According to official data, global smartwatch sales declined for the first time last year, largely due to a drop in demand for the Apple Watch, as its 2024 models lacked groundbreaking innovations. However, it is clear that smartwatches are here to stay, and the latest models—across nearly all brands—may present fewer innovations but offer greater maturity and reliability than ever before.
The new Xiaomi Watch S4 is a prime example: a smartwatch that looks great, offers high capabilities, long battery life, and comes at an affordable price. It’s an excellent option for those who don’t want to spend hundreds more on Samsung or Apple watches. At the end of the day, even without considering its improved interface and rich variety of widgets, the Watch S4 performs most of the functions expected by an average user, especially sports enthusiasts, with surprising reliability.
Design and build
Externally, the standout features of the watch include its aluminum casing and large AMOLED display (47 mm) with high brightness (1,500 nits), giving it a classic and luxurious appearance. Xiaomi has also added a prominent top button, which functions as a rotating "crown" similar to Apple Watches, allowing users to scroll through screens and navigate between widgets and notifications. This is comparable to the rotating bezel on Samsung watches.
The silicone straps included in the package are standard-sized (22 mm) and can be swapped out quickly to suit personal taste. Additionally, the bezel surrounding the display is replaceable (easily detached with a light twist) with different bezel designs that can be purchased separately.
Features and limitations
There are some compromises in features: the Watch S4 does not support cellular connectivity, meaning it cannot function independently from your smartphone via eSIM and requires a constant Bluetooth connection. It also lacks advanced health monitoring features such as blood pressure measurement, ECG, and body temperature tracking, which are available on Apple, Samsung and Garmin watches, and approved by health authorities in the West.
Furthermore, unlike Xiaomi’s other models, including the Watch 2 Pro and Watch 2, the Watch S4 does not run on Google’s Wear OS but instead uses Xiaomi’s new HyperOS 2.0. This makes it a "closed" device that cannot run third-party apps like Spotify. Additionally, while it includes an NFC chip for wireless payments, Xiaomi’s wallet app and payment service are currently non-functional in Israel.
As usual, Xiaomi is targeting users who can live without these features—essentially the vast majority of consumers—while maintaining high standards in other areas. In most of its other features, the Watch S4 performs on par with the Galaxy Watch 7 and Apple Watch 10. It can monitor approximately 150 sports modes, including skiing, dancing and martial arts, with similar accuracy to its competitors in our sample tests. It also offers stress monitoring, blood oxygen saturation tracking, and sleep analysis.
A "Health Check" widget provides a quick overview of your fitness levels based on monitored data. The watch also offers guided breathing exercises for relaxation and focus. Xiaomi takes pride in the improved accuracy of its heart rate monitoring—a critical feature for amateur athletes—thanks to a new in-house-developed algorithm.
Athletes will also appreciate its compatibility with popular fitness apps like Strava, Suunto, Google Fit and Apple Health. There’s even an option to set motion gestures, such as shaking or rotating your wrist, to trigger actions on your phone, like remote photography.
Get the Ynetnews app on your smartphone: Google Play: https://bit.ly/4eJ37pE | Apple App Store: https://bit.ly/3ZL7iNv
The watch includes a built-in dual-channel GPS for improved location tracking, is water-resistant up to 50 meters, and allows users to make phone calls and voice chats using dual microphones with noise reduction.
Battery performance
The battery performance (486 mAh) is impressive. While Xiaomi’s claim of 15 consecutive days of use on a single charge may be exaggerated, the six days we measured under moderate use far exceed what Apple and Samsung watches offer. Moreover, just five minutes of charging provides two days of usage.
Price and value
At this price point—800 shekels (approximately $210), less than half the cost of a basic Apple Watch 10 and around 400 shekels ($105) cheaper than the Galaxy Watch 7—there aren’t many smartwatches that match the design and performance of the Watch S4. For those who don’t need a status symbol but want to enjoy the many advantages of a modern smartwatch, the Watch S4 is much more than just an "entry-level" device.
Summary
Pros: Impressive design, strong battery, user-friendly interface, reliable performance.
Cons: No cellular connectivity, "closed" operating system, lacks ECG and blood pressure monitoring, no payment functionality in Israel.