Redmi Smart Band review: Your value-for-money fitness companion

Redmi Smart Band highlights:-

Price: Rs 1,599

Specs: 1.08-inch colour LCD, 120 x 220 resolution, 5 ATM water-resistant, 24x7 heart rate monitoring, workout tracking, sleep tracking, 130mAh battery, USB charging, 13 grams, compatible with iOS 9.0, Android 4.4, and upward

What's in the box: Redmi Smart tracker, silicon strap, documentation

Confined at home, staying fit can be challenging. Not if there is a companion to help. Redmi Smart Band, with its simple design, uncomplicated user interface, nifty fitness tracking, and user-friendly app, can be the one.

Unlike smartwatches, smart bands are rather sleek with a small display. The Redmi Smart Band has a straight-line designed tracker with a decent-sized, bright screen accompanied by a silicon band. Divided into two, the bottom part of the screen acts as a back button whereas the top can be used for swipes and selection. The USB-A at one end of the tracker makes it easy to charge - plug it into the adapter or a power bank. A two-hour charge lasted me close to ten days of continuous usage.

But you cannot just unbox the band and start using it. Pairing and setting it up with the Xiaomi Wear app does take a few minutes. Given how fitted the charging port is in the band, it's a good idea to fully charge it before you start using it. Also, locking the strap is a task but this also prevents it from accidentally unlocking.

Also Read: Google Pixel 4a review: A compact smartphone best as a secondary device

For the price, the Redmi Smart Band gets the basics right. With an average of close to 11,000 steps throughout the day, step tracking is accurate.

There were days when looking at the band would motivate you to meet the target by walking a few hundred steps more. Workout tracking is restricted though - outdoor running, cycling, walking, treadmill, and freestyle.

Confined to indoors (thanks to COVID-19), I could only test walking and freestyle. While the band records the workout session independently, it's recommended to be connected to the app.

Heath rate monitoring is impressive, came very close to measurements on the Apple Watch. Sleep tracking is something most of the bands fail at, which Redmi Smart Band has mastered. When asleep, it automatically activates sleep tracking. The chart within the app neatly bifurcates deep sleep, light sleep, and active time. On average, of the 6-hour sleep, close to two hours were deep sleep with light sleep ranging between 3.5 to 4 hours and active time of 5 minutes.

There's more to the band. Idle alert ensures activity every hour. If inactive for one hour, the band starts to vibrate. As it can mirror notifications for messages, calls, and more (need the phone to respond), DND comes in handy to mute notifications for the desired time.

Also Read: Xiaomi Mi Band 4 available on Amazon India, Mi stores; check out features, price

Eliminating the need to tap the screen, I preferred having 'raise to wake' scheduled between 6 AM to 12 PM. But for all this and more, the band is dependent on the well-designed Xiaomi Wear app.

Divided into three, this nifty app keeps everything in place. While the 'devices' tab comes in handy to tweak the band settings including mirroring notifications, DND, alarms, and more, the 'data' tab has got the stats.

Displaying my step count, average heart rate, standing, and sleep data. 'Profile' tab contains data such as height, weight, and more. It was fun changing the band's display from a wide range, with my favourite being blue and red that displayed step count along with heart rate, date and time.

This is a no-frills fitness band that has got the basics right. For Rs 1,599, this will help you stay fit.