time in that app isn’t to your liking.

Battery Life & Charging

• As much as 15 days battery life
• Fast cost mode provides you 2-day battery
• As much as 5 days battery life

The battery numbers quoted for the Watch S4 are precisely the identical because the Watch S3 and meaning it is a smartwatch that’s able to lasting weeks and fewer when you maintain the display screen on always. Even when you do need the display screen on repeatedly, Xiaomi will allow you to maintain the display screen on if you’re more likely to need it on and switch it off for instances if you’ve acquired the watch off otherwise you’re in mattress sleeping.

I discovered utilizing it with the always-on show on lighter utilization days battery drop was round 20%. Add in use of extra demanding options like GPS and steady blood oxygen monitoring and that’s more likely to be nearer to 2-3 days.

So, no enchancment on the S3 with that new model of HyperOS in place however not less than it’s not acquired worse both.

Value & Availability

The Watch S4 worth formally goes on sale on the identical worth as its predecessor, sticking at £129.99 to make it a really reasonably priced smartwatch as soon as once more.

The Watch S3 now sits at £99.99, so it’s probably you’ll see a Watch S4 worth drop in some unspecified time in the future as effectively. You’ll be capable to seize it from the Xiaomi web site and listings have already popped up on Amazon as effectively.

That worth places it up in opposition to smartwatches just like the Huawei Watch Match 3 (From £119.99), Honor Watch 5 (£129.99) and means it’s significantly extra financial institution balance-friendly than the most affordable obtainable Apple Watch, with the Watch SE (2nd era) sitting at £219.

It’s the identical story when in comparison with the most affordable Samsung smartwatch, which is the Samsung Galaxy Watch FE (from £214).

Try our checklist of one of the best price range smartwatches.

Must you purchase the Xiaomi Watch S4?

I feel when you appreciated the Xiaomi Watch S3 and like the thought of an improve that primarily makes its standout function a a lot nicer one, then that will be the most important cause to improve. HyperOS 2 feels extra grown up than the final model, whereas a number of the software program adjustments are actually linked to you having a Xiaomi cellphone or sensible house gadget.

When you’re in search of probably the greatest smartwatches below £150, that is nonetheless probably the greatest you may get. It’s not going to present you that richer app ecosystem that Apple or Put on OS watches will get you, however there’s sufficient to love right here.

Amazfit is an issue for Xiaomi with the Lively 2 (each premium and non-premium) providing a wealthy set of options for much less. It doesn’t have that extra customizable design and that’s one thing Xiaomi has in its favour for the Watch S4 not less than for now.

Specs

• 1.43-inch, AMOLED always-on show
• 5 ATM water resistance ranking 
• Coronary heart charge sensor with blood oxygen sensor
• Twin-frequency GNSS
• As much as 15 days battery life
• Bluetooth 5.3
• As much as 15 days battery life