While the Xiaomi 13 Ultra and Pad 6 received significant attention during the company’s launch event in China, many users were eagerly anticipating the details of the highly anticipated Mi Band 8. Fortunately, the Xiaomi Smart Band 8 was unveiled during the event, featuring a recognizable design but with several new ways to wear the wearable. Without further delay, let’s dive into everything you need to know about Xiaomi’s Mi Smart Band 8.
Similar to its previous models, the Mi Band 8 by Xiaomi has a standard variant priced at 249 Yuan (~Rs 2,975) while the NFC variant is available at 299 Yuan (~Rs 3,575) in China. However, there is an early bird sale going on, which offers a 10 Yuan and 20 Yuan discount on the standard and NFC variants, respectively.
At present, there is no information available on the global or India release of the Mi Band 8.
Specifications and Features of the Mi Band 8:
Design:
Now, let’s focus on the design of the Xiaomi Smart Band 8. Despite the fitness band market being dominated by budget smartwatches with numerous features, Xiaomi has stayed true to its roots with this release. The Mi Band 8 still retains its pill-shaped design but offers slight improvements to enhance customization.
One notable change in the Mi Band 8 is how the watch strap functions. Unlike previous models where the strap covered the pill-shaped device, the Mi Band 8 features a new quick-release mechanism that allows for easier swapping of bands. As a result, the pill-shaped device now has a metallic texture available in black (with a black silicon strap) and gold (with an ivory silicon strap), as the engulfing bands are no longer present.
Xiaomi is promoting the Smart Band 8 as a fashionable fitness tracker, with the option to wear it with various accessories such as a pendant or a bean-shaped activity pill that can be attached to your shoe laces. The company emphasized the versatility of this wearable and how it can be incorporated into different styles and lifestyles.
Display:
The Mi Band 8 features a 1.62-inch AMOLED touchscreen, just like its predecessor, the Mi Band 7. It has a refresh rate of 60Hz, up to 600 nits of peak brightness, and a pixel density of 326ppi. Xiaomi has also increased its focus on fashion and offers up to 200 watch faces for users to choose from. These watch faces can be changed through the Xiaomi Health app.
At the launch event, Xiaomi mentioned that some users had attempted to play games on the small display, which piqued the company’s interest. As a result, Mi Band 8 now includes special watch faces that allow users to play games such as 2048, ping-pong shooter, and trivia.
Fitness and Health Tracking:
The Mi Band 8 offers similar health and fitness tracking features as its predecessors. It supports over 150 sports modes, including walking, running, cycling, weightlifting, swimming, and more.
However, the new bean-shaped walking/running tracker provides a wealth of new functionalities to the wearable. It allows users to track professional data such as stride frequency, stride length, ground contact vacancy ratio, ground impact force, and more. Additionally, users can attach Mi Band 8 to boxing gloves and use them like joy-cons to practice movements with rhythm games.
Battery Life:
Xiaomi has claimed that the Mi Band 8 offers improved battery life compared to its predecessor. The wearable is said to last up to 16 days on a single charge in standard mode, with the always-on display (AOD) feature disabled. This is better than the 14-day battery life of the Mi Band 7. However, enabling the AOD feature will reduce the battery life to around 6 days on a single charge.
In addition, Xiaomi has stated that the Band 8 supports fast charging, allowing you to fully charge its 190mAh battery in just one hour. The device comes with a magnetic charger in the box, which is a great addition.
Although there were rumors, the Mi Band 8 Pro was not unveiled. What are your thoughts on the improvements made to the Smart Band 8? Are you interested in purchasing it? Please share your thoughts with us in the comments section below.