Redmi Watch Move review: Simply the best budget smartwatch

May 27, 2025

Hi everyone, today I have a smartwatch with me, that has got everything – a big, bright AMOLED display, Bluetooth calling, a nice, polished software, an incredibly well-designed app, reliable health and fitness tracking, and up to 2 weeks of battery life. So, how much are you willing to pay for it? 5,000 rupees? 10,000 rupees? Or does 20,000 rupees sound about right? What if I told you that I’ve found a smartwatch that checks literally all those boxes while selling for just 2,000 Indian rupees? Yeah, that just converts to NPR 3,200. How cool is that? This sounds almost too good to be true, but this is the Redmi Watch Move, Xiaomi’s first “Made in India” smartwatch, which is just too cheap. I have been wearing it for more than a week now to find out if this really is the best budget smartwatch out there. So, let’s start our Redmi Watch Move review.

But let’s have a quick look at the specifications, shall we?

Redmi Watch Move Specifications

Dimensions: 45.5 x 38.9 x 10.8 mm
Weight: 25g (without strap), 39g (with strap)
Display: 1.85″ 2.5D AMOLED, 390 x 450 resolution
Brightness: 600 nits peak
Screen-to-body ratio: 74%
Build: IP68 dust and water resistance
Battery Life: Up to 14 days
Fast Charging: 10 mins = 2 days use
AOD On Battery Life: Up to 5 days
OS: HyperOS
Connectivity: Bluetooth calling, quick reply, dial pad, call history
Health Monitoring: Sleep tracking, all-day heart rate, SpO2, stress, female health
Fitness Tracking: 140+ modes, auto-detection of 7 activities
Custom Features: 5 editable layouts, 200+ watch faces via the Mi Fitness app
Colors: Silver Sprint, Black Drift, Blue Blaze, Gold Rush

Redmi Watch Move Review

Design

Alright. Let me start with the design side of things. And I absolutely love how the Redmi Watch Move looks. And how it wears on my hand. I mean… look at this little puppy. Its squarish design and rotating crown look a lot like “Apple Watch,” but man… Xiaomi has worked so much on the design that it feels almost disrespectful to dismiss it as yet another “Apple Watch” clone.

Design

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That’s because: number 1, it’s available in a bunch of fun color options, which is always a good thing. And number 2, this rotating crown isn’t just for show either. So, you can actually scroll through most of the UI with this thing, and there’s even nice haptic feedback every time you use it. And of course, the Redmi Watch Move is also IP68 rated, so you don’t have to lose your sleep over dust or water damage at all. Its plastic case isn’t the best thing in the world, but that’s honestly not a dealbreaker for me.

The only thing I wish Xiaomi had done differently is in terms of the strap, since it uses a custom band style instead of a universal one. I don’t even see any aftermarket options for it right now, so that’s definitely something you need to keep in mind.

Display

Anyway, I don’t have many complaints about its display, though. The bezels could’ve been slimmer, yes, and maybe Xiaomi could’ve added an auto-brightness feature as well. Other than that, we get a big 1.85” AMOLED display with plenty of pixels for all the texts and animations to look sharp, always-on support, and decent 600 nits of brightness.

Yes, it doesn’t sound that impressive considering just how bright smartphone displays are getting with 3000-4000 nits of brightness, but I didn’t have much problem looking at this screen. Except for when I was outdoors on a sunny day.

Cool Watch Faces

I also love all the watch faces Xiaomi has assembled for this Redmi watch. Whether I want something that looks like a classic timepiece, something bold like this one called “Digital punk”, or something with a more artistic taste, they’re all here. I can even create custom watch faces for this guy using AI! BTW, can anyone guess what my prompt was for this image? Let me know in the comments!

Besides watch faces, I can even get answers to some simple questions, and the Redmi Watch Move fetches them just. like. that. Yes… not just in English, but it also understands Hindi. How cool is that?! These AI features, however, are free for just 30 questions, after which they turn into a paid subscription. Also, it doesn’t read out the answers, which feels like such a missed opportunity to me—‘cause I’ve tested its speaker quality for phone calls… and it’s actually pretty good. At least in a fairly quiet room without much background noise.

Software Experience

But overall, I must say that the Redmi Watch Move’s software experience is easily one of the best things about it. It runs on Xiaomi’s own HyperOS platform, and it’s just so. Much better than all those generic smartwatches from brands like boAt, Noise, etc., that run on RTOS. One thing that particularly stood out to me is its “floating notifications”, which work exactly like pop-up notifications on Android. It’s so cool!

And since the display has a 60Hz refresh rate, the whole experience feels incredibly smooth. From transitions to animations… everything. So yeah, the Redmi Watch Move’s software experience is an easy 10/10 for me. No notes.

Health and Fitness Tracking

Okay, let’s talk about the most important thing in a smartwatch—health and fitness tracking. And let me just remind you, this is usually where most budget smartwatches struggle. From poor-quality sensors to software that can’t handle all that data, budget wearables typically don’t excel at health monitoring. But once again… the Redmi Watch Move turns out to be quite the exception.

I tested it alongside my Galaxy Watch 4 Classic—whether I was sitting still or working out, I was getting very similar readings from both. Especially for the important stuff like heart rate levels and heart rate zones. Sure, there was a small 4–5% delta between them at times, but that’s very much within an acceptable margin of error. Especially for something that costs this little.

Redmi Watch Move Sleep Heart Rate Tracking — Right: Redmi Watch Move, Left: Galaxy Watch 4

The only inconsistency I noticed was with sleep tracking. I definitely appreciate Xiaomi trying new things like “Sleep Animal” for a clearer overview of my sleeping habits. But the Watch Move can be a bit inconsistent here.

Redmi Watch Move Sleep Tracking Comparison — Right: Redmi Watch Move, Left: Galaxy Watch 4

For instance, you can clearly see from these screenshots that it started recording my sleep about 30 minutes before I actually went to bed. So I really hope Xiaomi pushes an update to fix this soon.

Sports Modes

As for fitness tracking, the Redmi Watch Move supports over 140 sports modes. You can also set custom alerts based on distance covered, heart rate level, calories burned, and more—perfect if you have specific fitness goals. I didn’t face any issues with auto workout detection or auto pause, and I love how all my health data is so neatly organized inside Xiaomi’s Mi Fitness app.

And look how fun this is—it even visualizes my burned calories in terms of cookies, ice cream, and so on. Some days I only burn enough for a couple of cookies, and some days it’s a tub of ice cream… awesome!

Battery Life

Finally, I’m quite happy with the battery life as well. Xiaomi promises up to 2 weeks of runtime on a single charge. With all health metrics being tracked at maximum frequency, my unit lasted exactly 8 days before running out of juice. So with lighter usage, it should easily last a full two weeks. As for charging, you can expect it to go from 0–100% in about an hour and a half.

Redmi Watch Move Review: Conclusion

Alright, so by now, I think it’s pretty clear—the Redmi Watch Move is an absolute banger of a budget smartwatch. From its elegant design with a functioning rotating crown to a bright AMOLED display, smooth software, fairly reliable health tracking, and excellent battery life, Xiaomi has checked all the right boxes with this one.

Sure, it has a couple of issues—some fixable via software updates, others not—but none of them are deal-breakers. I’d still wholeheartedly recommend this to anyone looking for a reliable budget smartwatch. The Redmi Watch Move is just that good—it even makes some of its more expensive competitors look pale in comparison. Seriously!