Review of Xiaomi Watch S3 Smartwatch

Introduction

Smartwatches on the Hyper OS operating system with interchangeable bezels, a bright AMOLED screen, a refresh rate of up to 60 Hz, support for more than 150 types of workouts, and a battery life of up to 15 days on a single charge. The watch also features continuous heart rate monitoring, SpO2, and stress level measurement, as well as sleep monitoring.

Manufacturer’s Promises

Of course, this is only a small part of what the manufacturer promises in the advertisement for the Xiaomi Watch S3 smartwatch. I reviewed the Chinese version about 4 months ago. I remind you that the Chinese version comes with eSIM support and a Bluetooth version without eSIM.

The global version, which we will discuss today, does not have the eSIM function. But what is the reality for this model, and what have they improved? Of course, I will tell you now.

Unpacking

The S3 comes in a white elongated box with the image, name, and brief specifications of the model. Inside, we have the smartwatch with a strap, a quick guide, and a charger with two pins. The S3 weighs 69 g, and the dimensions are as follows: 47 x 47 x 14.2 mm. The strap width is 22 mm.

Appearance and Materials

Moving on to the review. Let’s begin. The S3 comes in black and gray colors. There are no external changes, which is standard. The main feature remains, namely the interchangeable bezel. I remind you that changing the bezel automatically changes the watch face.

The S3 case is made of aluminum alloy, and the bezel is made of stainless steel. The screen is covered with Corning Gorilla Glass on the front. The strap is quick-release and made of VCRA with a classic metal clasp. The wrist circumference should be from 140 to 210 mm.

Wearing the S3 does not cause discomfort, even during sleep. The strap does not chafe during activity, but the wrist sweats slightly under it.

Functionality and Interface

The case contains brief information, a magnetic charging area with pins, a microphone, a speaker, and health monitoring sensors.

Onboard sensors include a heart rate sensor, accelerometer, gyroscope, geomagnetic sensor, air pressure sensor, ambient light sensor, and Hall sensor. Two mechanical buttons are located on the right side.

The upper button is used for menu navigation, returning, and calling the Alexa voice assistant. The lower button is used for accessing workouts. Holding it allows you to access the power off, restart, or reset options. Navigation to other apps is only possible with the lower button.

Screen and Interface

The front features a slightly recessed 1.43-inch AMOLED display with a resolution of 466 x 466 pixels, a refresh rate of up to 60 Hz, and a pixel density of 326 ppi. Display artifacts have not disappeared, which is surprising given the smartwatch’s cost. The screen bezel is minimal, the color reproduction is rich, and the clarity is sufficient. Scrolling is smooth, and the system works without significant lag.

The interface is available in Russian, which is not surprising for the global version. The Chinese version does not have the Russian language. The operating system is the closed Hyper OS, and there are no Chinese applications.

Brightness and Battery Life

According to my measurements, the brightness is 780 lux under direct light. The brightness is sufficient and adjustable with a slider. Automatic brightness is onboard and works well.

The Always-On display is also available, working on a schedule or in smart mode. The style depends on the watch face, but there are five preset styles that can be slightly customized.

The screen activation when raising the wrist works consistently well and quite quickly. Covering the screen with the palm to turn it off is available, as well as double-tapping to wake it up.

You can set a password on the smartwatch and configure gestures for convenient use. There is a “Do Not Disturb” mode and a sleep mode.

Navigation and Widgets

Everything is standard: swiping down from the main screen shows notifications, swiping up opens the quick access panel without brightness adjustment (which is inconvenient, but there is a flashlight, speaker cleaning, settings access, and more).

Swiping left and right shows widgets organized into cells. You can customize the widget order, cells, and sort apps in the menu. The menu style can also be changed.

Workouts and GPS

The menu includes a variety of workouts. Automatic activity detection is onboard, along with swimming tracking, interval workouts, workout settings, running templates, and post-workout statistics.

GPS navigation works poorly, but it is currently difficult to judge as navigation malfunctions in large cities due to several well-known reasons. This means GPS will glitch in large cities in Russia. Routes cannot be loaded onto the watch.

During a workout, you can use the music player, but you cannot minimize the workout without stopping it.

Apps and Features

The menu includes weather with detailed forecasts, an event calendar, contacts that can be added through the app, recent numbers, a voice recorder (which is convenient), a Bluetooth button for taking photos, even in the stock camera app on the smartphone.

There is an alarm clock that can be set directly from the smartwatch, world time, a compass, phone finder, timer, and stopwatch. The timer works in the background. For volume control and track switching on the smartphone, there is a music player in the menu.

Music can be loaded onto the smartwatch, which is convenient. The internal memory is 2 GB. Bluetooth version 5.2 is used. You cannot connect a chest sensor, but you can connect Bluetooth headphones and a speaker.

The tab for adding transport cards in the app cannot be opened. I remind you that the Chinese version has an NFC module but not for banking card payments.

Health Monitoring

Regarding health monitoring: the heart rate works in smart mode and automatic mode with a chosen interval. SpO2 and stress levels are measured automatically at rest. Of course, all these indicators can be measured manually.

The sleep and sleep phase monitoring function can also track during sleep. The smartwatch tracks sleep well, with accurate detection of sleep and wake times. During workouts, there are issues with heart rate and SpO2 measurement, just like in the Chinese version.

I remind you that according to my tests, Huawei rules here if you need to measure heart rate and oxygen without chest sensors.

Additional features

Additionally, you can get a vitality score, activity monitoring, breathing training statistics, and a barometer. In the settings, you can enable power-saving mode, adjust sound and vibration.

The vibration motor is tactilely pleasant, the speaker is loud with fairly good sound quality. Bluetooth call function is supported, quick replies to notifications are not available, but you can add them for calls in the app.

Notifications arrive instantly, but you cannot reply to them, and app icons are displayed.

Battery Life and Water Resistance

The battery capacity is 486 mAh. A full charge cycle takes 2 hours. 75% charge in standby mode lasts for 20 days, in normal use — 100% charge with Always-On Display and automatic brightness adjustment lasts 5-6 days according to my tests.

The water resistance is 5 atmospheres. For example, I dipped them in water, and they were fine; externally, they were not damaged. You can swim and shower with them, but I do not advise going to the sauna or swimming in saltwater with them.

App and Updates

The Xiaomi Watch S3 Global connects to the Mi Fitness app. An update has already arrived.

The Mi Fitness app has four main tabs. In the first tab, you can see all health monitoring data. Next, there is a tab for workouts, a profile tab, and a connected device tab.

There is a watch face store with a wide selection. There are also personalized clickable watch faces, and any photo can be set as a screensaver. There is no app store, unlike the Chinese version, but this does not matter as there were only two apps in it.

Disadvantages and Conclusions

Disadvantages: charging with pins, no chest sensor connection, upper button function cannot be reassigned, stopwatch does not work in the background, no full multitasking, cannot upload a route, emojis are not displayed, no quick replies to notifications, old Bluetooth chip, no MiHome app for controlling household appliances.

By and large, the disadvantages are the same; nothing has changed.

Conclusion

The Xiaomi Watch S3 Global is a stylish smartwatch with interchangeable bezels, good battery life, and a correctly working operating system (though it is closed).

Personally, I find this model quite simple given its cost.

Therefore, my rating for the device is rather modest, as there are many analogs from Fitbit, Samsung, Huawei, and others, not to mention the second and third tiers.

Best wishes and good luck to you, dear friends.