A major Android brand is making its first Wear OS 3 watch

What you need to know

• Xiaomi has announced it will launch the Watch 2 Pro on September 26 in Berlin.
• Its latest smartwatch will use Wear OS rather than MUIU OS for the first time since the Mi Watch in 2019.
• Leaks suggest it will have a 1.4-inch AMOLED display, Snapdragon W5+ Gen 1 chip, and 500mAh battery.

Xiaomi will announce its new Watch 2 Pro on September 26, the company revealed on Twitter/X on Tuesday. And for the first time in years, its smartwatch will use Wear OS instead of proprietary MIUI software.

The event, which will also unveil the Xiaomi 13T series, marks a turning point for Wear OS. Plenty of popular Android phone brands like Xiaomi, Motorola, and OnePlus use their own watch operating systems. Xiaomi's 2019 Mi Watch technically used Wear OS, but with its own MIUI skin on top that drastically changed the software experience.

Since then, other Xiaomi watches have eschewed Wear OS entirely. But Xiaomi's smartwatch sales have fallen in recent years, while Google claimed at I/O 2023 that there were 5X more Wear OS users since the Wear OS 3 launch in 2021. Evidently, Xiaomi execs must be hoping that the revamped operating system (and access to Play Store apps) will help widen its watches' appeal.

The Xiaomi Watch 2 Pro leaked earlier this month, showing a classic timepiece look with a stainless steel case and a ridged bezel that may rotate, mirroring the Galaxy Watch 6 Classic. Interestingly, it also has a rotating crown on the side, two other side buttons, and a 1.43-inch AMOLED touch display — giving you plenty of control options.

In addition, leaker Paras Guglani posted apparent screenshots of Xiaomi Watch 2 Pro marketing copy, which indicate the watch will run on the same Snapdragon W5 Gen 1 platform p as the TicWatch 5 Pro (and the Pixel Watch 2, according to rumors). 

Xiaomi's newest watch may feature ECG and skin temperature tracking,  5ATM water resistance, 150 sports modes, and a 500mAh battery if these materials are legitimate. That last number looks especially promising, as it could give the Watch 2 Pro better battery life than the Galaxy Watch 6 series.

Other leaks (spotted by NotebookCheck) indicate it'll have 2GB of RAM, 32GB of storage, stainless steel casing, and optional LTE support.

In other words, this looks like it'll have specs and sensors on par with most of our favorite Android watches, along with the fitness focus we've seen on Xiaomi's Mi Band trackers. 

Xiaomi is expected to run its own MIUI software on top of Wear OS 3. So far, aside from the "stock" experience, we've only seen one Android smartphone OEM implement a skin on top of Wear OS 3 with Samsung's One UI Watch, so it should be interesting to see what Xiaomi does with it.

We're curious to see how much Xiaomi will charge for it and whether or not it'll support Google Assistant at launch — something that some Wear OS brands have struggled to implement. It may depend on whether the watch runs Wear OS 3 or Wear OS 4; thus far, only Google and Samsung have progressed to the new operating system. 

Unfortunately, most Xiaomi products only sell in Europe and Asia, so we may not see this watch in the United States. Past "global" versions of Xiaomi's fitness trackers have made it to the States, but not 2023's Mi Band 8. 

When we first heard rumors of a Xiaomi Wear OS watch back in March, we called it a potential "match made in heaven" since it would pair the brand's watch hardware expertise and fitness acumen with more familiar software and Play Store apps. Now, we're glad to hear that it's really happening and are looking forward to the official announcement on September 26.