Redmi Smart Band Pro review: Top-class budget fitness tracker
Last month, Xiaomi's subsidiary Redmi launched the new line of Smart Band Pro fitness tracker along with Redmi-branded Note 11 series phone and smart TVs.
Like the handsets and televisions, Redmi Smart Band Pro, which costs Rs 3,999, is touted to be a value-for-money gadget. Does it deliver the goods? Let's check it out.
Design and build quality
Unlike the first generation Redmi Smart Band, which had a rectangular case with a sharp edge form factor, the new model is bigger and features a more elegant design with rounded corners. It is very pleasing to the eyes and the screen too, is really bright. It sports a 1.47-inch (194 x 368p) 2.5D curved AMOLED touch display.
It has a display pixel density of 282 ppi (pixels per inch) and offers a peak brightness of 450 nits, and these things help make the contents such as SMS, calling notification, time, and other details visible on the screen outdoors under direct sunlight. It is one most notable aspects of the device I like. I have a sensitive Keratoconus eye condition. To me, it makes a huge difference to view messages without having to squint my eyes while taking a walk in the morning or while commuting on the bus. I totally avoid using phones in those scenarios and only receive calls or reply to a message only if I deem it important or else ignore the notification on the smartwatch's screen.
As far as the build quality is concerned, the Redmi Smart Band Pro body is made of sturdy polycarbonate material and also the strap, made of TPU (Thermoplastic Polyurethane) is of good quality too. It comes with a 5 ATM rating, meaning the device can sustain water pressure up to 50 meters.
Also, if you want to change the strap, just press and hold the quick release button on both sides, and pull it. They come off easily. It is much better than the predecessor (Redmi Smart Band review), as I had to put a lot of effort to pull the strap to recharge it.
However, this time, the Redmi Smart Band Pro features the two-pin magnetic charging thimble at the base and it gets docked easily with the charging port.
Performance and user-interface
Setting up the Redmi Smart Band Pro is as simple as it gets. It barely takes five minutes to switch on the fitness tracker and pair it with the companion phone and make it ready to use. It supports both Android (v5.0 and newer) and iPhones (with iOS 10 or later versions).
Users just have to install either Xiamoi Wear or the Wear Lite app on the phone and use wireless Bluetooth to tether with the Redmi Smart Band Pro.
Inside, the device comes packed with Ambiq Apollo 3.5 chipset and it runs LifeQ Health Algorithm, which helps in calculating calories burnt for a particular workout. It is backed by an array of the sensitive 6-axis sensor, PPG (PhotoPlethysmoGraphy) heart rate sensor, SpO₂(Blood-Oxygen saturation) sensor, vibration motor, and ambient light sensor.
The new Redmi fitness tracker offers simple swipe gestures and is very easy even for a rookie to get the hang of the device. Users just have to tap on the screen to wake it and do swipe gestures to navigate through the device. If you swipe up, it will take you to the functions list such as menstrual cycle tracking, statistics (walking in km, steps, standing, calories burnt), sleep, stress, breathing exercise, music control, camera, alarm, timer, and more.
If you swipe right, it will take you to several widgets such as heart rate tracker, SpO2, weather, and workouts. If you swipe left, it offers quick access to a torch, find my phone, alarm, do not disturb, and settings.
And, if you swipe down, you will find all the message notifications.
Besides the usual notifications—messages and see phone calls, users can also make good use of the Redmi Smart Band Pro to locate the misplaced or lost phone and even control the camera for group photos.
The Redmi Smart Pro Band can track more than 110 activities including badminton, rowing, yoga, outdoor running, trail run, jumping rope, trekking, HIIT, indoor cycling, outdoor cycling, hiking, elliptical machine, freestyle, pool swimming, and more.
Also, it can auto-detect three activities-- walking, outdoor run, and treadmill walking. I tested the walking, and I have to say, it is impressive. I usually walk close to 1.2 km from the office to the bus station and the Redmi Smart Band Pro was able to auto-detect walking every single time during the seven-day testing period. To be precise, it used to notify me once I cross the 400-meter distance. Thumbs up to the Xiaomi engineers.
In comparison to high-end smartwatches, I have tested, they usually notify me after covering around the 1km range.
With the Xiaomi Wear app, users can get all information on sleeping patterns, activity tracking, calories burnt, and average fitness reports on the phone's big screen.
I have noticed that the low-budget fitness trackers give out heart rate reading even if it is not placed on the wrist. However, the Redmi Smart Band Pro gives out a 'couldn't measure' message and tells the user to 'tighten band strap'. When put on the wrist, the readings were quite accurate. I actually compared with the top-of-the-line Apple Watch Series 7 and am happy to report that the results were very close, the former missed the count by just one or two heartbeats per minute.
As far the battery life is concerned, the Redmi Smart Band Pro had more than 55 per cent after a week's usage. It can last two weeks under normal usage and if the power saving mode is switched on, it can run for 20 days.
Final thoughts
Just like the Redmi phones are synonymous the feature-rich affordable phones, this Smart Band Pro from the house of Redmi is a value-for-money fitness tracker.
I am mighty impressed with the improved heart rate tracker and also the auto walking activity detection feature is just top-class.
Considering the overall aspects, the Redmi Smart Band Pro is smarter and better than any of the regular fitness trackers in the market.
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