Recently, Xiaomi has been facing a series of troubles. On November 21, a lawyer in mainland China filed a lawsuit against Xiaomi’s diving watch for alleged false advertising. Prior to this, a mainland Chinese blogger complained that the Xiaomi diving watch he purchased started leaking water on the fourth day of diving. After seeking post-sale repair, he was told that the watch was not recommended for diving. Xiaomi officials have denied the accusations, but the controversy surrounding the “Xiaomi diving watch” continues to escalate.
According to reports from “Huashang News,” the controversy surrounding the “Xiaomi diving watch” was sparked by a complaint from Chinese blogger “Zhida.” Zhida made a video claiming that he had purchased the Xiaomi diving watch before going diving overseas earlier in the year because Xiaomi’s brand promotion stated that the watch could dive up to a depth of 40 meters, offering high cost performance compared to similar products. However, his watch started leaking water on the fourth day of diving.
After contacting customer service to request a return, he was told that the water damage to the watch was due to human error, and therefore, it could not be returned or repaired for free. After multiple communications, Xiaomi’s customer service agreed to repair it for free. “After it was fixed, customer service clearly told me that they do not recommend using this Xiaomi diving watch for diving,” Zhida said.
The incident sparked heated discussions among netizens. Some questioned whether Xiaomi was playing word games, stating, “Ultimately, Xiaomi has the final say.” Others joked, “If you dive 15 meters every day, you’ll reach 45 meters in three days, exceeding the 40-meter diving condition.” “40 meters refers to the width of the water surface, not the depth,” another user added humorously.
On November 19, Hu Youlu, a lawyer from Beijing Strategy (Nanjing) Law Firm, publicly announced his plan to sue Xiaomi after seeing the complaint video from netizen @Zhida. He raised questions about false advertising regarding Xiaomi’s diving watch.
On November 19, Hu Youlu specifically purchased a Xiaomi Watch S4 Sport watch from a Xiaomi store in Nanjing, Jiangsu Province.
He stated, “The official promotion explicitly mentioned underwater diving up to 40 meters.” However, below the promotion claiming a maximum diving depth of 40 meters, there was a line of small text stating, “The titanium Milanese strap and woven outdoor strap are not certified by EN13319 and are not suitable for diving.”
He questioned why the watch and strap were integrated, promoting the watch’s use for diving while the strap was unsuitable. “Should users only take the dial underwater?” he wondered.
“Is Xiaomi exaggerating the diving capabilities of this watch, or does the watch not actually have diving functions, leading to false advertising by the brand? I can only confirm this through litigation,” he stated.
Hu Youlu pointed out discrepancies between the product manual stating that the 5ATM waterproof rating is equivalent to a depth of 50 meters underwater and supports swimming in pools, shallow beaches, and other shallow water activities when worn. “This statement differs somewhat from the official promotion.”
Additionally, he mentioned issues with the watch’s sapphire glass. While the official external promotion clearly indicated “titanium metal body front and back sapphire glass,” the last section of the promotional image unequivocally stated, “Sapphire glass is only mentioned for function names and not material description.”
Hu Youlu believed that Xiaomi, as the selling entity, engaged in deliberate subjective deception and concealed the true situation, leading consumers, including himself, into a mistaken belief, ultimately resulting in a purchase based on this mistaken belief.
On November 21, a spokesperson from Xiaomi responded on Weibo, stating that the circulating news claiming, “Blogger complains (Xiaomi) diving watch cannot be used for diving, customer service response: has waterproof function but not recommended for immersion” was completely untrue upon verification.
The post stated that in the recording displayed in the related video, the inquiry to Xiaomi’s customer service was about the Watch S4 standard version, not the Watch S4 Sport, which is not internationally certified through SGS EN13319 for diving.
Xiaomi explained that the Watch S4 Sport supports various diving modes, including leisure scuba diving up to 40 meters. However, these watches certified through EN13319 for diving should avoid scenarios like hot showers, saunas, hot springs, platform diving, high-pressure washing, and direct impact from high-speed water flow.
Xiaomi also admitted to issues of “lack of precision in expression” during post-sale customer communications, apologized to the customers, and stated that they would seek legal recourse against false information. However, the post did not mention the lawsuit filed against Xiaomi by lawyer Hu Youlu.
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