The most powerful Wear OS smartwatch?
The Xiaomi Watch 2 Pro is the first smartwatch from Xiaomi to embrace modern Wear OS. It also boasts a Qualcomm W5+ Gen 1 chipset. The difference between the W5+ and standard W5 (non plus) chipset is the inclusion of the latest Cortex M55 co-processor, which handles most of the always-on, background tasks such as sensors, display, and notifications.
Devices using the base W5 chipset are normally paired with third-party co-processors. The Google Pixel Watch 2 for example, comes with just the W5 paired with a last-generation Cortex M33 co-processor, unchanged since the first Pixel Watch. Even the Oppo Watch X and OnePlus Watch 2 that were just announced during MWC a few days ago only feature the W5. So, this makes the Xiaomi Watch 2 Pro one of the most powerful and efficient Wear OS smartwatches yet, on paper.
The Xiaomi Watch 2 Pro is a large watch, with a 46mm stainless steel case that comes close to the Samsung Galaxy Watch6 Classic in size and weight at 54.5g. It’s 1.43-inch AMOLED display boasts a sharp 466 x 466-pixel resolution and is sufficiently bright at 600 nits. Yes, it cannot match the 2000-nits of the Galaxy Watch6, or even the 1000-nits on the Pixel Watch 2, but this handicap is only noticeable outdoors under direct sunlight. Indoors, the brightness gap is not as big an issue as numbers on a spec sheet. In fact, I’ve been nearly blinded by the Watch 2 Pro in the middle of the night a few times, but more on this later.
The large AMOLED screen is sharp and sufficiently bright in all but direct sunlit conditions.
The Watch 2 Pro features standard 22mm watch strap lugs.
The Watch 2 Pro also uses a proprietary puck for charging.
The Watch 2 Pro has a significant bezel around the case, which Xiaomi clearly wants you to know features a “Parisian hobnail” design. Now, I’m no luxury watch enthusiast, but this is probably a nod towards the Patek Philippe Calatrava’s Clous de Paris. Does it give the Watch 2 Pro the classiness of a Patek Philippe? Probably not, and you’d have to go really close to notice the hobnails, but it’s a fun piece of trivia for Watch 2 Pro owners nonetheless. The rotating crown works for navigation much like the Pixel Watch 2. I do want to point out the dual-layer design of the rotating crown, while “on-theme” for the watch, took some getting used to. There were a few times early on in my review that I though part of the black coating broke off before I remembered that’s just part of the design. Xiaomi doesn't include an IP rating for the Watch 2 Pro, but it does have 5ATM water resistance, so swimming is no issue.
Notice the two rows of black hobnail design at the side of the crown?
The hardware champion
Sensor-wise, the Watch 2 Pro tracks all the usual metrics: activity, heart rate, stress levels (HRV), blood oxygen (SpO2), exercise (VO2 Max), sleep, and skin temperature. The Watch 2 Pro lacks more advanced ECG and blood pressure reading capabilities like some of its competitors, but interestingly includes a bioelectric impedance sensor so it can read body composition like the Galaxy Watch6. In fact, the way it is implemented is exactly like how Samsung does it. While I felt that the body composition feature was a gimmick when Samsung introduced it with the Galaxy Watch4, I have come to realise that it’s probably easier to implement and more useful day-to-day than an ECG sensor. It also does not require any regulatory health authority approvals. If you remember, it took years for Apple, Fitbit, and Samsung to get their ECG apps approved for use in Singapore.
You can take a body composition reading (fat, protein, muscle mass, etc) exactly like how it's done on Samsung's Galaxy Watch4, Watch5, and Watch6.
At the time of writing though, the Watch 2 Pro is still running Wear OS 3.5 (Android 11) instead of the latest Wear OS 4 (which is based on Android 13) like the Pixel Watch 2 and Samsung Galaxy Watch6. Xiaomi is still pushing regular security OTA updates – most recently in January 2024 – so I fully expect it to receive Wear OS 4 eventually. When? That’s a question I do not have an answer for.
Fortunately, the usage experience between Wear OS 3.5 and Wear OS 4 isn’t that far apart. Google has introduced some new safety features and an easier watch data transfer option, but otherwise, it’s mostly under the hood, plus cosmetic UI and UX improvements.
Functionally, as a Wear OS device, the Watch 2 Pro feels very familiar to both the Galaxy Watch and Pixel Watch series. It will also only work exclusively with Android smartphones, and cannot be paired on the iOS version of the Xiaomi Fitness app.
Nice large icons on a grid layout. You can also switch back to a List layout from the settings if you prefer that.
Software needs fixing
Using the Watch 2 Pro reminds me very much of the Galaxy Watch4 when it first came out. I could see the potential in Wear OS, but it’s being held back by early software that isn’t fully optimised.
