Mi Watch Revolve review: Stylish with some limitations

Mi Watch Revolve price in India: Rs 9,999

Mi Watch Revolve specs: 1.39-inch screen | AMOLED panel | touchscreen | sports mode | PPG Heart rate sensor | Compatible with Android 4.4, iOS 10 and above | 420mAh battery | 40g | Compatible with Xiaomi Wear app

What is good and not so good

I really liked the design of the Mi Watch Revolve. It comes in Chrome Silver and Midnight Black. This review features the Chrome Silver model. This variant looks classy and suits all kinds of attire be it informal, formal, ethnic or western.

The watch also fits really well in my hand and can be adjusted as and when required. Despite the big dial, the watch is extremely lightweight and I could wear it all through the day without any problem, even while sleeping. The band and the dial feel sturdy and premium.

The circular dial of the Mi Watch Revolve adds to the aesthetics and makes it look different from other smartwatches available in the market at this price segment. The dial turns out to be bright enough in almost all lighting conditions including under the scorching Kolkata sun. The brightness level can be adjusted either on the watch or the Mi Wear app on Android or Mi Wear lite app on iOS. There’s an option for auto adjustment that helps set the screen brightness depending on the surroundings.

This smartwatch also comes with options like Always on Display and raise to wake. With the Always on Display enabled the standby time will reduce in comparison to when the option is disabled.

The text and notifications are clearly visible on the watch screen be it a new message or a call or an email. But to respond, just like the Mi Smart Band 5, you will need to switch back to your mobile phone. The watch will alert when you get a new call and let you either reject or mute the call. To pick up calls you will need to switch to mobile phone.

The watch also comes with several watch faces that you can set using either the watch or the Xiaomi Wear app. In my two weeks of using the watch, swiping between one option to another was smooth.

Most of the functionalities of the Mi Watch Revolve are the same as the Mi Smart Band 5 but both are different in terms of pricing. The Mi Watch is priced at Rs 9,999 while the Mi Smart Band 5 is priced under Rs 2,500.

It comes with several sports modes as well such as some of the basic ones like walking, running, skipping, jogging and more. Xiaomi, similar to the Mi Smart Band 5, has also added some indoor sports modes such as breathing, indoor cycling and more keeping in mind the current situation globally. I found the Mi Watch steps tracker to be quite accurate as it almost matched the iOS health app.

Similar to the Mi Smart Band 5, the Mi Watch also comes with stress and heart rate trackers. I personally can’t really trust the stress tracker given it showed a high level when I was chilling and watching an IPL match with my family.

One of the key highlights of the Mi Watch Revolve is the battery. For me, the smartwatch lasted nearly two weeks on a single charge. The watch comes bundled with a magnetic charger similar to the Mi Smart Band 5. All you need to do is connect the back of the watch with the charger. It took around 1 hour 45 minutes to fully charge the watch.

Connecting the Mi Watch with the Xiaomi Wear app is easy using an Android phone, but I faced difficulties trying to connect the smartwatch with my iPhone. The Xiaomi Wear Lite app was buggy and failed to connect the watch with my iPhone. The process was easy and fast when connecting the Mi Watch with an Android phone.

Should Mi Watch Revolve be your next smartwatch?

Overall, the Mi Watch Revolve looks like a good option for you to consider if you are a Xiaomi fan. If not, there are some better options available in the market from Huawei, Samsung and some other brands. I really like how the Mi Watch Revolve looks but in my opinion it lacks some of the smartwatch functionalities. It is more like a smart fitness band with a smartwatch like the design.