Mi Band 5 First Impressions: Better Display, New Health Features & More Functional Design

| Updated: Thursday, October 1, 2020, 11:22 [IST]

Xiaomi has expanded its product portfolio in India by introducing six new products at its Smarter Living 2021 launch event. The list of products includes the new Mi Band 5, Mi Smart LED Bulb (White), Mi Automatic Soap Dispenser, Mi Athleisure Shoes, and two entirely new products for the Indian consumers- Mi Watch Revolve and the Google Assistant-backed Mi Smart Speaker.

The aforementioned products have been launched at very aggressive prices, especially the Mi Smart Speaker which has an introductory price of just Rs. 3,499. We will talk more about the Mi Smart Speaker and the new smartwatch in the coming days but today we are taking a closer look at the new Mi Band 5.

Priced at Rs. 2,499, the successor to the Mi Band 4 brings a bigger and brighter AMOLED display, new charging setup, and tons of new health-related features to help you lead a healthy lifestyle. Can this be your first budget fitness tracker? Let's find out.

The Mi Band 5 is reminiscent of its predecessor. It has the same sporty look and feel but flaunts a bigger and brighter display and a bit more functional design. The Mi Band 5 sports a 1.1-inch 126 x 294 resolution AMOLED touchscreen which gets fairly bright at 450 nits peak brightness. This is an excellent touchscreen at this price for a budget fitness tracker. The colors look vibrant and text is easily readable even in bright sunlight, thanks to better screen real estate and bumped up the brightness.

The most noticeable and welcome change is the new charging setup which makes the design much practical for daily routine. The Mi Band 5 comes equipped with a hassle-free magnetic charging setup which means you are no more required to pull the capsule out from the silicon straps to refuel the battery. The bundled magnetic charger plugs directly into the bottom of the capsule, just like the premium Samsung Galaxy Fit-series health bands.

The Mi Band 5 looks premium on the wrist and has a very sturdy design. Similar to the Mi Band 4, the new fitness tracker has 5ATM waterproof rating (50 m water resistance) which means you can wear it while swimming without worrying about any performance issues. Xiaomi has also added some new colors to straps. The Mi Band 5 will be available in 5 strap color options- Black, Teal, Purple, Navy Blue and Orange.

Mi Band 5 Design And Display

Mi Band 5 Health And Fitness Features

Despite being a budget fitness tracker, the Mi Band 5 comes loaded with sensors and health-centric features to help you keep up with your daily fitness regimes. The fitness tracker has 11 professional sports modes covering both indoor and outdoor activities such as walking, running, rowing machine, jump rope, new Yoga tracking mode among others. The band has a heart-rate monitor to offer 24-hour continuous heart rate and sleep monitoring. I am quite excited to test the performance of new sensors as Xiaomi says these monitors offer better response due to the improved PPG biosensors.

Also, the Mi Band 5 can keep a check on your stress levels by giving alerts and suggestions for relaxation. Xiaomi has also added an all-new women's health tracking setup that records the menstrual cycle (Ovulation phases) and provides timely reminders.

Mi Band 5 Specifications, Features And Claimed Battery Life

The Mi Band 5 has 16GB internal memory and 512KB RAM. It uses Bluetooth 5.0 to connect to smartphones running Android 5.0 & above and iOS 10.0 & above. Other notable features include- customized watch faces, music and camera control, Find mobile phone, mute mobile phone (only for the android system), Notifications support (Call, message, app, calendar, etc.), weather forecast, timer, alarm, and charging status.

As far as battery life is concerned, the fitness band is powered by a 125 mAh battery cell that is claimed to offer 2-weeks battery life in normal mode and 3-weeks battery life with power-saving mode enabled. The company mentions that the magnetic charger takes around 2-hours to refuel the 125 mAh battery cell which seems a bit too long for such a tiny battery unit. We will test the company's claims on battery life in our comprehensive review of the band.

Should You Buy The New Mi Band 5?

Priced at Rs. 2,499, the Mi Band 5 seems like the ideal budget fitness band, both for new users and Mi Band 4 users if they are looking for an upgrade. The new band has a bigger and brighter full touchscreen, same sturdy but more functional design, thanks to the new magnetic charging setup. Besides, it comes loaded with useful new fitness features. We will spend some more time testing the Mi Band 5 to determine its real-life performance as an everyday fitness band.