Xiaomi Redmi Watch 5 Active Review 2026: Still Worth It?

Budget smartwatches keep getting better, and the Xiaomi Redmi Watch 5 Active sits right at the bottom of the price ladder. It costs less than a decent pair of wired earbuds in most regions, yet it promises 18 days of battery, Bluetooth calling, 140 plus workout modes, and a big square screen. That sounds almost too generous for the money.

So the real question is simple. Does this watch actually deliver, or does the low price hide some painful compromises?

I wore it daily, tracked runs with it, slept with it, took calls on it, and pushed the battery until it died. This review covers the good parts, the weak parts, and the things Xiaomi quietly left out. Keep reading before you add it to your cart.

In a Nutshell:

• Battery life is the headline feature. Xiaomi claims 18 days in typical use and 12 days in heavy use. In my testing with notifications on and heart rate checks every 10 minutes, I landed around 13 to 15 days per charge. That is genuinely excellent for this price bracket.
• The 2 inch LCD screen is large but plain. You get 320 x 385 pixels and roughly 500 nits peak brightness. Text looks clear indoors. Outdoors in direct sun, it washes out compared to any AMOLED rival. There is no always on display option worth using because it drains power fast.
• There is no built in GPS. This is the biggest miss. The watch borrows your phone GPS for outdoor runs and rides. Leave your phone at home and your route map disappears.
• Bluetooth calling works well for quick chats. Dual microphones with noise reduction keep your voice clear in a quiet room. The tiny speaker struggles on a windy street.
• Health tracking is basic but useful. You get 24 hour heart rate, blood oxygen, stress, and sleep stages. Treat the numbers as trends, not medical readings.
• Best for casual users, not athletes. If you want notifications, step counts, and a watch you rarely charge, this is a bargain. Serious runners should spend more.

Xiaomi Redmi Watch 5 Active: First Impressions

Last update on 2026-09-25 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API

The Redmi Watch 5 Active looks far more expensive than it is. The square case measures 49.1 x 40.4 x 11.4 mm and weighs only 42.2 grams with the strap. On my wrist it felt light enough to forget about within an hour. The matte plastic frame avoids that cheap glossy shine that plagues budget wearables.

My first thought was simple: this feels like a scaled down Apple Watch clone, and that is not an insult at this price. The screen to body ratio passes 70 percent, so the bezels stay reasonably thin on three sides. The bottom chin is thicker and you will notice it on light watch faces.

Xiaomi sells it in Midnight Black and Matte Silver. Black hides the bezel better. Silver looks smarter with casual clothes but shows the screen border more clearly.

The Unboxing Experience

The box is small, flat, and completely unremarkable in the best way. Xiaomi uses a simple white and grey cardboard sleeve with a product photo on the front. No plastic wrap inside, no foam, just recycled paper trays.

Inside you get three things: the watch with the silicone strap already attached, a magnetic charging cable, and a folded quick start guide in several languages. There is no power adapter, so plug the USB end into any phone charger or laptop port.

The magnetic puck snaps onto the back of the watch with a satisfying click. It holds well enough that you can lift the watch by the cable, though I would not recommend testing that daily.

Setup took me under four minutes. Power on, scan the QR code with the Mi Fitness app, pair over Bluetooth, and accept the permissions. The first firmware update took another six minutes.

Design and Build Quality

The body is polycarbonate with a matte finish that resists fingerprints better than expected. After three weeks of daily wear, my unit picked up two tiny scuffs on the corner, both from door frames. The plastic screen cover scratches more easily than glass, so a screen protector is a smart cheap addition.

A single flat button sits on the right side. It wakes the screen, opens the app list, and acts as a back key. The press feels firm and clicky, not mushy.

The strap uses a standard quick release pin system, and plenty of cheap replacement bands already exist for this model. The included silicone band stays comfortable during workouts but it does trap sweat in hot weather.

Water resistance is rated 5ATM. You can shower, swim in a pool, and wash dishes. Hot showers, saunas, and diving are off limits.

Top 3 Alternatives for Xiaomi Redmi Watch 5 Active

Last update on 2026-09-25 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API

Amazfit Bip 6

Last update on 2026-09-25 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API

Xiaomi Smart Band 9 Active

Last update on 2026-09-25 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API

Amazfit Active 2

Display Quality in Daily Use

The 2 inch IPS LCD panel is the honest heart of this review. Indoors it looks bright, colourful, and easy to read at arm’s length. The 320 x 385 resolution works out to roughly 250 pixels per inch, so icons look smooth and text stays sharp.

