Xiaomi Watch S5 review

People love the Xiaomi Watch S models and with good reason. They're affordable (€150 from Amazon), they're feature-rich and capable, but probably more important than anything else, they're great-looking.

Model five is no different and, this editor argues, is even prettier than before, making it even more desirable. There's a noticeable uptick in refinement and perceived quality and durability with this year's model. It's ditched the interchangeable bezel of the previous model, which at least means you won't lose it. But don't worry, there are different bezels (four of them), depending on the different color you go for.

The Xiaomi Watch S5 we've got for review is the 46mm model, and it comes in Black, Silver, Jungle Green (ours), and Ceramic Blue. Prices start from €180 for the Black and Silver, and €200 for the Jungle Green and Ceramic Blue.

Just like before, the watch ships in a box with a strap and a two-pin magnetic charger, which ends on a USB-A port (shame!). The non-universal charging puck means setting the watch down to charge can be a multiple-try affair, but luckily the great battery life means you'll do it less than ever.

• Design, display
• Interface
• Health and fitness tracking
• Battery life, charging
• Verdict

Design, display

The Xiaomi Watch S5 uses a mix of materials. Its display is some form of scratch-resistant crystal, though not sapphire. The case is made of 316L stainless steel on all models. The Black and Silver models use stainless steel for the bezel as well, while the Ceramic Blue model has a (you guessed it) ceramic bezel, and the Jungle Green model uses a forged carbon bezel.

The Watch S5 has a refined build compared to its predecessor. It's a bit smaller at 46mm and less thick at 11mm. Much of that was achieved by slimming down the bezels by 40%, which has the upside of allowing for a slightly larger display - 1.48-inch vs 1.43-inch on the old model. That means that on the wrist, you've got a slimmer timepiece that's smaller and has a bigger display.

Like its predecessors, the Watch S5 has a classic design with pronounced lugs on either side that mount standard 22mm straps - no proprietary mechanisms to deal with.

The model we've got for review has a two-tone case finish with a glossy middle (frame, buttons, and lugs), and a matte bezel. The bezel has a layered design, which looks impressive and unique, though it's not to everyone's taste. It's also a concentric circle with an embedded inner bezel.

That inner bezel has minute markers around the edge - a must-have for some watch enthusiasts.

The strap is a combination of fluororubber and woven nylon in a lovely green color.

The 46mm model felt just right for a few of us here at GSMArena. It's best suited for regular-sized wrists and feels very comfortable to wear for both leisure and sports activities.

Xiaomi has matched the case and strap nicely with the default watch face. The look of the Watch S5 just feels right.

You get a rotating crown that's also pushable, as well as a button underneath. They're not customizable, which is a shame. The crown itself is color-matched to the watch, green in this case. It's a tasteful touch which makes the design more cohesive.

There's a speaker grille just under the two buttons and a microphone hole on the other side.

Buttons and a speaker

The display is premium. It's a 1.48-inch AMOLED with a 480x480px resolution (also sharp at 323ppi), a high brightness mode of 1,500 nits, and a peak brightness of 2,500 nits.

We had no issues with the screen even in the brightest of sunlit days. It's easily legible.

But just as important as the screen specs is the watch face. Xiaomi's default one for the Watch S5 was this editor's favorite choice. It's classy, classic, and has the most important information (for me) - the time, the date, the battery, and one customizable slot.

There are hundreds of other faces in the Mi Fitness app. Faces are neatly organized into Online and Local ones, and they're basically all free. You can browse faces through your phone, and tapping on one will show you whether it's customizable and which complications you can alter. It's nice and extensive.

There's, of course, an always-on display for each watch face.

Interface

The Xiaomi Watch S5 runs HyperOS 3, a proprietary software, which has everything you'd need in terms of features. You can control your phone's music, get and answer notifications, and there's even a remote shutter app (though you need to open the camera app first).

Operating the watch is simple enough. A swipe from the top brings down the notifications, and swiping up from the bottom brings up the different widgets (or cards) - weather, steps, heart rate, sleep, etc. Swiping further than the widgets brings up the apps grid, but you can also do that by pressing the crown.

Swiping from the left does nothing, while a swipe from the right brings up the watch face menu.