For example, I mentioned being nearly blinded by the watch at the beginning of this review. The Watch 2 Pro does have a Night Mode, with scheduling, plus a “Smart” option with the Always On display that supposedly turns the screen off when you’re sleeping. However, in practice, even when Night Mode was activated, the screen remained glaringly bright and the red light sensors seem to randomly start flashing non-stop. Let’s just say I’ve woken up a few times thinking the aliens were coming to get me.
If you don't want to be blinded at night, I suggest turning off the Always on Display and Raise to Wake features when you sleep.
The Xiaomi Fitness app is also still rather simple compared to Fitbit and Samsung’s offerings. It does a good job putting up all the basic stats, but not as fleshed out and complete. Some sections, like running stats and sleep tracking, are more in-depth than others. Xiaomi has embraced sleep scores and sleep animals too. I’m a Shark here (Giraffe on Fitbit, Penguin on Samsung). It even goes further into planning out an entire daily activity routine based on my sleep patterns.
Every brand has their own explanations for the animal that your sleep patterns are apparently modeled after.
Xiaomi Fitness was originally designed for activity trackers and needs to be fleshed out further to match Samsung and Fitbit app offerings.
Other sections are a little more barebones. Skin temperature for example doesn’t seem to be used anywhere else except as a standalone ad hoc reading, which isn’t really that useful. On the Galaxy Watch6, skin temperature is used to enhance sleep and female health tracking. Also, while the watch can capture elevation information – it is used in running analysis – it doesn’t offer a floors climbed reading as part of your daily activity summary.
On device, run tracking is very competent, and the most comprehensive on the Watch 2 Pro, providing heart rate, pace, cadence, stride, steps, elevation, VO2 Max, trailing load and recovery timings. I also has a few preset training programs you can try to improve your running. GPS locks on real fast, at times faster than the Pixel Watch 2.
Outside of running however, the Watch 2 Pro’s sensor polling rate doesn’t seem to be as responsive. When I use any other workout settings in the gym, I’ve notice that it takes a while for changes in heart rate to register on the Watch 2 Pro, while the Pixel Watch 2 will show changes almost in real time. It will catch up eventually, but this leads to under-reporting of calories burned over the duration of a workout, as you can see from the screenshots below.
Notice how the Pixel Watch 2 is showing 137bpm heart rate, while the Xiaomi Watch 2 Pro is at 73bpm.
About two minutes later, the Watch 2 Pro has sort of caught up, but because the polling rate doesn't seem to be in real time, it severely under-reports calories burned in workouts other than running.
Both the Xiaomi Watch 2 Pro and Pixel Watch 2 have very close readings for pace and steps. Here, the Watch 2 Pro's average heart rate and calories burned are comparable too, higher even.
Speaking of sensors, I’ve also noticed that all the continuous tracking options on the Watch 2 Pro were turned off by default. All-day heart rate, SpO2, stress, sleep monitoring; you’ll have to turn them on manually in the options. This obviously impacts battery life. Now, the Watch 2 Pro has a large 495mAh battery, larger than the 47mm Galaxy Watch6 Classic even (425mAh). And with its more efficient Snapdragon W5+ Gen 1 chipset, I expected it to be able to last at least two full nights. And yet, with all tracking options turned on and a daily workout thrown in, the Watch 2 Pro could barely outlast the Pixel Watch 2 and it’s much smaller 306mAh battery, requiring daily charging.
Even Xiaomi's own estimated battery life doesn't reach 2 days on the Watch 2 Pro.
Affordable Android smartwatch, but is it worth it?
All these niggling issues bring me back to the topic of optimisation. Many of the flaws I’ve highlighted felt very similar to when I originally reviewed the Samsung Galaxy Watch4 series when Samsung ditched Tizen for Wear OS. I also encountered app and sensor instability then, which have been smoothened out in the last two generations. I’m hoping Xiaomi is working on a big Wear OS 4 update that will work out these kinks, because with the Oppo Watch X and OnePlus Watch 2 launch at MWC, the Wear OS smartwatch arena is starting to get crowded. Xiaomi can’t afford to be the only one running last generation software.
Xiaomi is still actively providing OTA updates, so hopefully Wear OS 4 and software improvements come to the Watch 2 Pro soon as competition heats up.
I desperately want the Watch 2 Pro to succeed. It has all the trappings of a full-fledged Android smartwatch at an incredibly reasonable price. Yes, of course there are some compromises in build quality. A stainless steel case makes it heavier, and I'm not really sure what Xiaomi is using for the glass, but the actual hardware running the watch is of current flagship class, even when compared to upcoming competition.
The Xiaomi Watch 2 Pro has a recommended price of S$359 but is commonly on sale for just S$302 in both Xiaomi’s official stores on Shopee and Lazada. Comparatively, the Google Pixel Watch 2 goes for S$525, Samsung 44mm Galaxy Watch6 is S$440, while the 47mm Watch6 Classic is S$591.
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