Xiaomi’s Smartwatch Officially Goes on Sale Starting at $185

Chinese electronics giant Xiaomi’s recently announced Mi Watch has finally gone on sale today following the official kick off of Alibaba’s largest annual shopping gala, the 11.11 Global Shopping Festival. Chinese consumers are able to purchase the product through Xiaomi’s official store on e-commerce platform Taobao starting at 1299 yuan.

Design:

The Mi Watch features a 44mm square dial with a 1.78-inch AMOLED display that is very reminiscent of the Apple Watch. The display has a resolution of 368 x 448 pixels. The anti-glare display is curved along all four edges to facilitate easier gesture navigation.

The smartwatch features a crown on the upper right corner of the watch face – the exact same position as the Apple Watch – alongside a button right below and a mic opening between the two. It comes with a speaker grill on the left with a second mic right below it.

The matte frame of the Mi Watch is made of an aluminum alloy, which Xiaomi claims is scratch resistant. The standard edition features a 570mAh battery while the exclusive edition has a 590mAh battery. Xiaomi claims the watch boasts a 36-hour battery life.

SEE ALSO: Best Smartwatches to Buy for Android and iPhone Users in 2019

Specs:

The Mi Watch is powered by Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 3100 platform for smart wearables and comes with eSIM connectivity, allowing users to use LTE for music streaming and voice calls, even when one is not carrying a smartphone with the watch. It also comes with Wi-Fi support for web connectivity.

Other specs include Bluetooth 4.2 for wireless pairing with peripherals such as Bluetooth-enabled headsets, NFC for tap-to-pay, GPS, BEIDOU and GLONASS support for global positioning and navigation as well.

Software:

In terms of software, Xiaomi’s smartwatch Mi Watch will run MIUI for Watch, the company’s own wearable operating system with an interface designed based on Google’s Wear OS platform. Applications available on the watch include stripped-down versions of common apps seen in the MIUI ecosystem such as Tasks, Notes, Recorder, Mi Home, Maps and so on.

The Mi Watch features a massive variety of watch faces along with an option for leaving displays on all the time, a popularly requested feature from consumers.

Fitness:

To facilitate a seamless internet experience with its IoT ecosystem, the Mi Watch also comes with IoT support for pairing with the company’s other smart products for easy hands-free control. Devices supported include Xiaomi’s smart lamps, air purifiers, rice cookers and many more.

For fitness enthusiasts, the smartwatch supports tracking for up to 10 different forms of physical activity including basics such as walking, running, swimming and more.

SEE ALSO: Best Fitness Trackers for Android and iPhone 2019

Xiaomi claims the smartwatch supports Firstbeat, an advanced performance analytics system certified by more than 1,000 European sports organizations for accurate and in-depth health data. Besides measuring fitness-related stats, the watch is also capable of detecting irregular heart rates.

Price:

The standard edition Mi Watch is currently on sale at 1299 yuan (~$185), while the exclusive edition will be on sale starting in December at 1999 yuan (~$285).