A historical moment for Xiaomi fans! New global Watch S5 41mm are the first watches with HyperOS 4 that you can pay with via Google Pay

Smaller Xiaomi Watch S5 41 mm already have their own page on the global Xiaomi website, so for the first time the manufacturer has officially confirmed they will be sold beyond China. The web Notebookcheck pointed it out. Compared to what we knew about the watches a week ago, two important new things have appeared: a third color and confirmed payments via Google Pay. Xiaomi hasn’t given the price or the sales date yet.

The third color is made of ceramics and comes with a leather strap

Until now, it was said to come in black and light blue; both have a stainless-steel case. The global page adds the Ceramic White edition, which features a glossy ceramic bezel, ceramic inserts on the crown, and a strap made of genuine leather. In China, this version costs 200 yuan more than the steel one, so you should expect an extra charge here as well.

The dimensions don’t change. The case is 41,4 mm in diameter, 9,9 mm thick, and without the strap weighs 36 grams, so the watches also fit on a slimmer wrist, where the larger 46 mm Watch S5 looks bulky. The strap lugs are now separated from the body, so they seem to float, and according to Xiaomi the watches fit the hand better.

The round AMOLED display has a 1.32-inch diagonal and a resolution of 466 × 466 pixels (352 PPI). The refresh rate is 60 Hz, but according to Xiaomi it may differ on some screens. The whole display lights up with a brightness of 1,500 nits and part of the screen goes up to 3,000 nits, so it’s readable even in direct sunlight. The black and light blue versions come with a strap made of fluororubber; the ceramic version comes with a leather strap, and all can be adjusted to a wrist circumference of 130 to 200 mm.

The first HyperOS 4 watch with Google Pay support

A week ago, we could only guess whether NFC in the smaller watches would also be used for payments. Xiaomi has now confirmed it on the product page, and lists two payment services: its own Xiaomi Pay and Google Pay.

However, in the footnote it reminds you that availability depends on the country and whether your bank supports the service. These are the first Xiaomi watches with the HyperOS 4 system that support Google Pay. The larger Watch S5 46 mm only work via Xiaomi Pay, and Google Wallet. Until now, only Xiaomi watches with Wear OS, such as Xiaomi Watch 5, had Google Pay.

Which Slovak and Czech banks work via Xiaomi Pay on the larger Watch S5, you can find in our list. NFC can also serve as a key: the watch replaces the access card for a building or office—but only an unencrypted one. You can pay with it at terminals that accept Mastercard and Visa cards, and the list of supported banks is available on Xiaomi’s website. The settings also include a mode in which the interface rotates depending on which wrist you wear the watch on.

How much they will cost—we don’t know yet

Xiaomi showed the whole world the watches, but didn’t reveal the price. In European stores like mi.com, for example in Germany, the Czech Republic, or the UK, you can’t find them yet. In China, steel versions are sold from 1,299 yuan (roughly €174), and the ceramic one for 1,499 yuan (roughly €200)—but in Europe the price is usually higher due to VAT and customs duty. According to earlier leaks, it should be around €240.

So the smaller watches could be more expensive than the larger model, which has a 815 mAh battery and lasts up to 21 days. In Slovakia, you can buy the steel Watch S5 46 mm starting 10 November for less than €125. You can read more about their current price in a comparison with the older Watch S4. The Xiaomi 18 Pro lineup has a global premiere on 17 November, but it hasn’t confirmed yet whether Xiaomi will also show the smaller watches there and their price.

Battery for 14 days and charging via a magnetic dock

Inside, there’s a Xiaomi Surge battery with a capacity of 590 mAh, which is 84% larger than on the Watch S4 41 mm. For everyday use, Xiaomi promises up to eight days, with all-day blood oxygen and stress monitoring, 100 notifications per day, and three hours of sports with GPS per week. In power-saving mode—when the watch measures your heart rate every 10 minutes and doesn’t track oxygen or stress all day—it lasts up to 14 days. With the display always on, you’ll charge them after five days.

