Redmi has recently launched two smartwatches; the Redmi Watch 5 Active and 5 Lite. At first impression, they will seem quite similar due to their structure and looks. There is a minimal price difference between them. Many may think that due to the small price difference, there might be a slight difference in their specifications. But no, there are major differences between them which are very important to recognize before buying. The Lite version is a bit expensive than the Active, as well as it has several important features. Now the point is to determine which one will be the most appropriate to buy and how perfect it will be in terms of price to performance. Along with this, we will also highlight their pros and cons for ease of understanding.
Ready for the Full Discussion? Let’s Begin!
Redmi Watch 5 Active
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This watch comes with a large 2″ LCD display. The device is made user-friendly by its Hyper OS, which is compatible with both Android and iOS platforms. The user gets the full advantage of the calling feature due to seamless pairing with Bluetooth 5.3. It has a 5 ATM water resistance facility, which will keep the smartwatch completely safe from rain or any water impact. It has 140+ sports modes including hiking, jogging, cardio, and many more. In addition to daily activity tracking and sleep tracking, this device can count calories and steps and notify you about daily and weekly goals.
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It also has auto activity tracking. But after going through the sports modes, it was found that there is no swimming or water sports mode. Which is a big drawback for water sports. For this reason, we feel that despite the water resistance, this device is not compatible with swimming-related tasks. Although it survives light splashes of water, it cannot handle high impact. So it is better to be careful in these circumstances. However, special sensors are working to keep these tracking and health-monitoring features active. Where there is a heart rate monitoring sensor, SPO2 monitoring sensor, and accelerometer.
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The monitoring results were pretty close when compared to dedicated health monitoring devices. But the bigger sad news is that it doesn’t have GPS support. Due to this, it has to rely on the smartphone for navigation. The outlook of the watch is quite nice, especially the silver color version. At first glance, it seems to be made of metal, but no it’s plastic built. It doesn’t give a very premium feel. The amazing part is this device is incredibly light in weight at just 30.6 grams which doesn’t feel uncomfortable on the wrist at all even after wearing it all day. Despite the large screen size, it has a thick bezel which makes it look very unattractive.
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No matter how big the screen size is with a large bezel, it looks inconsistent and ugly. The Hyper OS UI is quite stable, simple, and colorful which is quite nice to look at and navigate. There are 200+ cool and interesting watch faces available for this watch which can be installed from its dedicated application via smartphone. But it can only store 5 to 6 watch faces. This means that it has a very low storage capacity which is almost not enough. However, apart from this, all the essential functions for the watch like widgets, tiles editing and customization, music control, camera shutter shortcuts, etc are present in it.
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The 470 mAh battery of this device is capable of providing 18 hours of backup as claimed by the company and real-life tests are pretty similar. Such a great backup is possible only if you keep the unnecessary monitoring sensors off. And if you keep using all the features continuously, then it is possible to get 9 to 10 days of backup, which is not too bad. Since it is not an AMOLED display, it does not have the AOD feature. If you do not use that feature, it is seen that you get a good backup. If it was AMOLED, it would have been better because this display is much more battery efficient than LCD. The user could turn off AOD, and even then it would be a good solution. This compromise in the field of display will be painful for many.
Pros
- 2″ large display,
- Powered by HyperOS,
- Alexa voice assistant,
- Bluetooth 5.3 with calling feature,
- 5 ATM water resistance,
- 140+ sports modes included,
- Sleep tracking, Health monitoring, and SPO2 monitoring sensors work pretty well,
- Good looking device,
- Lightweight built,
- Availability of 200+ watch faces,
- Music control and camera shutter shortcuts paired well with the smartphone,
- Very long-lasting and stable battery performance.
Cons
- LCD instead of AMOLED display,
- There are no swimming and water sports modes,
- It doesn’t have GPS support,
- Can’t reply to notifications,
- Ugly thick bezel around the display,
- Meager storage capacity.
Redmi Watch 5 Lite
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This version is one step ahead with its 1.96″ bright and sharp AMOLED display. Its resolution is 410×502 and PPI 332, ensuring a crisp and vibrant display. But it also has a fat bezel area which is not good at all. Its built material is plastic and the strap is well-known 135mm ~ 205mm. It is lighter than the Active which is only 29.2 grams and is quite comfortable to wear on the wrist all day without any discomfort and it gives a slightly better premium feel.
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The UI is completely the same on both devices, but it has Always On Display (AOD) as an extra feature. And due to being AMOLED, the UI on this display is more enjoyable and eye-pleasing. The most promising thing is that we are getting full support for GPS, Galileo, Glonass, BeiDou, and QZSS. Due to this, there is no need to worry about navigation facilities. It has 5ATM water resistance and 150+ sports modes. Where there is also a pool swimming mode, which includes many types of water sports.
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So, no need to worry about water safety for this device. Oh, and both variants have support for Alexa voice assistant. Its health monitoring and SPO2 monitoring features can provide quite good output when compared to dedicated health monitoring devices. Accelerometer and Gyroscope sensors are also included. The Redmi watch 5 Lite has shown an outstanding job in the field of tracking and health monitoring with the combination of GPS and monitoring sensors. In terms of storage, both this and Active are in the same situation. Its 470 mAh battery can deliver the same backup as the Active.
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However, due to the AMOLED display, it is possible to get a better backup if you tweak it a little and use it. Bluetooth calling feature is available in both versions, but after testing, we have found that this version has much better results. Call delivery, output, and input on both ends are quite loud and clear for this price. In addition, the watch shows notifications, but you cannot reply from the watch. There is a single button on the right side of both devices, with which it is possible to access different shortcuts.
Pros
- Vibrant and sharp AMOLED display,
- Very lightweight and feels outstanding on the wrist,
- Powered by Xiaomi HyperOS,
- Always On Display (AOD) feature is available,
- Full support of GPS, Galileo, Glonass, BeiDou, and QZSS,
- 150+ sports modes,
- Water resistance with Swimming and Water sports modes,
- Alexa voice assistant,
- Provide pretty accurate monitoring results,
- Long-lasting 470 mAh battery,
- Loud and clear Bluetooth calling facility.
Cons
- Fat bezels around the screen,
- You can only glimpse the notifications but not reply.
Conclusion
If your budget is very tight, you can buy the Watch 5 Active. But our recommendation would be to buy the lite version. Because of a very small price difference, there is a big difference between the two devices. If you compromise on special and widely used features like AMOLED display, swimming sports, and GPS for a small price, then you will miss the features of the smartwatch and the investment will also be useless. Which will always be a reason for your regret. So, instead of investing in the active, do it in the Redmi Watch 5 Lite. It will be beneficial as well as the price will be justified in terms of performance.