With two new connected watches, including one running Wear OS, as well as its latest connected bracelet, Xiaomi wants to impose its brand on the market. His recipe? Very complete products, and at very competitive prices.
Xiaomi clearly did not come empty-handed to MWC 2024. If the star of this edition for the manufacturer remains the Xiaomi 14 Ultra, and its seriously improved capabilities in terms of photography, the Chinese brand has also thought about taking care of its range of connected objects for sports and health monitoring.
Proof of this is today with the presentation of two new connected watches, the Xiaomi Watch S3 and Xiaomi Watch 2, without forgetting a very latest connected bracelet with the Xiaomi Smart Band 8 Pro.
Xiaomi Watch S3: a highly customizable watch for every look
With the Xiaomi Watch S3, the manufacturer offers a connected watch that draws a lot of inspiration from the models offered by Samsung, in particular the Galaxy Watch5. The device, with a round case, has a 1.43-inch AMOLED screen and a lightweight aluminum frame, available in two colors black and silver.
To stand out, Xiaomi offers a high level of customization. It is of course possible to change the dial, opting for one of the 180 models available by default. Also, users will be able to change the bezel to one of the optional models offered by Xiaomi. Exclusive dials adapted to these glasses will automatically be displayed on the screen after installing these accessories. Owners of this new connected watch will finally be able to use their photos in portrait mode to create unique watch faces.
The Xiaomi Watch S3 uses the brand’s proprietary operating system, Xiaomi HyperOS. Nearly 150 sports activities are included in the exercise tracking app. This new watch is comfortable in water, with water resistance up to 50 meters, and is also intended for winter sports with a new dual-band L1+L5 GNSS navigation system.
For health monitoring, the Xiaomi Watch S3 can count on a 12-channel heart rate monitoring module which provides better precision in the analysis, as well as a new sleep monitoring system, which generates a “ sleeping animal » to show you your sleeper profile after seven days of readings.
The Xiaomi Watch S3 finally benefits from autonomy of up to 15 days, with rapid charging allowing you to recover two days of use after five minutes spent on the charger.
Xiaomi Watch 2: a new watch under Wear OS
For this new connected watch, Xiaomi swaps its proprietary system to adopt Wear OS, the platform developed by Google. The Xiaomi Watch 2 will thus be equipped with five of the most used applications on connected watches (without specifying which software we are talking about here), and the possibility of accessing more than 200 additional third-party applications from the Google Play Store. A new camera triggering feature is also appearing on the connected watch. Only the Xiaomi 13 and 14 are compatible with this new capacity.
Its design remains very simple, with a 1.43 inch round AMOLED screen and very clean lines which allow it to match all styles. The aluminum case is very light, weighing 36.8 grams, without the bracelet.
The Xiaomi Watch 2 is equipped with Qualcomm’s Snapdragon W5+Gen 1 processor, as well as the same dual-band GNSS L1+L5 satellite tracking system as the Xiaomi Watch S3, as well as the improved heart rate monitoring module. 12 channels. An improved sleep monitoring algorithm integrates blood oxygen and respiration data for comprehensive analysis and more accurate health-related data. Sports tracking is finally made possible with 160 activities integrated into the dedicated application.
The 495mAh battery finally gives the Xiaomi Watch 2 a battery life of around 65 hours depending on the brand. It is also equipped with 32 GB of storage for installing applications, or downloading songs to listen to while exercising.
Xiaomi Smart Band 8 Pro: a connected bracelet that thinks big
The latest connected product presented by Xiaomi at MWC 2024, the Xiaomi Smart Band 8 Pro broadly follows the design of its predecessor, but going a little further with an AMOLED panel which retains its rectangular format, but goes from 1.64 to 1.74 inches, and now looks more like a small watch. The thickness of the device is 9.9 mm, with a weight of 22 grams. The screen is protected by Gorilla Glass Victus, resistant to most impacts.
If the Xiaomi Smart Band 8 Pro bracelet is only available in two colors, black and silver, the brand offers a multitude of optional bracelets to change the appearance of the device in a few seconds.
Regarding sports monitoring, the Xiaomi Smart Band 8 Pro includes the analysis of more than 150 sports, with particular attention reserved for the field of running. The brand indicates that additional features are available, as well as advice provided during the race to improve performance. For health, the Xiaomi Band 8 Pro has a heart rate sensor and several integrated sensors for an overview of the user’s physical condition.
The connected bracelet finally offers autonomy of up to 14 days, with a battery with a capacity of 289mAh, which represents an improvement of 23% compared to the previous generation.
Prices and availability
The three connected watches and bracelets will be available in Europe, on the manufacturer’s official website.
- The Xiaomi Watch S3 will be priced at €149
- The Xiaomi Watch 2 will be priced at €199
- The Xiaomi Smart Band 8 Pro will be available at a price of €69
Source: Xiaomi press release
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