Mi Band HRX: Best Budget Fitness Tracker?

The Mi Band HRX Edition (or the Mi Band 2i) is a new edition of the Mi Band 2 without a Heart Rate Sensor. The lack of heart rate sensor has significantly reduced its cost and currently, its one of the best fitness tracker in low-budget. If you’re a fitness enthusiast or someone who just wants to try out a smart fitness band, this could be the right choice for you. I’ll also share my experience and show you how you can set it up.

If you’re in a hurry, let’s discuss the things I liked about this fitness tracker and the things that I didn’t. The OLED Display is one of the best things about this tracker and it has a capacitive button as well. You can use this button to switch between various display modes like time, steps, battery life, etc. The Mi Band HRX can play the role of a watch as well! The design is great and the battery life can last up to 23 days. It has IP67 certification and hence it is not required to remove the band in the shower. You can also set alarms and notification/call alerts. One of the biggest disadvantages is the accuracy of the pedometer. It is not as accurate as other fitness trackers, but considering its price, it isn’t too bad either.

Pros
  • Low Price
  • OLED Display
  • Design
  • Battery Life
  • IP67 Water Proof
  • Notification Alerts
Cons
  • Inaccuracy
  • No Heart Rate Sensor

    Technical Details and Features

Requirements

Smartphone Android v4.4 and above or iOS version 7.0 and above
Bluetooth Version Bluetooth v4.0 and above

If you’re using any modern phone launched in past 2-3 years, then your phone most likely supports the requirements. Most modern phones have Bluetooth version 4.0 and above. To check the Android version of your phone, go to Settings->About Phone. It has one more feature that can allow the phone to be unlocked when that Mi Band is nearby. This feature is only supported on Android 5.0 and above or on a Xiaomi phone running MIUI.

Do I need to own a Xiaomi phone to use Mi Band?

No! Mi Band is compatible with all smartphone brands. It is not necessary for you to own a Redmi/Mi device to use it.

Specification

Name Mi Band HRX Edition
Alternative Name Mi Band 2i
Battery Capacity 70 mAh
Battery Standby 23 days
Weight 7 grams
Water-Resistance Yes, IP67
Display 0.42 inch OLED
Capacitive Button Yes
Heart Rate Sensor No
Colour Black
Input Voltage 5.0V

Inside the box, you’ll find the following contents: the sensor, a strap, charging cable, and a user guide. It is also known as the Mi Band 2i as per the name mentioned on the box. The manufacturer of this band is Huami Information Technology which is Xiaomi’s sub-brand. It has a 70 mAh battery that can last up to 23 days and it is very lightweight with just 7 grams. It is IP67 certified and has a 0.42 inch OLED Display. There’s also a capacitive button just underneath the display to switch between different display modes. Both the tracker and the included strap are black in color. The included charging cable can be connected to any mobile power adapter or to a power bank.

Here’s what the box looks like:

Mi Band HRX Edition Box

Mi Fit App Features

  • Step/Distance Tracking
  • Sleep Tracking
  • Calorie Counter
  • Activity Tracker (Walking/Running/Treadmill/Cycling)
  • Activity Alerts
  • Wake Up Notifications
  • Behavior Tracking
  • App Notifications Alerts (Such as Notifications from WhatsApp and Email)
  • Incoming Call Alerts
  • Alarms
  • Do Not Disturb Mode
  • Idle Alert
  • Screen Unlock
  • Goal Notifications

The Mi Fit App has a never-ending list of features and this is what I like the most about this smart band. Setting Alarms, App Notification Alerts and Sleep Tracker are some of the features I like the most. You can get notifications alerts from apps. It can be useful in cases where the phone is connected to a charger and you’re expecting a new message. You’ll instantly get an alert and this seems better than picking your phone every 5 minutes.

You can set up to 3 alarms and it alerts you by vibrating. And trust me, the vibration is strong enough to wake you up. And the best part is that it does not make any noise and hence does not disturbs anyone around you. Another great feature is the sleep tracker which is pretty much accurate. It calculates the total sleep time and also shows a detailed graph on the time duration when you had a light sleep or a deep sleep.

    How to Setup/Pair the Mi Band?

To use the Mi Band, you’ll have to pair it with your smartphone. This can be done using the Mi Fit App. This app is available on both the Android Play Store and Apple App Store. Here are the steps to pair up the Mi Band HRX.

  1. First of all, insert the included sensor inside the strap.
  2. Download the Mi Fit App from the Play Store/App Store.
  3. Sign Up a new Mi Account or Login to your existing Mi Account.
  4. Wear the band on your wrist and turn on the phone’s Bluetooth.
  5. Proceed with the on-screen instructions and wait for the Band to vibrate.
  6. As soon as it vibrates, press the capacitive button on you Mi Band to confirm.
  7. Congratulations, you have successfully paired the Mi Band HRX Edition with your smartphone.

