Redmi Watch 6 review: large screen, a great companion

Redmi Watch 6 review

Compared to the Redmi Watch 5, Xiaomi has tweaked the design of the Watch 6. At 9.94 millimetres, the watch is around 1.4 millimetres thinner than its predecessor. Instead of plastic, as used in previous Redmi watches, Xiaomi has now opted for an aluminium mid-frame. You can feel the difference straight away on your wrist: the Watch 6 looks and feels premium.

Design and screen

Without the strap, the Redmi Watch 6 weighs just 31 grams. A second physical button has been added alongside the rotating crown. This is particularly handy when exercising or in the rain: you don’t want to have to rely on a wet or sweaty touchscreen.

The 2.07-inch AMOLED display, with its slim bezels, achieves a screen-to-body ratio of 82 per cent. With a resolution of 432 by 514 pixels and a pixel density of 324 ppi, everything looks sharp, and thanks to the 60Hz refresh rate, you can scroll smoothly through widgets and notifications. The peak brightness of no less than 2,000 nits ensures you can read the screen clearly even in bright sunlight. There’s also an always-on display, although this does use extra battery power and you’ll need to enable it yourself in the settings first.

The Watch 6 is available in three colours: Obsidian Black, Silver Grey and Glacier Blue, all with a quick-release TPU strap. You can easily change the strap, but bear in mind that you’re limited to straps made specifically for this model.

In use

The Watch 6 runs on HyperOS 3, which feels intuitive and smooth. You can swipe in notifications in a flash, although you can only reply to them with pre-set responses: there’s no option to type on the watch itself. There’s a built-in speaker and microphone for calls, and 512MB of on-board storage for local music via your earbuds. This model lacks Wi-Fi and NFC.

Mi Fitness app

You can pair the watch, download watch faces and configure all the settings via the Mi Fitness app. When it comes to fitness, the Watch 6 holds its own: over 150 sport modes, automatic workout recognition and a heart rate sensor with built-in blood oxygen monitoring.

It also supports stress monitoring, breathing exercises and sleep tracking, complemented by an accelerometer, gyroscope, ambient light sensor and electronic compass. For location tracking, Xiaomi uses a dual-antenna GNSS system on the L1 frequency that draws on no fewer than five satellite systems: GPS, Galileo, Glonass, BeiDou and QZSS. Thanks to its 5ATM water resistance, you can swim whilst wearing the watch.

We’ve tested the Watch 6 extensively ourselves and the tracking works really well: step count, heart rate and workout data consistently matched what we expected.

Battery life

Xiaomi promises up to 24 days with light use, 12 days with normal use and 7 days if you have all features enabled. In practice, we found that with light use, the watch actually lasted well over three weeks before it needed recharging. Charging is done via the magnetic cable supplied, and a full charge takes around 2 hours.

Verdict

The Redmi Watch 6 is a smartwatch that focuses primarily on the things that really matter: a large, bright screen, reliable fitness and health tracking, and a battery life you don’t have to worry about. The aluminium frame and improved buttons also give it a much more premium feel than we’re used to from previous Redmi watches.

There are few real drawbacks, although it’s a shame that the strap is limited to Xiaomi’s own quick-release system. This model also lacks Wi-Fi, NFC and wireless charging, but these are not unexpected omissions in this price range, and there’s a separate model available with NFC.

At the time of writing, the Redmi Watch 6 is available for €99. Interested? You can find the Redmi Watch 6 at Bol.com, Mediamarkt, Amazon and Belsimpel.