Step outside on a sunny afternoon and the story changes. Peak brightness tops out near 500 nits, which is about half of what budget AMOLED watches now offer. I regularly cupped my hand over the screen to read my pace.

Touch response is decent. Swipes register reliably, though there is a small lag when opening apps. The lift to wake gesture works maybe nine times out of ten, which is acceptable but not flawless.

You get more than 200 watch faces through the Mi Fitness app. Many are genuinely attractive. Only a few support custom data widgets.

Battery Life After Two Weeks of Testing

This is where the Redmi Watch 5 Active earns its keep. The 470 mAh cell is huge relative to the low power LCD screen, and the results show.

Xiaomi quotes 18 days in typical mode and 12 days in heavy mode. My real world figure landed at 13 days and 6 hours with continuous heart rate at 10 minute intervals, blood oxygen tracking on, sleep tracking on, around 80 notifications per day, and three tracked workouts per week.

Turning off all day blood oxygen pushed me past 15 days. Adding daily Bluetooth calls pulled me down closer to 11 days.

Charging takes roughly two hours from empty to full, which feels slow until you remember you only do it twice a month. Compared to charging a smartwatch every second night, this is a genuine lifestyle upgrade.

Fitness Tracking and Workout Modes

Xiaomi advertises 140 plus workout modes. In practice you will use five of them. Running, walking, cycling, strength training, and elliptical cover most people.

Automatic workout detection works for running, walking, cycling, rowing, elliptical, and jumping rope, but you must enable it manually in the settings. Mine caught a brisk walk after about six minutes.

Step counting matched my phone within roughly 3 percent across a week, which is fine. Distance estimates during indoor treadmill runs were less consistent and drifted by up to 8 percent.

Here is the honest warning for swimmers. The watch survives water at 5ATM, but Xiaomi confirms there are no swim tracking modes at all. You can get it wet. You cannot record laps. That surprised me and it will disappoint pool users.

Heart Rate and Sleep Tracking Accuracy

The optical sensor handles resting heart rate well. Sitting at my desk, readings sat within two or three beats per minute of a chest strap.

Steady state cardio is also fine. During a flat 5 kilometre run, the watch tracked close to my chest strap for most of the distance. Intervals are where it falls apart. Sharp sprints showed a lag of roughly 20 to 30 seconds before the numbers caught up.

Sleep tracking records light, deep, and REM stages plus an overall score. Total sleep duration was usually accurate within 10 minutes. Sleep stage breakdowns should be treated as rough guidance, not science.

Blood oxygen and stress scores follow the same rule. They are useful for spotting patterns week to week. They are not diagnostic tools and Xiaomi says so clearly.

Bluetooth Calling and Notifications

The watch includes a speaker and dual microphones with noise reduction. Calls route through your phone over Bluetooth, so your phone must stay within range.

Voice quality impressed me indoors. Callers said I sounded slightly distant but perfectly clear. Outdoors near traffic, both sides struggled. The speaker simply is not loud enough to beat street noise.

Notifications arrive quickly and the large screen displays plenty of text. You cannot reply to messages on iPhone, and Android replies are limited to canned responses on supported apps. There is no keyboard.

Alexa is built in on some regional models, though availability varies by country and language. When it works, it handles timers and weather. It cannot control most smart home routines reliably.

The Mi Fitness App Experience

Mi Fitness is the companion app for Android and iOS. It is cleaner than it used to be, with a straightforward home screen showing steps, heart rate, sleep, and workouts.

Syncing is fast over Bluetooth 5.3. Data appears within a few seconds of opening the app. Strava export works, which matters if you already log runs elsewhere.

The weak point is depth. You get charts and numbers, but almost no coaching, no training load analysis, and no recovery guidance. Compare that with Zepp or Garmin Connect and the gap is obvious.

Watch face browsing is enjoyable. Downloads take about 20 seconds each. Storage limits mean you can only hold a handful of custom faces on the watch at once, so expect some swapping.

What the Redmi Watch 5 Active Does Not Do Well

Honesty time. This watch has real limits and you should know them before buying.

No built in GPS is the headline problem. Outdoor route tracking needs your phone in your pocket. Runners who like leaving their phone behind should look elsewhere immediately.

There is no NFC and no contactless payments. There is no Wi‑Fi radio either, so all data moves through Bluetooth.

The LCD screen cannot match AMOLED rivals for contrast, black levels, or sunlight visibility. An always on display exists but it slashes battery life badly.

