Xiaomi’s best budget smart watch so far! Read this detailed Redmi watch 5 active review to find out if this watch could be a good investment for you.
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One minute review
Redmi watch 5 active was released in UK in oct 2024. It is a budget smart watch released by Xiaomi. Redmi watch 5 active has a large 2″ LCD display with rubber straps. The watch body is made from plastic with metal coating, is very light weight and available in two colours.
The watch can track up to 200 different workouts, with auto tracking for walking, running etc. It can also monitor heart rate, stress and oxygen levels throughout the day and monitor your sleep at night. You have over 200 watch faces to choose from. The watch also offers Bluetooth calling feature.
Overall Redmi watch 5 active is a good option, the heart rate monitor is spot on. Battery life is very good and lasts up to 10-12 days on moderate use. Auto tracking for activities is a bit laggy and its best to manually start tracking before each exercise. The user interface and lift to wake option is very responsive.
Redmi Watch 5 Active Review: Introduction, Price and Release Date
I recently bought Redmi watch 5 active to test its features, built quality and accuracy of tracking. I have used the Redmi watch now for over two weeks. Redmi watch 5 active is the successor to Redmi watch 3 active. For some reason Xiaomi, the manufacturer of the Redmi watches, did not release the Redmi watch 4 active in rest of the world, it was only released in china.
The Redmi watch 5 active was released in UK in October 2024 before being released in other countries. Price starts from £30 excluding shipping in the UK. The watch can be purchased directly from the Xiaomi UK’s official store, Amazon, EBay or other retailers.
The price of watch 5 active is significantly lower compared to Redmi watch 3 active which is priced around £35.
Redmi Watch 5 Active Review: Design
- Touchscreen
- Physical button on the left
- Premium looking watch
Design 4.5/5
Redmi watch 5 active only comes in one size. It is available to order in two colours: Black and Grey.
To be honest I wasn’t expecting too much for this price when I bought the Redmi watch 5 active, but I was surprised to see the design and build quality. Compared to Redmi watch 3 active which has 1.83″ display, this watch offers larger 2″ display with a resolution of 320 x 385 pixels and 250 PPI. Redmi watch active series do not offer AMOLED display, this series only offers standard LCD display. This was bit disappointing for me as the display on the watch 5 doesn’t feel sharp compared to normal Redmi watch series which has AMOLED display. However, I can’t complain considering the price. It should also be noted that Redmi active watches series are cheaper compared to normal Redmi watches series. I also noticed that the display doesn’t extend edge to edge on the active watch 5, there are noticeable bezels around the display. The brightness is quite good on the watch but it lacks auto brightness option. Therefore, I keep the brightness at max, so when I am outside its easy to see the screen. As long as you do not turn the brightness down, the screen is easy to see outdoors even in bright sunlight. The straps are made of TPU, which is comfortable and durable, it is easy to wear and adjustable to different sizes. The straps can be easily removed and replaced. The watch frame is made from plastic with matt metal spray coating.
All the sensors including mic and speaker are at the bottom side of the watch. It has a button on left side, pressing it once will turn on the display, press it one more time and it will take you to the main menu. If you keep it pressed for one second it will open the Alexa voice assistant.
Redmi Watch 5 Active Review: Battery Life
- Can last upto 18 days depending on usage
- On average battery will last 10-12 days
Battery life score: 4/5
The manufacturer claims battery life of up to 18 days. When I received the watch it was 67% charged and after using it for 8 days there was still 10% battery left. This is when I put the watch on charge. The charging on the watch is very fast, the watch was fully charged in less than 2 hours. From my experience, the battery can last up to 18 days but this hugely depends on the usage. If you are using sleep tracking, 24 hours stress and heart rate tracking, and activity tracking, then from my experience the battery will last from 10 to 12 days when fully charged. This is still a good amount considering it is a budget smart watch.
Redmi Watch 5 Active Review: Activity tracking
Redmi watch 5 active can track up to 140 different workouts and it is able to automatically detect some activities such as running, walking, cycling, elliptical, rowing, and jumping rope. I used the watch to track walking and running.
The watch has auto tracking feature, however I found this to be laggy. When walking the auto detection did not start until after 5 to 10 minutes of walking. Similarly, when I was walking fast it detected it as running instead of walking.
I would advice you to manually select the type of exercise and start the tracking before staring any activity. The watch doesn’t have a built in GPS but works well with phone’s own GPS. When connected to a phone it accurately tracks the route and distance covered. You can connect the watch to iPhone or Android using the Mi Fitness app.
Make sure to keep the Bluetooth turned on on the phone to ensure seamless connectivity, also make sure to let the Mi Fitness app run in the background to ensure all the features fully work. When walking or running if your watch is not connected to your phone, it will not track the route as it has to rely on the phone’s GPS to track the route. However, other tracking options will still work and once connectivity is restored it will send the tracking data to your phone.
I compared the steps counter on the watch with iPhones own and Apple watch SE’s step counter and found it to be with-in 10% of the total steps values from iPhone and Apple watch SE.
Redmi Watch 5 Active Review: Health Tracking
In addition to activity tracking, the Redmi watch 5 active also offers other health tracking features such as heart rate monitoring, sleep tracking, stress tracking and oxygen saturation monitoring.
