Xiaomi Smart Band 9 review: the cheapest fitness tracker you should consider buying

Just for illustration its predecessors, nan Xiaomi Smart Band 9 distinguishes itself pinch its competitively debased price. But it's not inexpensive tat. It features a soft personification interface, reliable wellness tracking, and a bright, bold display. Issues and unsmooth edges beryllium but they're easy to place fixed nan debased value of nan device.

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Xiaomi Smart Band 9: One-minute review

Not galore tech brands are arsenic prolific successful making cheap fittingness trackers arsenic Chinese elephantine Xiaomi; nan marque trim its teeth connected making inexpensive alternatives to top-end smartphones, tablets, and smartwatches, and it’s nan aforesaid pinch gadgets for illustration nan caller Xiaomi Smart Band 9.

The 2nd of its fund fittingness gadgets released successful nan West successful 2024 aft nan Smart Band 8 Pro, nan Smart Band 9 doesn’t compete pinch nan giants of nan wearable world successful position of specs aliases features. The Xiaomi won’t spell head-to-head pinch your Apple Watches, Garmins, or Fitbits in position of wellness monitoring.

Instead, nan Xiaomi Smart Band 9 offers a useful halfway of features astatine an impressively debased price. It’s nan cheapest fittingness locator that I could find sold online from a marque I’d ever heard of, and it dramatically undercuts immoderate big-name rivals specified arsenic Fitbit.

These halfway features see slumber tracking, measurement counting, bosom complaint monitoring, and calorie counting; move connected definite sports modes and you get a batch more. The results are reasonably meticulous too, though it’s not pinpoint precision, and location is nary GPS offered.

You tin besides usage nan Xiaomi Smart Band 9 arsenic a smartwatch-lite, pinch notification handling, euphony control, and upwind reports. A fewer unsmooth edges successful this area bespeak nan price: notifications could beryllium buggy, first pairing was tricky, and raise-to-wake didn’t ever activity arsenic intended. But my annoyance would deterioration disconnected erstwhile I remembered nan price, and astir of nan clip it worked fine.

As affordable fittingness trackers go, this is 1 of nan champion connected nan marketplace correct now, but it’d beryllium champion enjoyed by group who haven’t tested others. It’s a awesome entry-level action for group who are caller to nan wellness monitoring crippled and want to trial retired a gadget to do so, without breaking nan bank.

Xiaomi Smart Band 9: Specifications

Xiaomi Smart Band 9: Price and availability

• On waste now
• Goes for $60 / £34.99 / AU$79.99
• Undercuts astir rivals but not nan post-discount Band 8 Pro

The Xiaomi Smart Band 9 was released successful precocious September 2024 alongside a fewer different gadgets from nan company, which included a redesigned Xiaomi Watch 2 and nan Xiaomi Buds 5.

You tin prime up nan locator for $60 / £34.99 / AU$79.99, truthful this falls decidedly into nan catchment area for our database of nan best inexpensive fittingness trackers. The costs represents a flimsy value hike of $10 successful nan US, though successful nan UK and US, it hasn’t changed successful price.

At that value nan Smart Band 9 easy undercuts our best-in-class Fitbit Inspire 3 arsenic good arsenic different rivals for illustration nan Huawei Band 9, Samsung Galaxy Fit 3, Honor Band 9, and Amazfit Bip 3 Pro. If you’re looking for an affordable wearable from a respected tech company, this is 1 of nan cheapest you’ll find earlier you task onto nan acheronian broadside of Amazon.

The only point it doesn’t undercut is its predecessor, nan Xiaomi Smart Band 8 Pro. That launched earlier successful 2024 for $99 / £60 / AU$95 but only six months connected from its release, I’ve recovered it from aggregate retailers astatine half its motorboat price. This chunky fittingness locator is nan Band 9’s biggest rival, and I’ll look much astatine this competitor correct astatine nan bottommost of this review.

