I purchased a Xiaomi Smartband Mi 2 on October 2016. It had some great reviews when it was released and I decided to go with the best activity tracker cum watch in the budget range of INR 2000 (USD 30 approx)
The band is elegant and sleek. It fits in beautifully with ease on either your left or right wrists. The strap can be clasped or unclasped with ease once your fingers get used to the locking mechanism provided. The strap can also be worn along with any other wrist watch without giving the appearance of being overly dressed.
Best aspect of the band: Battery – lasts a cool 23 days with one charge even after taking into account the number of times you press the onscreen button to take stock of the time, the steps, calories burnt or heartbeat or distance covered.
Accuracy is pretty high in terms of steps count and the algorithm is powerful enough to smartly ignore hand gestures and actions which might otherwise be counted against steps. For example, while I wore it the whole night or sit working at the computer, it does not count a single step despite all the flaying of your hands. The band is accurate even for use while jogging or running.
Heart beat sensor: It worked very well for the first 2 months and then abruptly stopped detecting my pulse. I did some googling and tried a few hacks that suggested wearing the band such that the sensor rests on the inner side of the wrist, or laying a piece of white paper between the sensor and the skin – but all to no avail. I could not get it work.
Synchronization with your android or apple phone happens in a jiffy and automatically as soon as you start the app on the phone. This saves a lot of time. Even the blue tooth power consumption is low and does not drain out your phone battery.
The Mi App also motivates the user by allowing goal setting and comparing daily achievements against the global average.
Charging is a breeze with the unit that comes along with the package and the whole unit charges in 3 hours flat to full charge.
Biggest let down: The band has two portions. The strap and the button like elliptical unit that is the tracking unit. The tracking unit is water proof and can withstand water splashes. However what the manual does not tell you is that the silicone strap though water proof does not love water. With water splashes, it loses its ability to grip and hold the tracking unit tightly in place. This causes the tracking unit to keep popping out at the slightest turn of your wrist. A big danger since you can potentially lose the tracking unit. I just lost mine. So this was a let off for me. Make sure you don’t get affected.
And before I forget, my 100 days with the band have been fun and the band has motivated me to continually take 8000 steps (6 kms approx) every day for the first 100 days. I strongly recommend the band to anybody who wishes to nudge themselves to lead a healthier lifestyle by incorporating walking or jogging.
Click here to buy it from Amazon India
