Lenovo is one of the few companies to launch a dedicated service so far. Smart alert watch with Google Assistant, so there was not much competition in the market. Xiaomi’s new Mi Smart Watch is a cute little gadget that goes well with almost any bedroom design.
Unfortunately the device has been put on hold due to the same issue that made it difficult to recommend Lenovo watches. Smart watches are more limited than smart displays, but they don’t cost much. It’s not compatible with most video streaming apps and doesn’t offer some of the useful visuals that a full-fledged smart display offers. They really focus on the bedroom environment, but once you get over the shortcomings, you might just love the form factor for its limitations.
Design, hardware, and box contents
The Xiaomi Mi Smart Clock with a 4-inch screen is about half the size of the Nest Hub, but its blunt wedge-shaped design makes it feel a bit chunkier. I like the look, but it’s not as pretty as the Nest Hub’s floating look. There’s a single ambient light sensor that’s almost invisible above the display, which has proven to be reliable.
Xiaomi opted for LCD instead of OLED, so if you choose the lowest brightness in the settings, the display will glow a bit in the dark. The Nest Hub’s LCD display is slightly better in this regard, proving that a good LCD can be quite dark. Sleepers who are very sensitive to light may have trouble with the Mi Clock’s brightness, but thankfully it’s possible to turn the screen off completely when it’s dark. The display has a great floor viewing angle, but at normal viewing angles it’s just enough to make reading time easier.
There is a microphone mute button on the top of the smartwatch and two on each side for volume control. It’s a bit cheap, and despite the fact that it looks like a toy, it’s nice to the touch and firm to the touch. It has two microphones. They do a great job. Assistant can understand me like any other smart speaker. The bottom has a rubber base so the watch doesn’t slide off the stand. On the back is the Xiaomi logo and a micro USB connector, which can be used with the brick and cable provided in the box (this is the only thing that comes with the watch apart from the manual).
In the sound department, the Mi Smart Clock is quite similar to the original Google Home Mini. It’s a little unclear in the mids and treble. Some might call it a muffler, but in reality many speakers of this size help achieve the small quality. It’s even louder than the Home Mini if you need extra volume to wake up.
Software and performance
The smart device displays the clock by default, and there are a total of 12 unique designs that you can choose from by long-pressing the display. Optionally, you can also display the current weather on almost any clock. A single tap or a swipe on the screen…