While the Xiaomi 13 Ultra and the Pad 6 were highlights of the company’s launch event in China, several users have been eagerly waiting to learn all about the much-awaited Mi Band 8. Yeah, we saw the launch of the Xiaomi Smart Band 8 at the event; with a familiar design but a number of new ways to don the wearable. So, let’s not waste any more time, and check out everything you need to know about the Mi Smart Band 8 by Xiaomi.
Mi Band 8: Price and Availability
Much like its predecessors, the Mi Band 8 from Xiaomi is priced at 249 Yuan (~Rs 2,975) for the standard variant. The NFC variant of the Mi Band 8 is priced at 299 Yuan (~Rs 3,575) in China. But, as part of the early bird sale, you will get a 10 Yuan and 20 Yuan discount on these variants, respectively.
Currently, we have no information on whether the Mi Band 8 will release globally (or in India). But stay tuned to Beebom as we will update you if we get a global or India release date.
Mi Band 8: Specs and Features
Design
That said, let’s first talk about the design of the Xiaomi Smart Band 8. While the fitness bands market has been usurped by feature-packed budget smartwatches, Xiaomi is sticking to its guns with this launch. The Mi Band 8 still features a pill-shaped design but brings minor upgrades for improved customization.
The company has finally changed how the watch strap works. Instead of the strap that engulfs the pill, Mi band 8 now adopts a new quick-release mechanism. That should make it easier to swap bands in a jiffy. Moreover, with the engulfing bands out of the picture, the pill now comes with a metallic texture in black (with black silicon strap) and gold (with ivory silicon strap)
Also, Xiaomi is now marketing Smart Band 8 as a fashion-forward fitness tracker. Not just that, the company highlighted that you can use this wearable with accessories like a pendant, a bean-shaped activity pill fastened to your shoe laces, and more.
Display
Moving on, the Mi Band 8 includes a 1.62-inch AMOLED touchscreen (same as Mi Band 7) with a 60Hz refresh rate, up to 600 nits of peak brightness, and a pixel density of 326ppi. The increased focus on fashion sees Xiaomi offer up to 200 watch faces on this fitness band. You can change them via the Xiaomi Health app.
On stage at the event, Xiaomi also mentioned that some users tried to play games on this tiny display, which was intriguing. Well, it seems like the team liked the idea as Mi Band 8 comes with special watch faces that let you play games. It includes games like 2048, ping-pong shooter, trivia, and more.
Fitness and Health Tracking
One area where the Mi Band 8 remains mostly unchanged is the health and fitness tracking department. The wearable now supports 150+ sports modes, including walking, running, cycling, weightlifting, swimming, and more.
The bean-shaped walking/running tracker brings a ton of new functionality to the wearable, though. It lets to track professional data such as stride frequency, stride length, ground contact vacancy ratio, ground impact force, and more. You can even attach Band 8’s with boxing gloves to use them like joycons and master movements with rhythm games.
Furthermore, the Mi Band 8 supports continuous heart rate and sleep tracking, blood oxygen monitoring, menstrual tracking for females, and a lot more.
Battery Life
Finally, Xiaomi claims that the Smart Band 8 delivers improved battery life. It will easily last 16 days on a single charge (better than 14 days on the Mi Band 7) in standard mode; with always-on display (AOD) disabled. The battery life goes down to ~6 days on a single charge if you enable the AOD.
Furthermore, the company claims that the Band 8 supports fast charging. You can fully charge its 190mAh battery in just 1 hour. You get a magnetic charger in the box, which is great.
While there were rumors, the Mi Band 8 Pro was a no-show. So, what do you think about the Smart Band 8’s upgrades? Looking forward to buying it? Let us know in the comments below.
