We have been testing the Xiaomi Mi Band 2 for more than a month, and we can already give a few more opinions on its use and operation. In this Xiaomi Mi Band 2 review, we will explain everything about the best fitness band for heart rate monitoring.
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Xiaomi Mi Band 2 Review
One of the last fitness bracelets to come into our lives and one of the ones that is causing the best sensation due to its characteristics and its low price. The battery life is very good, more than 15 days, you can put it in the water, it controls steps and sleep and its app for iOS and Android improves day by day. It has a screen where you can control the main statistics, controls the pulse, and has a running mode with GPS (linked to the mobile). Xiaomi Mi Band 2 is the ideal buy for someone who is looking for the best fitness tracker for running and cycling.
We are testing it together with an iPhone 6 and the application available for iOS in the Apple App Store.
Reasons Why You Should Buy Xiaomi Mi Band 2
- The battery life is truly spectacular: After a month of continuous use, the battery continues to be at 46% capacity, exceeding Xiaomi’s expectations of “only” 1 month.
- It can be submerged without problems: we have not tested it in the pool because in theory you can only get in it for up to 30 minutes and 1 meter deep, but for the shower or washing your hands there is no problem.
- Smart alarms work really well: the bracelet vibrates if it detects you’ve gotten enough sleep based on the period you set.
- The quantification of the hours of sleep is really good: it is surprising to see how well it controls the moment in which you have gone to bed and you have gotten up, and to see how your rest has been: it indicates deep sleep and light sleep.
- The step or stroke control works really well too. He advises you to enter a minimum goal of 8000 steps.
- The bracelet can be used on both Android and iOS (iPhone)
- The bracelet is only connected via bluetooth to the phone when we open the application and it is within a radius of about 10 meters (we use less battery for both the bracelet and the smartphone)
- The application is very functional and connects perfectly with the Health application of the iPhone, where we can view sleep data and steps taken.
- The incoming call alert works really well: the bracelet vibrates when someone calls you.
- You can configure the color of the 3 LEDs and the location of the bracelet depending on whether we wear it on the left or right hand.
- It has a function to find the bracelet: it will vibrate
- The construction materials are stylish enough that you don’t feel like a geek when your friends see it on you. The rubber of the strap has not suffered any damage this month, and the aluminum material of the “core” is perfect and looks great.
- It weighs practically nothing and you forget you are wearing it. It does not bother to sleep.
- It fits snugly on the wrist, and the strap appears secure. The diameter of the bracelet ranges from 16cm to 21cm (good for small and large wrists).
- The core of the bracelet seems to hold perfectly inside the bracelet, and it fits perfectly (it does not ‘dance’ inside it).
Reasons Why You Shouldn’t Buy Xiaomi Mi Band 2
- The connector to charge the battery is not standard. It is specific for this bracelet.
- The application has not yet been translated into Spanish, neither on Android nor on iOS.
- It only quantifies steps, running, calories, distance, sleep time (deep and light) and calories burned. If you want another sport, it is not available yet, although it is possible that they will include them in an update of the app.
- The application is something simple: it would be interesting if they put more challenges and was something more “interactive”. You cannot share the data on the bracelet with too many social services.
- It would be interesting to be able to re-enter the detailed daily graphs of both sleep and registered activity: you can only consult the bars with the global data, that is, you cannot access the breakdown by hours that they provide you daily.
- Registering an account with Xiaomi when connecting the bracelet is not as intuitive as it should be. It is not complicated but it is not easy either, especially if we take into account that it must be done in English.
- It would be interesting to be able to associate certain vibrations to contacts in our agenda to be able to know who is calling based on the vibration.
- They could also add a generic table of foods with their respective caloric intake to compare the calories consumed with those expended during exercise (we would put the foods we eat daily by hand).
Conclusion
That an activity bracelet that costs about $20 works so well is really spectacular. It quantifies very well the steps, the hours of sleep, the battery life is spectacular and the application works correctly although we can only find it in English. The bracelet goes up in price to just over 30 euros if you want the strap in different colors. With a few more features added to the app, this activity tracker can become a lot of people’s first choice. Hope you find this Xiaomi Mi Band 2 review useful.
