Swapping out your smartwatch’s strap is par for the course these days, and there’s really no reason not to: if you’re going to wear this thing all day, every day, then you can do better than the cheap fluoroelastomer band that comes in the box.
Xiaomi takes it further
How can everyone easily theme their smartwatch?
With the Watch S3, a simple smartwatch powered by the company’s HyperOS unveiled alongside the 14 Ultra phone at MWC, Xiaomi has gone one further and asked: what if you could swap out the watch itself?
Well, not the whole thing. But the company’s taken the innovative step of making the midrange smartwatch’s bezel hot-swappable. A quick twist pops the outer ring off the body of the watch, and it’s a few seconds’ work to replace it with a different color or design.
So far, Xiaomi is selling four additional bezels to go with its black and silver watch options, and each comes with a corresponding leather strap, so you don’t have to worry about colors clashing. The company sent me the dark blue and two-tone green options, but there’s also a bright, chrome-edged yellow or more garish yellow finish available.
If it was just a matter of picking your favorite color then big whoop — plenty of wearables ship with a range of finishes. But since the bezel is so easy to slip on or off, and even the straps come with quick-release mechanisms, you might actually find yourself changing your watch to suit your outfit. Throw in the fact that it uses standard straps (even if the bezels are proprietary), and you really could build out a watch collection like a budget Tony Stark.
It helps that Xiaomi has priced its parts to match. In the UK, the Watch S3 is affordable at £130 (around $165), but the bezels are even better: a matching set of bezel and strap starts from less than $15, with only the carbon fiber rainbow option (which is not the one you want, I promise) settling at a steeper $40.
Best of all? Each bezel comes with a corresponding watch face, color-coded to match. Swap the bezel, and the Watch S3 smartly spots the swap and suggests you switch to the matching face, though you can, of course, stick with your regular look if you prefer.
Fans rightly celebrated when Samsung brought back the rotating bezel in last year’s Galaxy Watch 6 Classic, but what if the Watch 7 Classic went one further and let you set your own style by swapping that bezel out entirely?
Customization is king, and Samsung could run with it
Imagine if Bespoke Editions made a comeback
It would be a win/win, with consumers getting the chance to customize their device — and adapt it on the go — while Samsung gets a whole new accessory revenue stream. The company could even bring back the Bespoke Edition system, choosing from the company’s casings, straps, and bezels to build a more unique smartwatch from day one.
That might be scuppered a little by Samsung’s rumored move to square displays in future Galaxy Watch models, reported this week — a square model wouldn’t naturally include a chunky bezel — but if the Korean company could square that circle, it might help rebuff accusations that a square screen is little more than an Apple imitation.
Samsung considering Apple Watch-like square display for future Galaxy Watch
The company’s plans are yet to be finalized though
In the meantime, there’s always the Xiaomi Watch S3. It’s out now in Europe and Asia, and while an official US launch isn’t likely, we’re holding out hope that it might turn up. Xiaomi’s Smart Band 8 fitness tracker is readily available on Amazon, as is the Redmi Watch 3, so it’s not out of the question that import sellers will bring the S3 and its bezels to US buyers.
