Xiaomi Mi Band 7 review - a bit cheesy, but still the best
The uncrowned king of cheap smart bracelets has arrived.
I'll be honest, the new Mi Band series that comes out every year doesn't move me a bit anymore. Well, not because it got worse or because there was anything wrong with it. We simply get so few innovations from one year to the next, that I can't write much else besides the fact that it's really good again.
The last time the change from three to four series was really exciting, then the monochrome display was replaced by the color one, then the new menu arrived, then the Mi Band became really easy to use.
Of course, even before that, and since then, we get something new every year, but they are not very spectacular. Nothing changes from the outside either, Xiaomi found the ideal form many years ago, which would be a shame to change. It's not worth increasing the size either, because it takes away the very comfort that I like, so the display size cannot change significantly either.
Despite all that, now with the arrival of version seven, I decided to do a presentation again, because I missed version six. So I became curious as to what I would get after two years. You can read about this in the article below.
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Packaging, accessories and exterior
The box is a cool, shelf-worthy item. It's not very big, so I can't really get involved in wasting unnecessary paper. The cardboard is black, on the front is a picture of the bracelet with the default dial, on the back there is some information in different languages, such as water resistance, charging voltage and the like.
Let's unpack it quickly!
The inside of the box shows the usual thoughtfulness of Xiaomis that have been used for many years. There are not many accessories, we only find a description and a charging cable, and of course the bracelet in the usual antistatic bag.
Regarding the accessories, the only thing worth mentioning is that the magnetic charger has become usable in size and shape over the years. The cable could be a little longer.
The bracelet is bone on the outside like its predecessors. The size has changed minimally over the years, which was necessary because the color display required a slightly larger battery. Apart from that, essentially everything has remained unchanged, or if there has been a change, the dog does not notice it.
As I wrote above, perfect is difficult to improve. Although the display is narrow, incoming messages are sometimes difficult to read, too few characters fit in one line, so longer texts are very fragmented. This never bothered me, because mostly I only looked at the incoming message signal on the bracelet, I read the message itself on the phone.
If it's a message, then perhaps it's natural that even though a Hungarian user interface is not available on the bracelet, the accented characters of incoming messages are displayed correctly. Of course, this is nothing new either, looking back on it now, the third version was already like this. I don't remember the one before that.
The physical display is 1,62 inches, the resolution is 192 x 490 pixels, needless to say that so many pixels gives a sharp image on such a small panel. The brightness is also excellent, so much so that an automatic setting is really needed, because the maximum brightness for daytime and outdoor use is already blinding in dim light. It is a bit fiddly to adjust the brightness by hand, a sensor could have been installed for this purpose.
The display itself is touch-sensitive anyway, and since version five there is a regular scrollable menu where you can select applications (e.g. blood oxygen level measurement). There is also a settings menu and everything else we are used to. Of course, it also vibrates when a message is received, the vibration can be set in the phone application.
The comfort has always been outstanding, fortunately this has not changed now either. About the structure of a few grams approx. After 20 minutes, you almost forget about it, so much so that you don't feel that it's on your wrist. The silicone of the strap is first-class, not too soft, just so that it feels nice to the touch while wearing it.
The sensors work well in it, so you don't have to pull it tight on your wrist. The metal rubber at the end of the tape is a bit difficult to snap into the correct hole, but at least this way it is guaranteed not to be left out. For the sake of the test, I took it for a swim (I wouldn't dare call it swimming) in Lake Balaton and on the beach, but I couldn't shake it off my wrist. So we can tick that off!
Use, application
The Mi Fitness app is available for both Android and iOS, I used it, but according to the news, it can also be used with Zepp Life. The program does not speak Hungarian, but there is a good chance that it will not be a problem for those who do not understand English. The few words you need to know are almost part of the Hungarian language, and we see little pictograms everywhere to help you navigate.
As usual, the interface is divided into four tabs, and you can switch between them at the bottom. On the first page there are things related to exercise, and here you can see your blood pressure level, blood oxygen level and similar.
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If there were any measurements related to physical activity, we can find them here too, if we took our phone for a run or bike ride, we can also see where we went on a map. Since there is no barometer or GPS in the bracelet, our phone is also needed for accurate measurements.
The measurement will be accurate in this way, if your phone's GPS is also accurate, for me e.g. it is also possible to track where I used the road and where I went onto the pavement while cycling, so the distance covered can also be said to be accurate.
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On the second tab, we can start the measurement of body movements, here we can also see the map. The third tab is used for setting and fine-tuning the device, at the top is the setting of the dial, below it are the usual things, from apps that receive incoming messages to vibrations, so everything to customize the Mi Band 7.
The fourth tab is the user-related settings interface, but here we can e.g. transfer our data from the Mi Fit app to the Zepp Life app, or we can also set the permissions of the phone application, e.g. to access our messages or not.
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Now a few more words about use, although I have already delved into this topic above.
So, the bracelet is really very comfortable, and not only when I'm writing this article, but also during exercise. The strap is very good, they really got the hardness right. Of course, they had seven years to do it, so that is somewhat understandable.
The measurements are accurate as far as I can tell. Of course, as I already wrote, our phone is also needed for some measurements, but basically the six-axis gyroscope built into the bracelet also works well. I note that this was also the case with previous versions.
As an example, it is perhaps worth mentioning that since I have been testing Mi Band bracelets, there have been no problems with the bracelet mistaking my arm swings as steps, so for example it did not count my steps even while I was sleeping. This sounds funny, but in more than one case I tested a bracelet that counted steps even at night, when e.g. I turned from my right to my left.
I hope the measurement of the blood oxygen level is accurate, I am not very good at making reference measurements. The heart rate measurement showed essentially the same value as our upper arm blood pressure monitor, the difference of 1-2 units is within the margin of error.
Let's summarize!!
Conclusion
Another year has passed and nothing has changed, at least in terms of quality. Over the years, of course, the Mi Band has also received innovations that appeared in competitors one or two years before it, but let's be kind and assume that the reason for the delay was that Xiaomi's engineers were convinced that the new sensors really measure accurately.
For this reason, there is already a blood oxygen level measurement, we get data on our stress level, the ladies have data related to their menstrual cycle, and I could go on and on. What is perhaps a little worse compared to its predecessors, i.e. operating time. The change is not tragic, and it is somewhat understandable that if there are more and more sensors that constantly monitor our data, the battery will probably last less time.
As I said, this is not tragic either, because depending on use, even with the sensors on, 5-10 days are available. Which is not tragically short. If we do not insist on measurements and monitoring, we are supposed to get three weeks, I have not tried this.
Finally, the price. With the coupon code Hoc10, we get the bracelet for 55 dollars, which means a purchase price of HUF 22 at the current very crappy exchange rate. We can say that the price has risen a lot, but let's not forget that the dollar/forint exchange rate has worsened by 30 percent this year alone, so it's no wonder if we get it at a higher price than its predecessor.
It's also important that with the coupon code Hoc10 you can apply a $29 discount on all products in the store priced at more than $10, so it's worth looking around the store!
If you like the bracelet, you can get it at the following link:
