Xiaomi Mi Band 3 Review

I’m a fan of notifications on my wrist, most other features of smart watches and bands are just superfluous to me. I was a big Pebble fan before they went bust, then moved to a Microsoft Band and recently needed another replacement - so I was recommended a Xiaomi Mi Band 3.

The Mi Band is a small device. The body of the device ‘the capsule’ comes out of the strap for charging and changing the strap. I like this idea as a lot of bands have fixed straps meaning when the strap breaks the device is useless.

It charges via a special USB cable, taking only two hours from flat to full.

The Mi Band has a 128x80 mono OLED touch screen, which although is quite small has a good resolution for reading small text - however sunlight legibility isn’t fantastic. The screen doesn’t always stay on but the raise-to-wake feature means just lifting your wrist and the screen comes on.

It is controlled via swiping in different directions on the screen and pressing the menu indentation. The menu is easy to use and gives you access to notifications, steps, heart rate, weather, treadmill as well as stop watch, find device, screen settings and factory reset.

All this is linked to your smartphone via bluetooth and the Mi Fit app. This syncs your activity and can show your progress daily, weekly or monthly. The app further controls your profile as well notification settings.

Notifications for me are the main reason for using such a device, and the Mi Band 3 excels at this. They can be read on the small screen easily, and via the menu you can go back and read the last 5 notifications.

The 110mAh battery might not sound huge but depending on use it should reach between 3 and 20 days on a single charge. The mono screen that isn't on all the time helps with battery life. I have managed 4 days on a charge, so I am not sure if I am a heavy user or I have something turned on I don’t need.

Thats the main technical side out of the way. How does it feel? The rubberised strap is very comfortable and the weight of the device often makes you forget you are wearing a band. The strap loops in to one end and is fastened with a snap fix.

The overall build quality feels excellent.

After a few weeks use I have been very impressed. It is close to the simplicity of the original Pebble, but with the added bonus of a touch screen. The Mi Band 3 is an excellent device and at under £30 you cant go wrong with it.

For further reading and another owners review check out Replacing A Pebble 2 With A Xiaomi Mi Band 3.

Written by Simon Royal. Follow me at twitter.com/simonroyal

Cheap Smart/Fitness Bands... ID115 and ID115 HR Plus Review

Once a nerdy trend, smart watches and fitness bands are now the coolest tech out there. As with most technology cheap alternatives work their way in, but are cheap bands any good?

FitBit are a big name in the sports band area however personally I do not rate them in terms of quality and value for money, so when my daughters FitBit Charge lasted only a few months I wasn’t keen on replacing it with another high priced offering.

ID115 Review

For under ten pound I picked up a smart fitness band online. I am not sure who makes it, but it is labelled as an ID115. A small thin band which features a mono low resolution screen, which while isn’t touch capable it does have a touch sensitive button at the bottom of the screen for menu control.

It has removable and replaceable straps (something the likes of FitBit and Microsoft Band didn’t offer), to reveal a built in USB connection for charging. You simply plug the watch into a USB socket - so no need for a cable - It’s tiny 45mAh battery takes an hour to charge and lasts around 3 or 4 days of average use - despite several sellers claiming 10 days.

Function wise it offers a watch face, call/app notifications (although limited to a few selected apps), sports tracker for steps, calories and distance. It also has remote camera function, find my phone and is waterproof.

The band connects to your Android/iOS device via bluetooth and is controlled via the VeryFitPro app which does a good job of syncing and keeping your fitness history as well as tweaking the settings of your band.

I wasn’t expecting much from this cheap band, but both my daughter and I have been thoroughly impressed. After a terrible experience with her FitBit she is loving this.

ID115 HR Plus
I was looking for a new band and after the great experience of the ID115 I wanted something similar. The low res screen of the ID115 was its only niggle, so when I saw the ID115 HR Plus with its bright colour screen I thought I would grab one and at only £6 would be a cheap option.

It has the same functions as the ID115 - call/app notifications, sports tracker for steps, calories and distance but with added heart rate and blood pressure monitors.

Initially I was impressed. The screen was bright and clear and the colourisation made it look great, and once again not a touch screen device, but a touch sensitive button at the bottom of the screen. The menu was similar to the ID115 and also has replaceable straps and charging via the built in USB connection.

The band connects to your Android/iOS device via Bluetooth and is controlled via the Yoho Sports app which is similar to the VeryFitPro but oddly lacks a few options such as remote camera and screen rotation.

However, the joy of this band was short lived. Despite almost doubling the battery to 80mAh, this band would need charging at least twice a day - even though it was advertised as lasting around 5 days.

After just two days this began to really annoy me and the band was returned.

Summary
Cheap bands can be good. There are so many around your mileage may vary. A band for under ten pounds with replaceable straps is a great bonus and depending on your needs they could cover everything you want.

For me the fitness side isn't important, I just like notifications on my wrist. It saves me taking my phone out every time it buzzes so these bands suit my minimal needs.

For their price they are great for kids or people who risk damaging high priced watches/bands.

I was very impressed with the ID115, but not with the ID115 HR Plus.

Written by Simon Royal. Follow me at twitter.com/simonroyal