Not content with launching a phone with a whopping camera system at this year’s Mobile World Congress, Xiaomi has taken the wraps off three new smartwatch, each of which boast deep sports tracking abilities. The Watch S3, Watch 2 and Smart Band 8 Pro are all available to preorder from today in the UK, with wider availability yet to be announced.
The Smart Band 8 Pro is the cheapest of the bunch, costing a mere £60 in the UK (which converts to $76). But for that small investment, you get a rectangular watch with a 1.74-inch AMOLED display, wrapped in Corning Gorilla Glass Victus to keep it safe when you’re doing whatever sports you’re into. It looks somewhat reminiscent of the Apple Watch but without the crown. Xiaomi says it’s only 9.9mm thin and weighs a mere 22.5g, so it shouldn’t weigh you down on your runs, if that’s your thing.
The Xiaomi Smart Band 8 Pro
It features heart rate monitoring, tracking for 150 different sports and pace setting for runners along with guidance for warm ups and stretching. The 289mAh battery should last for “up to” 14 days, and its 5ATM waterproofing means running in the rain isn’t a problem.
Next up, the Xiaomi Watch S3, which has more of a classic watch design, but with a twist; the bezels can be swapped out for different styles, with each bezel activating a unique watch face when applied.
The Xiaomi Watch S3.
The watch has a round 1.43-inch AMOLED display, heart rate monitoring, an aluminum alloy frame and a battery that can last for “up to” 15 days. It has fast charging too, with Xiaomi claiming that just 5 minutes of charging will give two full days of use.
Its motion sensors also allow you to make various flicks of the wrist to do things like answer or reject calls. How this works in actual use remains to be seen. The Watch S3 will cost £125 ($158).
The Xiaomi Watch 2.
Finally, the most expensive of the bunch, the Xiaomi Watch 2, coming in at a more princely £170. The Watch 2 runs Google’s Wear OS and has a Qualcomm Snapdragon W5+ Gen 1 chip at its core. Xiaomi reckons you’ll get around 65 hours of mixed use from a full charge.
It has an aluminum alloy frame, a round 1.43-inch display and can track 160 different sports, including ski tracking using GPS to follow your routes down the mountain. It has sensors for heart rate, blood oxygen levels and for sleep tracking, along with something Xiaomi calls a “sleep animal” that best represents your sleep pattern over seven consecutive days. Mine would probably be a sloth.
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