Xiaomi Mi Band: Only $20, but it does the job and offers some frills too

Stop rubbing your eyes, the price tag is correct. At $20, the Xiaomi Mi Band makes you wonder if you are getting a feature-crippled fitness tracker. But it does the job, automatically tracking your daily physical activity, workouts and sleep. It does not have a heart-rate monitor, but criticising the omission would be churlish.

Mi Band consists of a tracking module and a wristband. The aluminium-alloy module is quite well built, but does not have a display or a button, just three LED lights to indicate progress on steps taken. The wristband is easy to put on and feels comfortable.

The most difficult part is the pairing process. If you have a lot of Bluetooth devices lying around, you will have trouble getting Mi Band to pair with your smartphone. I needed to go to a place free from Bluetooth devices in order for pairing to work.

The sleep tracking is automatic - impressive, considering some of Mi Band's higher-priced peers do not offer the feature. Sleep tracking is spot on, about as good as the Withings Activite Pop.

But activity tracking seems to be on the low side. Compared with my calibrated Nike+ FuelBand, Mi Band tracked as much as 12 per cent fewer steps.

If you have an Android 5.0 Lollipop smartphone, the Mi Band can help you unlock your phone in a fuss-free way. Swipe the phone's display when Mi Band is close by, and the phone will unlock without your having to enter a password or unlock pattern. I tried and it works most of the time.

Mi Band also alerts you to incoming calls via vibration. But this did not work at times.

Battery life is a stunning 30 days. After two weeks' use, there is still 50 per cent of juice left.

TECH SPECS

PRICE: $19.99
WATER RESISTANCE: IP68
WEIGHT: 14g

RATING

FEATURES: 3/5
DESIGN: 3/5
PERFORMANCE: 3/5
BATTERY LIFE: 5/5
VALUE FOR MONEY: 5/5

OVERALL: 4/5

Verdict: If you are hesitant about fitness trackers, get the Xiaomi Mi Band to try. It's just a $20 bet.

See also: Why fitness trackers will stay on people's wrists
See also: Fitbit Charge HR: Lots of features for an action-packed life
See also: Garmin Vivofit 2: A capable tracker that gets you moving
See also: Jawbone Up3: Good looks, packed with lots of features
See also: Runtastic Orbit: It also shows you how efficient your sleep is
See also: Sony SmartBand 2: Find out your stress levels with this tracker
See also: Striiv Fusion Bio: Ticks all the boxes but screen could be better
See also: Withings Activite Pop: Watch tracks swimming and has great battery life

This article was first published on November 11, 2015.
Get a copy of The Straits Times or go to straitstimes.com for more stories.