Xiaomi Mi Band 7 assessment: The best budget fitness tracker of 2022 is here

Xiaomi has ruled the wearable marketplace for the ultimate seven years at the again of the Mi Band sequence. The budget fitness bands have allowed Xiaomi to consolidate its place because the third-largest wearable producer, with gross sales of 9.8 million in Q1 2022. 

Xiaomi does so smartly on this class as a result of of its center of attention on worth; the Mi Band sequence delivers a strong feature-set whilst managing to undercut its rapid competitors, and Xiaomi has reinforced the sequence with greater AMOLED displays and thrilling new additions.

The Mi Band 7 continues in the similar vein. The band has a bigger AMOLED panel than its predecessor, an always-on mode, automated blood oxygen tracking, and new coaching modes. There is not an excessive amount of that is other from the Mi Band 6, with Xiaomi as an alternative that specialize in a couple of key spaces that wanted some consideration. The finish consequence is that the Mi Band 7 is a number of the best fitness trackers — if you are in search of a wearable within the neighborhood of $50, there may be not anything even remotely as excellent.

Xiaomi Mi Band 7: Price and availability

Xiaomi unveiled the Mi Band 7 globally on June 21, 2022, and the fitness band is now to be had on the market in maximum markets the place Xiaomi has an respectable presence. It is additionally indexed on Amazon within the U.S. for $60, and as of writing, you’ll select it up for simply $52. The Mi Band 7 debuted at £54 ($65) within the U.Okay., and is to be had without delay from Xiaomi, in addition to respectable companions. In different portions of Europe, it is to be had for €60 ($61).

There’s no point out of when the Mi Band 7 will debut in India, however I’ll upload additional knowledge to this put up as soon as Xiaomi launches the fitness band within the nation. The world release is restricted to the Mi Band 7; there is a Mi Band 7 Pro with a bigger display screen and integrated GPS, however that style is restricted to China for now. There’s an NFC-enabled model of the Mi Band 7 as smartly, however that variant is additionally offered completely in Xiaomi’s house marketplace.

Xiaomi Mi Band 7: What you can love

Xiaomi hasn’t altered the entire design of the Mi Band sequence for a couple of generations, and that is the reason true for the Mi Band 7 as smartly. The fitness band has the similar rectangular module that is removable, and it is encased in a silicone band that is comfy to put on all the way through the day. I’m the usage of the Neon Orange band with the Mi Band 7, and the colour makes it stand out simply that little bit extra.

The Mi Band 7 has the biggest AMOLED display screen Xiaomi has used to this point in a fitness band, and it will get an always-on mode for the primary time.

If you might be now not a fan of those bands, you can to find all kinds of leather-based choices to be had. In brief, this is the similar design we’ve got observed for a number of years, and the Mi Band 7 is just about indistinguishable subsequent to the Mi Band 6.

That stated, the fitness band comes with a bigger 1.62-inch AMOLED display screen. That won’t look like an enormous exchange over the 1.56-inch panel on its predecessor, however it makes a large distinction in day-to-day use — you simply get that a lot more display screen genuine property for reading textual content to your wrist. The solution has additionally larger to 490×192 (as opposed to 486×152) to take benefit of the bigger display screen, and the brightness has larger to 500 nits (450 at the Mi Band 6).

But the largest addition for me is always-on mode; the Mi Band 7 is the primary Xiaomi fitness band to get the characteristic. While Xiaomi has introduced AMOLED panels on its fitness bands beginning with the Mi Band 4, the producer prioritized battery existence above all else, and as such, it did not roll out this actual mode till now.

The display screen high quality itself is on par with the Mi Band 6, however the larger brightness makes a distinction underneath harsh daylight, and the always-on mode is a very good addition. However, the battery existence takes a substantial hit with the mode enabled. 

Xiaomi touts a 14-day battery existence between fees, however that’s not truly the case in real-world use. With so much of the fitness and well being tracking options enabled, you might be more likely to get simply over every week’s value of use out of the Mi Band 7.

The Mi Band 7 has a bigger 180mAh battery (125mAh at the Mi Band 6), and for its section, it lasts so much longer than its predecessor with the similar set of options enabled. With the always-on mode energetic, battery existence falls to underneath 4 days. 

That’s nonetheless a lot better than what you get with maximum smartwatches, and the advantages on an always-on mode is value the extra battery drain for my use case. If you do not see your self the usage of the characteristic, the usual raise-to-wake display screen gesture is nonetheless intact inside the device settings.

Rounding out the battery facet of issues, the Mi Band 7 makes use of the similar pogo pin connector as its predecessor, and there is a bundled cable within the field. Without the always-on mode, you can see a lot better battery existence figures over the Mi Band 6, and on this house Xiaomi’s fitness bands continues to steer the class.

The Mi Band 7 pairs over Bluetooth 5.2, and it really works with all Android telephones with Android 6.0 and above, and iPhones working iOS 10 and above. Connecting the fitness band for your phone is about as easy because it will get; you can simply want to scan the QR code to get began. 

Once the band is paired, you get a ton of customizability. The Mi Band 7 has a good variety of settings at the band itself, however a bulk of the options are out there by the use of the Android app.

This is additionally the best way to put in new watch faces, tweak settings for well being and job tracking, obtain updates, and so a lot more. On that be aware, Xiaomi did a excellent activity this time round with the watch faces; the Mi Band 7 has over 100 to make a choice from, and you can discover a excellent combine of minimalist, quirky, colourful, and fascinating choices.

