Published on February 3rd, 2015 | by Sunit Nandi

Introducing Mi Band – the budget smart bracelet

There was a time when watches and bracelets were worn by everybody and it was a style statement back in those days. The trend gradually shifted to phones and handhelds. Now with electronics making improvements in leaps and bounds, we’re seeing a return of interest back to watches and bracelets. Smartwatches like the Moto 360 have shown how a watch can assist you in many ways apart from just maintaining and displaying the time.

Its a known fact that most smartwatches are expensive, given their utility. However, if you are looking for something on your wrist that does the same job at a much lower price, then the Mi Band smart bracelet is exactly what you need.

What is it?

The Mi Band is a smart bracelet that comes at an affordable budget. It can pair with your mobile phone and perform a lot of activities. The only difference between this and a smartwatch is that the Mi Band does not have a screen.

miband

Features and functionality

The Mi Band has can pair up with any Android 4.4+ device or iPhones running iOS 7.0+ over Bluetooth 4.0 and can provide the following functionality using the Mi Band app.

Sports and fitness tracking

The Mi Band is a smart bracelet for girlfriend that can track your daily activities and walking/running steps with its inbuilt accelerometer and stream them to your phone. You can set daily goals for walks and workouts and view your progress on your phone. You can even share and compare generated reports by the app with your friends.

miband-fitness-1 miband-fitness-2 miband-fitness-3 Screen Shot 2015-02-03 at 6.26.59 pm

Easy to use alarm

The Mi Band can also be used as a personal alarm, replacing the traditional alarm clock. You can set your wake-up alarm in the app at night and go to sleep wearing the band. The band automatically monitors your light and deep sleep cycles and records the data on your phone. Using this data, the band ensures you have a proper sleep and wakes you up gradually in the morning by nudging your wrist.

miband-sleep-1 miband-sleep-2 miband-sleep-3

Automatic screen lock and unlock for Xiaomi/MIUI devices

If you happen to also own a Xiaomi phone or any phone running MIUI, then the Mi band will automatically unlock the phone when your hand having the band is very close to the phone and lock it when it is away.

miband-unlock

Notification alerts

The Mi Band will nudge you when your receive a call, a text or a notification, so that even if you fail to hear or sense the phone, you will still be alerted. Also, if any missed call or text has not been answered in a set amount of time, the Mi Band will alert you, so that you do not miss out on important communications.

miband-alerts

Other important highlights

The Mi Band has also other interesting features that sets it apart from other fitness bands or smart bracelets:

The Mi Band core is made up of aluminium alloy in a 12-step process, making it smooth and sturdy at the same time.
The Mi Band has colourful swappable rubber straps that can be replaced at will. The straps are made of TPSiV – one of the world’s best thermoplastic elastomers. Its outstanding anti-UV, anti-microbial, and anti-allergic properties mean that it’s unlikely to irritate even the most sensitive skin.
The Mi Band has a long 30-day battery life on a single charge.
The Mi Band is certified IP67 water resistant.
The Mi Band has been temperature tested from -20 to 70 degree celsius.
The Mi Band has been drop tested from a height of 1.2 metres and also cosmetic corrosion tested.

Pricing and buying

The Mi Band is priced at $18.99 on Gearbest. You can get it for even cheaper at $16.66 by following this link and then applying the coupon code XMMB at checkout. Its pricing is really great in comparison to what you get.

Conclusion

The Mi Band is a wonderful smart bracelet that does many of the jobs that a smartwatch and a fitness band would do, but at a fraction of the price. If you are a fitness freak and you are unable to afford a smartwatch or a fitness band, do give this product by Xiaomi a try. I bet you won’t be disappointed at all.

Tags: band, bracelet, budget, mi, Mi Band, MIUI, smart, Xiaomi

About the Author

Sunit Nandi I'm the leader of Techno FAQ. Also an engineering college student with immense interest in science and technology. Other interests include literature, coin collecting, gardening and photography. Always wish to live life like there's no tomorrow.