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I have been exercising regularly during this pandemic. Honestly, that’s the only thing I’ve been regular at and I haven’t needed an app or a fitness band to remind me to exercise.
However, since I am home all the time, I am not marking as many steps. And since I started wearing Xioami’s Redmi band, I realized that fact.
Walking is a basic physical condition, and if you are someone looking to start the fitness journey on a budget the rescue of a king, this ₹ 1,599 ($ 22) band is a great start.
It has a heart rate sensor, can act as your notification mirror, and has a 14-hour battery life. I’ve been using it for the past few days, and if you want to get minimal exercise, this is a great buy.
Design and features
The Redmi band has a 1.08-inch rectangular screen with touch controls. The panel is not as sensitive as smartphones; You will have to put a little more pressure to work through the options smoothly. And you’ll get used to it in a day or two.
At first, it looked thick but it sat comfortably on my wrist, and I kept wearing it throughout the day. However, I will not use it overnight just to track sleep in this humid Delhi climate. Fortunately, the band is waterproof, so you can wear it while showering or in the rain.
To charge the band, you can remove the straps and connect it directly to a USB slot. This is convenient because you can charge it through your laptop if you are on the go. I’ve been using the band for more than four days with 47% charge remaining; I started with a 65% charge. Regardless, I wouldn’t worry too much about battery life.
What can you use it for?
The watch doesn’t have many “smart” features, but it can mirror your phone’s notifications. Unfortunately, there is no way you can control whether you want to receive notifications from specific apps. Since it has no speaker or microphone, you can receive calls, but you can mute or reject calls. I think it is useful enough to quickly check if I need to accept a call or not.
The band follows your steps quite accurately if you are walking. If you’re doing a quick experience, like foot fires, you may miss a step or two, but it’s not a big deal.
There are a limited number of defined workouts baddies can track: outdoor running, treadmill, cycling, outdoor walking, and freestyle. If you’re doing any of these as a beginner or just to keep track of your daily steps, that’s fine. But if you’re doing a serious running workout or doing high intensity workouts, you might want to get a tracker that’s more in tune with tracking these workouts.
The Redmi band also allows you to control the music on your phone, however the menu is buried under a couple of layers, and that’s annoying. Also, there is no magnification function to wake up, so if you need to check the time or the step count, you will need to touch the screen.
For whom it is
The Redmi band for ₹ 1,599 ($ 22) can be an impulse purchase or a nice gift for someone’s fitness journey. You can’t really expect the inexpensive device to meticulously track your every move. But it can help you stay active and get notifications on your wrist without spending a lot of money.
Xiaomi’s new band will go toe-to-toe with the ₹ 1,299 ($ 18) Realme band with a 0.96-inch screen, nine training modes, and a heart rate monitor. If you want to splurge a bit more, you can also buy Xiaomi’s Mi Band 4 at ₹ 2,299 ($ 31).
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Posted on Sep 9, 2020 – 03:42 UTC
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