Mi band - the first wearable gadget from Xiaomi

Mi Band is the first wearable gadget from Xiaomi, the Mi Band can monitor and help with your exercise routine, wake you up when you oversleep, and last for 30 days on a single battery charge. The Mi Band can also track your swimming routine since it's water resistant at a depth of more than three feet.

As far the design of Mi Band itself, it is plain and utilitarian. It is not going to win any points for stylishness, but there is a certain dignity in a plain design that will appeal to many people.  

The Mi Band comprises of a small silver-coloured tablet that is fit into a rubber strap that you wear around your wrist. This alloy body consists of the ample 30-day long battery, a Bluetooth chip, accelerometer and proximity sensor. These combine to track various activities and offer detailed analysis through the companion app. 

The operation is very simple and easy-to-understand and you can leave the Mi Band to its task without the need to keep tinkering with settings or buttons.  There are no buttons present on the device. There are three multi-coloured notification LEDs to give feedback about your progress towards your daily goal, among other purposes. 

The Mi Band is rated to the IP67 standard for water-resistant, which is a necessary feature to have on a wearable device since it will have to contend with sweat and the occasional water contact. According to Xiaomi, the wristband uses is made with Dow Corning TPSiV material which provides it with strong anti-ultraviolet UV resistance, anti-bacterial, and anti-allergic protection.

The Mi Band records your movement data throughout the day.

The Mi Band can also be set to vibrate after a missed call, but no other notifications from apps or SMS are available.You can adjust the missed call alert settings so that it buzzes just three seconds after an incoming call, it effectively lets you know when someone is calling immediately rather than after you have actually missed it.

Xiaomi smartphone owners get an extra perk: the Mi Band will automatically unlock your phone if you hold them near each other. That’s the gimmick that other Android phone owners don’t get.

Like other fitness bands, the Mi Band takes on extra powers when paired with a smartphone such as unlocking your phone when the two devices are nearby, but this only works with Xiaomi smartphones with Android 4.4 and above.

Outfitted with Android 4.4 and Bluetooth, the Mi Band comes in a range of colors, including blue, pink, brown, black, purple, and gray.

The Mi Band boasts an impressive 30-day battery life. That's a far cry from the Fitbit's four-day charge and the Jawbone's 10. When it is running low, a few minutes on the charger is all you need for several more days of power. That means less stress about whether or not it’s about to die, and more time spent actually wearing the device and collecting useful data.

Setting Up

Once the Mi Band app is downloaded and installed, it will automatically switch to your phone’s set language, either Chinese or English. 

Pairing the Mi Band to your phone via Bluetooth is quick and painless, requiring just a few quick taps to set up. 

  

Enter a few personal stats like age, height, and weight, and you’re on your way. 

There's no need to take your phone with you on a walk or run; the app will automatically sync as soon as you’re back in Bluetooth range.

You can set a daily goal for how many steps you aim to take, which by default is set at 8,000. 

Depending on your progress, making a gesture as if you’re looking at a wristwatch will prompt the Mi Band to light up in your preferred color: one light for one-third, two lights for two-thirds, three lights for goal completed. 

The lights can be difficult to see in direct sunlight.

Wakeup alarms in the app unfortunately don’t sync with any other alarm apps you might have installed. 

The alarm gently vibrates three times and then turns off. There’s no snooze or option to make it keep vibrating until you give some sort of input, like a tap or other gesture. 

If it doesn't wake you right away, then you’d better have a backup alarm ready.

The Mi Band app opens to a step counter and feed of your recent sleep cycles and walking activity. You can track previous days' steps, how far you've walked, and how many calories you've burned. For sleep cycles, the Mi Band monitors how long you slept and for how long you were in a "deep sleep:.The app does little to advise on how the users can improve their daily cycles, but that isn't necessarily a bad thing for those who just want a clear cut readout and not a robot coach.

Specification
Model:	Mi Band
Water-Proof:	IP67 professional level
Color:	Black, White
Display	LED light
Multi-Languages
Power Charging	USB Cable
Bluetooth	Bluetooth 4.0
Function	MIUI Unlock Fitness Level Monitor Sleeping Quality Tracking Smart Alarm History Data Seek Mi Band LED Light Color setting Work on both hands Total Distance Display Average Daily Steps Share via Social Media
Battery capacity and life	41mAh lithium-ion battery Standby Time: 30 Days
Material	Surface: Aluminium Shell: Makrolon Wristband Button: Aluminium Wristband: IPSiV
Size	Length: 157-205 mm Net Weight: 13 g Main Part:  5.0g
Package	1 x  Mi Band

Based on price alone, the Mi Band could be a hot seller whether it stays in China or branches out to the rest of the world. Other fitness bands sell for considerably more, notably the Withings Pulse O2 at $120, the Jawbone Up24 at $150, and the Pebble Steel at $250.