Following a limited release in China, the Xiaomi 12 lineup has just gone global, and it showcases the very best the Chinese giant has to offer. With the latest Qualcomm silicon, powerful cameras, and blazing-fast 120W charging that leaves almost every other Android smartphone in the dust, it’s hard to deny it’s a compelling purchase. But no smartphone release is complete without equally-compelling accessories.
At the event, the company also introduced a pair of smartwatches — the Xiaomi Watch S1 and the Watch S1 Active — as well as feature-packed true wireless earbuds in the form of the Xiaomi Buds 3T Pro. And they’re sure to be awesome additions to your Xiaomi 12 purchase.
Xiaomi Watch S1/Xiaomi Watch S1 Active
The Xiaomi Watch S1 and its Active counterpart are the two newest members of the company’s growing smartwatch lineup — and its most expensive ones until now. The differences between both are obvious at first glance: The regular Watch S1 means business, with a premium stainless steel body and sapphire covering its 1.43-inch AMOLED display. The Active is its sporty cousin, with a metal frame and glass cover, but otherwise an identical screen.
The regular model has a leather band and a stain-resistant fluorocarbon rubber strap, while the Active has a more traditional silicon/TPU band. If you get beyond the obvious physical distinctions between the two, though, they’re actually more similar on the inside than you’d imagine. Both include over 200 watch faces to allow for almost endless customization, dual-band GPS, and 117 different fitness modes, including 19 professional training modes and 98 advanced workout modes.
Because of their built-in heart rate and SpO2 sensors, both watches provide 24/7 health data monitoring – you can keep track of your sleep quality and stress level, and you can even sync that data to Strava and Apple Health. Likewise, they both allow for NFC payments and come with wireless charging, app notifications, and Bluetooth calling. They also support the Alexa voice assistant, which is especially useful if you’re invested in Amazon’s ecosystem. They will work with any phone running Android 6.0 or higher as well as iPhones running iOS 10 or higher.
The Watch S1 models also have some sporty additions, those being magnetic charging and 5ATM water resistance, so you can use them for swimming.
The Xiaomi Watch S1 and S1 Active are available from today in Germany and other European markets — you can grab the Active for €179 ($199), while the more premium S1 will set you back €229 ($269). You’ll also be able to get yourself a free Mi Body Composition Scale 2 with your smartwatch purchase until March 31st.
Xiaomi Buds 3T Pro
Xiaomi has several cheap offerings in the true wireless earbuds space, but the Buds 3T Pro are competing right in the premium space — and they also have the features to match.
These earbuds come with 10mm dynamic drivers with dual magnets and partial DLC coating. With support for the LHDC 4.0 audio codec and Bluetooth 5.2, the company says that the Buds 3T Pro combine innovative hardware and software features to give you a “studio-level listening experience.”
We’ll have to see if that marketing claim has any truth to it, but right now, it’s promising a handful of Apple-like software features to get there. Perhaps the most notable one is “Head Movement Mode.” It allows each sound detail to move dynamically in response to the user’s head movement (hence its name), creating a genuine-feeling 360-degree audio environment. It sounds an awful lot like Apple’s Spatial Audio, one of the main selling points of its AirPods range, so if you’re after that Apple-like experience, these are probably one of the closest things you can get on Android — provided it works just as well, of course.
There’s also a “Dimensional Audio” feature that recreates the kind of 360-degree listening experience you’d get at a theater or a concert, which sounds like it’s just marketing jargon for “fake surround.”
Of course, good 2022 earbuds can’t come without active noise cancellation, so the Buds 3T Pro are also throwing that into the mix with three different intensity levels — the lowest being “transparency mode,” which will allow you to stay aware of your surroundings while you’re on the move, while the highest can reduce your surroundings by up to 40 decibels. There’s also an adaptive mode for switching between the three based on where you are and what you’re doing.
As for battery life, the Buds 3T Pro can last for up to six hours with ANC on, and the battery case can get you a total of 24 hours — pretty standard compared to the competition. And if you need to top them up, you have the option to wirelessly charge them alongside the standard USB-C cable. They can be fully charged in just over an hour. The earbuds also support dual-device connectivity, so you can seamlessly switch between two different devices — for example, if you need to take a call while you’re using them on your laptop.
If these sound like your kind of earbuds, you can grab them now for €169 in Germany and other European markets ($199 internationally), and they’re available in both black and white colorways.
All of these newly-announced devices are now available in Xiaomi’s official online store as well as in local retail locations, so make sure to put some down in your cart when you buy your Xiaomi 12 Pro — or if you’re just looking for a new pair of earbuds/a new smartwatch.
UPDATE: 2022/03/15 14:00 EST BY MANUEL VONAU
European pricing and availability
Updated with European prices and availability
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