In our topic, let's talk about the most affordable fitness bracelet today from Xiaomi – Mi Band, which has even greater capabilities than its expensive counterparts. Let's talk about its autonomy, capabilities, bluetooth sensor functions for Android and much more in order.
What is the attraction of Mi Band
Today, fitness bracelets are produced by manufacturers at a tremendous speed: more and more new models are constantly appearing, and all of them differ little from each other in functionality. On the technical side, these are simple devices that have the minimum functionality required to track the activity of their owners. So the biggest difference between all the bracelets is their design.
But the company Xiaomi still decided to introduce one important factor that will make its creation stand out among the rest on the market – this is the price. Today they have 2 versions: Mi Band for $ 20, and Mi Band Pulse, which also has a heart rate monitor, for $ 30. If you order from China, you will be able to spend almost 40% less.
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Appearance
Visually, these trackers are very simple. Their heart is a small capsule that weighs 5 grams. On top of its body is an aluminum plate and 3 LEDs (with different color modes) that flash differently when notifications are made. The rest of it is covered in matte black plastic.
The entire case is waterproof (IP67 standard – protection against moisture, splash and dust), that is, you can not be afraid that water gets on the device when you wash your hands or take a shower.
The temperature at which you can not be afraid for the tracker ranges from 20 to 70 degrees. So, when visiting the sauna, it is better to take it off your hand, since at high temperatures the battery inside the capsule can lose its properties.
The capsule comes with a sports-type silicone strap, which is very lightweight and hardly felt on the hand. If desired, straps can be purchased separately, and of different types – from sports to leather under a suit. True, the latter is more expensive than the tracker itself.
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Bluetooth sensor for Android: Video
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Functional
For the bracelet to work, you need a smartphone with Bluetooth LE support, this is starting from version 4.0.
To control and operate the pedometer, you need to download the application to your smartphone, it is available on Google Play and is called Mi Fit.
The device itself is always active and operational. Therefore, it does not have an on or off button. The main thing is not to forget to charge it.
Of the available functions, the following are worth noting:
- Pedometer. Through the application, you can view the number of steps taken per day. The tracker knows how to distinguish between walking and running, so in the statistics you can see:
- The number of steps taken.
- How much we did in running.
- The total amount of steps taken.
You can also compare progress for each day, up to the day when you first got the device.
You can set a daily goal for yourself, how much you want to go through each day in the program settings, and upon reaching it, the bracelet will vibrate, indicating that the task is completed.
In addition to everything, the program calculates how much distance you have covered on foot and how many kilocalories you burned.
- Sleep tracker. This gadget is made so that it is always on your hand, except for those moments when you need to charge it. Therefore, it has a function to track your sleep. Moreover, he not only independently understands what time you fell asleep and woke up, but can also monitor your sleep phases. And in the application, display the time of “Deep sleep” and “REM sleep”, and show all this on a graph, where you can see exactly at what time you had one or another phase of sleep. Well, and the full time of your sleep, of course.
As with walking, you can compare your sleep over the previous day.
- Smart alarm clock. The heart of the device has a built-in vibration motor that serves for notifications. The app has a nice 'Smart Alarm' feature that helps you wake up easily. It works as follows: you start the time at 8:00 and go to bed. At 7:30 (half an hour before the set time), the smart alarm function is activated, which, according to the sleep phase, determines the moment when it will be easy for you to wake up. For example, at 7:42 a.m. the bracelet caught you out of deep sleep and, until this phase came again, it begins to vibrate, thereby waking you up.
If suddenly you had a deep sleep from 7:30 to 8:00, then so that you don't oversleep, the bracelet will wake you up at the time you specified. According to reviews, this function pays off – it is really easier to wake up.
- Notifications. From the application, you can configure the Mi Band to vibrate on an incoming call, SMS, received message from Twitter or any other program. You customize the list of applications for yourself. Also, for a different program, you can set a different vibration frequency in order to understand which application the notification is coming from.
- Unlocking your smartphone. The bracelet has Bluetooth – a proximity sensor for Android and it understands whether you hold the smartphone in the same hand as the bracelet is worn or not. So, based on this, it is possible to activate a function that will take the smartphone out of the lock mode as soon as you take it with the same hand on which the Mi Band is worn.
- Independence. The bracelet has a built-in processor and memory, which allows it to work without a smartphone. That is, you do not have to worry that when the bracelet does not have a bluetooth connection with a smartphone, the device does not count steps and does not track your activity. The bracelet does all this all the time, and we can say for sure that even if you part with the phone for 10 days, then after you pair the bracelet with it, all your 10 days of activity will be displayed in the application.
All these features are found in both Mi models. The following feature is only available in the Pulse version.
- Heart rate monitor. The Pulse version has an additional crystal on the inside of the case that can track your heart rate. There are two modes – 'Automatic' and 'Manual'. The first one works without user intervention, but turns on every half hour, measuring the current heart rate. Then he remembers these numbers and makes the average number of strokes.
The manual mode is activated at the user's request, when it is necessary to measure the number of heart beats at a certain time.
In addition to the mentioned advantages, there are many more small functions that are not so important, but still useful. These are different modes of diode indication, where you can see the approximate progress per day without a phone. There is also a function that will prevent the bracelet from being lost, and many others.
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Autonomy
Both bracelets keep the battery charge very well.
The version without a heart rate monitor can work on a single charge for more than 30 days.
A device with a heart rate monitor works significantly less on a single charge, due to the additional power consumption of the crystal. The number of days of battery life is about 10.
One way or another, these are excellent indicators. Both models are charged from a special adapter, which on one side has USB so that you can charge from any computer, and on the other side there is a special cutout with contacts where the capsule is connected.
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Advantages and disadvantages
Based on our observations, we will write about the strengths and weaknesses of this gadget.
Pros:
- The bracelet has a very low cost.
- Good workmanship.
- It can work for more than 30 days without recharging.
- Interesting design that suits both sportswear and casual outfit.
- Wide range of interchangeable straps.
Minuses:
- Lack of display. You can't even know the time without it.
- Imperfect motion filtering accuracy. The device can sometimes count steps, such as when driving over bumps in your car.
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