Redmi Watch Move review: Familiar form, smarter function

Time of India

12-05-2025

Redmi has had an on-and-off presence in the smartwatch space over the years. We've previously reviewed both the Redmi Watch Active and the Redmi Watch 5 Lite. While Redmi frequently launches products in the smartphone and TWS categories, its smartwatch releases tend to be more sporadic. Now, the brand returns to the budget smartwatch segment with the Redmi Watch Move. Priced at Rs 1,999, it enters a crowded market filled with competitors like Boat and CMF. So, how does it stack up against the competition? What are its strengths and shortcomings? Let's find out in this review.
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Price & Availability
Redmi Watch Move is available for a price of Rs 1,999 on Amazon.
Design & Display
The Redmi Watch Move sports a conventional square dial, which helps it sit comfortably on the wrist. The design may be simple, but it's effective—and more importantly, it feels familiar and practical. The build is primarily plastic, but it doesn't feel cheap at all. In fact, the quality is quite impressive for the price point. We had the black color variant, which leans toward the subtle side (just how we like it), but it's also available in more expressive options like gold, silver, and blue.
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The straps are soft, breathable, and skin-friendly. We wore the watch through long, sweaty gym sessions and never experienced any itchiness or discomfort—something that's often overlooked at this price level.
An IP68 rating ensures decent durability. The watch held up just fine during intense workouts and even in light rain. However, we wouldn't recommend taking it for a swim—that might be pushing its limits.
There's also a functional crown on the side. While its use is somewhat limited, it does offer scroll functionality across menus, which is a convenient touch—especially when you don't want to rely solely on swipes and taps.
Now, let's talk about the display. The Watch Move features an AMOLED screen—impressive at this price. It's fairly responsive, though we did notice some minor touch lag with sweaty fingers (particularly during workouts). A small issue, but worth pointing out, since many of us interact with our smartwatches between sets at the gym.
With a peak brightness of 600 nits, outdoor visibility is solid. Whether you're out for a run or simply checking the time under the sun, the screen remains legible. One of our favorite features is the palm-to-sleep gesture: just place your palm over the screen, and the display turns off. Simple, intuitive, and effective.
Overall, the design and display of the Redmi Watch Move punch well above their weight, especially considering the Rs 1,999 price tag.
Apps & Connectivity
The Redmi Watch Move offers a well-rounded set of features, including heart rate and SpO₂ monitoring, sleep tracking, stress tracking, guided breathing, and support for over 140 sports modes. It also includes Bluetooth voice calling—a useful addition when multitasking. The speaker (on the left spine) and microphone (next to the crown) work fine for quick calls, though audio clarity is best in quieter settings.
It pairs with the Mi Fitness app, which works on both Android and iOS—even without HyperOS. The app handles health metrics, notifications, and customization. You get access to over 200 watch faces, including India-themed ones, with the option to store five on the watch for quick switching. While it does mirror phone notifications, interaction is limited—especially on iPhones.
Using the Mi Fitness app on an iPhone 16 Pro, pairing and syncing were seamless. The dashboard is clean, with expandable cards showing steps, calories, and workouts. There's also a fun touch where your burned calories are compared to common food items.
Xiaomi has added an AI Zone that can answer questions and create watch faces using AI. It's a promising feature but definitely needs more work from a refinement perspective.
Performance & UI
The Redmi Watch Move handles day-to-day tasks smoothly—whether it's navigating menus, launching apps, or tracking workouts. It runs on HyperOS, Xiaomi's custom software, which feels intuitive and familiar for anyone used to wearables in this segment.
Swiping left or right on the home screen gives quick access to key features like health tracking, music, weather, and workouts—all of which can be customized. Swipe down to see notifications, swipe up for quick settings.
The crown is multifunctional:
Single press opens the app drawer or returns home
Rotate to scroll smoothly
Long press activates the AI assistant, which pulls info via your connected phone
Overall, performance is snappy and the UI is well-optimized for a budget smartwatch.
The Redmi Watch Move offers fairly reliable health tracking. In daily step and calorie tracking, it showed a margin of error of about 15–20 steps, which is reasonable for a budget smartwatch. I compared the results with my Apple Watch Series 10, and while the Apple Watch was more precise, the Redmi Watch Move held up well for casual fitness monitoring.
Sleep tracking is another strong area—it not only logs total sleep duration but also breaks it down into deep and light sleep stages, shows your average heart rate, and counts wake-ups. The Mi Fitness app rates this data from
Poor
to
Excellent
, adding a useful layer of interpretation. It also offers REM sleep and Breathing Score tracking, though you'll need to enable these manually.
Out of the 140+ sports modes, I mainly used Freestyle for weight lifting and extensive cardio, and Walking for my evening strolls. The watch locks into workout mode once started, displaying key metrics like heart rate, calories burned, and duration. You can also control music playback from the watch while working out.
The Walking mode relies on your phone's GPS for tracking distance and route, but during my usage, the GPS connection was inconsistent—even in open areas with no major obstructions.
Once you finish a session, you get a clear summary of heart rate, duration, intensity, and distance. The Mi Fitness app further compares this data with past workouts. Just like with most wearables in this range, it's important to remember that the data is intended for general guidance, not medical accuracy.
The Redmi Watch Move claims a 14-day battery life with typical usage, which drops to 10 days with heavier usage, including voice calling and Always-on display. With my usage—mostly typical but with fairly long workout sessions averaging 2 hours daily—the watch lasted 9 days before needing a recharge.
Charging is convenient with the included proprietary magnetic cable, which attaches securely to the back of the watch and requires a USB Type-A port. A quick 10-minute charge provides up to two days of regular use, while a full charge takes just 70 minutes, which is impressive for a smartwatch offering such long battery life.
Verdict
The Redmi Watch Move is a strong contender in the budget smartwatch space, offering great value, reliable quality, and solid brand backing, especially with Xiaomi's extensive service network. Compared to other OEM options, it stands out for its overall reliability.
The CMF Watch 2 Pro is the only real competition, offering similar specs but with a circular design. Ultimately, the decision comes down to design preference.
If you're looking for an affordable yet dependable smartwatch that delivers on both performance and brand reliability, the Redmi Watch Move is a top choice.