Lei Jun always has something up his sleeve – Xiaomi announced a new version of the Watch S4 and the bold “XRING INSIDE” should tell you what’s new. This model is called the Xiaomi Watch S4 “15th Anniversary Edition” to celebrate the company’s 15th birthday.
Xiaomi Watch S4 15th anniversary edition
Interestingly, it is powered by an in-house chip called the Xring T1. By far the most interesting part about this chip – this whole watch, in fact – is that the T1 has a 4G LTE modem that was developed by Xiaomi itself.
Xiaomi Watch S4 15th Anniversary Edition with Xring T1
Xiaomi claims that it is 35% more efficient than the 4G modem inside the original S4 watch. The new Watch S4 can last up to 9 days with network connectivity (two days longer than the old S4), apparently, and up to 4 days with heavy usage. If you keep the watch connected to your phone, you can get up to 15 days with raise-to-wake or up to 5 days with always-on display.
Xiaomi getting into the modem business is potentially a big deal – admittedly, 4G is easier than 5G, but it’s a start.
The body is made of stainless steel like on the regular S4, but the eSIM model also boasts a forged carbon bezel and a Dragon Glass lens (the original uses regular glass). Other than that, you’re still getting a 1.43” 466 x 466px display with 1,500 nits peak global brightness.
The new chipset enables an interesting new feature – when controlling the phone’s camera remotely, it shows live feed from the camera. It also supports animated wallpaper.
Since Xiaomi is also unveiling its first SUV today, it didn’t forget about cars – the watch can remotely unlock Xiaomi cars and even open and close the trunk.