Contents
The attractiveness of the Mi Band
Today, fitness bracelets are produced by manufacturers with great speed. New models constantly appear, and they differ little from each other in terms of functionality. On the technical side, they are the simple devices, which have the minimum required functional for tracking the activity of their owners. The biggest difference between the bracelets is their design.
However, the Xiaomi company decided to add one important factor that will allow their product to stand out among the rest products on the market. We are talking about the price. Today, they have two versions: Mi Band ($20) and Mi Band Pulse, which has a heart rate monitor ($30). If you order from China, you will be able to save even 40% of this price.
The appearance
Visually, these trackers are very simple. Their “heart” is a little capsule, which weighs 5 grams. The aluminum plate and three indicators (with different color modes) are located on the top of the capsule. The LEDs are flashing differently for different notifications. The rest part is covered with black matte plastic.
The entire body is protected from moisture (the IP67 standard – protection from moisture, splashes and dust). That is, you may not be afraid that the device gets wet, when you wash your hands or take a shower.
The temperature that is suitable for the tracker ranges from 20 to 70 degrees. Therefore, if you visit the sauna, it will be better to take the bracelet off, because at high temperatures the battery inside the capsule can lose its properties.
Capsule comes with a silicone strap of a sports type, which is very easy and almost not felt on the hand. If you prefer, you can buy the straps separately. There are different types of the straps, from sporting to classic one, which can be worn with a leather suit. However, the latter is more expensive than the tracker itself.
The functional
To use the bracelet, you will need a smartphone with Bluetooth LE (starting with version 4.0).
To control the operation of the pedometer, you have to download the app to your smartphone. It is called Mi Fit and is available in the Google Play.
The device is always active and is in working condition. Therefore, it does not have on or off button. The main thing is not to forget to charge it.
The following functions are worth paying attention:
- Pedometer. Using the app, you can view the number of passed steps per day. The tracker can distinguish walking and running, so you can watch the statistics for:
- Number of passed steps.
- How much you have ran.
- The total amount of the steps.
You can also compare your progress for every day, until the day when you first got the device.
You can set the daily goal (how much you want to walk every day) in the program settings. When the goal is achieved, the bracelet will vibrate, saying that the task is completed.
In addition, the program calculates, what distance you walked and how many calories burned.
- Sleep tracker. This gadget is made in such a way that it is always on your hand, except for those moments, when you need to charge it. Therefore, it has a function of tracking your sleep. He knows when you fell asleep and woke up. In addition, it monitors your sleep phases. In the app, you will see the "deep sleep" and "light sleep". Everything will be illustrated in the graph, where you can see exactly the time when you had one or another phase of sleep and the full time of your sleep.
As well as for walking, you can compare your sleep during the previous days.
- Smart alarm clock. Smart alarm clock. The heart of the device has a built-in vibrating motor, which is used for notifications. The application has a nice feature called "Early Bird Alarm" that helps you to wake up easily. It works like that: you set your alarm at 8:00 and go to bed. At 7:30 (half an hour before the set time), the intelligent alarm clock function is activated. It determines the phase of the sleep and decides when it will be easy for you to wake up. For example, at 7:42 bracelet caught you out of deep sleep. It begins to vibrate, thus waking you up.
If suddenly you had a deep sleep from 7:30 to 8:00, the bracelet will wake you up in time you have set, so you will not oversleep. According to reviews, this function is justified and people say that it is easier to wake up.
- Notifications. Using the application, you can configure the Mi Band to vibrate, when you have an incoming call, SMS, receive messages from Twitter or any other program. You are setting the list of applications for yourself. For different programs, you can set different frequencies of vibration, in order to understand, which application notified you.
- Unlocking your smartphone. The bracelet has a Bluetooth-proximity sensor for Android. It understands if you hold the smartphone in the same hand that wears the bracelet. Therefore, it is possible to activate a function that will unlock your smartphone as soon as you take it in the hand that wears the Mi Band.
- Independence. The bracelet has a built-in processor and memory, which allows it to operate without a smartphone. Therefore, you do not need to worry that the bracelet will not count your steps and monitor your activity when the bracelet has no connection with your smartphone via Bluetooth. The bracelet does this all the time. We can assure you that if you and your phone will be apart for 10 days, all 10 days of your activity will be displayed in the application after you pair your bracelet with the phone.
All of these features exist in both Mi models. The next function is only available in Pulse version.
- The heart rate monitor. The Pulse version includes a supplemental crystal, which can monitor your heart rate, on the inside of the body. There are two modes – "Automatic" and "Manual". The first mode works without users’ intervention, and it is activated once in half an hour, measuring the current heart rate. After that, it remembers these numbers and calculates the average number of beats.
The manual mode is activated by the user, when he needs to measure the number of heart beats in a set amount of time.
In addition to these advantages, there are many small features that are not so important, but still useful. There are different modes of the diodes indication. They allow seeing the approximate progress of the day without using the phone. There is also a feature that will not let the bracelet to loose, and many others.
Self-sufficiency
Both the bracelets have a very good battery life.
Version without a heart rate monitor is able to work on a single charge for up to 30 days.
The device with the heart rate monitor works considerably less on one charge, due to the extra energy consumption of the crystal. Battery can work for about 10 days.
Anyway, these results are excellent. Both models can be charged using a special adapter, which has a USB on one end, allowing you to charge it from any computer. On the other side, it has a special cutout with contacts, which connects to the capsule.
Advantages and disadvantages
According to our observations, we will tell you about the strengths and weaknesses of this gadget.
Pluses:
- The bracelet has a very low price.
- Good quality.
- It can work more than 30 days without recharging.
- Interesting design, which is suitable for both sportswear and a casual outfit.
- A wide selection of interchangeable straps.
Minuses:
- The absence of the display. Without it, you cannot even see the time.
- Imperfect precision of the movements’ filtration. The device can sometimes count steps, for example, when you are driving the car on hummocks.
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