Is this the Xiaomi Mi Band 5? Leak shows similar design with new charger and watchface

The Mi Band series has sort of created a fan-following from fitness freaks. Every year, Xiaomi manages to update the band with modern features to make it smarter but manages to keep the price affordable. This year, it is expected to launch the Mi Band 5 as a successor to the Mi Band 4 and some massive upgrades are expected out-of-the-box. Thanks to a leak, we now have a fair idea of what we will see once it launches in a few months.

A tipster has shared photographs of a fitness tracker of what is alleged to be the Mi Band 5. The photo shows the tracker places in its charger, which is of a plug-in type rather than the USB plug-in found on other fitness trackers. The Mi Band 5 itself appears to look similar to the Mi Band 4, with a familiar small display that's accompanied by a touch button. The tracker appears to be slightly flatter than the Mi Band 4.

Since this is too early to talk about the Mi Band 5, we suggest you don't believe on this leak blindly. This could easily be a fake showing a Mi Band 4 with a new watch face. The Mi Band 5 has so far been known to come with a bigger 1.2-inch OLED display and a bigger battery. The device shown in the leak doesn't appear to have a bigger display.

That said, Xiaomi may choose not to change much with the Mi Band 5. Xiaomi recently launched the Redmi Band as a cheaper alternative to the Mi Band 4 and it carries off a simpler design with flat surfaces. Chances are that with the Mi Band 5, Xiaomi may retain most of the design and instead focus on improving the refinement as well as battery life, two things that matter to fitness tracker users.

You can also expect Xiaomi to include a SpO2 detection feature as part of the fitness activities on the Mi Band 5. A previous leak even suggested that the Mi Band 5 will gain support for Alexa, in which it can take voice commands via an onboard microphone but will return queries via text. The global variant is also expected to feature NFC connectivity this time.

The Mi Band 5, when it comes out, may eventually compete with the Realme Watch. The Realme Watch is essentially a fitness tracker with a big display instead of the usual smaller display found on fitness trackers.