Note: If the Mi Fit App fails to detect the Mi Band, try shaking the Band and keep pressing capacitive button back to back during the Step 5.

    A Day with Mi Band HRX

Even though I’ve been using Band for over a month, I decided to spend a day where I’ll carefully look at my activities and check how accurately the Mi Band is tracking them. In this section, you’ll also find out why the tracker can be inaccurate at times. Here’s a screenshot from the Activity Graph of the Mi Fit App:

Activity Tracker of Mi Fit App

06:42 AM – 06:46 AM: I left my home and reached the bus stop. Here, I waited for my college bus for approximately 15 minutes. This is pretty much accurate.

07:00 AM – 07:04 AM: I went on the bus and sat in a seat the back. It hardly took 30 seconds but looks like the tracker decided to count the steps even after the bus started to move.

07:05 AM – 07:14 AM: Here it shows Fast Walking for a duration of 9 minutes but I was sitting in the bus with my earphones on.

07:15 AM – 07:22 AM and  07:23 AM – 07:31 AM 

The same thing took place in the above time durations as well. The tracker was counting the steps due to my hand movements on a bumpy ride. At 07:31 AM, I arrived in my college and I left for the class.

So, what just happened?

When you’re sitting in heavy vehicles like Buses and the road is rough (like most of the Indian roads), then the tracker is likely to count steps due to the continuous hand movements. One simple solution to this problem is to remove the band while you’re traveling. However, you’ll not face such issue if you’re traveling in a car on a smooth road. Hopefully, Xiaomi will fix this issue with a firmware update.

07:32 AM – 07:43 AM: As my class is on the 4th floor, It took me 11 minutes to get out of the bus, go inside the campus and reach the class. This section seems accurate to me. For the next 2 hours, I was in the class the tracker didn’t record anything as expected.

10:00 AM – 10:09 AM: I left the class and went near the canteen. This is also accurate.

    Mi Band HRX Review

I always prefer to first review the individual features of a product. So, I’ll divide this review into 5 sections and at the end, you can see my final ratings.

Pedometer

The pedometer or the step tracking in Mi Band HRX Edition is just above average. But for tracking daily walks and running, it is good enough for the budget. Sometimes it does undercount or overcount the steps and may experience the problem I showed in the last section. But for better accuracy, you’ll to invest in a smart band that will cost you 3x or 4x the price. So, for an entry-level fitness tracker, the pedometer is good enough.

Sleep Tracking

Sleep tracking is one of my favorite features and it is accurate too. It can keep a track of how long you sleep each night and what portion of that was a light sleep or deep sleep. It does a good job in this section.

Display

The OLED Display is even visible in direct sunlight and has multiple modes. You can configure the display settings from the Mi Fit App. The display modes it includes are Time, Distance, Calories, Steps, and Battery. You are also free to enable/disable these disable modes. To switch from one mode to another, just press the capacitive button. Also, you can simply lift your wrist to see the time!

Battery and Charging

The Battery life of HRX Edition is even better than the Mi Band 2 because of the lack of a Heart Rate Sensor. After one full charge, it can easily last for approximately 18-25 days. And you can always check the battery life from either the display or from the App. For Charging, you can connect the provided cable to any standard mobile power adapter. You can also use Power Banks like the 10000 mAh Mi Power Bank 2i. I’m recommending the Mi Power Bank because it supports Low Power Charging to safely charge devices like Bluetooth headsets and fitness bands. It only takes less than 2 hours to fully charge.

Other Features

I’ve already mentioned most of the features and many of them are quite useful. Also, this band is water-resistant with an IP67 certification. The IP67 certification ensures that it can be used under a 1-meter depth of water for up to 30 minutes. So, it is safe to use it during the shower or inside a swimming pool. Some other features that I frequently use are alarms, call alerts and App notification alerts.

    Final Ratings

Ratings
  • Pedometer
  • Sleep Tracking
  • Display
  • Other Features
4.2

The Mi Band HRX Edition is not just a fitness tracker, it’s a little gadget that can make your daily life much easier. Though there are some issues like the pedometer starts counting steps while traveling in a heavy vehicle on a rough road. Nevertheless, the display, the design, and the never-ending list of features of Mi Fit App make it the best choice for a fitness tracker in low-budget. I’ll highly recommend this product to anyone looking to purchase a new fitness gadget. It can be purchased from Amazon and Mi Store.

Purchase on Amazon (Affiliate Link): Mi Band HRX Edition

 

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4 thoughts on “Mi Band HRX: Best Budget Fitness Tracker?”

  1. I only want to use the band to determine distant travelled during my daily walks. I don’t have a mobile phone but was told this is not necessary for what I want to do. can you please advise me.

    Reply
    • Yes, you can determine the distance traveled without needing a mobile phone. But you do need a phone to set up the band for the first time.

      Reply

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