Developer version of MIUI provides first hint of next Xiaomi smartwatch
Code in the developers version of MIUI hints that the next Xiaomi smartwatch (aka Mi Watch 2) might come with QI wireless charging.
The last timepiece released by the Chinese tech-giant is the Mi Watch Lite. This is a more budget-friendly version of the full thing that comes with a smaller 1.41 inch TFT, LCD touchscreen. The underlying fitness tech is pretty much unchanged from the original version. As far as smart tech, the Lite iteration has no NFC or LTE. Xiaomi has cut corners but the price is right.
Prior to this, we saw the unveiling of Mi Watch Color Sports Edition. As its name implies, this is a lighter and sportier version of Mi Watch Color which was released some 10 months earlier at the start of 2020.
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As these are all interim versions, it means we’ve had nothing new on the smartwatch front from Xiaomi for about a year and a half now. Strangely enough, there’s also been very little in terms of leaks on a potential new device.
Developer version of MIUI provides hint on Mi Watch 2 feature
The first real clue as to what to expect comes from a post by Digital Chat Station on Weibo. They pasted a screenshot of code that can be found in the Developer version of MIUI. To remind, this is the customized version of Wear OS that Xiaomi watches run on.
The picture shows a square shaped smartwatch placed on the back of Mi smartphone. The text above it reads “Wireless reverse charging”.
Below the image of the watch it says “please place devices that support Qi wireless charging (mobile phones, wearable devices, etc) on the center of the back of the phone.” There’s also a little toggle which stops the reverse charging once the battery has reached a certain level. In the example on the image, it has been set to 60%.
None of the iterations of Xiaomi watches currently have QI wireless charging ability. So this is likely a hint of things to come. No doubt, in the coming weeks and months we should get some more leaks but for now this is the only one.
As far as a possible release date, the original Mi Watch was released back in November 2019. Our money is that we will see its successor (the Mi Watch 2) this autumn, ahead of the all-important holiday shopping period.
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