Redmi Watch Move review: a budget smartwatch that delivers in a big way

Published On: 1 May, 2025

Xiaomi is making a comeback into the Indian smartwatch market with the Redmi Watch Move. Priced at just Rs 1,999, this is the brand’s first-ever Made in India smartwatch—designed to be a stylish yet reliable fitness tracker that also handles reminders, manages calls, and more, all from your wrist. I decided to take the Redmi Watch Move out for a spin to find out whether it has what it takes to shake up the market and help Xiaomi capture the smae success it enjoyed with the Mi Smart Band in the wearable market. Read on to find out in this review.

Table of Contents

Design and display

The Redmi Watch Move is sure to turn heads with its premium design and eye-catching colour options. In addition to classic black, it’s available in striking shades like Silver Sprint, Blue Blaze, and Gold Rush. For this review, I received the Blue Blaze variant, which features a subtle finish paired with matching straps. Speaking of straps, they use a proprietary mechanism, much like those found on pricier smartwatches, allowing for easy swaps with similarly sized bands. That said, finding third-party straps for the Redmi Watch Move may prove difficult, and Xiaomi has stated it will only release official replacements based on user demand.

However, one shouldn’t be bothered, given their smooth look and finish that doesn’t bite the wrist. Xiaomi has opted for TPU straps, known for being anti-bacterial and hypoallergenic, making them suitable for all-day wear. However, the straps aren’t particularly breathable. They can trap moisture from sweat during workouts or rain, which may cause minor skin irritation if not cleaned properly. This is a common drawback not only in smartwatches but also in traditional wristwatches. On the bright side, the Redmi Watch Move boasts an IP68 rating for water and dust resistance, meaning it can withstand submersion in water up to 1.5 metres deep for up to 30 minutes without issue.

The Redmi Watch Move features a rectangular dial reminiscent of the Apple Watch series, complemented by an aluminium frame, 2.5D curved glass on top, and a soft plastic underside that ensures comfort during extended wear without digging into the skin or causing irritation. This comfort is further enhanced by its weight, which measures just 39 grams with the straps.

The wearable sports a 1.85-inch AMOLED display with up to 60Hz refresh rate, 600 nits peak brightness, 390x450p resolution, and 74 percent screen-to-body ratio. While there are noticeable bezels around all four sides, the display remains sharp and crisp, retaining its clarity even when viewed from an angle. Moreover, the display is fairly responsive to the touch, supports Always-on and offers a high contrast ratio with vibrant colours. While the Redmi Watch Move’s display gets plenty bright to make at least the text legible outdoors in sunny environments with maximum brightness, it lacks an auto-brightness feature – a trait found in other smartwatches too.

Be that as it may, the wearable boasts a lift-to-wake feature, which works as advertised and swiftly lights up the screen when the wrist is raised for a quick glance at time and other information. Additionally, a rotating crown, with satisfying tactile feedback when rotated or pressed, on the right side spine provides some controls over the smartwatch.

Features and app

The Redmi Watch Move comes packed with a wide range of features, including heart rate monitoring, step counting, calorie tracking, sleep analysis, and SpO₂ measurement. It also offers stress tracking and guided breathing exercises to promote relaxation. Fitness enthusiasts will appreciate the support for over 140 sports modes. Additionally, the watch supports Bluetooth voice calling—a convenient feature when multitasking or unable to access your phone. However, due to its small speaker, call quality works best in quiet environments. The speaker is tucked behind the grille just below the left spine, whereas the microphone is mounted on the right spine, next to the crown. The microphone is decent for getting your message across without sounding muffled.

The Redmi Watch Move can also sync with your smartphone even if it’s not running HyperOS, and uses the Mi Fitness app to copy notifications, present insights to the tracked health metrics, and tweak watch faces, among other things. The smartwatch supports over 200 watch faces, including India-specific ones for festivals etc. The watch can store up to five faces at a time for quick switching. While it can buzz to alert you of notifications from your phone, you can’t interact with them, such as sending quick replies, at least when paired with an iPhone.

