With the Watch 2 Pro, Xiaomi is entering the Wear OS connected watch market. We find the proven recipe of the Chinese brand which offers a rich set of features for a low price of 269 euros. Add to this the latest Snapdragon W5+ Gen 1 processor from Qualcomm and an announced battery life of 65 hours. Was the cocktail successful?
A classic and imposing design
Xiaomi has not been original in the style of the Watch 2 Pro. The circular stainless steel case is topped with a fixed bezel which protects the 1.43-inch Amoled touch screen. Very bright (600 nits), the latter offers excellent reading comfort, with vibrant colors and impeccable contrast. The watch is mainly operated using the rotating crown which is framed by two buttons.
photo credit: Marc ZaffagniThe Xiaomi Watch 2 Pro is a bulky watch
The design of the Watch 2 Pro reminds us a lot of that of Mobvoi's TicWatch Pro 5. This is an imposing, rather masculine watch, which will suit larger wrists better. Moreover, the promotional page for the Xiaomi watch only features men.
At 54.5 grams (without the bracelet), it weighs significantly more than Google's Pixel Watch 2 (31 grams) and a little less than Samsung's Galaxy Watch 6 Classic. But it is quickly forgotten when worn during the day. The silicone strap of the black version we tested offers a pleasant touch and a precise fit. The watch is also available in a silver finish with a brown strap which gives it a little more formal style. The build quality is good, at the level of more expensive smartwatches.
photo credit: Marc ZaffagniXiaomi Watch 2 Pro's spacious screen promotes comfortable reading
On the other hand, we found that the size of the Watch 2 Pro was annoying for sleeping. The thick case reminds us as soon as we move our arm or if pressure is exerted, for example if we slide our hand under the pillow.
photo credit: Marc ZaffagniThe finish of the Watch 2 Pro is of a good level
Packed with sensors
Waterproof up to 50 meters, the Watch 2 Pro offers a complete set of sensors: heart rate (optical), skin temperature, bioelectrical impedance analysis, accelerometer, gyroscope, barometer. It has a dual frequency GNSS chip compatible with GPS, Galileo, Glonass, BeiDou and QZSS. An option found on Garmin sports watches and the Apple Watch Ultra. The GPS accuracy of the Watch 2 Pro is very good and the dual frequency (L1 and L5) ensures efficient operation, even for outdoor activities in remote locations. A one-day mountain bike ride in the mountains of the Nice hinterland gave us a good idea.
photo credit: Marc ZaffagniMeasuring SPO2 with the Xiaomi Watch 2 Pro
Xiaomi Watch 2 Pro health monitoring
The watch offers 23 customizable dials. And thanks to access to the Google Play Store, you can find hundreds of other free or paid ones. Xiaomi has sought a compromise capable of satisfying both users looking for fitness and health monitoring to stay in shape and athletes looking for more extensive features.
The Watch 2 Pro supports over 150 workout modes. It can continuously monitor heart rate, blood oxygen level (SpO2), assess stress, measure body composition and skin temperature. When worn to sleep, the watch also monitors sleep and its different phases.
photo credit: Marc Zaffagni
The Mi Fitness application allows you to customize settings and view health and workout statistics. The presentation is readable and user-friendly, but the support on data interpretation is not as complete and educational as what Fitbit offers, for example.
To assess the quality of heart rate monitoring, we compared the Watch 2 Pro's readings to those of a Polar brand chest heart rate monitor. Overall, the Xiaomi watch tracks heart rate with satisfactory accuracy and reliability during training at a constant pace. On the other hand, like many connected watches, it has more difficulty keeping up as soon as the effort suddenly varies in intensity.
photo credit: Capture Marc ZaffagniThe interface of the Mi Fitness application is user-friendly, but the support for data interpretation needs to be expanded
The connected functions of the Xiaomi Watch 2 Pro
The Xiaomi Watch comes with Wear OS version 3.5. This is not the most recent version (Wear OS 4) from which the Pixel Watch 2 benefits . But the presence of a Snapdragon W5+ Gen 1 (as on the TicWatch Pro 5) suggests that the Watch 2 Pro will be entitled to an update. It offers complete connected functions: notifications, hands-free phone calls, contactless payment with Google Wallet, Google Assistant, music control, etc. The spacious screen allows you to comfortably enjoy all these options. Voice pickup for phone calls is effective in quiet environments, but the speaker volume seems a little tight to us. As soon as the surrounding noise becomes more present, it becomes difficult to converse.
The autonomy of the Xiaomi Watch 2 Pro
Xiaomi announces 55 hours of battery life for the model with cellular connection and 65 hours for the Bluetooth version that we tested.
To conserve battery life, the Watch 2 Pro uses a low-power monochrome display that does not activate the backlight. A device that is also found on the TicWatch Pro 5. This allows you to read the time and, depending on the dial, other information without having to use the main display. This is clever but we have found that readability in direct sunlight is often poor. Difficult to precisely measure the gain in autonomy brought by this reduced display, but it is always worth taking.
Xiaomi had the good idea to provide a programming mode for the permanent display and the “raise to activate” function which wakes up the screen when you raise your wrist. This makes it possible to define cutoff periods for these systems so as not to be disturbed, especially while you are sleeping, and incidentally to save a little battery.
photo credit: Marc ZaffagniCharging the Xiaomi Watch 2 Pro is fast
The duration of use will obviously depend on how you use the watch. What we can say is that when pushed to the maximum of its capabilities with all real-time measurements activated and the always-on display, the Watch 2 Pro can hold a little less than a day and a half on a charge. Count around 24 hours if you add training sessions with GPS to this demanding mix. To get closer to the 65 hours announced by Xiaomi, you must seriously lower your requirements and opt for significantly “lighter” use. That is to say, do without the permanent display and only keep track of a single constant. Fortunately, charging the watch is very fast. We counted just under twenty minutes to go from 10% battery to 100%
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