Xiaomi Mi Band 4 ‘leaks’: Should Fitbit and the Apple Watch be worried?
These latest ‘leaks’ have given us a good impression of what we can expect from the display of Xiaomi’s upcoming budget fitness tracker.
The below image seems to show that the Xiaomi Mi Band 4 will have a 0.95-inch full colour OLED display, with a tempered glass cover rather than plastic.
This is a big improvement from the monochrome display of previous devices in the range, and should make it far more attractive to use — but we don’t know yet if it will translate into a price rise for this low-budget device.
AndroidPit says that there will be two models in the Band 4 range, with Bluetooth 5 common to both, and the pricier variant receiving NFC abilities too. These tweaks should increase the versatility of the device, a significant upgrade from previous bare-bones models. Packing NFC also means it could work with some sort of mobile payments service, a feature that we absolutely love on the Apple Watch 4.
We reviewed its predecessor, the Xiaomi Mi Band 3, to which we gave 3/5 stars. While it’s inexpensive, water-resistant, and has good battery life, we were very disappointed by its inaccurate heart-rate tracking, which is a fundamental feature of any fitness tracker. So we’re hoping for big improvements from the Mi Band 4, and not just a visual makeover.
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A key rival to the Xiaomi Mi Band 4 will be the Fitbit Charge 3, which received a 5-star review. We were very impressed with its design and display, battery life, and the app. The only criticisms we made were the removal of in-built GPS, and lack of SpO2 sensor at the time of review.
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Samsung has also released a new competitor onto the market, the Galaxy Fit. Occupying a similar price range, this device also has a 0.95-inch OLED screen. This device is also expected to be released by the summer, and has impressive software functions such as stress management, sleep tracking, and a quick reply option for incoming notifications.