It's not always easy to get excited about smartbands, especially now that smartwatches are stealing some of their thunder, but occasionally one will grab our attention.
Xiaomi, a brand no one in the west pays much attention to, may just have gone and rendered every other fitness band obsolete, because it's announced one which costs approximately $13 / £7.
For that money we'd expect to get maybe a string bracelet, perhaps with a whistle attached to it, but no, this is a genuine smartband complete with a fitness monitor, sleep tracker, sleep-cycle alarm clock and the ability to pair it with your phone (though only have you have a Xiaomi one) so that you can unlock it without a password.
Looking good
The Mi Band, as it's called, also boasts a 30 day battery life, it's IP67 certified dust and water resistant and going by the press shots it's not bad looking either, with an aluminium surface and various wristband options, including a leather one, though we suspect that costs extra.
It remains to be seen whether it will actually be any good, but it certainly sounds promising. We're still left with a few questions, most pertinently if and when it will arrive on these shores and whether it will be anywhere near as cheap when it does but hopefully we'll find out soon.
- It makes the Sony Smartband look positively expensive.
Via Miui
