If you asked a week ago, we would have told you there was 0% chance of seeing a Mi Band 5 refresh at Xiaomi’s March 29 event, and that would have been… wrong.
Despite the fact that the Mi Band 5 was released in June 2020, Xiaomi has decided to surprise us with a new version of the popular fitness tracker. We are sure many people have been waiting for this one. Xiaomi’s CEO Lei Jun was happy to reveal that the company has managed to sell over 120 million units from the Mi Band series worldwide, ever since they first came into existence.
Onto the main event – the Mi Band 6 is here to help Xiaomi better their record. It is bringing a bigger curved AMOLED display, that’s 1.56-inches, which is almost 50% bigger than the one on the Mi Band 5, and gives you great resolution at 326 ppi. It comes with 24h heart rate monitoring, and adds a SpO2 blood oxygen-level monitoring, which also helps for sleep quality tracking.
There are now 30 activity modes for different sports and their variations, which seems like overkill, at first glance. We can’t even think of 30 different activities, let alone how to track them, so we are curious to see what they look like.
The band auto detects 6 different exercises. For water sports lovers – it is water-proof up to 50m, which also means it will withstand your typical bath, shower, pool party, etc.
When it comes to battery and charging, the Mi Band 6 sticks to an identical magnetic charger, which was great on the Mi Band 5. Xiaomi is advertising a 14-day battery life, which sounds impressive, given that the Mi Band 5 lasts “only” about 10 days on a single charge (with regular use).
Unfortunately, NFC wasn’t mentioned when it comes to the global version of the Mi Band 6. It is available only in China, but it also bumps up the price slightly – just so you don’t feel like you are losing out on too much.
The color selection is: black, blue, orange, olive, ivory and green.
The price is EUR 44.99, which translates into $53 and £39, although these prices are likely to vary a little bit, when the band actually hits the U.S. and British markets.
Although there’s no word on availability just yet, if you are looking to buy any of Xiaomi’s new products, including the Mi Band 6, the company is launching a Mi Fan Festival on April 6. They promised to bring a number of discounts to new and existing products, which means that’s when you’d be able to purchase most, if not all of them.
