Redmi Watch 6 Active Explained: AMOLED Upgrade, Price and the Missing GPS 

Sometimes, buying a smartwatch is not really about finding the most powerful one. You just want something that tells you when someone is calling, keeps an eye on your steps, shows your notifications and does not ask for a charger every night.

That is where the Redmi Watch 6 Active comes in. It looks like Xiaomi is keeping things simple, but there is one big change this time: the basic LCD screen is gone and an AMOLED display takes its place. The catch? GPS is still missing.

So, is this just a nicer-looking version of the old watch or is there more to it? Let’s break down the Redmi Watch 6 Active and see what you actually get.

Redmi Watch 6 Active at a Glance

Feature	Redmi Watch 6 Active
Display	1.85-inch AMOLED
Resolution	390 × 450
Peak brightness	Up to 1,200 nits
Always-On Display	Yes
Battery Capacity	470mAh
Battery life	Up to 18 days
Weight	26g
Thickness	9.9mm
Bluetooth	Bluetooth 5.3
Sports modes	140+
Health Tracking	Heart rate, SpO2, stress, sleep
GPS	No built-in GPS
Software	Xiaomi HyperOS
Companion app	Mi Fitness
Water/dust resistance	IP68
Compatibility	Android 8.0+ and iOS 14.0+
Price	CNY 349 (approx $51.93 USD)

The AMOLED Display Is the Biggest Upgrade

What makes the biggest difference in terms of hardware changes in the Redmi Watch 6 Active is the change in the display of the smartwatch. The display size will now change from 2.0 inches to 1.85 inches, but the bigger change is from LCD to the high-end AMOLED screen.

• Pixel Density Improved: With 390 × 450 pixel resolution, you have about 322 pixels per inch (PPI). As the number of pixels is packed within the compact screen, all text notifications, watch faces and tiny icons appear very sharp.

• True Self-Emitting Blacks: While conventional LCDs use a global backlight that is always on, resulting in light leakage, where blacks are not blacks but grays, AMOLED employs pixels that are self-emitting. In the case of black content being shown, each pixel is switched off, allowing for an infinite contrast ratio.

• Readability Under Sunlight: While the older generation of screen brightness peaked at about 500 nits, the new screen shines bright up to a staggering 1,200 nits. The massive increase in brightness eliminates the problems posed by glare, enabling users to easily read their messages and exercise data even in broad daylight without covering the screen with their hands.

• “Fluid” 50Hz Refresh Rate: The Redmi Watch 6 runs on the smooth 50Hz+ refresh rate, which is significantly faster compared to the 30Hz screens that are usually found in entry-level wearable gadgets. The additional speed will make your experience with swiping widgets and browsing through the app list much smoother.

• Smart Always-On Display (AOD): The reason why the phone has a very efficient Always-On Display is that only the working pixels are powered to enable display of the clock. With the smart AOD, you don’t have to use an exaggerated wrist flip in order to wake up your phone just to tell the time.

The New Design Is Smaller, Thinner and Lighter

Redmi Watch 6 Active underwent changes in the physical design, making it sleeker to have a better footprint fitting close to your skin.

Redmi Watch 6 Active has dimensions of 44.5 × 39.4 × 9.9 mm and it weighs 26 g without its strap. Earlier budget smartwatches had a thickness of over 11 mm and a weight above 30 g. Reducing millimeters and grams makes sure the device can slide easily under jacket cuffs and be comfortable to wear even at night while sleeping.

It has a polymer chassis that is light and has a matte finish, with TPU quick-release straps that are gentle on the skin. It comes in three different color options:

• Midnight Black: Stylish and discreet design suitable for working places.
• Matte Silver: Modern metal look for matching with lighter straps.
• Sunset Orange: Sporty and eye-catching choice.

Health Tracking Covers the Basics

Redmi Watch 6 Active offers continuous health tracking that allows you to get a clear understanding of your daily health practices. Although it tries to make things easy for users, the device needs a reliable foundation in terms of hardware to be able to record your biometrics right away.

• Continuous Heart Rate Monitoring (Optical PPG Sensor): Integrated into the back cover of the watch is an optical photoplethysmography (PPG) sensor that uses green light to detect changes in your blood volume from your microvasculature. Using this sensor, your resting heart rate patterns are determined by continuous heart rate monitoring and will automatically alert you when unusual heart rate elevations are detected in inactive moments.

• SpO2 Peripheral Oxygen Saturation Monitor: In addition to traditional pulse monitoring, the light sensor incorporates the use of red and infrared light waves to calculate the blood oxygen saturation level (SpO2). The user can choose between automatic monitoring at predetermined intervals or manual monitoring that will help detect changes in the oxygen level while exercising or resting.

• Sleep Cycle and Sleep Breathing: At night, the watch records constant heartbeat monitoring in conjunction with advanced 3-axis accelerometer measurements, to determine your sleep cycle in terms of light, deep and REM sleep. In addition, the watch records restless sleep, waking up at night and determines your sleep breathing score using correlations between oxygen changes and movements.

