FITNESSBANDS
86 MAY2020|COMPUTERSHOPPER|ISSUE387
THENEWANDimproved Mi Smart Band
maybeafew pounds more expensive than
the £20 Mi Smart Band 3, but that £8 sure
seems topayfor alot ofextra features. The
screen is bigger,has ahigher resolution and is
colour,it’s gained connected GPS and, unlike
the Mi Smart Band 3, it actually pairs its full
waterproofing with swim-tracking capability.
Despitethese improvements, Xiaomi
claims that the battery lifeisthe same
impressive 20 days, too. That’s becausethe
battery cell has also grown alittle,from
110mAh in the Mi Smart Band 3to135mAh
in the Mi Smart Band 4.
BACKWARDS COMPATIBLE
This is yet another small black lozenge of a
fitness tracker,which sits securely within a
rubber wrist band when in use and in asmall
charging dock when not. Despitethe larger
display, the Mi Smart Band 4can be fitted
with Mi Smart Band 3straps, whichisboth
impressive in itself and decent of Xiaomi not
to make returning buyers start afresh.
The vibrantly colourful screen isn’t as big
as it looks –itsimply has ablack background
that blends in with the rest of itsplastic
housing –but it is large enough to read
clearly.WhatsApp messages can be abit
trickytomake out but, to Xiaomi’s credit,
the Band 4displays the whole message
(over multiple screens if necessary) instead
of truncating it.
There are no physical buttons, so
navigation can get trickyifyou’re in the pool
or simply soaked from the rain, and the whole
thing is alittle bulky, too, protruding agood
10.8mm from thhhewriiist.TTThhhatmay
notsoundlikemmmuch,
butremembermmmost
smartphones arrrearound
the 8mm mark, and
imagine how that
looks –especiallllllllyyyyoooonnnnaaaa
device with alooong and
thin profile like this.
Still, it’s not bad
at all for£28,annnd
consideringwhaaat
this design meaaans
in terms of stammmina
and performanccce,
it’s acompromiiise
that’s ultimatelyyy
worth making.
We foundthhhe
Mi Smart Band 4’’’’s
pedometer reasssonably
accurate, thougggheven if it
XIAOMI Mi Smart Band 4
★★★★★
£28•Fromwww.amazon.co.uk
VERDICT
Upgradedfeaturesandanincrediblylong-lasting
batteryensureyougetplentyforyourmoney
wasn’t, it wouldn’t be the wooorst
thing–theexactnumberof
stepsdoesn’tmatterperse,
aslongasthewearableis
consistent with itself so
you know if you’ve
performed better or
worse than yesterday.
GOINGTHE DISTANCE
Besides, the big advancemennnt
inperformancetermsisthe
connected GPS, where the
wearable can utilise your phooone’s
location-trackingdata.Here,ofcourse,
you’rereliantonyourphoneee,and when
we tested it we were at the mmmercyofthe
Huawei P20 Pro’s aggressiveeebattery-saving
algorithms. Despitethis, it peeerformedwell,
measuringadistanceof3. 4999 km compared
to the Polar M430’s 3.59km.
It’s best not to look tooclosely at the
details, however.Zooming in on the map
revealed the odd inconsistency,such as
when the GPS thought we had swung
completely off the running routeand into
anearbyindustrial park.
Again, however,itworks well enough
considering how little it costs –this is not a
£200 running watch. To come this close to a
dedicated wearable like the PolarM430 is
pretty good going.
Speaking of good going, the battery in the
Mi Smart Band 4just runs and runs. The 20
days quoted by Xiaomi maybepessimistic, in
fact, depending on your usage.Judging by
how slowly the battery drains when you’re not
usiiingtrackkkiiinggggappsorGPS,youmay
be ablettttogetclosssertoafull
monthhhhthan 20 days.
SSSSofar,sogggood. The
biiiiggest weaaakness isn’t
even partttof the band
itself: it’sssthe Xiaomi Mi
Fit mobbbile app,which is
pretty bbbare on features.
It’s also not the most
user-frieeendly experience,
and tracccking down past
running data was abit
of achore.Once found,
the data is nowhere
near as cooomprehensive
aaaasthe sortttyou might
finnnndonGarmin Connect
orPPPPolar Flowww,either.
Thhhhhhat said, ooonce you get
past thhhheinitial ccconfusion there’s
some innnnterestingggdata in there,
especially on the sleep-tracking side of things,
where the app will not just show you the
information, but tell you how that compares
to others. It also supplies practical tips on
how to have more restful nights.
Even so,there aretwo things that hold it
back. The first is simply that very fewpeople
use Mi Fit compared to more established
fitness apps; if your fitness regime is
motivated by friendly competition, then this
is clearly abig issue.
Second, its Chinese roots are clear in the
tiny list of apps you can connect: WeChat
and Google Fit. There’s no Strava,no
Runkeeper and no MyFitnessPal.
That feels like nitpicking, however: as a
product, it’s extremely hard to quibble with
the Xiaomi Mi Smart Band 4, especially when
most concerns about the app also apply to
the similarly priced Honor Band 5.
PICK MI UP
The Mi Smart Band 3was abargain, and
the Mi Smart Band 4certainly has £8 worth
of extra value.From its larger,more eye-
catching screen to its ability to track runs
using your smartphone’s GPS, the Mi Smart
Band 4isanextremely worthy follow-up
that’s definitely worth alookfor budget-
conscious consumers.
Is it worth buying ahead of the Honor
Band 5? Each has one minor advantage over
the other: while the Honor Band 5can
measure blood oxygen saturation (SpO2), the
Xiaomi Mi Smart Band 4’s battery lasts longer.
To us, the added reliability of abigger battery
is worth the loss of arelatively obscure
sensor,sowe’dgofor the Mi Smart Band 4.
