Xiaomi Unveals New Fitness Tracker, The Mi Band 2

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Xiaomi, the Chinese electronics company best known for its smartphones, has unveiled its brand new wearable fitness tracker, the Mi Band 2.

Following in the footsteps of its predecessors, the Mi Band 2 features a minimalist design, featuring a thin silicone wristband and an oval module on the underside. The Mi Band 2 adds a .42-inch OLED display this time, allowing users to easily read fitness information without having to plug it in to a computer.

Xiaomi Mi Band 2’s new Features

The band keeps track of basic movements, monitors heart rate, measures sleep, and includes an ADI accelerometer. The band is also entirely waterproof, which adds a level of safety to those who like to exercise while wearing the fitness tracker. The new screen, which is paired with a tiny button for navigation, displays the time, heart rate, and step count.

Additionally, the wearable includes a feature that reminds you to move about if you have been stationary too long, something clearly borrowed from the Apple Watch. If you pair a Xiaomi phone with the Mi Band 2 through Bluetooth, it allows access to the phone without a passcode.

The device has a battery life of about 20 hours, down from the 30-hour charge of its predecessors, mostly due to the addition of the OLED screen.

The addition of the screen has forced Xiaomi to increase the price of its device to around $23, about $7 more expensive than its predecessor. This is, however, still extremely competitive, considering the price of the device’s competitors.

Made in China, Stays in China

While you probably won’t be seeing one of these on people’s wrists anytime soon, that doesn’t mean that they aren’t popular. Xiaomi has recently outed Apple as the world’s second-largest wearables manufacturer, behind Fitbit.

Xiaomi, which has released two wearable devices previous to the Mi Band 2, has yet to break out of the Chinese market. According to the market research firm IDC, “Expanding beyond its home turf will continue to be its largest hurdle.”

The device, which is available in black, green, blue, and orange, goes on sale June 7th in China. Currently there is no word on whether it will make it available to overseas vendors in the future.

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