This is going to be a long review, scroll to the end for summery. I’ve already been using Mi band 4 for over a year so I’ll compare it with it wherever required.
//SCREEN: Screen is just gorgeous! It’s full touch AMOLED 1.1inch, which is almost 20% bigger than my Mi band 4’s 0.95inch. You’ll instantly appreciate the extra real estate. Everything is crisp and bright. There’s is an anti-fingerprint coating (which works) but sadly no gorilla glass. And it’s very hard to find and put screen guard due to it’s curved glass. My MB4 has many scratches after a year of use and I expect the same in MB5. The display is clearly visible under direct sunlight.
//STRAP and COMFORT: Strap is rubbery plastic, same as Mi Band 4 but size is different, so MB4 strap will not fit here. It doesn’t produce much sweat and overall, it’s light and comfortable. You’ll forget it’s on your wrist after a while. Band is also non-intrusive while sleeping. I’ve also wore My band in drizzle, while washing hands and in full blown rain, it’s totally waterproof.
//BATTERY: Battery has always been a big plus on the Mi Band series. I used to get around 12-13 days battery on Mi Band 4 with continuous heart rate monitor enables and 17+ days without it. In Mi band 5, my battery is 58% after 5 days of use, so seems like battery life is almost the same as before. BUT the charging mechanism has changed! I think it is one of the most significant upgrades since Mi Band 1. It was very inefficient and cluttery but now it’s simply a breeze! You don’t have to remove the tracker now so strap life may also improve, who knows.
EXTRA FEATURES: Mi band 4 and Mi band 5 both have a lift to wake, timer, stopwatch, the weather up to 5 days, vibration alarm, ideal sitting alert, music and volume change, find my phone feature. You can silent the phone from the band. Receive notifications from the phone, dismiss notifications, Reject and silent calls and change the brightness of the band from the band itself. All the features are very refined
and work without any problem or bug whatever. Mi band 5 also has remote shutter control to capture images from the phone.
HEALTH TRACKING and FEATURES: Now the most important part. All other features are useless if the band can’t track properly. Mi band 4 had 2 big flaws in sleep tracking – it couldn’t track REM sleep and couldn’t track mid-day naps! Fortunately, both the features are included in Mi band 5. It is a significant change and my favorite upgrade after the charger. Other sleep tracking features are as accurate as ever. Xiaomi claims that they’ve improved the heart rate sensor but I’m getting almost the same reading on both Mi Band 4 and 5 (with a 2-3- point difference). Mi band 5 now has some new indoor sports mode that gym lovers will love! It has indoor cycling, rowing machine, and Elliptical, although the data you get in this is very limited. It also has Yoga mode now (which is not very accurate). The step counter is ok-ish (with 80-90% accuracy roughly) but the running mode is wonderful with connected GPS (your phone’s) it provides so much data like pace, stride rate, average heart rate, real-time heart rate, map, average speed, personal best and so on! You’ll love running after wearing the Mi band. Mi band 5 includes a new stress meter (which is fun to use, just take its data with a pinch of salt), and PAI (personal activity index) about which I’ll update the review after some use. The tracking features of Mi band 5 is best for any fitness tracker under Rs 10k IMO. Moreover, all the features are very refined and well-designed. You’ll not encounter any bug or hiccups while using them, they just work as expected.
\\ CONS: Now some flaws
– Design is very outdated. Although it’s comfortable It looks very small if you have big hands.
– The stripping mechanism is also not very good. I was expecting that Xiaomi will improve it at least a bit in this upgrade but seems like I’ll have to wait another year.
– The weather feature doesn’t work most of the time. It says ‘connect the band to show weather’, even though I’m connected. The same problem was there in MB 4. Seems like Xiaomi ignored it.
– Xiaomi should introduce some metallic straps. There are 3rd party straps available but their quality is just bad.
– Ads in android app. Ruins the whole experience.
– No SpO2 meter. Although not as useful, but still good to have.
– No scratch resistent glass. or at least provide good first party curved tempered glass.
