12-05-2025
Redmi Watch Move review: This smart watch under ₹2000 nails the basics
Redmi Watch Move review: When buying a budget smartwatch, buyers are often clouded by thoughts of its accuracy in fitness tracking, durability, software support, feature availability, and more. These thoughts make it very difficult for budget-conscious buyers to make a fruitful purchase, or they simply end up doing hours of research. However, Xiaomi's latest 'Made in India' smartwatch, the Redmi Watch Move, has been launched to take care of all these worries. This smartwatch offers plenty of features with near-accurate activity tracking at just Rs.1999. This new smartwatch has effortlessly managed to address all pain points of a budget smartwatch by bringing style, durability, accuracy, and a plethora of features that will suit all requirements of a budget-conscious buyer.
I have been using the Redmi Watch Move for over two weeks to examine features in day-to-day activities. To my surprise, the smartwatch has it all, from a sleek design to accuracy in monitoring, fitness, sleep, health metrics, and more, making it a great choice. However, no device comes without a little drawback, which has been detailed in this long review.
If you are someone who prefers a subtly premium-looking smartwatch but does not want to pay a hefty price, then the Redmi Watch Move would be the perfect choice for you. At first glance, the smartwatch does not feel like a Rs.1999 watch due to its Apple Watch-like design, sleek frame, and a proportionate-sized display. The smartwatch comes in four attractive colourways: Classic Black, Silver Sprint, Blue Blaze, and Gold Rush. I recieved the Silver Sprint watch that features a sliver-coloured body with a grey silicone strap with TPU material, making it comfortable for all-day use. This material brings anti-bacterial capabilities, which will suit all skin types, and it sits comfortably on the wrist. However, the grey coloured strap has started to look quite dirty due to the dust and light colour.
Coming to its rectangular dial, the Redmi Watch Move features an aluminium frame, curved AMOLED display, a rotating crown on the right side, and a plastic build on the bottom, along with activity tracking sensors. The watch has received an IP68 water and dust resistance rating, making it durable against light rain, and it also withstands when submerged in water. Overall, the Redmi Watch Move just weighs 39 grams with the silicone strap.
Coming to the display, the Redmi Watch Move sports a 1.85-inch AMOLED display with a 60Hz refresh rate and up to 600nits peak brightness. This display has thick bezels, but surprisingly, it is not very noticeable due to the curved finish. The display offers crisp and vibrant colours with 390x450p resolution. It also supports Always On Display, however, the brightness could be frustrating sometimes as it does not adjust to the lighting. Therefore, I preferred to keep the AOD off. That being said, the brightness offers a decent experience outdoors or in direct sunlight conditions, making the overall interaction smooth and seamless.
The Redmi Watch Move offers plenty of features, which come in handy. From basic steps count, calorie tracking, SpO₂, and other health-related tracking, it also offers over 140 sports modes, making it a great choice for fitness enthusiasts on a budget. Coming to its accuracy of tracking health metrics, I tracked the basic features such as step counter, real-time heart rate monitoring and calorie counts during my evening walks. Surprisingly, the step counts were nearly similar to my iPhone 16e's fitness tracker. Additionally, the heart rate tracking has also left me surprised with accuracy, as it showcased similar numbers as the Samsung Galaxy Watch Ultra.
Apart from these metrics, the Redmi Watch Move was also quite accurate in tracking sleep, including deep sleep, light sleep, and the number of times you wake up. One of its interesting features is that it automatically detects activity and asks for permission to track. However, when you are riding a bike or car, the watch recognises the activity as cycling, which could be annoying at times. Notably, the Redmi Watch Move is a reliable fitness tracker given the price, and it does the basic tasks flawlessly. Apart from fitness and health tracking, users can also set an alarm, access a music player and camera control, set timers, and more.
While you get all the crucial settings on the watch itself, but for greater access, the Redmi Watch Move can also be connected to the smartphone via the Mi Fitness app. This enables users to sync the smartwatch data with the phone. With Bluetooth connectivity, users can also receive app notifications and calls, which can be directly responded to with the watch itself. When connected with the smartphone, users can also access the GPS tracking feature, but it does not work very smoothly. Overall, the Mi Fitness app also provided a smooth UI experience with colour-coded labels, a detailed dashboard of activity, and some customisation features for the watch as well.
The Redmi Watch Move claims to offer up to 14 days of battery life with a single charge. Well, with heavy usage such as Always-on display, Bluetooth connectivity, and others, the smartwatch can last you up to 8 to 9 days on a single charge. However, with low to moderate usage, it can easily last you up to 2 weeks, which in my opinion is quite impressive for a budget smartwatch.
The Redmi Watch Move comes with a magnetic charging cable in the box, which can be connected with any adapter with a USB Type-A port. The charging time for the smartwatch on my 80W adapter was a little more than an hour, which is decent.
Now, who should buy the Redmi Watch Move? Well, priced at Rs.1999, the watch can be confusing for many. However, for someone who is just getting started with fitness tracking, the Redmi Watch Move could be the best choice. From seamless watch UI, accurate health and fitness tracking to Bluetooth connectivity with phones, all the small details are covered in this budget smartwatch. Apart from its accuracy, the Redmi Watch Move has an appealing design with a slim and lightweight build. Therefore, if you are a first-time user or need a watch for casual fitness tracking, then this is one of the best budget smartwatches I have used so far.
