Xiaomi Watch S1 Pro review

The Xiaomi Watch S1 Pro debuted in China last year, but it took the company six months to launch its best smartwatch globally. The wearable made its global debut at MWC 2023 in Barcelona, ​​but we’ve actually had it for a while before that and now we’re ready to share our test results.

Xiaomi has priced the Watch S1 Pro relatively high – it’s €299, up from €229 last year, but it’s not just inflation we’re seeing here – the new wearable is actually considerably more powerful and better built.

The Watch S1 Pro comes in a single size of 46mm and is quite light, despite its stainless steel case. We received the black version with the black fluoroelastomer strap, and the whole device weighs 70 grams, including 48g for the case itself.

Our strap has an Apple-style buckle, while the other version, a brown leather option, has a more standard solution. The black one is great because there are no extra loops and everything tucks neatly under it making the whole device more streamlined.

Xiaomi S1 Pro Watch

The Watch S1 Pro comes with a sapphire crystal on top which is virtually scratchproof and even with the glass protruding we had no issues during our weeks of active use – no gouges or scratches, no micro-abrasions, nothing.

The underside of the stainless steel body has an array of sensors that allow it to track heart rate, blood oxygen, and skin temperature. The device can be charged wirelessly on all Qi standard pads and with the supplied magnetic puck.

In theory, it should also work on any smartphone, offering reverse wireless charging, but Xiaomi officially claims that only certain phones in their own portfolio would do the trick. And we can confirm it – we couldn’t charge the Watch S1 Pro on the back of non-Xiaomi phones.

There are two controls on the right side – the top one is a rotating crown for scrolling through the basic menu, and the bottom one is a flat shortcut button that we’ve set up to trigger the current workout tracker. execution, although it can activate any other function on the watch. Although the button is metallic, the Watch S1 Pro does not support ECG, unlike the Huawei Watch GT 3 Pro and the Samsung Galaxy Watch5 series.

Now let’s take a look at the UI, but unfortunately the news isn’t good there.

Xiaomi is a huge conglomerate that acquires all kinds of companies and adopts their systems. It has an app for home devices and a separate app for other home devices, and this wearable needs Mi Fitness to run on Android and iOS.

The Watch S1 Pro has Bluetooth 5.2 with BLE (Bluetooth Low Energy) to communicate with your smartphone, but we found the experience rather poor. The Watch S1 Pro does not show all notifications although the application has the necessary permissions.

The alarm app is entirely absent from Mi Fitness, while all other features have terrible visuals. It’s frustrating to read heart rate or SpO2 measurements because for some reason Xiaomi wants the graph to start from 0, despite the fact that a healthy HR is between 60 and 100 during the day and can drop to 40 overnight. , but never close to 0.

What we liked about the Xiaomi Watch S1 Pro is the battery life. This device has a 500mAh battery and takes about 95 minutes to charge from 0-100%. Officially, it’s good for 14 days of typical use or 10 days of heavy use. We can confirm that it takes a week and a half for the battery to drain with everything turned on – Notifications, Bluetooth calls, Raise to Wake, blood oxygen detection, stress monitoring, sleep tracking, alarms active sports use d about 180 minutes a week, and even control the music during those runs.

There’s also an always-on display, which halves the battery life to around 5-6 days on a single charge. Unfortunately, the AoD brightness is not enough to be readable outdoors on a sunny day.

Using all the sensors is one thing, but accuracy is a whole different matter. While the Watch S1 Pro did a great job tracking sleep, heart rate offered a 10% deviation across the board compared to a certified medical device.

We know it’s not a medical device, but it can be misleading for athletes who rely on their heart rate to tell whether to push harder or slow down.

There’s also Alexa support and the Mastercard contactless payment app, which work well as long as you’re in the few markets where they’re supported.

Xiaomi has done a great job with the Watch S1 Pro hardware, raising the bar even higher for itself and its future smart wearables. It didn’t live up to its promise of software improvements, but battery life, looks, and durability go a long way towards making up for the disappointing app experience. After all, the data is only badly displayed in Mi Fitness; it is well displayed on the watch itself.

But is the Xiaomi Watch S1 Pro worth the €300 price tag? We’d say it’s a bargain as long as you value looks above all else and don’t really plan on using it to prepare for your next marathon. The great battery life and excellent design make it a great low-maintenance accessory. If you’re looking for a serious tracking tool, there are definitely better options out there.