Almost a month after purchasing my Xiaomi Mi Band 6, it’s…almost perfect.

The brand is known as a budget smartphone producer. After the demise of Huawei (at least in Europe), it sprang on top of preferences and purchases in the past year.

But aside from budget-friendly phones, Xiaomi also has its own fitness tracker: Mi Band. Made by their certified partner Huami, the latest gadget on the market, Xiaomi Mi Band 6 is an excellent rival for the likes of Fitbit.

After my Fitbit Ionic decided to not start again (following a factory reset) and after also confirming with their support that the app does not run on my Android 7 device anymore, I was on the lookout for an alternative.

I use my fitness tracker to:

• Get call notifications
• Wake me up gently with the silent alarm (and notify me to take my birth control pill)
• Track my daily steps
• Track my workouts (dancing tango).

With no intention to change my daily driver (yet) and with a very small budget available, I was stunned to see Xiaomi Mi Band 6 on offer at a local store for only 169.99 lei (34.36 EUR / 39.78 USD)

At the time this article was written, Xiaomi Mi Band 6 is available on Amazon (US) for prices starting at 43.20 USD (discounted).

Almost a month later since purchasing it, and after setting it to read my heart rate every 1 minute, I charge it every 5 days. No matter how many notifications I allow it to get.

That said, my weeks are pretty similar, and my level of activity doesn’t change that much from week to week. I typically dance at the studio 2 times per week. And I may be active (10k+ steps per day) on two more days. Other than that, I barely get past 1k steps each day (unfortunately).

This also brings me to a thing I noticed: my Fitbit would show more steps on inactive days than my Mi Band. I am not sure whether to say Fitbit was adding steps where it should (say, when I type at the laptop) or Mi Band is not as sensitive.
It charges pretty fast and buzzes when it gets to 100%. I wasn’t warned to charge it, though. Fitbit would send me an email, for example.

And speaking of sending emails, aside from the one that came when I created my account, I haven’t had any communication from Huami (Xiaomi).

As for the UI, it’s clunky. I had a heck of a time finding out how to choose which apps to get notifications for. My husband spotted the button, whereas I passed by it many times.

Same, it has a ton of features but they are quite hidden in the app. Thankfully, you can choose what to show on the band. But the watch faces aren’t great. I fiddled with 2 more (on top of the default one) and decided on the “cleanest” that shows me time, date, steps, heart rate, and percentage of battery.

I do enjoy two things that my Fitbit didn’t have: dance workout & oxygen level.

When I dance Argentine Tango, my hand is on my partner so unless the tracker can read your heart rate and also understand that you are moving your feet, the activity wouldn’t be tracked. Fitbit did a so-so job just by reading my heart rate, whereas on Mi Band I start the workout and it does its thing.

Sure enough, I forget to start it at the beginning of the class, so my tracking is pretty inconsistent.

Fitbit would show a graphic for your sleep to let you know the oxygen level (at least for the free app). Mi Band shows the percentage overnight and you can also ask it to read the level anytime. I wouldn’t say it’s as accurate as a pulse-oximeter but if your level is constantly below 95%, you’d better get that checked out.

Also, Xiaomi Mi Band 6 has a stress assessment tool. You can ask it to do the reading anytime. I tried it for fun and, apparently, I live a stress-free life.

Just like Fitbit, it has a breath (relax) function but unlike Fitbit, it lasts 1 minute (vs 2). If you want to meditate, you are better off using any app out there (I prefer Aura).

It doesn’t have GPS built-in so if you want to see the map of your workout, you need it activated on the phone and start the respective workout (i.e. walking).

However, to get call notifications, only the cell’s bluetooth must be on! (which is a super big plus for me)

There are two things I’m quite disappointed with: sleep tracking & lack of total calories burned.

Mi Band 6 does track sleeping but it’s not as sensitive as Fitbit. It can get the hours correct (when I fall asleep and when I get out of bed) but it might not react right when you wake up. Truth be told, it hasn’t yet showed me sleeping when I read a book (like my Charge HR did some time back).

As for the calories burned, it shows them for the total activity for the day. But it doesn’t include the BMR (which, yes, it’s debatable and there are several formulas used). And I understand that these numbers are inaccurate anyway, but, hey, I got used to seeing the total on my other bands.

Also, I can’t get it to connect to Cronometer (which Fitbit did connect to) so I’m adding in my workouts manually to balance out my food intake. It’s not an issue for those who don’t track food intake.

One of the reasons I’m glad I got it? The bands are very cheap to replace (vs the Fitbit ones that break fast and are expensive; and I can get only on Amazon). It feels good to the touch and has never irritated my skin. And while mine is black, I saw some colorful ones available for purchase.

Oh and the alarm buzzes to wake you up, without being annoying.

Should you buy Xiaomi Mi Band 6? Yes. It’s cheap, lightweight, does its job, and has a ton of features! Oh and it’s also waterproof (enough to go snorkeling with).

Update Nov 2023

Exactly 2 years and 1 month after I purchased it, my band decided to…unravel. I have not take showers with it but it has taken on water accidentally. One day, upon walking to the studio, it looks like the pic, still on my hand, still buzzing. Technically, it can be fixed (but I need to buy a new screen). Instead, I got myself a brand new Xiaomi Mi Band 7. We shall see how long this one lasts.

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