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Xiaomi Mi Watch Lite Review: Essential Fitness Features In Mini Body

Xiaomi Mi Watch Lite

The Mi Watch Lite is Xiaomi’s most affordable smartwatch offering. Technically, there is the Mi Band 5 but that’s a smart band and not a smartwatch. So if you’re looking for something that has a bigger display with added features, then the Mi Watch Lite might be something up your alley. Let’s find out if it’s any good, and if it’s worth your money.

Xiaomi Mi Watch Lite – Specifications

Display1.4-inch LCD TFT
NTSC 60%, PPI 323
320 x 320 Resolution
Backlight 350 Nits
Battery230mAh
Supported ExercisesOutdoor running, Treadmill,
Outdoor cycling, Indoor
cycling, Freestyle, Walking,
Trekking, Trail run, Pool
swimming, Open water
swimming, Cricket
Satellite PositioningGPS / A-GPS / GLONASS
6-axis Sensor3-axis accelerometer and
3-axis gyroscope
Health and Daily Life
Heart Rate Monitoring,
Sleep Monitoring,
Breathing, Notifications,
Weather, Clock, Alarm,
Flashlight, Music Control
Weight35g (with strap)
21g (without strap)
Strap MaterialTPU
Water Resistance5ATM up to 50m
PriceRM249

What’s In The Box?

Xiaomi Mi Watch Lite
  • Xiaomi Mi Watch Lite
  • Dedicated Charging Dock
  • User Manual

Design

The Mi Watch Lite has a rounded square-ish design, with curved edges all over the watch. On the top, the crown has a 2.5D curved edge and a glossy finish. What you will also notice is that the bezels are huge on all four sides, but I would’ve preferred them to be smaller, or have the display increased in size.

Xiaomi Mi Watch Lite
Xiaomi Mi Watch Lite

On the right, there’s a function button and that’s all the physical buttons you’re going to get on the watch. The watch case is made of plastic and has a matte, hypoallergenic finish to it. The same hypoallergenic material is used for the watch band too.

Speaking of the watch strap, it is user replaceable, so you can actually swap them out to some other color if you’d like. But, the locking mechanism is Xiaomi specific, so you can’t use any standard watch strap with spring bars.

Xiaomi Mi Watch Lite Review: Essential Fitness Features In Mini Body 9

Comfort

When it comes to comfort, I usually don’t like big square or circular watches because it would press into my wrist when I angle them. But, the Mi Watch Lite has just the right amount of width so it doesn’t discomfort me.

For all day use, the watch stays on nicely and has a very nice touch on the skin. I have felt no discomfort whatsoever even when I’m running or working out in the gym.

Display

Xiaomi Mi Watch Lite

The Mi Watch Lite has a 1.4-inch TFT LCD colour touch display. While we would’ve liked to a see an AMOLED screen for better battery life, it makes more sense for Xiaomi to use LCD considering the price of the device.

The display itself offers vivid visuals, and the brightness is just right too. The brightness also has an auto adjustment feature, and we’re glad to report it isn’t too aggressive. The screen is responsive, but instead of getting scrolling features, the UI changes by flipping page to page. This is good especially if you dislike scrolling and trying to pinpoint on clicking on the right thing.

User Experience

Taking it out of the box, the Mi Watch Lite has a straightforward packaging. It doesn’t have any thick cardboard, so that’s further cutting costs on the price too. After downloading the Xiaomi Wear Lite app, the device was instantly found and pairing them up took less than 10 seconds. Next, I was immediately prompted for an update, and the process took an excruciating 10 minutes.

The Wear Lite app looked fairly simple at first, but a few days later, it automatically updated in the background, and the UI received a complete overhaul from what I first saw during the initial launching of the app. Everytime you open up the app, it takes a minute for the watch to sync with your device.

From the app, you can input your health data, check the smartwatch status, alter watch faces, start workouts, tweak app notification settings, monitor your sleep data, and more. It’s got the essential settings you need to customize your Mi Watch Lite to your preference.

Xiaomi Mi Watch Lite

The smartwatch itself is easy to use, as every information panel is already laid out nicely in a left to right format. To access the additional features within the watch or start a workout, you just need to press the function button. Though it receives notifications from your device, it is only a view-only basis. This means you can’t reply to messages or view images sent to you. You can also turn off the watch’s display by covering it with your palms.

Fitness Tracking

Xiaomi Mi Watch Lite

When it comes to fitness tracking, the Mi Watch Lite is fairly accurate as it records similar data as the Huawei Watch Fit that we have in the studio. Sleep monitoring wise, the Watch Lite records more time than I actually slept, and it doesn’t take into account short naps that are under an hour.

Xiaomi Mi Watch Lite Review: Essential Fitness Features In Mini Body 13

There are 11 workout modes available on the Mi Watch Lite, but there’s no option for you to add custom workouts. Because the watch supports 5ATM water resistance up to 50M, it is safe to be brought to the pool or for open swimming. There is also a built-in dual GPS (GPS+GLONASS) system, accelerometer, gyroscope, compass, barometer, and PPG sensor, so you can easily track your runs or treks.

Xiaomi Mi Watch Lite

While it does record the basic metrics like step count, calories, times you’ve stood up, and 24 hour heart rate monitoring, the watch lacks blood oxygen (VO2 max) monitoring. But that’s forgivable, considering the watch’s retail price.

On top of that, the Mi Watch Lite also has a built-in breathing exercise program that lets you exercise your breathing from 1 to 5 minutes, at the rhythm you desire. Something that would’ve been nice to have on the Mi Watch Lite is to have built-in animated workout guides. That would’ve taken advantage of the watch’s large display too.

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Xiaomi Mi Watch Lite Review: Essential Fitness Features In Mini Body 14

Smartwatch Features

Xiaomi Mi Watch Lite

The Mi Watch Lite has multiple watch faces for you to change to, but from what we’ve seen on the watch face store, there’s not a lot of options. But, this might change in the future. The watch also allows you to control your music right from the watch instead of picking up your smartphone. It can also act as a remote shutter button for when you want to take a photo from a distance. As mentioned above, you can also view phone calls, texts, as well as app notifications with the Mi Watch Lite.

The Mi Watch Lite also has the following features, accessible right from the watch itself:

  • Compass
  • Air Pressure Monitor
  • Music Controls
  • Timer, Alarm, Stopwatch
  • Weather
  • Notifications
  • Find Phone
  • Flash
  • Do Not Disturb
  • Raise To Wake
  • Idle Alert
  • Auto Lock
  • Password

Battery Life

Xiaomi Mi Watch Lite

From our testing, the Mi Watch Lite lasted us for 9 days, which is accurate to Xiaomi’s claim. To charge the watch back to 100%, it takes about 2 hours using the dedicated charging dock (non-magnetic) provided in the box. That’s quite long for a watch to fully charge, you could do it when you sleep, but then you’d lose one night’s worth of sleep monitoring.

Conclusion

Xiaomi Mi Watch Lite

Priced at RM249, the Mi Watch Lite offers the essential features a smartwatch should have. There are the basic fitness tracking metrics, but it would be nice if Xiaomi could add more workout modes in the future via firmware updates. If you’re a hardcore and adventurous fitness junkie who’s analytical with your fitness data, the Mi Watch Lite isn’t for you.

On the contrary, you should definitely consider the Mi Watch Lite if you’re just getting your first pair of smartwatch, and if you’re using an Android device. For the price, there’s not much you can complain about the device, and the fact that it’s ultra comfortable is just a bonus.

Written By

Chief Content Developer at The AXO

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