Mi Watch Revolve Active Review: More Features on Your Wrist

The Mi Watch Revolve, launched last year, has a round AMOLED display and offers good battery life, but has limited smartwatch functionality. Xiaomi has now introduced a new wearable called the Mi Watch Revolve Active, which looks like a more fitness-focused sibling of the original Mi Watch Revolve. The new Mi Watch Revolve Active boasts of SpO2 tracking as well as support for Alexa voice assistant. The most interesting thing of all is that it is at the same price point that the Mi Watch Revolve was launched at, although the older model has recently suffered a price drop. So, does the Mi Watch Revolve Active offer the best value for money on the market? I put this smartwatch to the test to find out.

Mi Watch Revolve Active price in India

The Mi Watch Revolve Active is priced at Rs. 9, but I saw it sell for Rs. 999 during the review period. Xiaomi offers three color options for the Mi Watch Revolve Active: Beige, Blue and Black.

Mi Watch Revolve Active Design

The Mi Watch Revolve Active has a circular dial, which makes it look like a traditional watch from a distance. It sports a 1,39 inch AMOLED display with 2.5D curved glass that sits above the bezel. The Mi Watch Revolve Active is only available in one size, and if you have small hands it can look big on your wrist. The screen has a thin bezel all around, with Home and Sport inscribed on it near the two physical buttons on the right side. These offer good clickable feedback when in a hurry. The left side is completely empty.

Xiaomi says that the frame of the Mi Watch Revolve Active is made of fiber-reinforced polyamide, which makes it look a bit plastic. This also makes it light - the watch body weighs only 35g. You get 22mm straps with the Mi Watch Revolve Active and these are user replaceable without the need for special tools.

The underside of the MI Watch Revolve Active features heart rate sensors and SpO2

The material of the bracelet is soft and has a textured finish. It has a standard pin buckle to secure it to your wrist. Xiaomi says it will offer more strap options, which should give you the flexibility to customize the look of your watch. At first the textured strap was a bit difficult to wear, but with use it became more comfortable. I did not feel any irritation while wearing the watch.

The underside of the Mi Watch Revolve Active houses all of the heart rate and SpO2 measurement sensors. It also has pin connectors for charging the watch's 420mAh battery. The microphones for Alexa are at the 12 o'clock position and are only visible when the strap is removed.

The Mi Watch Revolve Active is water resistant up to 5ATM, so you can take it for a swim and track it if you want. The charger has magnets to ensure the Mi Watch Revolve Active stays in place while charging. This charger has a full size USB plug on the other end.

Mi Watch Revolve Active software

You need to pair the Mi Watch Revolve Active with a smartphone during the setup process to start using it. You can pair the watch with an Android smartphone using the Xiaomi Wear app or an iOS device using the Xiaomi Wear Lite app. These are the same apps you would need to use the Redmi Watch (Review) as well as the Mi Watch Revolve (Review). The pairing process is quite simple and straightforward. These apps also show you all the health data recorded by the watch at a glance.

Once paired, you can enable notifications on the watch and also set up Alexa using the app for your phone. You can change some settings of the Mi Watch Revolve Active using the app, such as watch faces, and select which apps can notify you on the wrist. Over 100 watch faces are available online for download, but the watch only allows you to store five faces. Also, these faces cannot be personalized in any way except those that allow you to set a photo as a watch face. You can rearrange the widgets on the watch as well as the workouts right from the app.

You can quickly access the toggles by swiping down from the watcface

Xiaomi lets you take full advantage of the AMOLED screen offering Always On display mode. This is not enabled by default as it will impact battery life. Oddly enough, the alarm clock feature is disabled when the always-on display is active, so you'll have to press a button to wake the watch up, which can get annoying. There are also a few different faces for the always-on display.

The Mi Watch Revolve Active runs a custom operating system and has different widgets that you can access by swiping directly from the watch face. Pressing the top right button takes you to the app drawer user interface, giving you access to more features like timer, alarms, compass, barometer and Alexa. You can also long press this button to go directly to Alexa.

The Mi Watch Revolve Active doesn't appear to have the full-fledged version of Alexa running on the watch itself, and its capabilities are limited. You can speak to this voice assistant and the answers will appear as text on the screen. You can ask Alexa for the weather and she will get back to you. I could also ask him different questions and he would get the answers from the Internet. I was able to directly check the status of Amazon orders on the watch. You should also be able to control IoT devices if you've configured them using Alexa. I couldn't play music on my phone with Alexa, and texting someone wasn't working either.

You can follow the SpO2 levels on the Mi Watch Revolve Active

I had no problem navigating the watch as it was quite responsive. I could also quickly check my heart rate and SpO2 levels by swiping in from the watch face. By long pressing the bottom button titled Sport, you directly access the workouts that you can follow on the Mi Watch Revolve Active.

Mi Watch Revolve Active performance and battery life

The Mi Watch Revolve Active is better equipped than the previous watch from Xiaomi. It has SpO2 tracking which is a nice feature to have during these times. I tested the SpO2 tracking on the Mi Watch Revolve Active by comparing it to a fingertip pulse oximeter and found the results accurate. The resting heart rate readings were also accurate compared to those displayed by an Apple Watch SE (Review) I was using at the same time.

The Mi Watch Revolve Active was comfortable to wear while sleeping, and the sleep tracking was also accurate. The Mi Wear app gave me a breakdown of the different stages of my sleep. To measure step tracking, I manually counted 1 steps while walking, and the Mi Watch Revolve Active was showing 000 steps. This is not a huge spread and will suffice for anyone who wants a general overview of their activity levels.

Mi Watch Revolve Active could not track heart rate accurately during training

You can follow many different workouts with the Mi Watch Revolve Active. It constantly displays your heart rate and calories burned while you workout. I found the heart rate tracking during the activity to be a bit off. While exercising on one occasion, the Apple Watch reported 131 bpm while the Mi Watch Revolve Active reported 84 bpm, which was not accurate. I would not recommend relying on this heart rate information while training.

The Mi Watch Revolve Active can also track the energy and stress levels of the wearer. As expected, energy levels were high after a good night's sleep, and lower on the days when I didn't sleep well. When it comes to stress levels, the watch gives you a number and a rating of either High, Moderate, Light, or Relaxed. Most days the Mi Watch Revolve Active showed that I was experiencing moderate stress levels on weekdays and was in the soft / relaxed zone on weekends. The watch also has a guided breathing widget that you can use to try and reduce stress levels.

The Mi Watch Revolve Active fully charges in less than two hours

The Mi Watch Revolve Active can alert you to incoming notifications by vibrating on your wrist. You can only see these notifications and cannot respond to them. Likewise, you can see incoming calls with caller name on the watch, but only get the options to silence or reject the call.

The Mi Watch Revolve Active lasted me less than two weeks on a full charge. My use included tracking workouts most days, with sleep tracking turned on and occasional SpO2 readings. I also turned on the always-on display for a day or two, which drained the battery a bit quicker. My workouts were indoors, with no need for a GPS to lock in, and if you plan to track outdoor activities outside, you might have lower battery life. It took about two hours to fully charge the watch.

Verdict

The new Mi Watch Revolve Active is aimed at people who move regularly. SpO2 tracking is a good feature to have during these times. Xiaomi has priced this watch at Rs. 9, and it positions itself as more premium than the Mi Watch Revolve which now sells for Rs. 999. The new watch does basic tracking fairly well, but tracking heart rate during training was not as reliable.

You get Alexa integration with the Mi Watch Revolve Active, but its functionality is limited. There aren't many options on the market at this price point, but the Amazfit GTS 2e is one option that comes close.