Honest review. Xiaomi Mi Band 2: a budget fitness tracker

I have been wanting to buy a smart watch or an ordinary heart rate monitor for a long time. I will say right away that at that time, when I was not actively involved in sports, this purchase would have been nothing more than another whim. Because I had no special need to monitor my heart rate on the way from the subway to work or in between meetings. But then I started preparing for my first triathlon start. When preparing for IRONMAN, and indeed for any competition, it’s very important to track your heart rate. It’s important to understand at what heart rate you run this or that distance, for what period of time you cover a lap on the cycle track. In addition, it is important to monitor the quality of your sleep, because the body must have time to recover. All this somehow brought me back to the idea that I need to buy a watch or a smart bracelet.

The cost of an advanced fitness gadget like the now so popular models of smart watches from Garmin is quite high. That is, be prepared to lay out from 25,000 rubles for a sports watch. If we turn to budget gadgets, the simplest fitness trackers and smart bracelets, then here the price tag starts from about 1500 rubles.

Tip: budget line of trackers is ideal to understand whether you need a fitness bracelet in principle and how comfortable it will be for you to wear it all the time (even while sleeping).

When I was choosing a bracelet for myself, I read a lot of reviews, studied videos on forums and decided to start studying fitness gadgets by purchasing a budget tracker Xiaomi Mi Band 2. The bracelet itself, as it seemed to me, contains the most “wrapped” stuffing for the most acceptable money. The cost varies from 1690 to 2500 rubles.

What’s inside?

● Materials of the capsule: polycarbonate, plastic.
● Bracelet materials: thermoplastic silicone vulcanizate.
● Protection class: IP67.
Sensors: three-axis accelerometer, optical heart rate monitor.
Display: 0.42-inch monochrome OLED display, vibration motor.
Battery: 70 mAh built-in lithium-polymer battery.
● Battery life: up to 20 days.
● Wireless communication: Bluetooth 4.0 LE.
● Operating temperature: -20 to +70 °C.
● Dimensions: 40.3 × 15.7 × 10.5 mm.
● Weight: 7 g.
Compatibility: iOS 7 / Android 4.3.
● Supply includes: module, bracelet, charging cable.

What is the bracelet for?

Now let’s take a closer look at the functions of the bracelet. For its cost, the tracker from Xiaomi has a pretty impressive stuffing. For similar money, most manufacturers offer a banal pedometer and heart rate monitor. Xiaomi Mi Band 2 supports the following functions:

● HR measurement;
● pedometer (quite accurate, I measured the error along with a professional smart watch. The device no longer reacts to simple hand swings and this is a great progress for the manufacturer);

● Distance and calorie counting (based not only on the number of steps, as in most trackers, but also on your speed. Using the app you can set different modes: workout, jumping, light jogging, walking, etc.);
● sleep monitoring;
● smart alarm clock;
● call notifications (very convenient, there are icons for notifications of messages in various messengers and social networks: Telegram, WhatsApp, Vkontakte, etc.);
● tablet/smartphone unlock.

Learn more about the functions of a fitness tracker: what, why and why?

To be honest, at first I used all the functions in a row: I changed modes, monitored my sleep, but it’s more like euphoria from the acquisition of a new gadget. Over time, of the constantly used functions, the heart rate monitor, pedometer, call notifications and periodically sleep monitoring remained. Next, I will tell you more about all the functions.

Theheart rate monitor is a very useful thing in the gym, especially when you have already figured out your peak heart rate intervals and know at what pace you need to go a certain distance. The heart rate monitor measures your HR quite accurately, and it only takes 10 seconds and one button press to give you the results.

Pedometer – as I already wrote, the pedometer option tracks your movements quite accurately. In principle, the thing is quite useful even for those who do not do sports regularly, because in order to simply keep yourself toned, you need to walk at least 10,000 steps a day. The bracelet will help you in this: if you sit still for a long time, it starts to vibrate, informing the owner about the need to get up and move around a bit.

Distance counting – on the bracelet screen you can see the distance traveled not only in steps, but also in kilometers. This is a feature I usually use while jogging.

Calorie counting – for your understanding, I will voice one fact: most inexpensive smart watches and apps calculate the calories burned based on the steps you took during the day. But that’s not quite right. Because a person who traveled a similar distance but at a faster speed will burn more calories. In addition, there are a number of static workouts: yoga, strength training and so on, in which we do not move much, but still experience a huge physical load. Xiaomi Mi Band 2 allows you to use the app to select the type of workout you plan to do in the near future. The final data will be based on several parameters: heart rate intervals, number of steps and speed.

Sleep monitoring and smart alarm clock – the bracelet tracks the phases of rapid and long sleep and offers to assess your well-being immediately after waking up. Against this background, the gadget helps the user set a smart alarm clock that will wake you up at the interval when you are most ready to wake up.

Call notifications – if you synchronize your bracelet via Bluetooth with your phone, your fitness tracker will regularly send notifications about updates, messages and incoming calls. I advise you not to forget to turn this feature off at night.

Bundle: what do you get for the money?

In the traditional for the line cardboard box is placed sensor module Mi Band 2, the bracelet itself, in which this module is inserted, instructions and USB – charger. The top panel of the bracelet consists of an OLED-display and a touch-sensitive button. The image on the screen due to the matrix used is perfectly readable in the sun and does not glare in the dark. The button is capacitive, does not react to third-party objects. In the instructions, the manufacturers also report that the bracelet can be used in the shower.

Xiaomi Mi Band 2: bottom line

My verdict on this bracelet is simple: buy, use and look out for more expensive models if you feel the need. It’s a great tracker for uploading basic parameters about yourself and your activity: find out your optimal heart rate, the distance you walk from day to day and understand the quality of your sleep.