The newly-launched Redmi Watch 3 Active is here. There is Bluetooth calling, a huge display, 100-plus sports modes, 5ATM water resistance rating and an all-new widget watch face that gives all the important information with every swipe.
In the box, there is only the watch (with strap) and a pogo-pin charging cable. The frame of the watch has a metallic finish with NCVM coating. Even though it attracts fingerprints and smudges but the finish gives the watch a premium look. On the right, is a button for control and there is also a microphone to assist you with phone calls.
The silicon strap is soft and it comes with a loop design, which makes it easy to wear the watch. The overall build quality of the smartwatch is pretty good and takes it miles ahead of rivals in the category.
You can easily change straps
Those lovely widgets
The first thing I like about the watch is 5ATM water resistance, which ensures you can wear it to the pool without worrying about damage. But the Mi website mentions it is “not suitable for wearing in hot showers, saunas, or whilst diving”. Here’s a dilemma: There is enough water resistance but the watch doesn’t seem to have water sport tracking.
Coming to the display, as soon as you turn the wrist towards you, it wakes up and that too flawlessly. There is a 1.83-inch inch LCD display with a resolution of 240x280 pixels. What catches one’s attention is the new widget interface. The widgets are on the home screen rather than a watch face, so you can see the time, daily activity, heart rate, weather, battery life, calories burned and so on. All that you need can be viewed with simple swipes. You can customise the widget interface from the app. So replace the music player with step count and so on. It’s a very interesting change that makes the smartwatch far more accessible than before.
But there are people who want to have a regular watch face. It’s also there and in plenty. You have access to over 200 watch faces. The colours pop even though the display is LCD. I don’t expect an AMOLED display at this price point. The display boasts 450nits of brightness, which is fine for outdoor usage.
Smooth interface
The interface has most of the things you will need on the move. Swipe down for notification alerts or swipe up to access the toggles. You can change screen-on time (we suggest you keep it low to get maximum battery life), raise to wake, cover to sleep, layout and so on.
In the menu, there are several options — workouts, heart rate, stats, SpO2, sleep tracking, stress tracking, Bluetooth calling and plenty more.
There is good app support for Redmi Watch 3 Active
One of the features you may enjoy is the ability to make phone calls from the watch. Visit Calls in the menu and tap on the dialer. After the call is done, you can disconnect from the watch itself. You can also receive phone calls. There is the ability to mute the microphone and control the volume from the watch. The speaker can get loud enough even outdoors, depending on the environment. The background noise cancellation is high. Next, I want Redmi to add a feature to allow replies to messages (at the moment you can read them).
Should you buy it?
Most people are looking for a simple smartwatch that can offer important metrics. This smartwatch is light and comfortable enough to wear to bed, meaning sleep tracking is not an issue. Most of the metrics are accurate but I am not sold on stress-tracking.
Redmi claims up to 12 days of battery life but take this with a pinch of salt because you will turn up the brightness and will need all the data metrics. I would say, maximum five days with all the features turned on. The Mi Fitness companion app allows you to play around with most of the features.
Redmi has managed to pack in an impressive amount of features. And it helps that Watch 3 Active is a looker.
At a glance
Device: Redmi Watch 3 Active
Price: Rs 2,999
High notes
Excellent widget design
Light and good battery life
Good app support
Bright display
Muffled note
It’s water resistant but there is no workout mode for water sports
Stress tracking can be improved