Introduction

Xiaomi has quickly become one of the world’s leading technology companies known for making feature-rich devices at affordable prices. Founded in 2010, Xiaomi first gained popularity in its home country of China before expanding internationally.

The company is best known for its smartphones, but Xiaomi has also seen success with its range of wearables including fitness trackers and smartwatches. The Xiaomi Smart Band lineup has been particularly popular, offering comprehensive fitness tracking and smart features at a fraction of the cost of competitors.

The Xiaomi Smart Band 8 is the latest generation in the Smart Band range. As with previous models, it focuses on providing robust activity monitoring and health metrics in a minimalist and affordable package. The Smart Band series has always stood out for packing impressive specs into a small fitness tracker form factor.

With each new iteration, Xiaomi has added improvements and refinements to the Smart Band while keeping it competitively priced. The Smart Band 8 continues this trend with upgrades like a larger display, blood oxygen monitoring, and enhanced sleep tracking. Let’s take a closer look at what the Smart Band 8 has to offer.

Design

The Xiaomi Smart Band 8 features a sleek and streamlined design in a slim and lightweight body. It retains a similar overall look compared to past models in the Smart Band series.

The dimensions of the Smart Band 8 measure 47.4mm x 18.6mm x 12.7mm. It has a slim profile that makes it comfortable to wear on the wrist all day and night. The total weight is very light at just 14.5g, so you barely notice it on your wrist.

Xiaomi constructed the Smart Band 8 out of durable and high quality materials. The core unit utilizes a polycarbonate frame, while the straps are made from silicone rubber. This provides flexibility and stretch for a secure fit.

The silicone straps come in a few different color options, including black, blue, pink and green. With its compact build and variety of colors, the Smart Band 8 fits in nicely as an accessory alongside your other daily wear.

Display

The Xiaomi Smart Band 8 features a 1.56-inch AMOLED touch display. The screen size is 12% larger compared to the previous Smart Band 7 model.

It has a resolution of 152 x 486 pixels, which equates to a pixel density of 326 PPI. This allows for sharp, vivid image quality on the compact display.

In terms of brightness, the Smart Band 8 can reach up to 500 nits at maximum settings. This high level of brightness ensures excellent outdoor visibility and easy reading even in direct sunlight.

The AMOLED panel delivers true blacks, vivid colors, and high contrast. Content looks crisp and vibrant on the screen. The colors are also adjustable via the Mi Fitness app, so users can switch between cool, warm, or auto presets.

Overall, the Smart Band 8’s display marks a noticeable upgrade over its predecessor. The larger AMOLED screen with higher resolution and brightness takes the user experience up a notch while still maintaining a compact form factor.

Sensors

The Xiaomi Smart Band 8 includes several key sensors to track health metrics and fitness activities.

• Heart Rate Sensor: The Smart Band 8 has a built-in PPG optical heart rate sensor on the backside. This allows for continuous heart rate monitoring including resting heart rate as well as heart rate zones during workouts. Users can track their heart health over time through the Mi Fitness app.

• Blood Oxygen Sensor: There is also a new SpO2 sensor that can measure blood oxygen saturation levels. This helps give users a better picture of their overall respiratory health. Low oxygen levels may be indicative of health issues.

• Accelerometer: An accelerometer tracks motion data and can detect activities like walking, running, cycling and more. It enables activity tracking and workout detection on the band.

• Gyroscope: The Smart Band 8 also contains a gyroscope which can identify rotation motions of your wrist. This helps improve the accuracy of tracking different exercises and workout routines.

• Other Sensors: Additional sensors include a 3-axis vibrator and 3-axis magnetometer to enable smart notifications and compass directions. The band is also waterproof up to 5ATM thanks to waterproof sensors.

Overall, the comprehensive array of sensors packed into the slim Smart Band 8 allows it to provide detailed fitness and health metrics to help users better understand their wellbeing and reach their goals. The sensor technology enables powerful insight into daily activities, sleep, stress, heart health, blood oxygen levels and more.

Features

The Xiaomi Smart Band 8 comes packed with useful features to help you monitor your health and fitness. Here are some of the key features:

Step Tracking

The Smart Band 8 uses advanced sensors and algorithms to accurately track your daily steps, distance traveled, and calories burned. It provides insights into your daily activity levels and encourages you to stay active.

Sleep Tracking

It continuously monitors your sleep stages (light, deep, REM sleep) and overall sleep quality each night. You can better understand your sleep patterns and make improvements.

Workout Modes

The band includes 120+ workout modes to cover most exercises and activities like walking, running, cycling, swimming, and more. It records workout duration, calories burned, heart rate, and other workout stats to help you achieve your fitness goals.

Notifications

The Smart Band allows you to get app notifications from your smartphone right on your wrist so you can stay updated without constantly checking your phone. It supports call, text, calendar and app notifications from apps like Facebook, WhatsApp, Instagram, etc.

Battery Life

The Xiaomi Smart Band 8 packs a 235 mAh battery, which is a nice upgrade over the previous generation’s 200 mAh capacity. Xiaomi claims the larger battery provides up to 20 days of usage on a single charge. However, real-world battery life will vary considerably depending on usage.