I used the Redmi Watch Move in conjunction with the Mi Fitness app (version 3.33) on my iPhone 16e. The app pairs seamlessly with the smartwatch, and data syncing takes just a second or two. The home page is focused on ‘Health’, with all key information presented in an easy-to-read card layout. Each card can be expanded with a simple tap to reveal deeper insights into your workouts.

Core metrics such as steps taken, calories burned, and activities labelled as ‘Moving’, are prominently displayed at the top, colour-coded and visualised as a semi-circle that fills up as you approach your daily goal, which can be altered per the individual preferences. To make progress feel more rewarding, the app also presents a fun, shareable card that compares your burned calories to the equivalent of a popular food item. Additionally, the app has separate tabs for ‘Workout’, ‘Device’, and ‘Profile’, making the UI clean and intuitive. The Mi Fitness is also pretty stable, and didn’t crash or freeze during my testing.

Xiaomi has also added an AI Zone to the smartwatch that lets you answer your questions and generate watch faces using artificial intelligence. The feature could do with some improvement, as it is slow and may not work every time.

Performance and UI

The Redmi Watch Move handles its tasks with impressive smoothness. Whether switching between screens, launching apps, or tracking workouts, the device performs without a hitch. It runs HyperOS out of the box—Xiaomi’s proprietary software, which, despite being custom-built, feels familiar and closely aligned with what you’d find on other wearables in the same segment. Swiping left and right from the home screen offers access to health tracking features, an alarm, a timer, a music player, weather, sleep, and workout modes. This is customisable. Swiping down from the home screen draws the notification panel, whereas swiping up opens up quick settings panel.

A long press on the crown activates the AI search assistant, which requires active internet connectivity via the paired smartphone to retrieve information. A single press opens the app drawer/ jump to home screen, while rotating the crown up or down allows for smooth navigation.

When it comes to health tracking, the Redmi Watch Move performs reasonably well in accurately recording steps taken and calories burned. During my usage, the smartwatch fell short by 10 to 15 steps less than the actual numbers, which is acceptable. Sleep tracking is also reliable, providing not just the total hours slept but a detailed breakdown—including the percentage of time spent in deep and light sleep, average heart rate, and the number of times you woke up. This data is then rated on a scale from Poor to Excellent within the companion app. The watch also supports REM sleep tracking and a Breathing Score, though these features must be enabled manually.

Among the 140+ available sports modes, I primarily used Freestyle for gym workouts and Walking for my evening walks. During workouts, the smartwatch screen locks to the active mode, allowing you to track key metrics such as total duration, heart rate, and calories burned. Additionally, it offers convenient music controls, letting you manage playback directly from your smartphone. The Walking mode uses the paired smartphone’s GPS to accurately track your walk; however, the feature didn’t work as advertised during my usage. The GPS struggled with signal, even if used out in the open with no immediate obstruction.

Once the workout has ended, you get a breakdown of your workout with average heart rate, total duration, workout intensity, and distance covered while walking, among other things. The companion app provides further deep down into the workouts, comparing them with your previous recorded exercises. However, like most smartwatches, the data is intended to provide a general overview of your health and should not be relied upon for medical purposes.

Battery life

The Redmi Watch Move has a claimed battery life of 14 days between charges with typical usage. This can drop to 10 days with heavy usage, including the voice calling feature and Always-on display. My usage, which involved mostly typical usage with a little bit of calling here and there, saw the smartwatch lasting for a good 13 days before needing a charge.

For charging, Xiaomi includes a proprietary magnetic cable in the box, which attaches securely to the back of the watch and requires a USB Type-A port for power. A quick 10-minute charge provides up to two days of regular use, while a full charge takes just 70 minutes—impressive given the smartwatch’s long battery life.

Verdict

The Redmi Watch Move marks a strong return for Xiaomi in the budget smartwatch segment in India. With its appealing design, solid build quality, and feature-rich experience, especially at the extremely affordable price of under Rs 1,999, it punches well above its weight. The AMOLED display, long battery life, Bluetooth calling, and a variety of health and fitness tracking features make it an excellent option for first-time smartwatch buyers or casual users. While it has a few rough edges, like the absence of auto-brightness, limited interactivity, and occasional GPS hiccups, it still stands out as one of the best value-for-money wearables in its price bracket.