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The Xiaomi Smart Band 8 is Xiaomi’s latest fitness tracker which launched in China earlier this year, and the company announced it for global markets recently. Xiaomi has been making these devices for a long time now, and they remained quite affordable to this day. I simply cannot write an intro into this review without mentioning that this thing costs only €40. Keep in mind that it does most of the things much more expensive smartwatch does. Having said that, I’ve been using it for a while now, as it arrived prior to launch, and I’m ready to share my Xiaomi Smart Band 8 review. If you’re looking for a fitness tracker, a notification center, and a remote music control device that is much more affordable than smartwatches… well, read on…
Table of contents
Xiaomi Smart Band 8 Review: Hardware / Design
In order to make the device, Xiaomi used metal, plastic, and glass. The midframe of the Xiaomi Smart Band 8 is made out of metal. There’s some plastic on the back, and a glass display. Gorilla Glass 3 is placed on top of the display, which is not the best solution, but keep in mind the price here. It’s much better than plastic, that’s for sure. There are two colors to choose from, Graphite Black, and Gold. I received the former, and I’m glad that’s the case. This is basically a black color with a metallic silver shine on it. It’s kind of difficult to explain, but it looks very nice, and goes with everything, pretty much.
There are no physical buttons for device usage included, however, there are two physical buttons on the bottom. They are there so that you can quickly take off the band that you’re using. Do note that the Xiaomi Smart Band 8 has proprietary connectors, so you can’t really attach just about any watch strap to it. This is a small fitness tracker after all, so its connectors and straps in general are considerably narrower than regular watch bands.
The glass is curved, but the display is not
The glass on top of the watch is curved, which makes it not only look better, but feel better too when you glide your finger across the screen. The display itself is flat, though. At the bottom of the device, you’ll notice a heart rate sensor. The bezels could be thinner around the display. They’re not exactly annoying or anything of the sort, I got used to them immediately. I mostly used the silicone strap that came in the box, due to comfort, and the fact I showered with this thing. The Xiaomi Smart Band 8 is very comfortable to wear, that’s for sure. It also looks nice, and I really don’t have any complaints, especially at this price tag.
Accessories
The silicone band is included in the box with the device, as is the charger, with some paperwork. Any additional straps you’ll have to buy separately. There are a lot to choose from, though. On top of all those regular straps, Xiaomi also announced the ‘Running Clip’ and ‘Pendant’. Both are pictured below, and both are interesting. The first is basically a clip in which you place the Xiaomi Smart Band 8, and attach it to your running shoe. That way, the Smart Band 8 should be more accurate, and in my experience, it is. The ‘Pendant’, on the other hand, transforms this gadget into a necklace. You’ll have to change the Xiaomi Smart Band 8 mode in the Mi Fitness app if you do this, though, keep that in mind.
Xiaomi Smart Band 8 Review: Display
The Xiaomi Smart Band 8 features a 1.62-inch AMOLED display. That display has a resolution of 192 x 490 pixels, and it’s a touch-sensitive panel. The max brightness you can get out of this thing is 600 nits, and on top of the display sits a 2.5D “reinforced glass case”, in other words, the Gorilla Glass 3. Having said that, the display is not the brightest out there, not even close, and you will notice that if you’ve used something that provides a lot more brightness. Still, it’s enough for what you’ll need it for, to be quite honest. The sun has been shining nonstop here, and I managed. It didn’t annoy me as much, even though I’m used to much brighter panels.
The touch response is actually really good
The touch response of this display is also really good. Truth be said, it’s much better than some watches from other brands offer at considerably higher prices. I didn’t have issues in that regard at all, the display was quite responsive. What surprised me is that even the viewing angles were good. The colors are okay, though they do not pop as they do on more premium displays, and that’s perfectly fine. They’re still good enough, as you’re getting OLED colors after all, and not many people will have complaints in that regard either. All in all, it’s a good display.
