The Definitive Guide to the Mi Band

I got lucky, I’ll admit it… I got this amazing wearable piece of brilliance for a mere Re. 1, a 99% discount, on a special sale. And for that gratitude, here’s my extensive review of the Xiaomi Mi Band.

Introduction

I’m back for Round 2. From the immense popularity I had received from the first review I ever made, for the Xiaomi Mi3, here comes the latest addition. The Xiaomi Mi Band just arrived a few minutes ago, and I’ll be reviewing it as thoroughly as possible.

If you would like a blast into the past and check out my review of the best phone I ever owned, and still own… the Xiaomi Mi3, check it out here: https://medium.com/@amruthpillai/the-definitive-guide-to-the-xiaomi-mi3-2fab3225e9cb

The Flash Sale

The original Mi Band costs Rs. 999 from http://www.mi.com/in/miband/ and is only available through flash sales, a method that has proved to be very suitable for Xiaomi, that they’ve released almost all their products the same way, across various vendors. Now, they’re selling it on their own portal, which is a step up, I must say.

So, I got the Mi Band for Re. 1 in a flash sale by Xiaomi in India. It’s a steal, obviously, but does the Mi Band live up to it’s expectations? We’ll see below:

Design

I’m a designer, or so I state myself. Either way, I am attracted to beautiful things, just like anybody out there, and the only reason I was dying to get this product is because of it’s minimal and no-nonsense design. It’s simple, it’s sleek, it functions perfectly without having too much eye candy, but just enough to get some peeks.

Like you see above, it fits perfectly and is adjustable for 8 sizes, so it can suit any body, even those big boned fellas like me.

Packaging

Package and Product Design is always something that allured me to Xiaomi, as all of them follow the same suit. The definitive brown box look is simple and always an eye-catcher. It’s sort of becoming a habit for me to collect these boxes.

Contents Breakdown

The box contains the following:
1) The Chip
2) The Mi Band Strap (Black), other colors can be bought seperately
3) A short charging cable
4) A booklet of start-up information

The Chip

It’s a small package, but it packs quite a punch. It looks beautiful, to be worn or even when it’s just lying on the table.

The Chip is where all the eyes are on. It it small and fits into the strap with a little bit of effort, just to ensure it can never fall out by mistake. It has an in-built Bluetooth trans-receiver to communicate with your phone. An in-built vibrator to make the band vibrate for when you get a call or an alarm buzzes.

The Strap / Band

The Strap is pretty cool by itself, it’s smooth and looks like it’s made with some amazing quality of rubber. The fun part is that it is customizable, that is, it is available in multiple colors.

The Charging Cord

It’s short, sweet and does the trick. It has a unique slot to make the Chip fit perfectly into it and it charges pretty fast as well, on the Xiaomi Powerbank that is. I’m going to get into some trouble searching for a replacement if I ever lose this cord, so better keep it safe.

Pairing with the Phone

The rumors are not true. You don’t need a Xiaomi phone to make the Mi Band work, you just need the application called ‘Mi Fit’ found on the Google Play Store or the Apple App Store. It’s free on both the platforms and makes sure that the band is suitable for any Android/iOS phone with a Bluetooth transreceiver, and that would count quite many devices.

Mi Fit

The application by itself, is a masterpiece in the making. Sure, it has a few design flaws, but it’s easy to understand and navigate and works just like that. Below are a few screenshots of the app in use.

The app even sends push notifications about the Mi Band to your phone.

Conclusion

It does a lot of things, and it’s possibly the best looking wearable device you’ll get for Rs. 999. It does quite a lot and for quite less, compared to the other wearable devices out there.

Now, it’s not perfect. I’d have loved it if it could tell time and be able to attend calls on a tap, but that would be asking too much. Still, I hope that would be a reasonable upgrade on future versions of the Mi Band.

Now, I’ll be using the Mi Band as a permanent accessory along with my watch, as it has definitely earned a place on my wrist.

If you would like to purchase the Mi Band or just want to know more about it, visit: http://www.mi.com/in/miband/. You won’t regret it.

THANK YOU!

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