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Poco Watch Review Ratings
generalize
Poco Watch is an affordable fitness smartwatch, probably the cheapest watch with built-in GPS and natively exported to Strava
Today, Poco launched its first smartwatch, the Poco Watch, with Poco F4 GT.
Poco was kind enough to send me the watch ahead of time for review, but it wasn’t until yesterday that my Mi Fitness was able to add it! So this is largely an initial impression of the watch.
As far as I know, Poco Watch is a rebranded Redmi Watch 2, and its underlying OS and UI are basically the same as other Xiaomi wearables.
Poco Watch / Redmi Watch 2 Specifications
- exhibit: 1.6 inch AMOLED 360 x 320 pixels
- feature:
- put up: Plastic back plate, plastic frame
- water proof: 5ATM 50m waterproof
- Global Positioning System: Yes, with A-GPS, GLONASS, GALILEO, BDS
- Battery: 14 days typical
Build and Design
With its all-plastic construction, the watch feels a little cheap, but its all-black design and Apple Watch-inspired square shape make it an innocuous design that doesn’t look particularly cheap. It fits perfectly no matter what you wear. It won’t stand out if you’re wearing a gym suit or suit.
It has a fairly small wrist-based optical heart rate monitor, which I don’t expect will be the most accurate for sports, but that’s to be expected for a budget watch.
Charging is done via a two-pronged magnetic charger.
Fitness and Connecting to Strava
The standout feature of this watch is the built-in GPS, which I think is a rarity in watches under £100.
One issue I’m having is when I initially try to pair the watch with my phone, I try to download the app from the link displayed using the QR code on the watch. This seems to be a China-specific app and under-connected app, I only have options for WeChat and Alipay.
Uninstalling the app and installing it from the Play Store will change the available apps to Strava only. As such, Xiaomi and its various sub-brands remain the most affordable way to track outdoor activities and sync data to Strava.
I’ve only had one chance to do one run so far, and it’s been a 5K max effort. This might be an extreme test, but I’m reviewing the Nike Air Zoom Alphafly running trainer and looking to get a sub-20m time.
During the run, I used Garmin Fenix 6 Pro and my heart rate chest strap.
Heart rate accuracy is not good for Poco. The watch sits high and tight on my wrist, but there are major inaccuracies. This is common to me on many devices when using wrist based heart rate. I’m just furry and skinny. It looks like it struggles to get the right lock at the start of the run, then from the 11m 30s it loses accuracy completely. The end result was an average heart rate of 155bpm, while the Garmin was 160bpm.
From a GPS perspective, the Poco actually seems to be a bit more accurate than the Garmin. Both watches worked well with each other for most of my run, but on one street the Garmin veered off the right side of the street and I definitely didn’t run. Importantly, it tracks 5K exactly the same time as my Garmin, which Strava sees as PB.
Overall, I’m very happy with a cheap watch.
health tracking
General health tracking is basically the same as other Xiaomi devices, including Mi Watch S1 Active I recently reviewed.
I haven’t been around long enough to see how accurate things are, but I expect it to be about the same as other Xiaomi devices.
you have:
- Heart rate throughout the day – you can change the continuous monitoring setting from 30 minutes to every minute and set a high heart rate warning during rest or exercise
- Blood Oxygen – This can also be set to automatically measure while you sleep (not all day)
- calories burned
- standing time
- moving time
- pressure
- group
- VO2 max
Price and Availability
renew: The POCO watch is priced at 79 euros
The Redmi SmartWatch 2 Lite is currently around £60 on Amazon
Xiaomi Redmi Smart Band Pro for around £45
AliExpress bought the Xiaomi Redmi Watch 2 for around £70
The Xiaomi Mi Watch is currently on sale for £110 on Amazon.
If the Poco Watch is £85 or less then it should be a good option.
overall
During my Xiaomi Watch S1 Active, I made it clear that I’m partial to Strava-enabled devices. I don’t know how many runners don’t use Strava, so I think it’s a fairly important feature.
So, I’m a fan of Poco Watch. While I don’t know the final price, this is probably one of the cheapest smartwatches, if not the cheapest GPS-equipped smartwatch that can sync to Strava, which is great for anyone starting a run, bike ride, or other outdoor activities Said it was the perfect choice.
If GPS and Strava are not important to you, there are of course many other good options. The Huawei Watch Fit or Honor Band 6 are both more affordable and more suitable for general fitness trackers.
