Xiaomi Smart Band 9 Review
Xiaomi’s journey in the fitness tracker market started with the original Mi Band, which set the stage for affordable wearables that focused on fitness tracking. The early versions of the Mi Band lacked a display or heart rate sensor, yet they still found a strong foothold in the market due to their simplicity and affordability. Fast forward to today, and we have the 9th generation of the Xiaomi Smart Band, a device that offers a far richer feature set, including a bright display, health monitoring, and extensive fitness tracking capabilities.
In this review, we’ll take a closer look at the Xiaomi Smart Band 9, highlighting its strengths, weaknesses, and the key improvements over its predecessor.
Display: A Significant Upgrade with 1200-Nit Brightness
The Xiaomi Smart Band 9 stands out with its 1.62-inch AMOLED display, which is twice as bright as the previous generation at 1200 nits. This improvement makes the screen easy to read even in bright sunlight, a feature that is particularly useful during outdoor activities. The Always-On Display (AOD) is another excellent addition, allowing you to glance at the time or your stats without needing to wake the device.
In terms of resolution, the Smart Band 9 offers 192x490px, making the display sharp and detailed. Whether you’re viewing notifications, checking your fitness stats, or simply using it as a watch, the display performs admirably. It also serves as an efficient flashlight in the dark, which can be a handy feature when needed.
Design-wise, Xiaomi has kept things largely the same, with the band weighing just 15.8g without the strap. Its lightweight nature makes it comfortable for all-day wear, whether you’re exercising, sleeping, or going about your daily activities. The Smart Band 9 is available in four colors—pink, black, white, and blue—allowing users to choose according to their style. Xiaomi also offers a range of accessories, such as a dual-tone leather strap (€25) and a running clip (€10). If you’re upgrading from the Smart Band 8, it’s important to note that you’ll need to purchase the new running clip, as the dimensions have slightly changed.
Xiaomi offers several strap options, including silicone, leather, and metal, depending on the market. There’s also a wide array of third-party options available online, giving users plenty of customization choices to suit their personal style.
Build Quality and Durability
Xiaomi has built the Smart Band 9 with durability in mind. The band is made of metal, but there’s also a special ceramic edition for those who prefer a more premium feel. Its 5ATM water resistance rating means it can withstand water pressure up to 50 meters, making it safe to use while swimming or in the shower. The TPU (thermoplastic polyurethane) strap is sturdy and comfortable, although securing it tightly around the wrist can be a bit tricky. The strap attaches easily, and removing it requires a simple push on the unlock lever found on the band’s underside.
While the design hasn’t changed significantly from the previous generation, the brighter display and improved water resistance make it a more practical option for active users.
Health Monitoring: Enhanced Accuracy
One of the major improvements in the Smart Band 9 is its health monitoring capabilities. Xiaomi has equipped the device with an optical heart rate sensor that’s 16% more accurate than the one in the Smart Band 8. This increase in accuracy is particularly noticeable during workouts, where real-time heart rate monitoring is critical for effective training.
In addition to heart rate monitoring, the Smart Band 9 offers SpO2 tracking, which measures blood oxygen saturation. This is a useful feature for those who want to monitor their oxygen levels, particularly during high-altitude activities or intense workouts. It also includes stress monitoring, accompanied by guided breathing exercises to help users relax during high-stress situations.
Other key sensors include an accelerometer and a gyroscope for movement tracking, as well as an ambient light sensor to automatically adjust the display’s brightness. The Smart Band 9 does a great job of tracking your basic health metrics, offering insights into your daily activity levels, heart health, and overall fitness.
Fitness Tracking: Extensive Modes but No Built-In GPS
The Xiaomi Smart Band 9 supports over 150 fitness modes, making it suitable for users with diverse workout preferences. Whether you’re into running, swimming, cycling, or weightlifting, the Smart Band 9 can track your workouts with ease. However, some specific sports, like football, aren’t included in the list of supported modes. In these cases, you’ll need to use the “Freestyle” mode to track your workout, but the post-activity breakdown won’t display sport-specific metrics like distance covered.
While the Smart Band 9 excels in fitness tracking, one major drawback is the absence of built-in GPS. This omission means that for any outdoor activities, such as running or cycling, you’ll need to bring your smartphone along to track your location. This can be an inconvenience for serious runners or cyclists who want accurate location data without carrying their phone. Xiaomi is expected to release a GPS-enabled Smart Band 9 Pro soon, which will likely address this limitation.
For casual fitness enthusiasts, the lack of GPS might not be a dealbreaker, but for those who rely heavily on location-based tracking, it’s worth waiting for the Pro model.
User Interface: Simple and Intuitive
The Xiaomi Smart Band 9 runs on the Mi Fitness app, which offers a clean and intuitive interface for managing the device and viewing health metrics. Despite the app retaining the outdated ‘Mi’ branding, it performs well and offers a comprehensive overview of your fitness and health data.
Navigating the band itself is straightforward—swipe left or right to view widgets like Heart Rate, Weather, Alarms, and Music, swipe down to check notifications, and swipe up to access your workouts. The band is highly customizable, allowing you to choose the widgets you want to see and rearrange them according to your preferences.
One key feature of smart wearables is notification management, and the Smart Band 9 delivers a solid experience in this area. You can select which apps are allowed to send notifications to your band, and there’s a Do Not Disturb mode for when you need a break from interruptions. However, you cannot reply to notifications directly from the band, which may be a slight limitation for some users.
Sleep Tracking: Inaccurate Deep Sleep Measurements
The Smart Band 9 offers sleep tracking, though we found that it wasn’t as accurate as some other wearables. While it provides a breakdown of sleep stages in the Mi Fitness app, the band itself only shows sleep stages in percentages rather than in hours and minutes. This can feel a bit limiting for those who want a detailed view of their sleep patterns directly from the device.
One issue we encountered was the exaggerated deep sleep readings. While other smartwatches typically show around 30 minutes to an hour of deep sleep, the Smart Band 9 consistently reported over 3 hours, which seemed inaccurate compared to the editor’s experience with other devices. Despite this shortcoming, the band still offers useful insights into sleep duration and quality.
Battery Life: Impressive Longevity
One of the most impressive aspects of the Xiaomi Smart Band 9 is its battery life. With a 233mAh battery, Xiaomi claims up to 21 days of usage in typical conditions, and our tests showed that the band can last a full 7 days with Always-On Display enabled, notifications turned on, and several workouts tracked per week. This is impressive, especially considering the device’s small form factor and bright display.
Charging the band is also quick and efficient—it takes just about an hour to charge from 0 to 100%, ensuring minimal downtime between uses.
Conclusion
At €40 for the non-NFC version, the Xiaomi Smart Band 9 is a fantastic option for those looking for an affordable fitness tracker that covers the basics and then some. Its brighter display, longer battery life, and improved heart rate accuracy make it a solid upgrade over its predecessor. The Smart Band 9 is also highly customizable, offering a range of strap options and a vast library of watch faces to choose from.
However, the lack of built-in GPS and inaccurate deep sleep tracking may be dealbreakers for some users, particularly those who are more serious about fitness tracking or sleep analysis. For most casual users, though, the Smart Band 9 offers excellent value for money and will more than meet their needs.
If you’re a dedicated runner or need precise GPS tracking, it’s worth waiting for the Smart Band 9 Pro. But for everyone else, the Xiaomi Smart Band 9 is an affordable, reliable, and feature-packed fitness tracker that delivers where it matters most.