There are some elaborate gestures on the Xiaomi Watch S5, like pinching and snapping your fingers. Honestly, it's not very useful. You need to set up the snapping gesture by snapping your fingers (duh). Well, the watch recognized two snaps out of 20 - and those were some strong snaps. It's just not very sensitive and well thought out.

You can have a honeycomb of app icons, have them with text under the icon, or just use a list of apps.

Pressing the bottom button brings up the quick toggles, which are rearrangeable. There's no way to customize either button to do something different, which is very limiting.

The Xiaomi Watch S5 even offers NFC payments on your wrist. You need to pin-lock the watch for security, and add the cards through the Mi Fitness app on your phone. Currently, Visa and Mastercard are supported, and you can check which banks are supported in your region.

Health and fitness tracking

Xiaomi watches have always been stellar at fitness tracking, and the Watch S5 is no different. You've got more than 150 sports modes, with detailed options like multiple types of running and swimming, dance, combat sports, and even board games like cards, chess, and checkers. There's a running coach and a ski mode, favorites of this editor.

Like the model before it, the Xiaomi Watch S5 has dual-band positioning with support for GPS, Galileo, Glonass, BeiDou, and QZSS. Xiaomi claims the new watch is both faster to lock onto a signal and more accurate. In my testing, GPS lock took around 6-7 seconds, and map data was extremely accurate.

Xiaomi says its new four-LED, four-PD heart rate and blood oxygen sensor, combined with an upgraded algorithm, provides a 98.40% heart rate accuracy. The watch can also monitor your blood oxygen throughout the day, watch out for your stress levels, offer breathing exercises, and track women's cycles.

Like the Xiaomi Smart Band 10 Pro, the Watch S5 finally has better sleep tracking, thanks to an upgraded sleep tracking algorithm. This has been a gripe of this editor before, where I'd get over-estimated deep sleep numbers from Xiaomi wearables. Whereas with the Smart Band 10 Pro and the Watch S5, I'm getting numbers that are in line with other wearables from Samsung and Huawei.

Sleep tracking and workouts

Battery life, charging

Probably the biggest improvement on the Watch S5 is to the battery. The new model has gone from a 486mAh on the Watch S4 to 815mAh - that's a 67.7% uptick in capacity. Xiaomi achieved this by adding silicon (15% silicon content) to the new Surge Battery.

Claimed maximum endurance is 21 days, with 14 days of normal use, and up to 9 days with the always-on display enabled. My testing included raise-to-wake active, five workouts per week (it's football season), daily sleep tracking, and wearing the watch all day at work and at home. Basically 20+ hours of having the watch on my wrist. I got an impressive 15 days of endurance from a single charge! It's true forget-about-it battery life, and it's (in this editor's opinion) a must-have for any watch, be it smart or not. No notes!

Verdict

Objectively, there's very little to complain about here. We like the way the Xiaomi Watch S5 looks, and it's built very well. Yes, it lost the swappable bezels, which were a unique selling point, but it comes in four distinct finishes that should cover everybody's tastes. I'm in love with the Jungle Green model. Of course, this is a large 46mm watch best suited for normal-to-large wrists; Xiaomi should hurry up and release a smaller, possibly 41mm Watch S5 model, similar to what it did with the Watch S4 series.

Having used both this watch and its predecessor, I can say that the new model has a perceivable improvement in build quality and feel. What hasn't changed is its exhaustive list of features and abilities - there's hardly anything this watch can't do, and nothing it can't do well.

Xiaomi should get all the praise in the world for the improvement in battery life! The Watch S5 has close to 70% more battery capacity without weighing noticeably more - impressive! And, as expected, the bigger battery yields better endurance, which is more than welcome!

Pros

• Feels better built and nicer than its predecessor; non-removable bezel may be a plus here
• Four model choices - something for any taste
• Excellent package for a reasonable price
• Display is bright and legible
• Forget-about-it battery life - more than 14 days with tracking and notifications.
• Extensive health and fitness tracking capabilities.
• Seemingly more accurate health tracking than predecessor.
• Standard 22mm bands
• The watch works with all phones, NFC payments (region and bank dependent).

Cons

• There's no smaller model (yet).
• Some might lament the non-swappable bezels (not us).
• Non-customizable buttons.
• USB-A charging cable with two-pin design is annoying in 2026.

Xiaomi Watch S5 46mm

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