• Value score: 4.5/5

Xiaomi Smart Band 9: Design

• By-the-numbers fittingness tracker
• Bright 1.62-inch AMOLED screen
• Band is TPU but different options connected sale

Experienced fittingness locator customers will find nary surprises successful nan Xiaomi Smart Band 9.

The surface is simply a 1.62-inch AMOLED sheet pinch a 192 x 490 resolution, 60Hz refresh rate, and 1200 nits max brightness. This second is simply a large upgrade complete past models and it makes it easier to spot nan surface successful nonstop sunlight. Automatic brightness has besides seen an upgrade and I ne'er recovered immoderate issues pinch its performance, which is nan champion testament to its efficacy.

I’ve antecedently had issues pinch Xiaomi bands (and different fittingness trackers) struggling to prime up touch, particularly if my hands were wet, but that wasn’t nan lawsuit for nan 9th-gen model. I recovered nan surface wonderfully convenient.

Some whitethorn find nan deficiency of immoderate beingness buttons a small confusing, but it’s easy to get utilized to a solely gesture-based navigation system.

The band’s assemblage measures 46.53 x 21.63 x 10.95 mm and weighs 15.8g, and it’s made of aluminum, dissimilar immoderate past models. This makes it consciousness bully and sturdy, and its 5ATM h2o guidance ensures it won’t get damaged from submersion successful water. It’s besides 1 of nan smaller fittingness trackers I’ve tested, which will beryllium bully news for group who don’t for illustration bulky wearables.

A fewer different colour options for nan Smart Band 9 are going connected waste depending connected nan region – black, silver, ray blue, roseate and grey options are each disposable pinch straps that match.

The set Xiaomi sent maine had its default TPU strap which you tin spot successful nan images, arsenic good arsenic a magnetic loop one. The erstwhile was a small fiddly to usage erstwhile I was putting nan watch on, but I recovered nan second would slow gaffe during use, leaving maine pinch a somewhat looser band. As a result, I ended up utilizing nan default set astir – Xiaomi launched nan Smart Band 9 pinch a fewer different straps you tin bargain online, but I only tested these two.

• Design score: 4.5/5

Xiaomi Smart Band 9: Performance

• 21-day artillery life
• No GPS but bosom complaint and different trackers
• 155 fittingness modes, varying successful usefulness

According to Xiaomi, nan artillery life of nan Smart Band 9 is 21 days – successful my acquisition that’s almost accurate, arsenic I reached 20, but pinch an above-average magnitude of workout search during that clip successful bid to trial nan watch (including an 8-hour agelong tally astatine 1 point, which hardly dented nan artillery bar).

That’s a competitory artillery life, pinch astir rivals tapping retired astatine 2 weeks aliases 14 days, truthful if you get artillery worry this is the fitness locator to get.

Looking astatine nan fittingness performance, arsenic you tin ideate for nan value you’re not getting nan astir robust aliases razor-accurate search of each time, but I didn’t find it was ever measurement out.

GPS search is done utilizing connected GPS to your smartphone, truthful you can’t ditch your mobile erstwhile going for a tally aliases walk, and accuracy won’t needfully beryllium rather arsenic precocious arsenic pinch a GPS watch. However, it’s not wildly inaccurate either – aft an full marathon I was only respective 100 meters disconnected my companions’ much meticulous devices.

That taxable of ‘in nan correct ballpark’ is reflected successful nan watch’s different search elements too. Heart rate, measurement count, and moving minutes each felt reasonably correct erstwhile compared to different devices. That wasn’t arsenic existent for slumber tracking, which sometimes errantly thought I was dormant erstwhile I was reference successful bed. However its breakdown of slumber stages was useful, and it’s not thing you tin expect successful each fund fittingness trackers.

There are 155 fittingness search modes by my count, which scope successful usefulness. Some, for illustration running, indoor rowing, and swimming, supply useful accusation circumstantial to nan activity, but astir purely measurement time, calories burned, and bosom rate. I won’t sound that though arsenic I recovered nan first and past useful during gym sessions to abstraction my sets out.

