Today, we'll take a look at the Xiaomi Haylou LS01 smartwatch together. This is a very affordable smartwatch, yet it offers a plethora of features. So what all do they offer and why should you consider buying one?
Content of the review
Haylou is the first ever brand that Xiaomi has taken under its wing. The year was 2015. Currently, Haylou is mainly focused on smartwatch research and also wireless headphones.
Xiaomi Haylou LS01 video review:
Package contents
In the package you will find the watch itself, but of course, there is also a charging cradle and manuals. You won't usually use these, but just in case. If you try to turn the watch on, you may be in for a shock. It won't.
Don't worry, it's not broken, it's just in transport mode. To turn it on, you'll need to put it in the charging cradle for at least a few seconds to activate it.
The Haylou Sport app has its quirks...
In order to connect the watch to your phone, you'll need an app called Haylou sport, this can be found in both the Google Store and Apple App Store. Interestingly, the Xiaomi Haylou LS01 uses a completely new app, and not, for example, the Xiaomi Mi Fit. Occasionally, you will come across an interesting to funny sounding translation, which of course does not affect the function of the app itself. Despite this though, I have to admit that the app could be more sophisticated. There is still a lot to work on.
Registering for the app and then pairing with the watch itself is very quick. Don't worry, you won't spend half an afternoon on it. The app then makes it easy to set up notifications and other essentials for the smartwatch.
Watch processing and display
If we take a look at the processing of the watch, we will find that it is completely made of plastic. But that's not entirely a bad thing. In fact, the watch is amazingly lightweight, so you practically won't feel it on your hand. On the back of the watch you can find the charging pins and of course the heart rate monitor. The strap is 18 mm wide and you can easily reorder it as needed.
The display of the watch consists of a 1.3-inch LCD panel. Maybe the manufacturer could have gone for smaller bezels, but we have to remember that we are talking about a watch that is really cheap. Interestingly, if you move through the environment from left to right and right to left, the movements are jerky. But if you move up and down, then the environment is beautifully fluid.
Unfortunately, the watch lacks the Always On display feature. However, if you want to know what time it is, just lift your wrist and the watch will light up on its own. This feature is very reliable, so you don't have to worry about jerking your hand back and forth with no response. You can then also adjust the brightness in the settings to suit your needs.
Smartwatch features
Now let's take a closer look at the features of this watch. Definitely don't expect to pay with your watch, sync notes or download songs, for example. Since this is a watch mostly for sports, there is no lack of heart rate measurement, meactivity, calories burned and, of course, a step counter.
Another feature is Relax, with the help of which you can relax and breathe a little. Don't worry, the watch is also able to wake you up thanks to the alarm function. What can come in handy further is themusic controller feature, which allows you to skip songs on your phone or pause them completely.
How do notifications work?
As far as notifications are concerned, you can connect basic social networks and communicators like Facebook, WhatsApp, etc. to the watch via an app on your phone. If you would like a special app from, for example, a smart home, unfortunately, this is very unlikely to be set up.
If you receive notifications from your watch from, for example, Messenger, be prepared for the occasional missed accent, but you can live with it. Notifications then work for SMS or calls, of course. You can read the SMS message, but in the context of making a call, you only know who's calling, but you can't pick up the call. You have to do it through the phone.
Dials and sports activities
You can then change a few basic dials in the settings . If we look at sports activities, you can come across walking, running, bike, workout, etc. When running or walking, the absence of GPS may freeze you. So you can't trace back, for example, a map of where you ran. The number of kilometres walked or run is thus calculated mainly via sensors and missed steps. What will definitely please you is the IP68 certification, so the watch handles wet environments very well. You can even go swimming with it, but deep diving is not recommended.
When comparing the activities with the Amazit GTS, we can say that the heart rate measurement was very similar, even the heart rate updates faster on this watch. The data is then automatically synced with your phone, so it is very easy to track the results on your phone as well.
Surprisingly long battery life
What will surprise you is definitely the endurance, which is around ten days on a single charge. And that's if you have the continuous heart rate monitoring on. If you turn this feature off, you can easily get to a battery life of around 14 days, which is a really great number and not many watches can boast a similar endurance.
Charging is done via the charging pins. These can be found in the package. The advantage is that you can charge the watch through your computer.
Price and where to buy
Having mentioned in the introduction that this is a very cheap watch, we should get the price tag out of the way. Currently, you can buy it for around 600 to 650 crowns. You can buy the watch in any of the Czech e-shops or on AliExpress. Here, however, be careful to choose the global version. The Chinese version could cause you a lot of trouble as it doesn't support English.
However, even if you order the watch on the Czech market, you won't find English here, unfortunately. Fortunately, there is English. In the case of the Chinese version, you would only get Chinese and Russian, which would not be acceptable for everyone.
Conclusion
Are you considering whether you'd rather opt for this smartwatch or perhaps the Mi Band bracelet? Then you might be pleased, the choice is entirely up to you. The Xiaomi Haylou LS01 smart watch and the Mi Band 4 smart bracelet have almost identical features, so choose purely according to your aesthetic preferences.
In conclusion, an evaluation of the watches that really surprised. The watch lasts up to two weeks, which is amazing. Likewise, the display is not at all to be missed. The choppy environment is a bit of a bummer, but that will probably be fixed in a future software update. Also disappointing is the lack of GPS. But the watch itself is hilarious and as a cheap option, it is more than usable.
