The Xiaomi watch S3 is an affordable smartwatch with a highly customizable look and interchangeable bezels. It can track your health, fitness, and sleep, send phone notifications to your wrist, and last several days between charges. The disadvantage? It runs Xiaomi's software, which feels a bit basic, and you can forget about third-party apps.
Now that I'm a month into using the Xiaomi Watch S3, I'm impressed with its tracking capabilities considering its relatively low price, and the interchangeable bezels are a good idea. But I'm also happy to say goodbye to it. The Watch S3 has too many limitations for me, but it's important to remember that this device costs less than half of the most affordable option in our best smartwatches guide.
Before we delve deeper, it's worth noting that there is a global version of the Xiaomi Watch S3, but it's not sold in the US, there's no official US support, and certain features (like NFC for payments) vary by region.
Smartwatch chameleon
Photo: Simon Hill
For people who like to match their watch with their outfit, the Xiaomi Watch S3 has a unique trick up its sleeve in the form of interchangeable bezels. Changing the band on a watch can have a big impact, but if you can change both the band and the bezel, it almost looks like a completely different device.
The Watch S3 has a fairly thick 47mm aluminum casing with angled lugs and two buttons on the right side. There is a stainless steel bezel on top of the screen, which you can twist to remove and replace with a different bezel. It's easy once you get the hang of it, and there's a little marker on the inside to help you align. The edges fit securely in place and I never worried about them coming loose.
Attach a new bezel and the Watch S3 suggests a matching watch face. It's a nice trick. There are over 100 watch faces in every style imaginable, and you can even create your own. Changing the strap is also easy, allowing you to quickly change your look. My favorite of the bands and bezels Xiaomi sent was the stylish green and black combination. With the Watch S3 you get one black or silver bezel with a matching fluoro rubber strap, and alternatives must be purchased separately.
The 1.43-in AMOLED screen has a layer of protective Corning glass. The screen is spacious and bright, but the relatively low peak brightness of 600 nits (a luminance measurement) made it sometimes difficult to read in direct sunlight. The Watch S3 also has a water resistance of 5ATM, which means you can swim with it.
Photo: Simon Hill
Streamlined for endurance
The Xiaomi Watch S3 focuses on the basics with call and notification alerts from your phone; health, fitness and sleep tracking; and a handful of utilities like a voice recorder, camera shutter control, and compass. It runs HyperOS, so there are no third-party apps like you'll find on a Google Wear OS smartwatch.
Navigating through the Watch S3 is smooth and without delay. HyperOS isn't the most attractive software and lacks a cohesive design, with a mix of dull and flashy icons. But it worked fine most of the time, aside from the odd missed notification from my phone. It connects via Bluetooth 5.2 and you can use it with any phone running Android 8 or iOS 12 or later. I tested with the Xiaomi 14 Ultra.