The Mi Band 7 has the similar array of sensors as its predecessor, together with a center fee sensor and a module for tracking blood oxygen ranges. You additionally get 110 exercise modes, transfer signals, incoming name and textual content signals, all-day pressure tracking, and rest reminders.

You can arrange the fitness band to repeatedly track center fee over the path of the day — it does so in five-minute durations by way of default — and new this time is the facility to do the similar with blood oxygen ranges. The Mi Band 7 takes a reading each and every 10 mins, and if it unearths that the degrees are under 90%, it sends an alert. Of path, you’ll consistently exchange that threshold to cause an alert; there is a lot of configurability here.

If you have used a Mi Band sooner than, you can already be accustomed to maximum of those options. Xiaomi hasn’t modified an excessive amount of here, and that is the reason superb by way of me. The Mi Band 7 does a really perfect activity mirroring notifications and calls to the wrist, and the local song carrier allows you to simply regulate song playback to your phone. The taller display screen is without a doubt helpful for reading textual content, and the integrated utilities like climate take benefit of the added genuine property.

Navigating the UI is intuitive, and the Mi Band 7 feels excellent for essentially the most section on this regard. The interface is not what I’d name fluid, however it is not noticeably slow both, and you’ll simply view incoming notifications, release a exercise, and arrange an alarm or time table an tournament reminder without delay to your wrist with out an excessive amount of of a trouble.

Most budget fitness bands are not dependable for fitness and well being tracking, and for its section, the Mi Band 7 does a good activity on this house. I used the Apple Watch Series 7 along the Mi Band 7, and there used to be a variance of 15% between the 2. That’s now not dangerous taking into consideration the place the fitness band is located. This band is not geared toward fanatic customers, however for the ones taking a look to get a vast sense of day-to-day job metrics. 

Xiaomi Mi Band 7: What wishes paintings

The greatest factor with the Mi Band 7 remains to be lack of actionable notifications. While it is nice that the fitness band mirrors notifications for your wrist, there is not any solution to do anything else with that knowledge at the band itself. You’ll have to drag out your phone if you want to reply to a message. 

Continuing in that vein, the Mi Band 7 does not have virtual assistant integration, so that you fail to see Google Assistant and Alexa here as smartly.

The Mi Band 7 is beautiful barebones on the subject of notification control.

Now, Amazfit launches a model of the Mi Band with Alexa integration, however that variant is not respectable simply but. So if this is a characteristic that you just completely want to have, you must look forward to the Amazfit style. 

It’s additionally irritating that the worldwide Mi Band 7 does not paintings with bills. Xiaomi used to be stated to be operating with MasterCard to permit this selection in world markets, however that hasn’t materialized, and the NFC style of the fitness band remains to be restricted to China.

Finally, charging the band takes simply over two hours. This is not one thing it’s important to concern about an excessive amount of taking into consideration the stellar battery existence, however I might have favored to peer some kind of speedy charging here. 

Also, the bundled cable is additionally slightly simple to lose; I’ve all Mi Bands Xiaomi launched to this point, however best two cables. Xiaomi truly wishes to modify to a common usual for its wearables or be offering a very easy method for customers to select up further charging cables. To its credit score, the Mi Band 7 makes use of the similar connector as its predecessor, and I need to see that proceed with long term fashions.

Xiaomi Mi Band 7: The pageant

Like I stated at the beginning, Xiaomi totally dominates the budget fitness class, and if you want another, ultimate 12 months’s Mi Band 6 remains to be a really perfect selection in 2022. You fail to see a relatively greater battery and display screen, however the remaining of the options are intact. The best large omission is the always-on mode, however the upside is that the Mi Band 6 is that a lot more inexpensive, coming in at simply $40. 

If you want higher device options and detailed metrics, Fitbit’s Inspire 2 is a excellent approach to believe. The fitness band prices $70, and features a lot of the similar options because the Mi Band 7. 

Xiaomi Mi Band 7: Should you purchase it?

You must purchase this if:

• You desire a budget fitness band that is first rate at fitness and well being tracking
• You desire a fitness band with a high quality AMOLED display screen and always-on mode
• You desire a tool that has weeks-long battery existence
• You’re in search of 5ATM water resistance

You should not purchase this if:

• You need actionable notifications to your wrist
• You want Alexa or Google Assistant integration

Xiaomi did not reinvent the wheel with the Mi Band 7, however there used to be no want to achieve this. Instead, the logo delivered options that customers in truth care about. The Mi Band 7 has a bigger display screen that makes it a little bit higher for reading notifications, and the bigger battery method you can best want to fee it as soon as every week, even with the entire tracking options enabled.

It is comfy to put on, the 5ATM water resistance guarantees you’ll use it anyplace with none problems, and it is without difficulty simple to modify out the band. The addition of an always-on mode rounds out the checklist of options I’ve sought after to peer at the Mi Band sequence, and on the subject of fitness and well being tracking, Xiaomi is the only to overcome on this class.

If you simply desire a budget fitness band to hit a day-to-day step purpose and track your center fee and blood oxygen ranges, the Mi Band 7 is as regards to the best choice available in the market. Xiaomi has as soon as once more delivered the best budget fitness band, and for less than $60, there is not the rest that offers you the similar feature-set.