Heart Rate Monitoring
I compared the heart rate monitoring with apple watch and I was quite surprised with the results are there was only 1 or 2 beats difference. The watch also option to notify you of low or high heart rate, which I didn’t use. This option is turned off by default and you will have to turn it on manually in the settings.
Stress Tracking
The 24hrs stress feature is also handy, it will track your stress levels throughout the day and at night if you wear the watch at night to the bed for sleep tracking or heart rate tracking. When monitoring my stress levels during the day it always gave similar values, while at night the values were lower. This feature doesn’t seem very accurate but can still give a good indication of your stress levels through the day. Make sure to manually turn on the 24 hours stress tracking.
Sleep Tracking
The watch also offers sleep tracking feature. You can wear the watch to bed and it will monitor your sleep. It will tell you exactly how many hours of sleep you had and quality of your sleep. It tracks light sleep, deep sleep and REM sleep. It also tracks how many times you woke up during the night.
I have not compared this feature with any other watches. However, the values seems quite accurate as it does seem to accurately track how many times I woke up during the night and the amount of sleep I had at the night. The watch is light weight so it feels comfortable while wearing it during the night.
Additionally, when you swipe up the screen, you will find raise to wake option. You can turn this off and the watch’s screen won’t turn on at the night.
The Redmi watch 5 active also offers oxygen saturation tracking but lacks blood pressure monitoring. However, blood pressure and ECG monitoring is often only found in high end models.
Redmi Watch 5 Active Review: Other notable features
Bluetooth Calling
The Redmi watch 5 active also offers Bluetooth calling features. It is a big plus for a budget smart watch as budget smart watches often lack this features. If found the Bluetooth calling feature to be very reliable, the call quality is very clear even outdoors. Make sure to set the volume to max when outdoors, depending on the noise levels it may be difficult to hear, but generally the call quality is very impressive. I have used the watch to make and receive phone calls when my phone was at least 10-15 meters away from the watch and I was able to clearly hear the person talking. This can be a handy feature to make and receive phone calls while exercising or at home when your phone may be in your pocket or on charge etc.
Water Resistance
The watch offers 5ATM water resistance which is same as its predecessor Redmi watch 3 active. Even though the watch is water resistance it does not have any workout modes for tracking water sports. The watch also has a feature to clear the water if you get it wet – you can access this option by swiping up on the screen.
Alexa Compatibility
The watch also comes with Alexa built-in, which can perform basic task such as inform you of the current weather, set alarm etc. It only shows the information on the screen, there is no audio response.
Torch Feature
You can also use the watch as torch, this option can be accessed by swiping up on the screen. While there is no physical flash built into the device, the screen on at full brightness, which is a handy feature.
Weather
You can also check the local weather on the watch as long as it connected to a phone.
Calendar & Events
You can also access calendar and see the events which you can sync from your phone’s calendar. When you are setting up the watch it will ask for this permission. You can always change this via setting option on your phone.
Set up Alarms
You can also set alarms, use stop watch and timer via the smart watch. The alarm does not sync with your phone. So, when you set the alarm on the watch it will work indecently of your phone. The alarm sound is not very loud but you can easily hear it indoors, when the alarm goes off the watch also vibrates.
Find my phone feature
Another handy feature is ‘Find my Phone’. You can find your phone using the Redmi active watch 5 or vice versa. However, if you phone is on silent then it will only vibrate, making it harder to locate.
Watch Faces
You have over 200 watch faces to choose from. You can browse the watch faces via the Mi Fitness app and send it to your watch. You can only store up to six watch faces on the Redmi watch 5 active. To load additional watches faces you have to deleted the watch faces which are already on the watch to free up the space.
Lift to wake
The watch doesn’t have always on display but has lift to wake option. The screen automatically turns on when you lift your arm up to see the watch screen, which is very handy as you don’t have to manually turn the display on when checking time etc. However, one issues I noticed is the display turns off within 3-4 seconds and you have to keep pressing the side button to keep the display on. I did not see any option to increase the screen wake time.
Who Should Buy This Watch?
You should buy this watch if you are looking for a budget smart watch which offers good value for money and has a large display. I found the Bluetooth calling feature on the watch quite handy and call quality is very good. Similarly, the heart rate tracking on the watch is quite accurate. Redmi watch 5 active offers plenty of features and user interface is responsive. This watch is also good for activity tracking and can track up to 140 different workouts. So, if you are looking for tracking option for a variety of different workouts then this watch may be a good option for you. Do not forget to manually start and stop the tracking before the workouts. I also found sleep tracking and stress tracking feature very useful.
Who should NOT buy this smart watch?
If you are looking for a bright display and auto tracking for walking and running etc, then you should not buy this smart watch as auto tracking is not very reliable on this watch and the watch only offers LCD display. Similarly, if you want you watch to work independently of your smart phone for all the features then this smart watch is not a good option for you, as this watch relies heavily on a smart phone to work fully. It doesn’t have its on GPS or WiFi. However, if you are looking for such options then you may have to increase your total budget as most budget smart watches in this price range do not offer features such as built in WiFi, GPS or eSim option. Also, if you have a small wrist, then I do not recommended buying this watch as the screen is quite large, you may find Redmi watch 3 active a better choose instead.
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Conclusion
Overall, Redmi watch 5 active is a good buy with a large LCD screen. It is a lightweight, reliable and responsive watch. This watch is good value for money and offers many different features including health and activity tracking.