• Analysis of Stress and Continuous Step Counting: Throughout the day, your activities will be tracked by the on-board accelerometer, which measures the body’s directional movements and computes the number of steps taken, the distance traveled and the calories burned. At the same time, the Heart Rate Variability (HRV) analysis is conducted to determine your level of physiological stress and guide you to perform breathing exercises.

If you prefer a more fitness-focused Xiaomi wearable, the Xiaomi Smart Band 10 Pro is another option worth considering. 

More Than 140 Sports Modes, but That Number Needs Context

The Redmi Watch has more than 140 different sports modes available on the Redmi Watch 6 Active, including popular exercise modes such as outdoor walking, treadmill, jump rope, indoor cycling, as well as yoga, dancing and gym workout. Nevertheless, knowing how the smartwatch collects the information about your exercises is important to form realistic expectations.

• Detection of Motion by Using 3-Axis Accelerometer: The watch uses an embedded 3-axis accelerometer to detect linear acceleration in the X, Y and Z directions. For those exercises that involve arm motion, such as jumping rope, step counting and elliptical exercise, the algorithms inside the device convert the frequency of wrist movement to repetitions and distance traveled.

• Heart Rate Zone Classification in Real Time: During your physical activity, the optical PPG sensor constantly monitors your heart rate to classify your exercise into five physiological zones: Warm-up, Fat Burn, Aerobic, Anaerobic and Peak. The classification demonstrates the time you have spent at certain heart rate levels and, hence, helps you to estimate the training intensity.

• Algorithms for Estimating Caloric Burn Rate: Active calories are not measured directly using one single sensor rather, they are estimated using algorithms. The wristwatch uses your heart rate data, frequency of movements, as sensed by the accelerometer and your individual biological profile (i.e., weight, height and age, input through Mi Fitness app) to calculate metabolic energy expended.

• The Function of connected GPS: While having 140 different profiles for activity, it does not imply that 140 separate sensors are included in the watch. As the watch does not have its own GNSS chip for satellites, it will be necessary for the device to link itself through Bluetooth 5.3 to the GPS antenna of your smartphone.

The comprehensive collection of sports, in the end, acts as an organizing feature that integrates heart-rate data and movement algorithms to document your sessions in Mi Fitness. For individuals who are runners or cyclists and require pace data and route maps while not having a phone on them, the lack of a built-in GPS is the most important aspect to take note of. For a simpler fitness-focused wearable, the Xiaomi Smart Band 10 is another option worth considering. 

Bluetooth Calling Is Still One of Its Strongest Smartwatch Features

The Redmi Watch 6 Active has another unique feature among its daily capabilities that is wrist-to-wrist communication.

• Built-in Speaker & Microphone: It is possible to answer the incoming calls from the wrist itself if your hands are busy either cooking, grocery shopping or working at a table.

• Dialer & Favourite Contacts: Through the interface of the watch, one is able to make outgoing calls with the help of the dialer panel or by accessing the numbers that have been synced from your address book.

• Bluetooth 5.3 Technology: Ensures constant connectivity with low power consumption and lower latency.

Since the Redmi Watch 6 Active uses only Bluetooth for making calls and there is no eSIM built into the smartwatch, the phone needs to be close enough in the Bluetooth range (approximately 30 feet or 10 meters). If Bluetooth calling is one of your main reasons for buying a budget smartwatch, you can also check out our Lenovo F101 Review for another affordable calling-watch option.

Redmi Watch 6 Active Battery Life

Redmi Watch 6 Active is equipped with a 470 mAh lithium-ion polymer cell, controlled by an efficient low power microcontroller (MCU) that allows to significantly reduce the idle current consumption to improve battery lifespan.

• Up to 18 Days on Low Consumption: When working in the standby mode with the disabled Always-On Display (AOD) and regular health measurements enabled, the low power architecture provides for 18 days of runtime on one full charge.

• Typically 12 Days Runtime: Enabling daily activities like heart rate tracking, sleep analysis, app notifications and workouts will reduce the runtime to 12 days.

• High Drain Usage (6 Days): The activation of Always On Display will keep the display’s AMOLED pixels constantly working, while using max brightness and Bluetooth calls increase the drain from the 470 mAh battery and reduce runtime to approximately 6 days.

• Magnetic Pogo-Pin Charger: The recharge process is performed by a magnetic two pin pogo charger that is placed directly onto the gold plated contacts located on the back side of the watch body, recharging the device completely in about 2 hours.

Software and Phone Compatibility

The Redmi Watch 6 Active pairs with Android smartphones (Android 8.0 and higher) and iPhones (iOS 14.0 and above) via Xiaomi’s Mi Fitness app.

As opposed to running an energy-draining operating system like Google Wear OS and watchOS from Apple, the Redmi Watch 6 Active runs on a custom HyperOS build developed on RTOS technology by Xiaomi. Although such architecture ensures good battery life and smooth animations, it comes at a price: 

• Third-Party Apps Unavailable: As the system works on an embedded and sealed-off firmware base, it does not have an open app runtime and, therefore, no third-party apps can be downloaded from the Google Play Store or the Apple App Store.