Xiaomi Smart Band 8 Review: Performance
We’ll talk about the fitness/health performance later on, we’re referring to the general performance of the fitness band here. That being said, the Xiaomi Smart Band 8 works great, to say the least. It has been extremely responsive in every way, I would have never guessed this is a €40 gadget just by using it. Every swipe has been properly recognized, I never felt like I had to wait for the device to register my input, not at all. That goes for opening various functions of the watch, and even interacting with various widgets.
Xiaomi did not exactly share what SoC is it using in this band or anything of the sort. We also don’t know how much RAM is in play, nor what storage is in use. Regular users don’t care, and the band really does perform great. The notifications were also on time, and everything else you’d expect. The Xiaomi Smart Band 8 shoots above its price range when it comes to performance, that’s for sure.
Xiaomi Smart Band 8 Review: Battery
The Xiaomi Smart Band 8 includes a 190mAh battery. Xiaomi says that you can get up to 16 days of “typical usage” out of the device, and I’d say that’s kind of accurate. The device was almost at the end of the road on day 12, but my usage was anything but typical. I really pushed the device, and I believe it can get to that 16-day level. That gives you over two weeks of usage before you’ll need to charge it, and no matter how you spin it, that’s great. That’s better than the vast majority of smartwatches out there, and better than basically any mainstream smartwatch.
The Xiaomi Smart Band 8 comes with a proprietary magnetic charger
What about charging? Well, the device ships with a proprietary charger. On one end, you get a male USB-A port, which you’ll need to plug in either to a USB out on your computer (or some other device), or into a wall charger with a Type-A port. Either way, the Xiaomi Smart Band 8 can be fully charged in about an hour. It does not require fast charging as it has a 190mAh battery, so… yeah, charging is not a problem. I wish wireless charging was a part of the package, to be quite honest, but at €40, I can’t really complain all that much. Magnetic charging via POGO pins works fine, though keep in mind you may have to clean those POGO pins from time to time.
Xiaomi Smart Band 8 Review: Software
The Xiaomi Smart Band 8 comes with Xiaomi’s proprietary software. That’s not surprising considering the size and shape of this wearable. It’s also a good thing, mainly due to battery life gains. If it were running something more mainstream, chances are the battery life would be considerably worse. The UI is well-designed, and if you’ve used a smartwatch in the past, you’ll be right at home here. Everything also ran without a hitch, I always had the feeling like everything performs as smooth as it should.
The software is very good
You get a choice from a ton of watch faces, and if you swipe from the top down, you get your notifications. Doing the opposite will let you access the menu, while swiping from left to right or right to left will let you scroll between your widgets/cards. You can set anything you want on these pages, though do note you can set one widget/card per page. I used those for my music control widget, some fitness info, weather, and more. The default music control widget worked like a charm, I had no issues controlling the music on my phone at any point. The same goes for the weather widget, presuming you allow it specific permissions when asked, of course. The notifications worked like a charm for me, they were always on time, I had no issues whatsoever.
You’ll have to install the Mi Fitness app
Do note that you’ll need to install the Mi Fitness app in order to get the band paired with your phone. Once you do that, you’ll need to allow the app to run uninterrupted in the background, just so that it’s always connected. On some phones, you’ll need to change some battery restrictions and lock it in the background. On others, not so much. It all depends on your smartphone brand. In any case, the Mi Fitness app is relatively new, and it actually looks really nice. It doesn’t offer a design that goes with Google’s guidelines, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing. Xiaomi did a nice job designing the UI in this app, and you have access to a ton of stats and settings via the app.
In general, the software on the Xiaomi Smart Band 8 worked great. I have to say that I was quite surprised that my testing passed without a hitch, as I remember the first couple of iterations of the product, and things were the complete opposite. I could use this software without a problem, despite the fact I’ve used tons of different software iterations on wearables. On wearables that are a lot more expensive.