They charge via a magnetic dock with two contacts, which is included in the box together with the watch and the manual, but you won’t get a plug-in adapter. Pairing with a phone happens via Bluetooth 5.4, and it works with Android 8.0 and newer versions, as well as iPhones with iOS 14 and newer.

More precise heart rate and a new temperature sensor for cycle tracking

The heart rate and blood oxygen sensor has four LED diodes and four photodiodes, and it works with the new Heart Rate Algorithm 2.0. According to Xiaomi’s internal tests, in 98,4 % of heart-rate measurements, the results differed from a reference device by less than 10 beats per minute—while sitting, working in an office, running, and cycling. The watch measures your heart rate continuously and will alert you if the readings are unusual.

The new feature is a skin temperature sensor with an accuracy of ±0.1 °C. Thanks to subtle temperature changes, the watch can estimate your next period in advance, and you also get three months of extended predictions in the Clue app. You must redeem the offer within six months, and if you don’t cancel the subscription after the trial period, you’ll start paying for it.

Blood oxygen and stress can be monitored all day, but you need to turn these measurements on manually. At low oxygen levels, the watch will vibrate; when stress lasts longer, it will remind you to rest and offer four breathing exercises. The health overview will also notify you automatically when any value changes noticeably. Xiaomi, however, reminds you that the watch is not a medical device and that the measurements are for guidance only.

Sleep with HRV and little animals

During sleep, the watch also tracks heart rate variability (HRV) and uses the measured data to find out which values are normal for you. When your HRV drops below your average, Xiaomi says it means fatigue and poor recovery, and the watch will advise you on what to do about it.

The new sleep analysis looks at your history to help you understand what helps you sleep better—and what harms you. You can manually log things like workouts, food, and sleep in the journal. The watch can also show the results in a more fun way: based on sleep duration, stress, and movement, it assigns you a little animal that best reflects your habits.

Sports: 150 modes, offline maps, and heart rate to the cyclocomputer

The watch has over 150 sports modes, and it can recommend workouts based on your fitness level, the weather, and your menstrual cycle phase. During your period, it suggests gentler stretching; in other phases, it suggests more demanding training.

For trips, it has satellite navigation with five systems (GPS, Galileo, GLONASS, BeiDou, and QZSS) and offline maps that you can download via the Mi Fitness app. It navigates along the route, guides you back along the path you took, and warns you when you leave the route. However, the maps aren’t equally available in every region. Additional sensors include a barometer, gyroscope, and electronic compass.

For cycling, you can send your heart rate via Bluetooth to a cyclocomputer or an app that supports the BLE standard for heart-rate transmission. You can swim with them thanks to water resistance of 5 ATM, which Xiaomi verified according to the ISO 22810 pressure standard corresponding to a depth of 50 meters for 10 minutes. They also measure heart rate in water and after swimming will show a detailed summary. However, they aren’t suitable for hot showers, saunas, or diving, and the leather strap of the ceramic version shouldn’t be used in water at all.

HyperOS 4, little animals on the watch face, and more features

The watch runs on HyperOS 4, whose interface features transparent elements reminiscent of glass, along with more colorful transitions. The displays received a unified layout to make better use of the small screen. There are four interactive watch faces with animals that react to the time, weather, and even your stress. The Quokka watch face is preinstalled; the others you download via the Mi Fitness app.

By swiping to the right, you open a overview that shows workouts, a calendar, weather, and health data in one place—and highlights the important stuff with color. You take a screenshot by pressing both buttons at the same time, and notifications while the watch is on your hand are hidden, so you’ll only see their contents after you lift your wrist.

The watches have a speaker and a microphone, so via Bluetooth they can handle calls, and with an Android phone they can also play music straight from the watch to your earbuds. Of the mini-apps, the most useful are camera control and finding your phone. There’s also a timer, stopwatch, alarm clock, weather, voice recorder, flashlight, compass, music player, tasks, and world time.

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