• Western Countries NFC Payment Unavailable: The watch is unable to provide contactless payments in Western countries due to lack of necessary hardware and bank certifications needed for services such as Google Wallet or Apple Pay.

• Data Transfer Using Two-Way Bluetooth 5.3: With the help of the Xiaomi Mi Fitness app, the watch connects to the phone via Bluetooth 5.3. It uses BLE to synchronize notifications and health data while making voice calls on a classic Bluetooth profile.

• Integration with Cloud Backend and Platform Support: The data obtained from biometric sensors and workouts are stored on Mi Fitness cloud storage and available for export and third-party integration with health platforms (such as Strava and Apple Health).

The limited functionality helps keep navigation snappy, pairing with various smartphone brands stable and memory usage minimal. If you want a more advanced Xiaomi smartwatch experience, the Xiaomi Watch 5 sits in a higher category with more capable hardware and features. 

There’s Still No Built-In GPS

In case you are one of those outdoor runners or cyclists who wish to run without carrying a phone along with them, there is something you should be informed about: the Redmi Watch 6 Active doesn’t have built-in standalone GPS.

Without the dedicated GNSS chip, the watch cannot calculate its geographical location by itself. In case you start running outside without your mobile, the watch will only estimate your mileage based on its own motion sensors. For creating an exact map of your route, pace splits and elevation changes, you will need to bring your paired smartphone with you and use it as a GPS satellite source.

Redmi Watch 6 Active vs Redmi Watch 6 Lite

Feature	Redmi Watch 6 Active	Redmi Watch 6 Lite
Display Size & Type	1.85-inch AMOLED	1.96-inch AMOLED
Screen Resolution	390 × 450 pixels	410 × 502 pixels
Standalone GPS	No	Yes
Motion Sensor	Standard accelerometer	9-axis motion sensor
Water Resistance	IP68 / IPX8	5ATM (50 meters)
Bluetooth Calling	Yes (Mic + Speaker)	Yes (Mic + Speaker)
Primary Focus	Everyday style & calls	Outdoor sports & fitness

Redmi Watch 6 Active has been designed for casual wear and basic health monitoring and communication using the wrist band at the lowest possible cost. Redmi Watch 6 Lite is meant for athletes requiring a stand-alone satellite navigation system and water resistance to allow lap swimming.

Redmi Watch 6 Active vs Watch 5 Active: What’s Actually New?

If you are a proud owner of the old version, whether to switch to a new one will be decided by only one hardware module and that is display.

• Display quality: While the Watch 5 Active had an old-fashioned 2.0-inch LCD screen with a maximum brightness of 500 nits, the Redmi Watch 6 Active gets the new 1.85-inch AMOLED display, which reaches up to 1,200 nits and has the Always-On capability.

• Chassis: The new chassis is more compact since its thickness shrinks from 11.4 mm to 9.9 mm.

• Battery capacity: The same 470 mAh battery is installed in both versions.

• Location: Neither the older, nor the newer watch has GPS.

• Sensors: Heart rate measurement, step counting and blood oxygen tracking remain the same in both versions.

For someone who has a problem with outdoor visibility or dull screen color scheme, the Redmi Watch 6 Active becomes a huge step forward in terms of design. For people longing for advanced health monitoring sensors or GPS capability, there is no difference between versions.

Should You Buy the Redmi Watch 6 Active?

Consider Redmi Watch 6 If…

• You want an AMOLED smartwatch around the $70 range.
• Bluetooth calling is important to you.
• Long battery life matters more than having lots of apps.
• Basic fitness and health tracking is enough for your needs.
• You normally carry your phone when exercising.

Skip Redmi Watch 6 If…

• You need built-in GPS for running or cycling.
• You regularly train outdoors without your phone.
• You want third-party smartwatch apps.
• You need NFC or contactless payments.
• Accurate health and fitness tracking is a major priority.

Should Watch 5 Active Owners Upgrade?

Most likely not, except if you are mainly concerned about the display of the device. The Redmi Watch 6 Active introduces an AMOLED display, which is definitely a big improvement compared to the LCD model. There are some improvements in the weight and form factor of the product, but the rest can be described as very small changes. Battery capacity stays the same as 470mAh, core features for monitoring of your health condition remain the same and GPS feature is not added.

Therefore, if your Redmi Watch 5 Active works well for you now, you don’t have an urgent need to change it.

Wrap Up

The Redmi Watch 6 Active does a fine job at the basics. It packs in a much improved AMOLED screen, Bluetooth calling, valuable fitness tracking features and excellent battery life in a light package. Of course, the most significant downside remains the missing GPS module.

As such, it can be very easy to recommend the Redmi Watch 6 Active to a budget-conscious user, especially one who typically carries their smartphone around all day long. On the other hand, an outdoor athlete would do well to spend extra money on GPS smartwatches.

Feature Image © Redmi

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