If you are into fitness tracking and love the features provided by smartwatches such as Galaxy Gear series and Android wear devices, but can't afford the fancy price tags, you might love the Mi Band by Xiaomi, especially for the features it provides at a lucrative price point. In this post, we shall cover the various features available in the Mi band and see whether if it stands up again what the full fledged smart wearables have to offer.
Xiaomi Mi Band: Features list
Xiaomi Mi Band: Features list
- Tracks your steps:
The first and foremost function all wearables provide these days is the step counter feature, which, as the name implies, counts the number of steps the wearer has walked in a given day. The only drawback this display-less wearable poses is that either you won't be able to see the number of steps you have walked during your walk/jog, or you will have to carry your phone around while exercising if you need to see your progress in between. The added benefit of the absence of the display is that there are no chances of accidentally smashing your hand against a wall or something, and ending up with a broken display. - Monitors your sleeping patterns:
Like many other wearables present in the market, it will monitor your sleeping patterns as well. Again, the absence of any display on the Mi band means that it will be easier to wear the band and forget about it, unlike in case of smartwatches which are comparatively less comfortable on hand than a sleek band. Comfort is really important especially if you are to make use of the sleep monitoring feature. - Vibrates to wake you up, or to notify you of phone calls:
If your phone or classic alarm is not able to wake you up in the morning, the Mi band can be a good bet as it can wake you up vibrating. Vibrations on your hand can be a good stimulus to wake you up in the morning. Also, if you connected the band to your phone using bluetooth, it will vibrate to let you know of any incoming calls. This feature can allow you to keep your phone in complete silent mode. - Unlocks your phone without needing password:
If you have a password on your device, and you are wearing your Mi band, you can set it up so that it automatically unlocks your phone without needing the password. As soon as the phone is more than 1.5 metres away from the band, it will ask for the password automatically. Unfortunately though, this feature requires you to have a Xiaomi device. - Long battery life:
The Mi band claims of a standby time of upto 30 days. Considering the fact that it doesn't have a display, the only power it consumes is for the sensors to work, and for the vibrations it produces. The use of Bluetooth Low Energy means that the device will last a decent amount of time.
Though Xiaomi hasn't officially launched the Mi band in India yet, it can be bought for $18.93 on Everbuying, and comes with free worldwide shipping. So, if the only thing holding you back from buying a smart wearable was tight budget, the Mi band seems like a good option.
