Xiaomi’s smart band series have always been my go-to, when I’m looking for a fitness tracking device. They’ve always had the best battery life in my opinion and are offered at an interestingly low price. Ever since the Mi band 3 was unveiled, I’ve had each of the Mi band series and 6 looks like yet something I’ll just have to keep me going. While launching a sleuth of other devices such as a projector, Xiaomi unveiled the next iteration of its Mi series – the Mi Smart band 6.
It’s the biggest upgrade we’ve seen thus far, ever since the Mi band 3 was unveiled featuring the first ever color screen. With Mi band 6, Xiaomi included an Sp02 tracking, enabling the smart band to effectively track your blood oxygen level including checking on your breathing quality – REM tracking during sleep. Sensors included on older bands such as a heart rate monitor are also onboard.
There’s so much that has gone into the Mi band 6, that we feel it deserves the “biggest upgrade” label in comparison with older models. For once, Xiaomi has borrowed inspiration from current smartphones to bring rounded corners on the smart band. The design aesthetics are so good that we are intrigued with the 1.56-inch display panel which appears pill-shaped creating some good confusion on just how to correctly measure the panel. But in a nutshell, the 1.56-inch panel is 50 percent larger than the Mi band 5 and offers an ample screen resolution of 152 x 486 pixels, translating to a decent 326ppi. The display panel comes with a tempered screen to resist those scratches as well as an oleophobic coating to keep smudges and fingerprints away.
Something that has always fascinated me on the Mi bands series is their ability to go for several days, if not weeks without requiring charging. Unfortunately for some reason we still get the same125 mAh battery capacity as the predecessor, which keeps the battery life at par with its predecessor at 14 days. The magnetic charging strap is the same as one used on the band 5, which is not necessarily a bad thing, especially after moving away from the one used on band 4 that required removing straps to charge the fitness tracker.
Other additions on the latest Mi band, include a female health tracking feature as well as stress monitoring. There are 30 fitness modes at your disposal which is a welcomed upgrade from half of those we saw on the previous model. The band will be available in Black, Yellow, Olive, Ivory and Blue.
Availability and price in Kenya
On launch, the band was priced at USD 35 which is about Ksh. 3,800, but we expect to stay within the Ksh 4,000 – 5,000 range after taxes. At the moment you can purchase online from stores like AliExpress for about Ksh. 5,000, though official availability in the country is imminent if history is anything to go by.
