A square face that is easy to use and sits well on the wrist
The Redmi Watch 6 Active looks much like the Redmi Watch 5 Active and the Lite, though this time Xiaomi has squared off the edges of the case a little more. It feels sturdier and more modern for it.
It’s only polymer plastic, but the build is tidier than I expected. The seams line up evenly, there’s no gap worth griping about where the front and back halves meet, and in the hand it doesn’t feel any cheaper than watches a tier up.
The back is matte, and the sensor housing sits proud in a rounded dome so it stays pressed against your skin. That’s what keeps the health readings accurate. The button is on the side of the case, easy to find without looking. You don’t get the rotating crown the standard model has, though.
The strap now attaches through a concealed lug, which makes the watch look more like a single piece. The clasp is a snap-in type as well, so changing straps is far easier than it was with the old Quick Release mechanism.
At just 26g, with a moderately sized case of around 47mm, this watch is extremely comfortable to wear through a long day of work and through a workout. My one gripe is that the watch strap takes a while to get the hang of putting on, which was something of a nuisance in the first few days of use.
The AMOLED panel is a big win in this price bracket
The biggest point in this watch’s favour is that Xiaomi was generous enough to fit an AMOLED screen to a budget product, and the display quality of the Redmi Watch 6 Active is far from bad. Colours are bright, detail is sharp and lively, and the whole thing is easy on the eyes.
Brightness is adequate, peaking at 1,200 nits, which is enough to use the watch fairly comfortably in moderate sunlight or in the shade outdoors without much trouble reading what is on screen.
At first glance the Redmi Watch 6 Active looks as though it has a square screen, but the display is in fact a rectangle at 390 x 450 pixels, taller than it is wide, which leaves more room for reading content and notifications.
Almost the full feature set, with the basic health tracking covered
Xiaomi has not stripped much out of the Redmi Watch 6 Active compared with the standard model, so on the whole it felt fairly complete to use.
It supports the basic health measurements, from heart rate and blood oxygen (SpO2) to sleep tracking and statistics and menstrual cycle, so you can keep a clear eye on your health. The Redmi Watch 6 Active does carry the older generation of sensor used in its predecessor rather than the new one in the standard model, which takes a little off the reliability of the readings here.
There are workout modes for more than 140 activities, indoors and out, with the focus on the basics such as running and cycling, and the training stats are logged in the same detail as on the standard model. It is a shame there is no standalone GPS for mapping a running route, but if all you need is the training data, this is more than enough.
The Redmi Watch 6 Active is only rated IP68 for water and dust resistance, so Xiaomi has also pared back the tracking modes for water sports on this one.
The watch has no GPS of its own either, so it borrows the phone’s GPS to measure and track your route for distance activities such as cycling or running outdoors.
HyperOS 3.2 keeps the experience simple, clear and easy to pick up
On the software side, the Redmi Watch 6 Active runs a reworked HyperOS 3.2. The new version changes some of the gestures on the watch, such as checking notifications and opening the widget and quick settings menus, and it took me a while to get used to them.
In return, the Redmi Watch 6 Active runs fairly smoothly. Even when it was taking measurements, running a workout and fielding a pile of notifications at the same time, I almost never noticed stutter, lag or the screen freezing up.
Paired through the Mi Fitness app, I could follow my health and training data very easily. The stats are recorded as charts that are clear and friendly to read.
Compatibility with the phone’s operating system and apps is not much of a problem on the Redmi Watch 6 Active either. Icons for most popular apps such as Messenger, Facebook, Instagram and even Locket still show up clearly. When you open a notification to read it, though, the watch does not display the app icon. That is purely a software limitation, and I very much hope Xiaomi fixes it in a future update.
More than a week of comfortable use from a 470mAh battery
The Redmi Watch 6 Active packs a battery of up to 470mAh, good for roughly 12 days of mixed use.
In my own use, with continuous heart rate monitoring, daily health tracking, sleep tracking and notifications coming in regularly, the Redmi Watch 6 Active still cleared more than seven days and had around 34% left, which is fairly impressive for a budget smartwatch.
Should you buy the Xiaomi Redmi Watch 6 Active?
So those are my impressions of the Xiaomi Redmi Watch 6 Active. With a set of upgrades that bring it close to the mainstream smartwatches a tier above, a modern design, a high-grade AMOLED screen, good brightness and a feature set that does not fall far behind the standard model, the Redmi Watch 6 Active looks like a budget smartwatch worth buying for newcomers and for school and university students who want to try a smartwatch without spending too much.
Key features
The Xiaomi Redmi Watch 6 Active smartwatch has a 47mm case weighing a mere 26g, a sharp 1.85-inch AMOLED screen with always-on display support, and IP68 water resistance.
It takes Bluetooth calls directly, runs the HyperOS operating system smoothly and pairs easily through the Mi Fitness app.
Comprehensive health tracking (heart rate, SpO2 and stress) alongside more than 140 different workout modes.
Impressive battery life of up to 12 days of normal use (18 days in basic mode) from a 470mAh cell with magnetic charging.
Xiaomi Redmi Watch 6 Active Smart Watch, 1.85″ AMOLED, Midnight Black: Check Availability on Amazon
Xiaomi Redmi Watch 6 Active Smart Watch, 1.85″ AMOLED, Matte Silver: Check Availability on Amazon
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