Xiaomi has launched its latest smartwatch, Amazfit Bip, with 45-day long battery life and its affordability, which is all set to give Apple a run for its money. The Chinese smartphone company, marketing smartwatches under its Huami sub-brand, has been fairing second, after Apple, in terms of global smartwatch shipments.
The Amazfit Bip is not just a regular fitness tracker but a smartwatch, complete with GPS, LTE support, and a heart rate tracker. The rectangular watch face sports a 1.28-inch transflective color display with a resolution of 176 x 176 pixels which is covered with a 2.5D curved Corning Gorilla Glass 3 and has a 20 mm rubber strap attached to it. The watch has a polycarbonate body and weighs about 31 grams. PPG heart rate sensor, a triaxial acceleration sensor, a geomagnetic sensor, and a barometric pressure sensor are some of the sensors the watch is equipped with, along with GPS+ and GLONASS support. Its IP68 rating makes it dust and water-resistant.
The highlight of the Amazfit Bip, however, is its battery life. While normal smartwatches can function up to 30 hours in a single charge, the Xiaomi smartwatch, with its 190 mAh battery, can last up to 45 days with its always-on display and running app and sleep monitoring working in the background. However, with running mode active along with GPS, the smartwatch is capable of lasting around 22 hours in a single charge.
The watch runs on an OS designed by Xiaomi and has customization features like additional watch faces and custom notifications. It does not, however, support third-party apps. The Amazfit Bip can be paired with any smartphone running on Android and iOS using the Mi Fit 3.0 app. While the smartwatch looks almost identical to the Apple smartwatch, it has minimum apps on board and does not have a separate app store.
The watch is currently available in Onyx Black, but it shall soon make three other color options, White Cloud, Kokoda Green, and Cinnabar Red, available for purchase; and is priced at $99 (appx. Rs. 6500).
