This WearOS watch pushes the boundaries of gesture control and Apple should take note

Gesture controls are easily among the most notable upgrades smartwatches have seen in recent years. Gestures like double pinch and wrist flick on the Apple Watch make it incredibly easy to answer calls, dismiss notifications, or scroll without ever touching the display, which is especially handy when your other hand is occupied. Now, a new flagship smartwatch unveiled at MWC 2026 is taking things a step further, introducing an even broader range of intuitive gestures.

Chinese smartphone maker Xiaomi has unveiled its latest flagship smartwatch, the Xiaomi Watch 5, and it supports advanced gestures powered by EMG, IMU, and PPG sensors. These sensors detect subtle muscle and motion signals, allowing users to perform actions like Pinch Twice to end a call or Rub Twice to dismiss alarms. The watch also supports three customizable gestures, Snap Fingers, Shake Wrist, and Rotate Wrist, which can be mapped to launch workouts, summon Gemini, launch YouTube Music, or remotely control the camera.

It’s not just about gestures either

The Xiaomi Watch 5 not only adds a new layer 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, it features a dual-chip setup consisting of a Snapdragon W5 Gen 1 SoC paired with a power-efficient co-processor. It packs a large 930mAh silicon-carbon battery that Xiaomi claims can last up to six days in smart mode and up to 18 days in power-saving mode.

The watch sports a 1.54-inch AMOLED display with a peak brightness of 1,500 nits, a stainless steel frame with dual sapphire glass for added durability, and water resistance up to 5ATM. Health and fitness tracking on the Xiaomi Watch 5 also gets a boost with one-tap health check and GNSS positioning for outdoor activities, along with detailed insights on the companion app.