This new Wear OS smartwatch brings gesture controls to your wrist and lasts for days

At its MWC 2026 kickoff event today, Xiaomi officially introduced the global version of the Xiaomi Watch 5. And instead of releasing just another iterative update, the company made a bold statement with this new device.

The main highlight is the hardware that enables hands-free control. The watch uses built-in electromyography (EMG), photoplethysmography (PPG), and an inertial measurement unit (IMU) to power precise gesture controls.

Rather than tapping a tiny screen, you can simply “Pinch Twice” to hang up a phone call or “Rub Twice” to dismiss an alarm. The EMG technology reads the electrical signals in your muscles, delivering reliable, low-latency control for these essential actions. Furthermore, you can assign custom actions to a “Snap Fingers,” “Shake Wrist,” or “Rotate Wrist” motion to instantly launch Google Gemini, open your camera, or fire up YouTube Music.

This watch combines a high-end look with impressive battery life. It runs on the Snapdragon W5 Gen 1 platform and a BES2800 low-power co-processor. Together, these chips manage the large 930mAh Xiaomi Surge Battery. With a 10% silicon-carbon content, the battery almost doubles its capacity compared to the last model. You can get up to six days of battery life in smart mode, or up to 18 days in power saver mode. That said, actual battery life will depend on how you use the watch.

The wearable has a stainless steel frame and double-sided sapphire glass with a Mohs Hardness rating of 9. Its 1.54-inch AMOLED display has thin 2.6mm bezels and uses LIPO display technology, reaching 1500 nits of peak brightness and a sharp 480 x 480 resolution.

Weighing 56g without the included fluororubber strap and measuring 47mm x 47mm x 12.3mm, it is designed for comfortable all-day wear and is water resistant up to 5ATM.

This is the first Xiaomi smartwatch to come with Gemini pre-installed, running on the latest Wear OS 6. Connect your smartphone using Bluetooth 5.4 or the watch’s 2.4GHz Wi-Fi, and you can talk to Gemini to get things done, check the weather, or find directions. The watch also works closely with the Xiaomi HyperConnect ecosystem, letting you manage the Xiaomi Smart Hub and control your camera remotely from your wrist.

Health tracking has also improved. With one tap, the watch checks your heart rate, blood oxygen, stress, and sleep in just 60 seconds. Outdoor runners get accurate offline mapping with a dual-band 5 GNSS system, plus advanced stats like VO2 max and weekly training load. You can easily sync all your health data to Health Connect using the Mi Fitness app. The Xiaomi Watch 5 starts at €300.