Xiaomi MiBand 2 Hands On and Price

 

Following the impressive success of the original MiBand and the follow up Mi Band 1S, Xiaomi has finally introduced the Mi Band 2 and I am impressed.

Unboxing

I don’t know why there is such a hype around unboxing but I must admit it is kind of fun.

The Mi Band 2 comes in a compact cardboard box, similar to the previous models, that looks very environmentally friendly, the fact that they are not using any extra (unnecessary) plastic is worth praising.

Contents

  • Original Xiaomi Mi Band 2 silikon smartband – 23.5 x 1.05 cm / 9.25 x 0.41 inches

  • Mi Band 2 pod with OLED screen and touch sensitive navigation button.

  • Charger base.

  • User manual – mine is in Chinese but is supposed to come in English too.

Quality

The Mi Band 2 makes a good impression, the look and feeling is of a quality product. The Band is flexible, light and comfortable on the wrist. You can not use the charger or (leather) bands from the previous models because of a slight difference in size.

Xiaomi has kept all the functions of the predecessor and added a few more. The Mi Band 2 works with Android (4.4 and higher) and iOS (7.0 and higher) and is IP67 certified.

 

Functions

  • Time

  • Alarm

  • Fitness tracker

    • Heart rate

    • Steps

    • Distance

    • Calories

  • Notifications

    • Call

    • SMS

    • Apps

    • Sedentary alarm

  • Sleep monitor

    • Hours slept

    • Hours deep sleep

    • Time of sleep, deep sleep and awake with graph.

  • Unlock phone – Android only

  • Third party access

  • Gesture wake up

 

Battery Life

A big thumbs up for the Mi Band. We have been using the Mi Band with nearly all functions activated and it uses around 4% battery a day, that makes a month usage per full charge realistic. According to Xiaomi it needs 3 hours to recharge, I’ll take their word on that.

Price and availability

We received our sample from Gearbest, at the moment they have a presale until the 30th of June for $42.98 with free shipping, there are already over 12,200 orders. There are third parties selling it on Amazon for around $55.

Conclusion

The Mi Band 2 is a great product with a fantastic price. With the newly added screen, IP67 certification, an impressive battery life and all the built in functions there is not much more I could expect from a wearable. I personally see no need for a smartwatch with the Mi Band 2 but it would be interesting to see what Xiaomi would come up with as a smartwatch.