Xiaomi Smart Band 8 Review: Health/Fitness
This device is technically called a ‘Smart Band’ by Xiaomi, and that’s what it is. Many people will still refer to it as a fitness tracker, though. Why? Well, that’s where it started, and that’s also one of its main focuses. Many people buy this lineup of devices to track their fitness, either for health purposes, or for general workout tracking. Either way, fitness, and also health, are a big part of the Smart Band 8’s offering. Is it good? Well… there’s a lot to choose from, but it’s not as accurate as I’d hope it to be. Let’s talk first about what the device has to offer in that regard, shall we?
There are over 150 fitness modes to choose from here
The Xiaomi Smart Band 8 comes with over 150 fitness modes to choose from. Yes, you read that right. If you’re working out in whatever way, chances are you’ll find the mode to track that workout here. The Xiaomi Smart Band 8 can track everything from running and jumping rope to playing football/soccer and skateboarding. The sheer number of available modes here is staggering. Once you install the Mi Fitness app that we talked about earlier, getting started is truly easy.
This device can track your Vitality score. In other words, it will evaluate your current state of physical vitality and convert it into a vitality score. There is also a smart companion mode built-in. The same goes for on-wrist running courses, in case you’re a runner. All-day blood oxygen saturation monitoring is here, as is sleep monitoring. The Smart Band 8 can also monitor your daily stress, and women’s health management is built-in as well.
The Xiaomi Smart Band 8 could be more accurate when it comes to fitness tracking
Now, earlier I said that the tracking could be a bit more accurate, which is true, for some modes. I was not able to test out everything this watch has to offer, as that would mean being involved in over 150 sports activities, which is impossible. However, I did test out the pedometer, cycling, and running aspects. I have to say that the pedometer/step tracker was around 25-30% off compared to some Garmin and Huawei smartwatches. You do have to keep in mind that this thing is like 7-10 times more affordable in comparison, though, so… that’s kind of understandable. The heart rate tracking was more or less accurate, while the cycling was a bit off too, like the pedometer. Not by much, though. The same goes for running. I found out that sleep tracking is basically always inaccurate, no matter what device I use. All devices tend to think I’m asleep after I wake up and tinker with my phone. It’s easy to fool on pretty much every device I used.
All in all, despite the fact it’s not as accurate as I’d like, using the Smart Band 8 for fitness tracking was a pleasurable experience, to say the least.
Xiaomi Smart Band 8: Should you buy it?
Is the Xiaomi Smart Band 8 right for you? Well, I can say that this gadget is the right choice for many people. Why? Well, it’s a combination of its price tag and what it offers. The Xiaomi Smart Band 8 is not only really well-built, but it offers a robust suite of features. It can serve as a fitness tracker and even a small smartwatch. Its notification delivery is excellent, as are a number of other aspects of the software and UI. For €40, this is difficult to beat. In fact, I’ll go out on a limb here and say that you won’t find an equivalent to the Xiaomi Smart Band 8 in the market. You can’t get a fitness tracker / smartwatch of the same value for €40, not even close to that.
So, if you’re new to the smartwatch game, or need a gadget for your kid or parent, well… the Xiaomi Smart Band 8 fits all of those categories. Even if you don’t want to wear a smartwatch on your hand, you may prefer something smaller… this is also a great choice. Chances are you can buy this gadget for all your loved ones for the price of a very good smartwatch, so… for many of you, this will be a no-brainer. Recommending the Xiaomi Smart Band 8 is very easy, to be quite honest. I loved using the device.
You should buy the Xiaomi Smart Band 8 if you:
- Don’t want to break the bank for a wearable
- Have never used a smartwatch / smart wearable
- Liked previous Mi Band / Smart Band iterations
- Want something minimalistic on your hand, instead of a smartwatch
- Like keeping track of your fitness and health, but don’t like watches
- Appreciate great battery life
- Want a smart wearable, but don’t want to keep it on your wrist
- Have a budget of only €40
- Need a wearable for your kid/parent
You shouldn’t buy the Xiaomi Smart Band 8 if you:
- Are used to wearing smartwatches
- Need your smart wearable to track fitness as accurately as possible