Julia Christine Botin

Article (news)

Arthur Fuentes

ABS-CBN News

<div><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/1778485348989xiaomi watch 5.jpg" style="width:960px" class="fr-fic fr-dib" width="960"/>The Xiaomi Watch 5 Wear OS smartwatch. Arthur Fuentes, ABS-CBN News</div>MANILA — The Xiaomi Watch 5 may just be the best Wear OS (Android) smartwatch right now, thanks to its class-leading battery life.And as it uses the latest WearOS version, you also get Google Wallet and Gemini on your wrist. It looks pretty good too.I’ve used WearOS devices before, the last of which was from a top Android smartphone maker. While I really liked the smart features on the watch–especially the ability to run Strava natively on the device itself, I really wasn’t a fan of constantly having to charge it before and after every run or bike ride. Heck, there was even a time when I forgot to charge it and lost tracking for a bike ride–and as they say, if it ain’t on Strava, did it really happen?Which brings me to the most amazing feature of this smartwatch, and which I think every smartwatch and sportswatch aficionado will love–it can last 5 to 6 days or more on a single charge. In my case, with the screen set to always on, I could get up to 4 days, even with daily workouts thrown in.This is all thanks to its massive battery, as well as its use of dual chipset, which uses a less power-hungry chip for tasks that are less demanding.The Xiaomi Watch 5 uses a 930mAh silicon carbon (Si-C) battery, which is more than 50 percent larger than the 599mAh battery of the Apple Watch Ultra 3 or the 590mAh battery of the Samsung Galaxy Watch Ultra. And Xiaomi was able to get this much capacity without bulking up the watch thanks to Si-C technology.For intensive tasks like tracking outdoor workouts, which use GPS, or tapping Gemini, the Watch 5 uses the flagship Snapdragon W5 Gen 1 chip. For everyday tasks like telling the time or tracking your heart rate, the watch uses the BES2800 co-processor.Users of Garmin, Amazfit, Coros or Huawei watches may scoff at 5-6 days of battery life and thump their chests over their devices’ two weeks to a month’s worth of battery endurance. But they are comparing sports-oriented watches, with some smart features, to a full-fledged smartwatch. They are just two entirely different classes of device altogether.<div><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/1778485840770xiaomi watch 5 wrist gym.jpg" style="width:960px" class="fr-fic fr-dib" width="960"/>Some of the sports modes of the Xiaomi Watch 5 Wear OS smartwatch. Arthur Fuentes, ABS-CBN News</div>I guess the most glaring example of the smartness of the Xiaomi Watch 5 is its ability to use Google’s Gemini AI assistant on the device itself. Using your voice, you can literally talk to it, ask it anything, and it will reply to you, just as if you were asking Gemini on your phone.Do you need to calculate how much you need to pay as you split the bill at a restaurant with friends? You can ask Gemini on your watch to calculate that for you. Do you need to get the summary of an email? Gemini can do that for you too. <div>ELEGANT LOOKS, TOUGH BUILD</div>But I’ve gotten way ahead of myself. First, let’s look at the watch. It’s a very classy design–featuring a stainless steel body, a rotating crown, and a shortcut button for the workouts app.While I like my sportswatches to look aggressive and futuristic (I have the chunky Amazfit T-Rex 3), the Watch 5’s minimalist looks were also quite appealing. It looks good when running, but it wouldn’t look out of place either when you’re in collared shirts and slacks like sportier watches do. It has an elegant vibe that doesn’t quite scream fitness nerd.  Thanks to the steel body and the sapphire glass covering the watch face and the bottom of the watch, it should also be quite durable. I don’t think you need to baby this watch, in the same manner you need to carefully handle other smartwatches.Its huge 1.54-inch OLED screen is sharp, displays vibrant colors, and is readable even under direct sunlight. Animations are smooth, and the speaker is loud and clear despite being small enough to fit in a watch.A bonus is that Xiaomi has included a lot of great-looking watch faces for free.Of course, it has the usual slew of health and wellness features–a heart rate monitor, sleep tracker, workouts, blood oxygen monitor, and stress tracker. It even does a fine job of nudging you to stand up when you’ve been sitting too long.Setting up the Watch 5 involves downloading the Mi Fitness app on your phone and pairing the Watch 5 with your Google account. From here on, you can install whatever Wear OS apps you need. Install Strava, Spotify, and impress your buddies by watching the latest viral clips on your wrist—which is not really recommended because of the small screen and awkward controls, but hey, it&#x27;s a party trick.<div><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/1778485855951xiaomi watch 5 youtube.jpg" style="width:960px;height:auto" class="fr-fic fr-dib" width="960"/>Watching YouTube on a browser on the Xiaomi Watch 5 Wear OS smartwatch. Arthur Fuentes, ABS-CBN News</div>The 32GB storage may not seem big on a phone, but it’s plenty on a watch. The 2GB RAM is also more than enough for the apps you’ll be running.However, enabling the Power saver mode shuts off Wear OS and its apps and leaves you with Xiaomi’s Vela OS, which is not as feature-rich. Switching back to Smart mode forces the watch to reboot, which means a couple of minutes of downtime.<div>TRACKING, AREAS FOR IMPROVEMENT</div>The Watch 5 can track dozens of sports, including running, cycling, and hiking. When it comes to sports, it can be as feature-rich as other sportswatches out there. Xiaomi lists 150 sports modes, but I only do running, cycling and weightlifting, so I have not exactly explored all these other modes.Health tracking, however, is an area where it could use some improvement, as the watch does not support sleep apnea, blood pressure, or heart health monitoring.The Watch 5 works well enough with other non-Xiaomi Android phones. However, the included photo app needs a Xiaomi phone to display a preview of what the phone camera sees. I tried it on the Xiaomi 17, and it was able to display a preview of what the phone camera sees. But on another Android phone, it did not display a preview and could only function as a camera remote.When doing outdoor workouts that require GPS, the Watch 5 also drains much faster. During a  1.5-hour ride around UP, I noticed the battery level drop from 88 percent to 71 percent. If you plan to do a whole day of hiking or biking, make sure it&#x27;s fully charged so it doesn&#x27;t leave you hanging.  If you plan to do a multi-day adventure like bikepacking or cross-country hiking, bring the charger.Xiaomi could have also included wireless charging on the Watch 5. You can only charge it using the included charging puck. While this is not a deal breaker, it would have made the watch a little more premium if you could just use the reverse wireless charging in premium Android phones, like the Xiaomi 17, to give the watch a boost in cases when it gets low-bat.<div>VERDICT</div>Still, compared to pricier Wear OS devices, the Watch 5 is a steal. A full-fledged smartwatch that can last more than a day used to be a dream, but this thing actually lasts up to 6 days, which makes it nothing short of fantastic. The Xiaomi Watch 5 sells for P17,999.

The Xiaomi Watch 5 may just be the best WearOS (Android) smartwatch right now, thanks to its class-leading battery life.

The Xiaomi Watch 5 may just be the best WearOS (Android) smartwatch right now, thanks to its class-leading battery life.

REVIEW: Xiaomi Watch 5 is the reigning Wear OS battery king

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REVIEW: Xiaomi Watch 5 is the reigning Wear OS battery king

Arthur Fuentes,

ABS-CBN News

Published May 11, 2026 03:54 PM PHT

Read More:

Xiaomi Watch 5

smartwatch

sportswatch

fitness tracker

health tracker

Wear OS

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