Redmi Watch 5 Review: So Light You Forget It’s There

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Good smartwatches aren’t cheap. Oh wait, yes they are. Let me introduce you to the Redmi Watch 5 which is already a frontrunner for the best value device of 2025.

I already have experience with Xiaomi watches thanks to my Smart Band 9 review and was suitably impressed with what you get for your money there. But the Redmi Watch 5 may even top that. The display on this thing is huge, it looks super smart in black and it feels great to wear thanks to being very light.

There are some minor issues to consider though. So let’s get into my full Redmi Watch 5 review.

User experience – a pleasure to wear on your wrist

There are two main things that I love about the Redmi Watch 5; the weight and the display size.

In my Apple Watch Ultra 2 review, I found it to be too heavy and bulky for my liking, especially when exercising. The Redmi Watch 5 is the exact opposite. At 33.5g it’s lighter than the Apple Watch Series 10 and I’ve got to say, I absolutely love it.

It never feels insecure or like it’s rattling around on your wrist like heavier watches can do and when you’re on a run you forget that you’re wearing it. It’s hard to describe without wearing one, but the Redmi Watch 5 just feels perfectly balanced on your wrist, especially when exercising.

I know that’s a point of personal preference and you might like a chunkier, heavier watch for more formal scenarios, but I think this is ideal for fitness tracking.

Something else I particularly like is the Redmi’s usability when wet. A lot of devices have started to add some form of ‘water touch’ feature to devices and lots of them don’t work very well. The Redmi Watch 5 seems to have some solid hardware/software in this area as I’ve been able to use the touch screen in the rain and the shower pretty reliably. As long as it isn’t swamped with water, the screen stays responsive.

Design and display – big and stunning in black

Not only is the Redmi Watch 5 light, it has a huge display. I’m not talking about a 0.5mm difference to other watches, but a genuinely, noticeably bigger display that is refreshing to use.

The Redmi Watch 5 has a 50mm display. For comparison, the Apple Watch Series 10 comes in 42mm and 46mm variations, while the Apple Watch Ultra has a 49mm display. What’s so great about this is the combination with the weight.

It’s so light yet has this huge display meaning you get a great mix of practicality and function. 

The display itself is AMOLED, has a 60Hz refresh rate and a peak brightness of 1500 nits. The resolution is also impressive at 432 x 514 and I haven’t had any issues with the display at all from a technical standpoint; it’s bright and clear enough.

My compliments keep on coming with the design. The Redmi Watch 5’s frame is made of an aluminium alloy like most other watches at this price level.

It seems durable enough, mine hasn’t picked up any scratches in the weeks I’ve been using it, and it looks smart in Midnight Black. Although the Lavender Purple looks unique too.

The scroll wheel is like all other scroll wheels which is a good thing as they allow you to use your watch without touching the screen, but there are no other buttons. This is a slight shame, I wish more watches had something like Apple’s Action Button to launch something like a workout quickly.

The bezels are larger than more premium smartwatches but nowhere near enough to be a problem. If you care about bezels that much then I hate to break it to you; it doesn’t matter.

In short, the Redmi Watch 5 looks great, feels great and has a huge display. What’s next?

Software and battery – intuitive but some performance issues

The Redmi Watch 5’s on-device software is nothing groundbreaking and mimics most other smartwatches out there. It is easy to use and offers everything you’d need from a smartwatch in terms of functionality.

You connect to the watch using the Mi Fitness app which I first experienced during my Xiaomi Smart Band 9 review. If you’ve read that, you’ll know that I liked how simple it was and the way it presented information in a highly visual way. That remains true today. Oh and yes, it is compatible with iOS.

My one complaint with the Redmi Watch 5’s software is that there are occasionally a few performance slips. These are by no means major but when swiping to move between panels on the display, there are instances where it lags ever so slightly, like a stutter. It’s not all the time and not enough to put you off buying one, but it happens.

As for the battery, well, there isn’t much to say other than it is brilliant. Xiaomi (who manufactures the watch) claim it has 24 days of battery life under typical use (which doesn’t include all-day blood oxygen monitoring and sleep-breathing turned on).

This might not fully stand up but the battery lasts at least 20 days. I’ve been using it for two weeks, tracking workouts, monitoring sleep, listening to music with notifications and I’m at 35% battery life.

I love how Xiaomi has managed to get this much juice out of their smartwatches and it really sets them apart from Apple, whose watches still can’t last more than a few days without a charge. If you don’t want to keep charging your watch every night, then buy Android.

Health tracking – comprehensive features for less

I’m not going to run through all the features you get with the Redmi Watch 5 but it’s everything you’d expect from a non-ultra smartwatch. By that, I mean you get the standard heart rate, sleep, blood oxygen and stress monitoring without sleep apnea monitoring or SCUBA abilities.

Any activity that you can imagine is trackable and there are movement rings to fill based on steps, calories and activity levels. The Redmi also gives you a Vitality Score based on how much exercise you’ve been doing which is a nice touch to add another dimension to Xiaomi’s fitness tracking.

I’ve taken the watch on runs and the GPS tracking is accurate, providing you with stats like stride length and cadence to boot. I have noticed that the heart rate tracking can sometimes be a few seconds behind reality if there isn’t a gradual rise. In the gym, after a strenuous set my heart rate was up but the Redmi Watch 5 took a few seconds to catch up.

Oh, and you can swim with it too!

Wrapping up – truly great value for money

Much like my Smart Band 9 review, I’m left a bit confused as to how Xiaomi has managed to pull off such a high-quality device for such little money.

A reminder, the Redmi Watch 5 costs £89. You read that right. The Apple Watch Series 10 costs £399, the Pixel Watch 3 £349. Yes, you might not get the absolute premium in terms of ultra-smooth software and titanium materials, but you get pretty much everything else plus a bigger display with a mega battery.

I really like this smartwatch. For the money Xiaomi is asking, it’s virtually impossible not to recommend it.