If you’re looking for a budget smartband, then the Redmi Watch 2 Lite might be for you. This is a square-shaped watch that also happens to be a fitness band that looks awfully familiar to another smartband that we reviewed earlier this year…. hmmm…
We’ll get more into that later – so let’s take a look at this smartband.
Let’s first talk about the unboxing of this watch. It comes with nothing else other than a user manual and also a charging cable. It’s quite sad to see it’s still using a proprietary charging cable, but hey – what can we expect from a smartband of this price?
The overall build quality, shape, and size of the Redmi Watch 2 Lite is identical to the Mi Watch Lite. The strap is made out of silicone and still a pain to put in or take out since the silicone-on-silicone friction is so high that the securing loop is pretty much impossible to slide in.
If you want to change the strap, you can – and the strap is 100% identical to the Mi Watch Lite too.
It also has a screen that curves at the edges into the frame of the watch, but the power button position is now centered along the right edge of the watch.
And when we press that power button, we can see a sizeable bezel around the perimeter of the screen. In terms of what we can do with the watch, well, it can tell time, obviously.
There are multiple different ways it can tell time as there are many different watchfaces to choose from. However, like the previous smartbands from the company that we’ve tried, everything here is tied to what the Xiaomi Wear app has to offer. We can’t sideload anything or download apps like Facer to the Redmi Watch 2 Lite because it’s a smartband, not a smartwatch.
And since we’ve in the Xiaomi Wear app, let’s take a look at the features. I’ll say it’s actually fairly simple overall. Everything pretty much works the same as the Mi Watch Lite but the Redmi Watch 2 Lite now comes with GPS, if you need it.
Though I have to point out that notifications don’t work properly – especially WhatsApp. I was getting lots of repeated notifications saying that WhatsApp Web is currently active. Every time i do something on my desktop or laptop – even just switching to that WhatsApp Web tab on Chrome, the watch vibrates. Oh my god, please fix this.
Besides that, not all emojis are displayed correctly as some notifications become blanks. Not the first time we’re seeing this, but I guess it’s inevitable.
And you might have realized that I’m calling this Redmi Watch 2 Lite as a smartband multiple times, not a smartwatch. That is because of its lack of functionality and things like app support or anything similar. It’s literally a fitness band that has a bigger square-shaped screen.
But, there is an advantage of being such a relatively simple device – and that is the battery life. I turned on everything that it has to offer – heart rate monitoring, stress level monitoring, sleep tracking, SpO2 monitoring (that only tracks my data when I sleep), and I manage to get about nearly 5 days of battery life.
And to charge the watch – just remember to take the cable with you if you’re traveling.
Should you buy the Redmi Watch 2 Lite?
For the price of RM249, I can see that the Redmi Watch 2 Lite being a compelling option. My conclusion for the Mi Watch Lite isn’t applicable here as the Mi Band 6 – which is the latest Mi Band at the time of this recording – doesn’t come with GPS while the Redmi Watch 2 Lite does come with GPS.
So, I think that a slight premium for some features might be worth it but it depends if you need these features or not.
Just remember that at the end of the day, this Redmi Watch 2 Lite is still a fitness band that looks like a watch but it is not a smartwatch. And also, rather buggy in terms of the notifications.
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