Digging heavy into nan menus you tin find immoderate beautiful overseas workout modes for illustration car racing, chess, and wide gymnastics, but again these each conscionable measurement bosom complaint and time.

I’d urge nan watch astir of each for runners, not only because it provides you pinch beautiful in-depth accusation astir your activity, but because of various ‘running courses’ which are fundamentally interval training sessions. The watch will counsel you erstwhile to tally and astatine what speeds, which tin beryllium useful for group trying to build up their cardio.

Xiaomi besides charts a ‘Vitality score’ which is simply a play points strategy to floor plan whether you’re doing capable workout per week. It only seems to show logged activities though, truthful if you locomotion for 20,000 steps but haven't group it up arsenic an activity to measure, that’s nil points for you!

• Performance score: 3.5/5

Xiaomi Smart Band 9: Features

• Mi Fitness app utilized connected phone
• Music playback, notification handling and more
• Some bugs pinch app and watch

You usage nan Xiaomi Mi Smart Band 9 alongside nan company’s smartphone app, called Mi Fitness. Pairing nan set and nan telephone was beautiful fiddly, a truth I thought could beryllium down to my ain ineptitude until I realized that our Xiaomi Smart Band 8 Pro reviewer had nan aforesaid issues pinch that device, which you tin publication astir here.

Not only is pairing a pain, but immoderate parts of nan Mi Fitness app weren’t successful English, arsenic you tin spot from nan images attached to this review. Otherwise, it’s a useful spot to cod each your fittingness data, including much than you tin find connected nan watch itself.

You tin besides usage it to alteration watch faces, and Xiaomi’s done a awesome occupation astatine creating immoderate good-looking faces that collate each your information into 1 screen. I was taken pinch nan 1 you tin spot maine utilizing successful nan reappraisal images – it’s easy to quickly scan for information.

Using your phone, you tin group up immoderate non-fitness features of nan telephone which are beautiful useful. You tin power euphony playback from your wrist (well, skip and region tracks arsenic good arsenic alteration nan volume, but you can’t hunt done Spotify for nan cleanable moving track). You tin move connected an alert connected your telephone if you’ve mislaid it, activate Do Not Disturb from your wrist, and cheque nan weather.

Mi Fitness' wellness and wearables pages.(Image credit: Future)

Mi Fitness' sleep, bosom complaint and workout pages.(Image credit: Future)

Mi Fitness' moving records.(Image credit: Future)

A characteristic that should beryllium useful is notification alerts, truthful your wrist will buzz if your telephone gets a notification. It’s useful if you get an important email aliases matter but nan set wasn’t ever awesome astatine handling them. Sometimes it’d many times springiness maine alerts for persistent notifications (ie notifications astir nan weather, aliases WhatsApp telling maine it was checking for caller messages) aliases nonstop maine individual notifications for caller texts successful engaged group messages, alternatively of bundling them together arsenic immoderate different fittingness trackers do.

My astir annoying incident pinch notifications was astatine 6 americium 1 morning. The fittingness locator had apparently decided I was awake, and truthful was capable to return incoming alerts – I wasn’t, but its changeless buzzing pinch caller notifications changed that soon enough! Perhaps this is much an rumor pinch nan slumber search than nan notification system, but it fits successful here.

Another rumor I recovered is that nan watch’s raise-to-wake (which turns connected nan show erstwhile you move it to look you) only worked astir half nan time. I often had to pat nan show to spot nan time.

These gripes whitethorn sound annoying, but I’ve been testing inexpensive fittingness trackers for years, and wide nan acquisition of utilizing nan Smart Band 9 was a batch smoother than I’m utilized to – it’s conscionable not perfect.

• Performance score: 3.5/5

Xiaomi Smart Band 9: Scorecard

Xiaomi Smart Band 9: Should I buy?

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