I give Xiaomi a thumbs up when they continue with Wear OS smartwatches with the Xiaomi Watch 2. It's a good move after Mobvoi left the Malaysian market and Fossil no longer offers new Wear OS watches. Despite that, Xiaomi is still trying to promote their own ecosystem with Xiaomi Watch S3 because this is another watch with Xiaomi HyperOS and surprisingly I am very satisfied with this watch.
SPECIFICATION AND DESIGN
Xiaomi Watch S3
1.43″ AMOLED screen, 466 x 466, 600 nits
Processor Not disclosed
Memory/Storage Not disclosed
Xiaomi HyperOS Operating System
5ATM protection
Pulse Sensor
SpO2
gyroscope,
Compass
Barometer
Light
Hall
Others BeiDou, GPS, GLONASS, Galileo, QZSS
Bluetooth 5.2
NFC, Xiaomi Pay is not supported in Malaysia
486mAh battery
5-15 days
Watch Construction Materials – Aluminum alloy frame, stainless steel bezel, corning glass
Watch Strap – Fluororubber
Price RM699
Just like the Xiaomi Watch 2, the S3 also looks like a slightly thicker Samsung smartwatch. It's a standard design for a watch with a round screen, and Xiaomi even includes two physical buttons for easier control. Xiaomi also uses construction materials such as aluminum alloy frame, stainless steel bezel, corning glass and fluororubber to ensure this watch looks and feels premium.
Every button feels good to press, there are no rotating bezels or knobs but the bezel on this watch is designed to be removable and replaceable with another design. Watch straps also still use the old method which is highly appreciated for allowing users to buy replacement or additional watch straps at regular watch stores. One thing I don't like is that this time the rubber of the watch strap is not very friendly to people who sweat quickly because my wrists tend to get itchy.
USAGE EXPERIENCE
The Xiaomi Watch S3 is an almost perfect basic smartwatch. If Xiaomi included an app store and the ability to reply to messages like Wear OS, the S3 could potentially be the best watch. Beautiful and fast AMOLED screen, bright clock faces and animations also look smooth. This watch uses Xiaomi HyperOS, which is Xiaomi's own operating system designed to communicate more efficiently with other Xiaomi devices that use the same account.
The gesture control feature like the Apple Watch Series 9 and Apple Watch Ultra 2 can also be used but it is only for people who can really be patient as this feature is less sensitive as it only succeeds once in every 10 attempts. A gimmicky but quite useful feature for me is the interchangeable bezel. It's not just the bezel because the watch face will also change according to the bezel color theme. Xiaomi sells these different watch bezels and straps from RM 59-169 and can only be purchased at Xiaomi physical stores.
How about daily use with Xiaomi Watch S3? As I said earlier I am satisfied with this watch. The screen is beautiful, the performance is good and this watch is almost as complete an experience as I've had with a Wear OS watch. The apps on HyperOS are quite numerous and they all help me to be healthier. This time matching Xiaomi accounts with Google Fit is also easy if users want to synchronize data cross-platform.
Sleep monitoring, tracking of every walking step, reading data of every heartbeat, monitoring pressure, making sure the user is standing and not just sitting all the time and more works well. The only automatic activity detection feature is a bit problematic because when I'm driving, the watch detects that I'm cycling. The design of HyperOS is also interesting because it relies heavily on tiles and widget-based applications.
In my opinion, Xiaomi just needs to improve the watch's operating system a little more, such as including the ability to reply to messages, bring eSIM support, give users access to ECG, integrate the app store and finally introduce an AI feature that will definitely make the value of this watch more worth owning.
APPLICATION
The Mi Fitness app is still not my favorite app when using an Amazfit or Xiaomi smartwatch. The app still uses a tabbed design for health data, exercise activity, device and user profile. The app also takes some time to receive data from the watch and not immediately like on the Apple Watch and Galaxy Watch.
Xiaomi should disable or remove features that cannot be used with this watch. For example there is a high blood pressure section, it is not supported on Watch S3. This makes me confused with the capabilities of this watch. Some of the data is also not accurate because I have worn this watch together with the Apple Watch Ultra, the sleep monitoring shows a data difference of about 2 hours.
There are also many things that Xiaomi has changed such as making this application simpler than the previous generation, but it has not yet reached the level of Nothing with the CMF Watch application. Xiaomi HyperOS is also still new so development support may still be immature like Wear OS and Amazfit with Zepp OS. However, the Xiaomi Watch S3 is Xiaomi's best iteration of a premium basic smartwatch.
BATTERY
According to Xiaomi with Always-on Display mode this watch can last up to 5 days, while without AOD it can last for 14 days. In my use, it only lasts around 4 days which is only one day longer than the Apple Watch Ultra or TicWatch Pro 5. It is also twice as long as the Samsung Galaxy Watch6 but still not satisfactory because competitor watches with the same price as Amazfit do not problem to last up to 7 days.
Charging this watch is quite fast, it only takes around 5 minutes to last around two days. One thing I still don't understand is why no watch manufacturer other than Samsung wants to offer magnetic or wireless charging like Apple? I don't like carrying extra cables to charge this watch.
WHAT'S IN THE BOX?
With every purchase of Xiaomi Watch S3, you will receive;
1x Xiaomi Watch S3.
1x Bezel ready to install.
1x Watch strap.
1x Magnetic dock charger.
1x Set of manuals and safety books.
CONCLUSION
After another editor tested a wearable device with Xiaomi HyperOS on the Redmi Watch 4, I already saw the potential for this operating system to succeed. With the Xiaomi Watch S3 that's what I felt during almost a month of use. This watch brings many premium features which are not just gimmicks but really beneficial for the users. RM699 is a good and competitive price for a smartwatch like this and you should give the Xiaomi Watch S3 a chance to shine in this challenging wearable arena.
PROS AND ADVANTAGES
Interesting Xiaomi HyperOS.
Beautiful and bright screen.
The bezel is interchangeable with the watch face.
Premium build.
Sensors and data that are quite useful for user health.
CONS AND DISADVANTAGES
Not many applications can be used together.
No app store and can't reply to messages.
Uncomfortable watch strap.
Not-so-accurate sleep monitoring and sports tracking.
The battery is not as durable as competitors in the same class.