With typical daily use involving wearing the band all day for activity tracking, sleep tracking at night, and occasional use of workout modes and other features, most users can expect around 7-10 days between charges. Heavy users utilizing GPS and workout modes more frequently may need to charge every 5 days or so.

Charging the Smart Band 8 is handled via a new magnetic charger that clasps onto the back of the tracker. It takes around 1.5 hours to fully recharge the band from empty to 100%. Quick charging for around 20 minutes before bed can easily top up the battery sufficiently for overnight sleep tracking.

The increased battery capacity combined with the faster magnetic charging makes power management less of a chore compared to earlier Xiaomi bands. Most users should have no problem maintaining enough juice for all-day and overnight monitoring between weekly charges. Battery life is certainly one of the biggest assets of the Smart Band 8.

Software

The Xiaomi Smart Band 8 connects to Android and iOS devices through the Mi Fitness app. The app lets you view detailed activity tracking stats, including steps taken, distance covered, calories burned, heart rate, sleep tracking, and more.

Some key features of the Mi Fitness app include:

• Customizable watch faces – The app offers over 100 different watch faces to personalize the display on your Smart Band 8. Both analog and digital options are available.

• Notifications – Get call, text, app notifications, and calendar alerts mirrored directly to your Smart Band 8. The band vibrates to alert you when notifications come in.

• Remote shutter – Use the Smart Band 8 as a remote shutter to trigger your smartphone camera. Helpful for taking group shots where you need to be in the frame.

• Find device – Use the app to make your Smart Band 8 vibrate when you misplace it nearby.

• Weather updates – Check current weather and forecasts directly on the Smart Band 8.

• Stopwatch & Timer – Use these capabilities directly through the app.

• Activity goals – Set daily goals for steps, distance, calories burned etc and monitor your progress.

Overall, the Mi Fitness app provides robust companion functionality to augment the hardware capabilities of the Smart Band 8. The app is free and available on both Android and iOS.

Price & Release Date

The Xiaomi Smart Band 8 is expected to be priced between $60-$100 USD, which is consistent with Xiaomi’s strategy of offering affordable fitness trackers packed with features. While an official release date has not been announced yet, rumors suggest the Smart Band 8 will be unveiled in Q3 2023.

Based on Xiaomi’s previous launch timelines, we can expect the Smart Band 8 to become available 1-2 months after its official announcement. The Smart Band 7 was unveiled in May 2022 and released in June 2022, so a similar timeline would peg the Smart Band 8 release between July-September 2023.

Initial launch markets will likely include China and India, as Xiaomi typically prioritizes its home market and other Asian countries first. Wider global availability usually follows 1-2 months later.

Pricing may vary slightly depending on specific configurations and local markets. However, Xiaomi is known for maintaining consistent and competitive pricing worldwide. Users can expect the core Smart Band 8 models to retail between $60-100 in most countries.

With its expected pricing, the Xiaomi Smart Band 8 will face competition from trackers like the Amazfit Band 7 ($50-70) and Huawei Band 7 ($70-90) when it hits the market in 2023. But Xiaomi’s excellent software support and integrated experience within its ecosystem remains unmatched. For the expected feature set based on leaks and rumors, the Xiaomi Smart Band 8 looks to be another strong value fitness band offering when it becomes available.

Comparison to Other Models

The Xiaomi Smart Band 8 improves upon its predecessor, the Xiaomi Smart Band 7, in several key ways. The Smart Band 8 has a larger 1.8″ AMOLED display compared to the 1.62″ AMOLED display on the Smart Band 7. This results in more screen real estate and improved visibility.

The Smart Band 8 is equipped with over 110 sports modes versus 120 sports modes on the Smart Band 7. However, the Band 8 does have some new workout types like Kickboxing, Pilates, and Street Dance. The Smart Band 8 also has a longer battery life of up to 15 days versus 12 days on the Smart Band 7.

Compared to other fitness bands like the Fitbit Charge 5 and Samsung Galaxy Fit2, the Xiaomi Smart Band 8 holds its own. It matches the Fitbit in terms of battery life and activity tracking capabilities. It also costs much less than the Fitbit and Samsung models. The Smart Band 8 has a thinner and sleeker design than the Fitbit Charge 5. Overall, the Smart Band 8 provides great value for money with its feature set and affordable price point.

Verdict

The Xiaomi Smart Band 8 is a solid entry in Xiaomi’s lineup of fitness trackers. It builds upon previous versions with a larger display, longer battery life, and more workout tracking modes.

The larger 1.8″ AMOLED display is bright and vibrant, making it easier to view stats and notifications. The battery life has been extended to around 14 days, reducing the need for frequent charging. There are over 120 workout modes to choose from, including swimming and cycling.

On the downside, the Smart Band 8 lacks built-in GPS, which would allow for more accurate pace and distance tracking during outdoor workouts. The band is also not compatible with iOS devices. Those with iPhones will need to look at other fitness tracker options.

Overall, the Xiaomi Smart Band 8 is an excellent choice for Android users wanting an affordable fitness tracker with solid daily activity and workout tracking. The bright AMOLED display and 2 week battery life are standout features. Lack of onboard GPS prevents it from being ideal for serious runners and cyclists. But for the price, the Smart Band 8 offers strong value and performance.