The Xiaomi watch S3 is an affordable smartwatch with a highly customizable look, including interchangeable bezels. It can track your health, fitness, and sleep, send phone notifications to your wrist, and last for days between charges. The disadvantage? It runs on Xiaomi’s software, which seems a bit basic, and you can do without third-party apps.
After a month with the Xiaomi Watch S3, I’m impressed with its tracking capabilities given its relatively low price, and the interchangeable bezels are a nice idea. But I can also 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 the price of the cheapest option in our best smartwatches guide.
Before we dive into it, 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 to their outfit, the Xiaomi Watch S3 has a unique trick up its sleeve: interchangeable bezels. Changing the band on a watch can have a big impact, but being able to change both the band and the bezel almost makes the device look like a completely different device.
The Watch S3 has a fairly chunky 47mm aluminum case with angled lugs and two buttons on the right side. There is a stainless steel frame at the top of the screen that you can rotate to remove and replace with another frame. Once you get the hang of it it’s easy and there is a little mark on the inside to help you align it. The bezels snap securely into place and I never worried about them coming loose.
Attach a new bezel and the Watch S3 will suggest a matching watch face. It’s a neat trick. There are over 100 watch faces in every style imaginable, and you can even create your own. Changing the bracelet is also easy, so you can quickly change your look. My favorite of the straps and bezels Xiaomi sent me was the classy combination of green and black. With the Watch S3 you get a black or silver bezel with a matching fluoro rubber strap, alternatives must be purchased separately.
The 1.43-inch AMOLED screen features a protective layer of Corning Glass. The display is spacious and sharp, but the relatively low peak brightness of 600 nits (a luminance measurement) made it difficult to read at times in direct sunlight. The Watch S3 is also waterproof to 5ATM, so you can swim with it.
Photo: Simon Hill
Optimized for endurance
The Xiaomi Watch S3 focuses on what matters with call and notification alerts from your phone; health, fitness and sleep tracking; and a handful of utilities like a voice recorder, a camera shutter control, and a compass. It runs HyperOS, so there are no third-party apps like you’d find on a Google Wear OS smartwatch.
Navigating on the Watch S3 is smooth and lag-free. HyperOS isn’t the most attractive software and lacks a cohesive design with a mix of boring and garish icons. But it worked well for the most part, aside from the occasional 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.