The Xiaomi Mi Band 2 was considered as one of the best selling wearables around. It delivers a straightforward design, features, and long battery life — all of the key components of a great fitness band. And with the Mi Band 3, the company will try to replicate its predecessor’s success.
The Xiaomi Mi Band 3 has a lot of similarities with the Mi Band 2. This thing still has the generic fitness band look, although the screen looks a bit more protruded — which is actually kind of worrying as it may now be more prone to scratches.
The new model also retains the heart-rate monitor and the slew of activity tracking features. What Xiaomi upgraded on this new model is its screen. It now has a slightly bigger 0.79-inch OLED screen that has a capacitive button on the bottom has a more consistent design to the actual screen.
Having a bigger screen also means that more information can be displayed. The Mi Band 3 now allows the users to answer calls as well.
The Xiaomi Mi Band 3 also has a 110mAh battery, which is a 50% improvement from the previous iteration. Xiaomi promises a 20-day battery life.
I own a Mi Band 2 myself, and it lasts me up to 15 days before needing to recharge.
Another thing that’s new here is the NFC chip built-in which means you can now use the Mi Band for wireless payment. But since not a lot of vendors support it especially here in the Philippines, I’m not sure if people are actually glad of this new addition.
Other highlights of the Xiaomi Mi Band 3 is its Bluetooth 4.2 connectivity — a minor step up from the Bluetooth 4.0 of the original model. The waterproofing has also been upgraded. It can now withstand being submerged in water by up to 50-meters deep.
The Mi Band 3 with NFC will retail for a price of CNY199 (~Php1,600). But if you want the standard model, you can get the non-NFC version for CNY169 (~Php1,400).