There was a time when having a smartwatch, of any kind, was considered a luxury. But over the past few years, we’ve seen an abundance of more affordable devices that cover a vast range of users’ needs and wants.

Now, the Redmi Watch 2 Lite is another affordable to add to the list. While it isn’t for the most tech-forward it does offer a great range of essentials.

Let’s dive right in and get to know the Redmi Watch 2 Lite.

Design

The Redmi Watch 2 Lite harbors a design and build that isn’t unfamiliar at all. Apple already popularized this square-faced smartwatch way back when it introduced its Watch and, needless to say, it’s a design that works.

We have a 1.55-inch touch display here on the Watch 2 Lite, just a tad bit smaller than the Redmi Watch 2.

Colors are very rich and vibrant and make the icons look very playful.

Its touch response, however, isn’t the fastest. But given how much it costs, it’s not so surprising and easily forgivable.

Bezels are also quite prominent when using a brighter watch face but you can cheat the look of a bezel-less display by opting for ones with darker backgrounds.

Controls are pretty standard: long press to change watch face, swipe left or right to check on widgets such as heart rate, steps, sleep, and more. Swiping down shows you your notifications while swiping up accesses a quick menu.

I was also surprised to find gesture controls such as tilt to wake and cover to sleep. To access the full menu, however, you’ll have to press the button on the side.

It’s a very lightweight watch which makes it comfortable to wear even while sleeping or exercising.

The screen is housed in a matte plastic frame while the straps are made of rubber which makes the whole device easy to clean.

What we have here is the Redmi Watch 2 Lite in Black but it’s also available in Ivory and Blue.

Straps are also interchangeable and there are additional Pink, Olive, and Brown strap colors available to purchase. You can release the straps by pressing the buttons found on the underside of the device.

The Redmi Watch 2 Late carries a 5ATM water-resistant rating which means you can use it in the shower or even for a swim.

All in all, this design is undoubtedly basic but that makes it a safe choice especially for those just figuring out if a smartwatch is for them. You have enough swiping and reading room and get that nice vibrancy as well.

Features and performance

On this Redmi Watch 2 Lite, we’re getting a 24-hour heart rate tracker, SpO2 measurement and tracking, sleep monitoring, stress monitoring, GPS, over a hundred fitness modes, menstrual cycle tracker, and more.

It also offers push notification, idle alerts, incoming call and message notification, music control, and other useful features.

I would probably get this for the trackers alone because for its price, I think you’re getting a really good deal.

As for how well these work, I’ve been able to use the watch for sleep, stress, heart rate, and fitness tracking and so far I’ve not been disappointed.

Of course, it’s expected that accuracy may not be totally on point. For example, when I used it for my quick workouts, I found that it would sometimes have a delay in my heart rate readings.

I was already sweating pretty hard and could feel my heart pumping fast but this didn’t reflect on the watch right away. The app, however, can display the correct data. We’ll talk more about that later on.

Other than that, the fitness tracker is able to supply relevant information such as the maximum heart rate achieved during exercise as well as heart rate zones that were hit during the workout.

The Sleep Tracker works as it should as well. The watch is able to monitor sleep stages and duration while continuously monitoring heart rate too.

The Redmi Watch 2 Lite even offers continuous Sp02 monitoring as well while users are asleep. Additionally, you can enable advanced tracking which will then consider REM sleep stages.

Outside of sleep and fitness, this device also became a useful productivity tool for work and around the house.

Getting notifications on your wrist is always convenient plus I was able to make use of the timers for cooking and even the alarm to wake me up.

I can even use the watch to find my phone when I lose it – something that happens quite often.

Connectivity

The Redmi Watch 2 Lite works alongside the Xiaomi Wear app. It’s designed to work for both Android and iOS. Our experience, though, is purely with Android.

Its dashboard offers tracked data at a glance and you can even reorganize or hide the widgets according to your liking. From here, you can also just tap on what you’d want more details on.

The app also offers brief explanations for each metric tracked but I do wish it took things a step further by offering suggestions on how to improve based on the user’s readings.

Apart from that, everything in this app eas easy to digest. From the cute graphics to the pleasing UI, it helps elevate the whole smartwatch experience.

And if you’re a first-time smartwatch user, it’s also not overwhelming.

On the app, you can also get more watch faces. There’s quite a selection and it’s easy to find something that will suit your personality.

Battery

The Redmi Watch 2 Lite carries a 262mAh battery which, the company says, can last up to 10 days. I had turned on all the features of this watch and it lasted me about 5 days.

That’s not bad considering everything this smartwatch offers but I imagine it could easily make it 10 days if you stick to the most basic features.

Creature Feature

In our reviews, The Modern Creatures aims to find special features or qualities in a device that makes it worth having. And for the Redmi Watch 2 Lite, it would have to be its health and fitness trackers.

Again, the tech you’ll find on the Redmi Watch 2 Lite isn’t anything groundbreaking but the fact that it’s all found on this device and is offered at such an attractive price makes it easy to pick out among the rest.

Alternatively, if you’ve come to like this watch, you can even opt for the Redmi Watch 2 which has a slightly larger screen but retains the same features.

Final thoughts

While there are many affordable smartwatches out there, I find that the Redmi Watch 2 Lite strikes a good balance of smart and fitness features all tucked into a familiar design. Its strength isn’t that it’s groundbreaking but that it’s offering really capable smartwatch tech at an affordable price.

It’s not at all intimidating for first-time users either or for those who just want a capable and affordable smartwatch. The Redmi Watch 2 Lite is available for PhP 2,597. Get it here.