Xiaomi Mi Band – after one month

So as I promised in one of my previous post that I would write about the One Month Review of the Xiaomi Mi Band here it is ! Well it’s not exactly a month rather it’s been the first time I charged the dongle from the time I fully charged it. (May 5, 2015) it has been a good time spent with the device. So here are few pros and cons that I feel after using the device for almost a month.

As it is said, things should start on a positive note, I’ll start with the pros.

A great Notification Device: this even though is a fitness band, but works amazingly well like a notification device, by default it supports notifications only for calls. Also you can set notifications for all other apps but mind it this feature is available only on the modded Mi App available on Xiaomi’s site and not on the one available on the play store. Once you get this modded version, your Mi Band will be able to notify you all the notifications from all the apps you have chosen, so you can customize the vibrations, colours, various patterns for every notification. So if your phone is on silent mode, (even if it is not) this is a very handy notification device. Also the modded app uses more battery as compared to the 40 day claimed by xiaomi, but that’s fine, lasted close to 25 days.

The modded version of the app that allows to add notifications for all supported application. Courtesy: Atulmaharaj
The modded version of the app that allows to add notifications for all supported application. Courtesy: Atulmaharaj

Best alarm ever: the alarm feature of this band is pretty cool. I don’t remember a single day when I haven’t used this. This will certainly ensure that you no more have to hear the blaring alarms. The vibration isn’t pretty hard nor its soft, it’s just perfect. It’ll vibrate 3-4 times; you move your hand and the alarm is switched off, if it doesn’t tap the sensor. Further you can set it vibrate softly 30mins before the actual alarm time.

No more blaring alarms ! Courtesy: Atulmaharaj
No more blaring alarms ! Courtesy: Atulmaharaj

Counts steps to perfection: this is something it is ought to do, the way it counts the steps is pretty accurate. And presents the data is a pretty ok ok format, however that isn’t of any use.

Great battery life: the battery life as claimed by the company of 40 days is pretty accurate. And that’s pretty good. Working on the Bluetooth low energy version, the battery life is amazing. However if you are using the modded app, you will have to keep the Bluetooth switched on on your device. And if that is a concern, it’s a good idea to NOT use the modded app.

Battery Lasted for over 25 days with all notifications on. Courtesy: Atulmaharaj
Battery Lasted for over 25 days with all notifications on. Courtesy: Atulmaharaj

So this was a concise list of Pros, but there is still room for improvement in the device.So below are the few issues I faced during this period.

Unreliable sleep tracker: the device boasts that it can track your sleep pattern and calculate how much you sleep (light sleep, deep sleep, wake up time) however many a times it doesn’t calculate it correctly. I had change the wake up time manually 🙁 I felt maybe it wants you to literally shake your hand once you are awake and do some immediate activity. In the below pic you can see it shows that I slept for 17hrs, (I wish I could :P) even though I was awake at 4 am and slept for about 7hrs, the only thing I did was I got up and straight away took a shower and kept the device on my desk, and it thought I was sleeping on my desk :/

No sense sleep tracker. Courtesy: Atulmaharaj
No sense sleep tracker. Courtesy: Atulmaharaj

Smart unlock feature is great indeed but at times even though I am wearing the band I have to draw the pattern to unlock the phone., I don think this should be happening.

Well, it’s pretty clear that the Mi Band has more pros than cons, is actually a pretty good device for its price. Available for 999Rs (799 Now), this will certainly become the “My First Wearable Tech” device for many.

I hope that this concise review will help you decide whether to buy or not to by the Xiaomi Mi Band ?

About Atulmaharaj

A seasoned blogger and a content marketer for close to a decade now. I write about Food, Technology, Lifestyle, Travel, and Finance related posts. Blogging brings me joy and the best part is I get to read and e-meet so many amazing bloggers! PS: I'm also the founder for Socialmaharaj.com :) Favorite Quote: "Traveling is like reading a book, one who hasn't traveled, hasn't turned a page.

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