CONCLUSION: Mi Band 5 is not as significant an upgrade as MB 3 to 4. But the magnetic charger, improved sleep tracking and indoor sports mode are all excellent upgrades. Not to mention the extra screen estate. As for the first-time buyers, Mi band is the most accurate band you’ll get under Rs 10k. No other band or watch in this range has such polished UI, reliable tracking and fine hardware quality.
Edit: I’ll update add some photos of the band and screenshots of tracking data soon. This is going to be a long review, scroll to the end for summery. I’ve already been using Mi band 4 for over a year so I’ll compare it with it wherever required.
//SCREEN: Screen is just gorgeous! It’s full touch AMOLED 1.1inch, which is almost 20% bigger than my Mi band 4’s 0.95inch. You’ll instantly appreciate the extra real estate. Everything is crisp and bright. There’s is an anti-fingerprint coating (which works) but sadly no gorilla glass. And it’s very hard to find and put screen guard due to it’s curved glass. My MB4 has many scratches after a year of use and I expect the same in MB5. The display is clearly visible under direct sunlight.
//STRAP and COMFORT: Strap is rubbery plastic, same as Mi Band 4 but size is different, so MB4 strap will not fit here. It doesn’t produce much sweat and overall, it’s light and comfortable. You’ll forget it’s on your wrist after a while. The band is also non-intrusive while sleeping. I’ve also worn My band in the drizzle while washing hands, and in full-blown rain, it’s totally waterproof.
//BATTERY: Battery has always been a big plus on the Mi Band series. I used to get around 12-13 days battery on Mi Band 4 with continuous heart rate monitor enables and 17+ days without it. In Mi band 5, my battery is 58% after 5 days of use, so seems like battery life is almost the same as before. BUT the charging mechanism has changed! I think it is one of the most significant upgrades since Mi Band 1. It was very inefficient and cluttery but now it’s simply a breeze! You don’t have to remove the tracker now so strap life may also improve, who knows.
EXTRA FEATURES: Mi band 4 and Mi band 5 both has lift to wake, timer, stopwatch, weather up to 5 days, vibration alarm, ideal sitting alert, music and volume change, find my phone feature. You can silent the phone from band. Receive notifications from phone, dismiss notifications, Reject and silent calls and change the brightness of the band from the band itself. All the features are very refined
and works without any problem or bug whatever. Mi band 5 also has remote shutter control to capture images from phone.
HEALTH TRACKING and FEATURES: Now the most important part. All other features are useless if the band can’t track properly. Mi band 4 had 2 big flaws in sleep tracking – it couldn’t track REM sleep and couldn’t track mid-day naps! Fortunately, both the features are included in Mi band 5. It is a significant change and my favourite upgrade after the charger. Other sleep tracking features are as accurate as ever. Xiaomi claims that they’ve improved the heart rate sensor but I’m getting almost same reading on both Mi Band 4 and 5 (with 2-3- point difference). Mi band 5 now has some new indoor sports mode which gym lovers will love! It has indoor cycling, rowing machine and Elliptical, although the data you get in this is very limited. It also has Yoga mode now (which is not very accurate). Step counter is ok-ish (with 80-90% accuracy roughly) but the running mode is wonderful with connected GPS (your phone’s) it provides so much data like pace, stride rate, average heart rate, real time heart rate, map, average speed, personal best and so on! You’ll love running after wearing Mi band. Mi band 5 includes new stress meter (which is fun to use, just take its data with a pinch of salt), and PAI (personal activity index) about which I’ll update the review after some use. Tracking feature of Mi band 5 are best for any fitness tracker under Rs 10k imo. Moreover, all the features are very refined and well-designed. You’ll not encounter any bug or hiccups while using them, they just work as expected.
\\ CONS: Now some flaws
– Design is very outdated. Although it’s comfortable but It looks very small if you have big hands.
– The stripping mechanism is also not very good. I was expecting that Xiaomi will improve it at least a bit in this upgrade but seems like I’ll have to wait another year.
– The weather feature doesn’t work most of the time. It says ‘connect the band to show weather’, even though I’m connected. Same problem was there in MB 4. Seems like Xiaomi ignored it.
– Xiaomi should introduce some metallic straps. There are 3rd party straps available but their quality is just bad.
– Ads in android app. Ruins the whole experience.
