Xiaomi Mi Band 6 review: Value-for-money fitness tracker
Xiaomi's latest Mi Band 6 comes with a larger display, and several new features over the predecessor, Mi Band 5 which is one of the best-selling fitness trackers in early 2021 in India.
Does the new Mi Band 6 live up to the expectations? here're my thoughts about it.
Design and build quality
Mi Smart Band 6 retains the visually appealing elongated curvy lozenge design language we saw in the Mi Band 6. But, the new model sports a larger 1.56-inch full-screen AMOLED (152x486p) touch display. It is around 50 per cent bigger compared to the predecessor.
On top, it comes with tempered glass and an anti-fingerprint coating.
The pixel density of the display is 326 ppi (pixels per inch) and supports up to 450 nits of brightness. With a bigger and brighter display, it is very easy to view the messages and other notifications on the device.
Also, the touchscreen is very sensitive to swipe gestures and responds fast. Xiaomi is offering more than 80 colourful watch faces with an option to choose from 5 different colour straps. The silicone strap is really soft and sturdy enough to sustain daily wear and tear.
Furthermore, the device comes with ATM 5 rating, meaning the device can be worn during swimming and can sustain water pressure up to 50 meter depth.
The band comes with 6-axis sensor-- Low power-consumption 3-axis accelerometer and 3-axis gyroscope along with PPG (photoplethysmogram) heart rate sensor and SpO2 (blood oxygen saturation) reader.
Also, the company has incorporated a two-pin charging point similar to the Mi Band 5. It can be changed easily without having to remove the capsule from the strap, like the Mi Band 4 and older models.
User-interface and performance
Setting up the Mi Band 6 is really easy. It just takes around five minutes from switching on the gadget and be done with pairing it to the companion phone.
It supports both Android (v5.0 and later versions) and iOS (v10 and newer) and the user just has to install Mi Fit or Xiaomi Wear app. It should be noted that the Mi account can be linked to Google Fit (via Mi Fit), Strava (via Wear), and even works with the Apple Health app on iPhones.
The Mi Band 6 can automatically track six activities including walking, outdoor running, treadmill, cycling, elliptical and rowing machine.
In our testing, I was able to perform two of the aforementioned activities and yes, it was able to accurately recognise the walking and outdoor running.
In total, Mi Band 6 can track 30 activities including treadmill, freestyle, outdoor running, cycling, walking, pool swimming, rowing machine, elliptical, indoor cycling, yoga, jump rope, dance, indoor fitness, gymnastics, HIIT (high-intensity interval training), core training, stretching, bowling, badminton, boxing, stepper, pilates, basketball, volleyball, table tennis, cricket, ice skating, kickboxing, street dance, and zumba.
The Mi Smart Band 6 comes with SpO2 monitoring that helps monitor blood oxygen saturation levels. It comes with a host of enhanced vital tracking features such as accurate heart rate monitoring,
In the app, users can view sleep monitoring details. It lists out crucial data points including how many hours you had REM (rapid eye movement), deep sleep and it can even record sleep breathing quality, in addition to tracking stress and suggesting breathing exercises.
Furthermore, it also features women's health tracking that helps record the menstrual cycle/ovulation phases and provides useful reminders.
It also offers PAI (Physiological Activity Indicator) assessment, idle alerts, step counter, goal setting. Initially, it is very difficult to achieve recommended PAI score, but this actually motivates users to achieve the target for the day. Within a week, it becomes manageable to achieve the goal consistently. Over time, it will help people develop discipline and also a healthier lifestyle in improving cardiorespiratory fitness.
As far as the battery life is concerned, it lives up to the hype. It was able to last around two weeks with a single charge. It takes around two hours to fully charge from zero to 100 per cent.
Final thoughts
Overall, Xiaomi's Mi Band 6 is one of the best value-for-money fitness trackers. It has several thoughtful upgrades including a bigger display, new features including a SpO2 reader over the predecessor, and costs - Rs 3,499, lower than most of the rival brands with similar capabilities.
If you are looking for a budget tracker, Xiaomi's Mi Band 6 is a compelling buy.
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