Xiaomi has officially unveiled the Xiaomi Watch S4 and the Xiaomi Smart Band 9 Pro at its October launch event in China, upgrading two of its best smartwatches with some handy new features.
The Watch S4 sticks to the interchangeable bezel design introduced on the Xiaomi Watch S3, and is now adding more bezels and case colour options to choose from. You now get your pick of black, silver or black rainbow designs and it’s also offering an eSIM model to give the Watch S4 added standalone connectivity.
The devices were announced alongside the Xiaomi 15 series phones, Xiaomi Pad 7 tablets and HyperOS 2 operating system.
Along with the extra colours, Xiaomi is also introducing a rotating crown to offer an alternative way to scroll through screens and messages. The crown is attached to an aluminium case with the option of stainless steel or a two-tone ceramic bezel to further elevate the S4’s look.
Front and centre is a 1.43-inch AMOLED display with a promised peak brightness of 1,500 nits, which is a dramatic jump from the 600 nits offered on the Watch S3.
Xiaomi also includes what it calls ‘wet screen protection’, which is designed to prevent accidentally waking up the display when you’re caught in the rain or dripping with sweat.
Xiaomi
The wearable runs on Xiaomi’s HyperOS 2 operating system, which enables features like new gesture controls to activate Xiaomi smart home devices, will let you control smart home automation scenes and also adjust features like temperature, music playback and seat heating in a Xiaomi Car.
The eSIM version lets you take calls and stream music without your phone, and takes advantage of dual microphones to drown out background noise like wind. There are even new intercom and walkie-talkie modes added.
You get access to over 150 sports modes, with dual-frequency GPS to boost outdoor tracking accuracy. A dedicated ski mode and running courses are among the other standout features.
There’s an optical sensor to track heart rate and blood oxygen levels, with a promised 98.2% level of accuracy for heart rate tracking.
Battery life is slated as 15 days or 5 days with heavy usage. That drops to 7 days for the e-Sim version or 3 days with heavy use.
Xiaomi Smart Band 9 Pro
The Watch S4 was joined by the Xiaomi Smart Band 9 Pro, which is effectively the Xiaomi Smart Band 9 with a bigger display.
Available in four different colours, the Band 9 Pro packs a 1.74-inch AMOLED screen, which is actually the same size included on the Band 8 Pro.
That display delivers a maximum brightness of 1,200 nits and is surrounded by an aluminium case with the option to switch up the straps for something less sporty.
Xiaomi
In terms of features, it’s offers built-in GPS, which is one of the biggest differences between the Band 9 and the Band 9 Pro.
There’s your pick of over 150 sports modes, an optical heart rate sensor that promises a tracking accuracy of 98% and there’s improvements to sleep tracking accuracy over the previous Band Pro.
It also runs on HyperOS 2, with NFC on board to replace transport cards and offers access to third-party apps like the Watch S4. Battery life is slated as 21 days, which drops to 10 days with the screen set to always-on mode.
It looks like the bigger battery life, the screen brightness boost, some additional looks and promised fitness and health tracking improvements will be the biggest gains from the Smart Band 8 Pro.
Prices and release dates
The Xiaomi Watch S4 is now on sale in China with a starting price of 999 Chinese Yuan, which converts to roughly £108. The Smart Band 9 Pro is unsurprisingly a cheaper buy and is on sale for 399 Chinese Yuan, which converts to £43.
There’s no news on wider release just yet and it’s likely that pricing will end up being slightly higher than the above conversions when it does land further afield.
It’s highly likely that some of the announced features, like the smart home integration and e-SIM support, won’t make the cut for the global versions whenever they get officially announced, but we look forward to finding out if they do.
Author: Mike Sawh, Contributor, Tech Advisor
Mike has been testing and reviewing consumer technology for over 10 years, specialising in wearable and fitness technology. He's a keen swimmer and runner and co-founder of YouTube channel, The Run Testers.