Gesture control is certainly one of the most notable improvements that smartwatches have undergone in recent years. Gestures like the double pinch on Apple Watch make it incredibly easy to answer calls, dismiss notifications, or scroll without ever touching the screen, which is especially handy when your other hand is busy. Now a new flagship smartwatch unveiled at MWC 2026 goes one step further, offering an even wider range of intuitive gestures.
Chinese smartphone maker Xiaomi has unveiled its latest flagship smartwatch, the Xiaomi Watch 5. It supports advanced gestures with EMG, IMU and PPG sensors. These sensors detect subtle muscle and movement signals and allow users to perform actions such as pinching twice to end a call or rubbing twice to turn off alarms. The watch also supports three customizable gestures: Snap Fingers, Shake Wrist, and Rotate Wrist, which can be assigned to start workouts, summon twins, start YouTube Music, or remotely control the camera.
It’s not just about gestures either
The Xiaomi Watch 5 not only offers a new level of hands-free control, but also brings notable hardware and software upgrades. On the software side, it runs Wear OS 6 and is the company’s first smartwatch to ship with Gemini out of the box. Under the hood is a dual-chip setup consisting of a Snapdragon W5 Gen 1 SoC paired with an energy-efficient co-processor. It has a large 930mAh silicon-carbon battery that Xiaomi says can last up to six days in smart mode and up to 18 days in power saving mode.
The watch features a 1.54-inch AMOLED display with a peak brightness of 1,500 nits, a stainless steel frame with double sapphire crystal for added durability and 5ATM water resistance. Health and fitness tracking on Xiaomi Watch 5 is also improved with one-tap health check and GNSS positioning for outdoor activities, as well as detailed insights in the companion app.
The Xiaomi Watch 5 is priced at €299.99 (~$352) and will soon be available via Xiaomi’s official website and authorized retailers in major markets.