There is no altimeter, so floors climbed and elevation gain are missing. There is also no skin temperature sensor and no ECG.

Finally, third party app support is essentially nonexistent. What ships on the watch is what you get, forever.

Pros and Cons

Pros

• Outstanding battery life of roughly 13 to 15 days in real mixed use, far beyond most smartwatches at any price.
• Large 2 inch square display with slim bezels and more than 200 watch faces to choose from.
• Very light at 42.2 grams, which makes overnight sleep tracking comfortable.
• Bluetooth calling with dual microphone noise reduction that genuinely works indoors.
• 5ATM water resistance covers showers, rain, and pool dips.
• Extremely low price that undercuts nearly every branded competitor.

Cons

• No built in GPS, so outdoor route tracking depends entirely on your phone.
• LCD panel struggles in bright sunlight at around 500 nits peak.
• No swim tracking modes despite the 5ATM rating.
• No NFC payments, no altimeter, no ECG, and no third party apps.
• Heart rate accuracy lags during interval training and sprints.
• Mi Fitness app offers data but very little coaching or insight.

Redmi Watch 5 Active vs Redmi Watch 5 Lite

These two launched close together and confuse a lot of buyers. The difference is straightforward.

The Watch 5 Lite upgrades you to an AMOLED display and adds built in GNSS positioning. That means deeper blacks, better sunlight visibility, and standalone outdoor tracking without your phone. It also carries a metal frame and costs noticeably more.

The Watch 5 Active keeps the LCD, drops GPS, and slashes the price. Battery life between the two is broadly similar in daily use, which surprises people.

My rule is simple. If you run, hike, or cycle outdoors and care about accurate route maps, pay the extra for the Lite. If you want notifications, steps, sleep, and a watch you charge twice a month, the Active saves you real money for features you will not miss.

Who Should Buy the Xiaomi Redmi Watch 5 Active

Last update on 2026-09-25 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API

This watch suits a specific kind of buyer, and it suits them very well.

Buy it if you want your first smartwatch and you refuse to spend much. Buy it if you mainly care about seeing notifications, counting steps, and checking sleep. Buy it as a gift for a parent, a teenager, or anyone who finds daily charging annoying.

It is also a strong second watch. Keep it for travel weeks when packing a charger feels like a chore.

Skip it if you train seriously, swim laps, or want payments on your wrist. Skip it if sunlight readability matters to you.

At this price, the value is hard to argue with. You are buying 90 percent of the smartwatch experience for a fraction of the usual cost.

Final Verdict: Is It Worth Buying in 2026?

The Redmi Watch 5 Active is not a great smartwatch. It is a great cheap smartwatch, and that distinction matters.

Xiaomi made smart choices about where to save money. The LCD screen and missing GPS fund a battery that lasts nearly two weeks and a price that feels almost unfair. For casual users, those trade offs make sense.

I would rate it a solid 4 out of 5 for value and 3 out of 5 as a pure fitness device. It does the basics reliably and rarely frustrates, provided you knew the limits before buying.

Two years after launch it remains widely available and frequently discounted. If you can find it near its lowest price, it is one of the easiest budget tech recommendations I can give. Just do not expect it to replace a proper running watch.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does the Redmi Watch 5 Active have GPS?

No. The watch has no built in GPS or GNSS chip. It uses your connected phone GPS to record outdoor routes, so your phone must stay with you during runs and rides.

How long does the battery really last?

Xiaomi claims 18 days in typical use. In my mixed testing with notifications, continuous heart rate, and sleep tracking enabled, I got around 13 to 15 days per charge. Heavy Bluetooth calling drops this closer to 11 days.

Can I swim with the Redmi Watch 5 Active?

You can get it wet safely thanks to the 5ATM rating. However, Xiaomi confirms the watch includes no swim or water sport workout modes, so it cannot record your laps or strokes.

Does it work with iPhone?

Yes. The Mi Fitness app supports both iOS and Android. iPhone users receive notifications and calls, but message replies are not available. Android users get slightly more functionality.

Can I reply to messages on the watch?

Android users can send short canned replies on supported apps. iPhone users cannot reply at all. There is no keyboard or voice dictation for messages.

Does it support NFC payments?

No. The Redmi Watch 5 Active has no NFC chip, so contactless payments are not possible. You will need a higher tier model for wrist payments.

How accurate is the heart rate sensor?

Resting and steady state readings are good, usually within a few beats per minute of a chest strap. Accuracy drops during sprints and interval sessions, where the sensor lags behind sudden changes.