The Redmi Watch 2 Lite isn’t like any other smartwatch in the affordable segment. It is unique and offers a powerful experience. Let me walk you through what this smartwatch is capable of doing.
Redmi Watch 2 Lite Review: Body and Design
The Redmi Watch 2 Lite comes with a 1.55-inch square dial with the edges slightly bent that gives a premium feel whenever you look at it. The smartwatch has a single button on the right which can be used to activate the device if it is in sleep mode and can be further used to access the main menu and for going back to the home screen. This one button brings a lot of convenience to the user experience; at least, it did for me.
I have the Blue colour variant, which is pretty cool and fresh as I was sort of bored by going with the black option repeatedly. But if you want a black colour variant of the Redmi Watch 2 Lite, it is also available in Black as well as Ivory colour.
The silicone strap sits perfectly around my wrist. I am not going to lie - I have used many smartwatches in the affordable as well as the premium segment, but never has a smartwatch fitted my wrist better than the Redmi Watch 2 Lite. I don’t know why it is, but the strap lock along with the hook - I love how perfectly and smoothly it sits on my wrist. It is very light in weight (35 grams only); thus, you won’t feel it as a liability on your wrist but will look at it as a beautiful accessory. The sensors are, of course, at the bottom of the watch dial, and there’s a magnetic charging port too. Xiaomi bundles the charging cable inside the box, which can be connected with any USB charging brick. The Redmi Watch 2 Lite looks very stylish and subtle at the same time. You can easily wear it to any party, gym, or even the office.
Redmi Watch 2 Lite Review: Display
The Redmi Watch 2 Lite comes with a 1.55-inch TFT or 3.94 cm colourful HD display. The screen is pretty decent for the price range and is very responsive. It can support a maximum brightness of 450nits, again not a bad stat. The one thing that I really liked about the display of Redmi Watch 2 Lite is how compact it is and how beautiful the colours are. Out of the short experience that I have had with this smartwatch, the display never went unresponsive and is as smooth as it could have been.
You can just press the button on the right, and the main menu with all of the watch features and settings would come right in front of you in boxed icons. This is more convenient than swiping up and down to see different options again and again that you have to do with certain smartwatches.
When you swipe down from the top, a notification panel drops where you can see all the notifications that have arrived on your smartphone. When you swipe up from the bottom, you get access to a number of icons that lets you change the settings of the smartwatch. Then, on swiping left or right, you will get access to different data such as SpO2 reading, heart rate reading, and more. Overall, I am quite satisfied with the display experience and performance of the Redmi Watch 2 Lite. Note that you can get over 120 watch faces, which is pretty cool.
Redmi Watch 2 Lite Review: Activity Modes, Other Features and Performance
The Redmi Watch 2 Lite supports tracking of 100 workout modes. Some of these also include professional modes such as HIIT (High-Intensity Interval Training) and Yoga. It can support up to 17 professional activity modes, which is an amazing thing. The Redmi Watch 2 Lite automatically tracks the calories you are burning and the number of steps you are taking in a given day. I am someone who likes to keep track of how many steps I am walking or running in a day because most of my work involves sitting or just standing in a particular place. Thus, to ensure that I am moving enough, I like to track the steps and hit my goal of around 8000 steps a day. The Redmi Watch 2 Lite tracks the steps beautifully for me and, most of all, accurately. There are a ton of activity modes such as outdoor running, walking, treadmill, trekking, trail run, outdoor cycling, indoor cycling, freestyle, pool swimming, open water, elliptical, yoga, rower, jump rope, hiking, HIIT, triathlon, kayaking, and more recreational activities.
You can take the Redmi Watch 2 Lite comfortably for swimming because it is 5ATM rated, meaning it is water-resistant up to 50 metres. It has a 262mAh battery which Xiaomi claims can run up to 10 days. While I haven’t used it for ten days now, I am pretty sure with heavy usage for workouts and all-day stress tracking; the battery performance would drop down by two to three days. This is not a bad thing necessarily; it is normal. I used this smartwatch for tracking my workouts, and here’s the feedback I have. The Redmi Watch 2 Lite can automatically track the activity when you are working out. The only thing is, I am a little divided about the automatic tracking feature of the smartwatch.
When I was walking, it was around after 400 meters (approximately) of continuous walking that the smartwatch was able to detect that I was walking and asked me whether this was a walking workout to track the activity. The same happened with running on a treadmill; the smartwatch took its sweet time before recognising that I was running. I understand from this that it could be a deliberate move from the company to delay the request for tracking the workout by automatically detecting the activity. This could be because a user might get a little annoyed if he/she kept getting activity tracking requests even when they walked 100 meters inside their house or office. But I think 400 meters is a little too long to intelligently detect the activity and request for tracking. It is not a bad feature, just personally; I would have wanted it to happen faster; not too fast, but not too slow either. However, if you are manually activating tracking for a certain activity, you shouldn’t be worried about this, as the Redmi Watch 2 Lite can accurately track your movements. I also feel like ending a workout is a slightly longer procedure than it should have been with the Redmi Watch 2 Lite. Whenever you are trying to end an activity, the smartwatch would ask you to keep the ‘end’ button pressed for about three seconds, which is a hassle, to be honest. If I am out of breath and just want to relax by ending the workout right away, I don’t want to wait and hold the end button for three seconds. Maybe Xiaomi can reduce the time by half for pressing the button and holding it for ending the workout.
Note that the smartwatch comes with a stress tracker, SpO2 tracker (for measuring blood saturation levels), and heart-rate tracker.
Redmi Watch 2 Lite Android Mobile App Review
First of all, in Android, when you search for Xiaomi Wear on the Google Play Store, you will get the ‘Mi Fitness’ app. This is what you will have to download, so don’t get confused. It is a very cool app once you sign in and pair your smartwatch. Pairing is a straightforward process and will happen seamlessly.
I like the overall layout of the Xiaomi Wear app. It has an animated guy on the top with my steps, and calories burned mentioned. Just below it, I can see my latest workout, and if you scroll down further, you can see other data such as stress, standing, VO2 Max, Blood Oxygen levels, and more.
You can also check for updates for the smartwatch inside the app and change the settings of health tracking. It was my first experience with the Xiaomi Wear app, and it was very easy to navigate through the app on Android. Xiaomi Wear is a very aesthetic app overall and brilliantly executed by Xiaomi.
Redmi Watch 2 Lite Review: Price and Whether You Should Buy
The Redmi Watch 2 Lite comes in India for Rs 4,999. It will be available for users starting March 15 across multiple platforms mentioned above. You can get it in Black, Blue, and Ivory colours. Is this smartwatch worth buying? Of course! If you are someone who wants to be fit and healthy and needs a smartwatch to track daily activities and more, the Redmi Watch 2 Lite can be your perfect partner. This smartwatch comes with a ton of useful features, has a decent display, amazing and satisfying performance, and also falls in the affordable range. The mobile app, which is as vital as the smartwatch in a customer journey, is also excellent. The Redmi Watch 2 Lite will give a lot of competition to other affordable smartwatches present in India currently.
