Redmi Watch 6 Review – Lightweight everyman smartwatch with impressive battery life

Smartwatches are now part and parcel of everyday life though they come with wildly varying capabilities, designs and price points.

Acting as a middle ground, Xiaomi has issued the Redmi Watch 6 that attempts to strike a fair balance of performance and price without costing an arm and a leg. They recently loaned us a sample for testing and after donning it for the better part of a month, here’s our Redmi Watch 6 review where we suss out if it’s worth the money.

Redmi Watch 6 Review – Build and Design

Compared to its predecessor the Redmi Watch 5, our Redmi Watch 6 review sample has a case that is slightly slimmer by 1.4mm while featuring a brighter display and a slightly lighter chassis by 2.5g, weighing in at 31g. 

Out of the box, our Redmi Watch 6 review sample comes with the watch itself, a TPU watch strap as well as a USB-A charging cable that terminates in a pair of pogo pins that connect to the underside of the watch.

When held, the watch looks and feels rather posh indeed with its aluminium case that features subtle bevelling on the edges, rounded corners as well as a crown and back button on the side. 

Framing the front is a 2.07-inch AMOLED display with a 60Hz refresh rate, a crisp 324ppi and an improved 2,000 nits peak brightness; its predecessor had a similar size but only maxed out at 1,500 nits. There’s no specific mention of any Gorilla Glass or reinforcement on the display itself so some care needs to be taken to avoid scratches and impacts. 

On the bright side, the watch itself is rated for 5 ATM water resistance in fresh water which works out to about 50 meters depth, which makes it ideal for swimming but not diving. The watch also has a small speaker for calls with a built-in menu setting to eject water from the speaker itself after immersion in water.

The straps are made of a semi-elastic TPU that wicks off water and sweat and feels exceptionally comfortable when worn. Rather than the usual clasp, the straps utilise a simplified design that is easier to wear and remove. The strap attachment system is proprietary so it isn’t compatible with standard watch straps.

In Malaysia, the Redmi Watch 6 comes in your choice of a silver case with either a blue or silver gray strap and an all black design with matching straps and case. Our test sample is the variant with the silver gray straps.

Redmi Watch 6 Review – Setup and Performance

There’s no mention of what processor powers our Redmi Watch 6 review sample and the official specifications don’t mention how much RAM it has though it does have 512MB of onboard storage for updates. 

Running under the hood is Xiaomi’s own HyperOS 3 with connectivity via Bluetooth 5.4 to an Android or Apple phone though you’ll need to get the free Mi Fitness app to get updates, tweak watch faces and track fitness data. While it can make and take calls via a paired smartphone, the watch lacks eSIM support.

Powering the watch is a 550mAh battery that is quoted to offer up to 24 days of battery life with light usage, 12 days of moderate usage and 7 days of heavy usage if you go in at full-tilt. If you scrutinise the fine print, light usage also means that you turn off advanced sleep tracking as well as all-day stress and blood oxygen saturation monitoring.

The watch does not support the installation of third-party apps and the small 512MB of onboard storage doesn’t allow for much in any case as HyperOS is a closed ecosystem. Even so, the Redmi Watch 6 is able to tackle the vast majority of tasks expected of a smartwatch without much fuss.

On top of telling the time, the watch offers all-day stress, heart rate and blood oxygen tracking, advanced sleep monitoring to track your REM sleep, act as a compass and also act as a voice recorder in a pinch. It can also act as a camera shutter release for a paired smartphone and the watch also has a set of built-in breathing exercises to stay calm if things go pear-shaped at work or at home.

When it comes to fitness, our Redmi Watch 6 review sample covers the gamut of common exercises. It’s able to automatically track walking, outdoor running, hiking, treadmill, outdoor cycling, swimming, jump rope and free style exercises automatically and can be configured to automatically detect additional activities. It even has the ability to track a full array of ball sports including sepak takraw but is unfortunately unable to track pickleball. Alas.

Of note is that the Redmi Watch 6 supports outdoor running with route tracking which will be of interest for joggers and marathon runners thanks to a dual-band  L1-L5 GNSS system for better positional tracking outdoors. For running enthusiasts, the watch is able to offer running programmes that range from basic to more demanding ones to suit your fitness level. 

When tested, our Redmi Watch 6 review sample shined as a smartwatch, tracking sleep quality (and lack thereof), performing activity and fitness tracking for walks and jogs while also pushing notifications.

When compared with competing smart wearables, the watch offered relatively comparable numbers for heart rate, fitness and sleep tracking. Outdoor route tracking was also relatively accurate when tested in several locales around town including locations with heavy tree cover.

Sound quality from the built-in speaker is adequate but is hard to hear in noisy locales like a street or busy coffee shop. What takes the cake is the display that offers up vibrant colours and is bright enough to view under sunlight.

The available watch faces also let you refresh its look on demand and cover the gamut from the minimalist to whimsical options replete with cute characters aplenty and Xiaomi generously offers a large array of free watch faces to download.

Official battery life quotations clock the watch as offering 12 days with normal usage and our Redmi Watch 6 review sample did not disappoint. With advanced sleep monitoring as well as constant heart rate and blood oxygen monitoring activated along with incoming notifications, it comfortably lasted over 10 days without issue. 

With this kind of endurance, it’s safe enough to survive a regular work week or an extended weekend holiday without having to bring along the charging cable. However, the watch lacks wireless charging support so you’re entirely dependent on the cable to juice it. Word to the wise – don’t lose the charging cable.

Should you buy the Redmi Watch 6?

The Redmi Watch 6 is a relatively affordable smartwatch with a large and bright display, excellent battery life and solid overall fitness, sleep and activity tracking for the majority of casual users.

If you can live with its closed ecosystem and lack of wireless charging, it’s an affordable choice that’s worthy of consideration though existing owners of the Redmi Watch 5 may not find that there are enough improvements to warrant an upgrade.

Specifications
Price RM369
Sensors Heart rate (with blood oxygen sensor), accelerometer, ambient light sensor, electronic compass
Display 2.07-inch Square AMOLED, 432 x 514 pixels, 324ppi, 60Hz refresh rate, 2,000 nits peak brightness
Connectivity Bluetooth 5.4
Battery life 550mAh 24 days (light usage), 12 days (normal usage), 7 days (heavy usage)
Size/Weight 46.45 x 40.03 x 9.94mm / 31g (without strap)

Redmi Watch 6 review sample courtesy of Xiaomi Malaysia. For more details please visit https://www.mi.com/my/product/redmi-watch-6/