It was the Xiaomi’s own Mi Band that practically kick-started the tracker category in India. Now, the new Redmi Smart Band Pro takes up where the Mi Band 6 left off, stepping into smartwatch territory with its larger display and coming in at just Rs 3,999.
Bright sight: The Redmi Smart Band Pro (they call it a SportsWatch and we can indulge it by calling it the same) has a rectangular 1.47-inch AMOLED display larger and brighter than typical fitness bands. It’s very bright even at its lowest level and you should use the settings to customise specially for sleep time because a wrist-raise will wake the display up. It looks great though and has really strong colours and blacks. It’s a touch screen, of course, but it’s not like it’s very responsive. Often I’ve had to give it repeated whacks to get it to react. Once it does, it moves along fine and you can navigate with swipes and taps. There isn’t a single button on this gadget.
Top vitals: Look for the Xiaomi Wear app to connect your band and see your stats. You’ll need your Xiaomi ID to log in. The app is a simple one, quite like the band itself. Information is divided into current status, which is where you’ll see your vitals and sleep, and then there’s workout data. The only other section is your profile.
The vitals tracked include heart rate (resting and minimum, maximum averages) for the day, week and month. You can set heart rate alerts. You can keep glancing at heart rate while working out in case you want to stay ‘in the zone,’ for which the band also gives you some nudges. You definitely need to take control of settings to get the most out of it.
Blood oxygen level, V02 Max, menstrual cycles (manual entry) standing instances (with nudges) are also covered. Sleep is also tracked. For some reason, Xiaomi also opted to do some stress tracking on this band but it’s something I would personally warn against bothering with. First of all, it only uses heart rate and oxygen level to measure stress whereas there are so many more important parameters at play. Secondly, people tend to take one look at how stressed a device say they are to proceed to get more stressed than ever.
This band tracks a seemingly impossible number of workouts. Anything you can dream up from swimming (the device is waterproof) to belly dancing, treadmilling to jumping rope will be tracked. It’s still based on the same sensors and tech so you can call your workout what you like. It’s not as if the band actually knows the nuances between one type of exercise and another. That’s how it is in my opinion. Whatever it is though, it does keep you motivated and going as you make exercise a bigger part of your life.
The battery can last over a week. How much more depends on what you do on it. There’s proprietary magnetic charger that it works with. There’s only one strap - black - which is quite a pity.
The band is connected to your phone so it will buzz when you have a phone call. You can reject it or look for your phone and receive the call. This is overall a nice affordable device that tracks the most important things broadly with satisfactory accuracy. It’s an option for those who don’t want to spend on an expensive smartwatch.