Redmi announced its first fitness tracker band aka Redmi Smart Band back on September 8, 2020. Xiaomi has given a tough competition to other cheap fitness tracking bands such as Realme Smart Band and more. The Mi Band series from Xiaomi is one of the best-selling series of Smart Bands in the market today. People love Mi Bands because they are cheap but doesn’t trim down the features of the band. It is the same with Redmi Smart Band. This product from Xiaomi is also a fitness tracker and comes with plenty of features but at a very low price. I have been using this band for quite a few days now, and here is my complete review of it.
Redmi Smart Band Review: Design
Design of the Redmi Smart Band is something fresh. The Mi Bands are good; however, they lack the kind of design most of the people want. Mi Bands, in general, are slim and look very thin, but that's not the case with the Redmi Smart Band.
Xiaomi needs to be given credit for the fact that they brought a fresh design with the Redmi Smart Band. If you are a fan of the Fitbit bands, then you are going to love the Redmi Smart Band. On top of the design, the build quality of the band is also very excellent. It will feel almost premium to the person wearing and other people peeking at it. Redmi has done a decent job in distinguishing its smart band from the popular Mi Band series.
One thing that Xiaomi could have worked upon was getting the straps of the Redmi Smart Band correct. This band doesn’t offer the most comfortable experience for the customers for putting on the straps on the wrist. Another thing that I didn’t like with the watch was that the USB charging port is placed at the bottom mouth of the strap which makes it difficult for me to open it up without too much hassle and then put it on the charge. Nevertheless, it is a welcome change when compared to the Mi Bands as we had to pull off the band from its strap to charge. But yeah, the Mi Bands deliver stellar battery life for a fitness tracker.
But overall, the Redmi Smart Band is quite comfortable to be worn all day long, and it will feel stylish on the wrists of almost anyone who wears it. Also, the band is water and sweat-resistant, so you don’t have to worry about it getting wet.
Redmi Smart Band Review: Features
Talking about the features, one of the best things about the Redmi Smart Band is its display. The fitness band comes with a 1.08-inch LCD colour display offering ample brightness so that the customer can read the content on the watch even under direct sunlight. Since the screen of the watch is a little wide, even the viewing angels become a little wider.
There is no issue with the touchscreen feature of the band. The screen is very responsive (not the best-in-class but works good for the price) and makes it easier for the user to navigate through the watch. It is quite easy to wake up the display on the screen as well. There is a ‘lift to wake’ feature in the band. But compared to the Mi Band 4, this feature is less effective in the Redmi Smart Band.
The screen is made as such that you will be able to read every text message that you get in WhatsApp or normally and along with that, it will also become easier for you to read your emails. The only thing is that this band doesn’t show or display text messages in Hindi and doesn’t support GIFs, but for the asking price, you should not expect much.
Redmi Smart Band Review: Xiaomi Wear App
For people who don’t want to use the small screen of their bands to adjust or change the settings, they can use the Xiaomi Wear app for making those changes. The Xiaomi Wear Lite app is currently supporting only two Smart Bands which are Mi Smart Band 4C and Redmi Smart Band. The application has a very minimal interface which is very similar to OneUI. Right after firing up the app, we are greeted with the Redmi Smart Band name along with the connection status and battery percentage.
The app allows users to change band displays, set alarms, set the apps which can show notifications, set the incoming calling alerts and more. The app can be downloaded for free via Google Play Store and Apple App Store. For iOS users, the app name is Xiaomi Wear Lite.
Redmi Smart Band Review: Health Features
One of the prime reasons why you should or anyone should get the Redmi Smart Band is that it is really good for the people who track their fitness and health. This Smart Band offers customers the usual sensors for tracking activities. The data recorded is almost accurate every time. You won’t be able to record false steps simply by moving your arms.
Along with that, you can analyse heart rate activity with this band. There is an optical sensor present in the watch which will facilitate in the recording of the heart rates. The data will be posted graphically on the Xiaomi Wear Lite app.
The band is also capable of giving you accurate sleep data so you can keep wearing it while you are sleeping. As for workouts, the customers get five modes — cycling, running, freestyle, walking, and treadmill.
Redmi Smart Band Review: Battery
Redmi Smart Band comes with a 130mAh battery. Xiaomi has claimed that the watch can run up to two weeks in a single charge. But in my usage, when I used the band with automatic heart rate detection and one hour of moving activity every day, the Smart Band ran for a week. One point to consider is that at all time, my band was connected to my smartphone with the help of Bluetooth. However, you can increase battery life by disabling the heart rate detection functionality.
Redmi Smart Band Review: Verdict
The Redmi Smart Band is launched for a price of Rs 1,599 making it a very competitive Smart Band in the market. It offers a lot for very less which is what Xiaomi always does. The display is very nice, build and design are perfect for this price point and the battery backup isn’t bad at all. So it really becomes one of the best products to be considered before you go out and buy a Smart Band. If you ask me, there is actually no other Smart Band which is better than the Redmi Smart Band in this price range at the moment.
However, if you are looking for a better version of Redmi Smart Band, the Chinese company is bringing the Mi Smart Band 5 to India on September 29.