– No SpO2 meter. Although not as useful, but still good to have.
– No scratch resistent glass. or at least provide good first party curved tempered glass.
CONCLUSION: Mi Band 5 is not as significant an upgrade as MB 3 to 4. But the magnetic charger, improved sleep tracking and indoor sports mode are all excellent upgrade. Not to mention the extra screen estate. As for the first-time buyers, Mi band is the most accurate band you’ll get under Rs 10k. No other band or watch in this range have such polished UI, reliable tracking and fine hardware quality.
Edit: I’ll update add some photos of band and screenshots of tracking data soon.This is going to be a long review, scroll to the end for summery. I’ve already been using Mi band 4 for over a year so I’ll compare with it wherever required.
//SCREEN: Screen is just gorgeous! It’s full touch AMOLED 1.1inch, which is almost 20% bigger than my Mi band 4’s 0.95inch. You’ll instantly appreciate the extra real estate. Everything is crisp and bright. There’s is anti-fingerprint coating (which works) but sadly no gorilla glass. And it’s very hard to find and put screen guard due to it’s curved glass. My MB4 has many scratches after a year of use and I expect the same in MB5. Display is clearly visible under direct sunlight.
//STRAP and COMFORT: Strap is rubbery plastic, same as Mi Band 4 but size is different, so MB4 strap will not fit here. It doesn’t produce much sweat and overall, it’s light and comfortable. You’ll forget it’s on your wrist after a while. Band is also non-intrusive while sleeping. I’ve also wore My band in drizzle, while washing hands and in full blown rain, it’s totally waterproof.
//BATTERY: Battery has always been a big plus on Mi Band series. I used to get around 12-13 days battery on Mi Band 4 with continuous heart rate monitor enables and 17+ days without it. In Mi band 5, my battery is 58% after 5 days of use, so seems like battery life is almost same as before. BUT the charging mechanism has changed! I think it is one of the most significant upgrade since Mi Band 1. It was very inefficient and cluttery but now it’s simply a breeze! You don’t have to remove the tracker now so strap life may also improve, who knows.
EXTRA FEATURES: Mi band 4 and Mi band 5 both has lift to wake, timer, stopwatch, weather up to 5 days, vibration alarm, ideal sitting alert, music and volume change, find my phone feature. You can silent the phone from band. Receive notifications from phone, dismiss notifications, Reject and silent calls and change the brightness of the band from band itself. All the features are very refined
and works without any problem or bug whatever. Mi band 5 also has remote shutter control to capture images from phone.
HEALTH TRACKING and FEATURES: Now the most important part. All other features are useless if the band can’t track properly. Mi band 4 had 2 big flaws in sleep tracking – it couldn’t track REM sleep and couldn’t track mid-day naps! Fortunately, both the features are included in Mi band 5. It is a significant change and my favourite upgrade after the charger. Other sleep tracking features are as accurate as ever. Xiaomi claims that they’ve improved the heart rate sensor but I’m getting almost same reading on both Mi Band 4 and 5 (with 2-3- point difference). Mi band 5 now has some new indoor sports mode which gym lovers will love! It has indoor cycling, rowing machine and Elliptical, although the data you get in this is very limited. It also has Yoga mode now (which is not very accurate). Step counter is ok-ish (with 80-90% accuracy roughly) but the running mode is wonderful with connected GPS (your phone’s) it provides so much data like pace, stride rate, average heart rate, real time heart rate, map, average speed, personal best and so on! You’ll love running after wearing Mi band. Mi band 5 includes new stress meter (which is fun to use, just take its data with a pinch of salt), and PAI (personal activity index) about which I’ll update the review after some use. Tracking feature of Mi band 5 are best for any fitness tracker under Rs 10k imo. Moreover, all the features are very refined and well-designed. You’ll not encounter any bug or hiccups while using them, they just work as expected.
\\ CONS: Now some flaws
– Design is very outdated. Although it’s comfortable but It looks very small if you have big hands.
– The stripping mechanism is also not very good. I was expecting that Xiaomi will improve it at least a bit in this upgrade but seems like I’ll have to wait another year.
– The weather feature doesn’t work most of the time. It says ‘connect the band to show weather’, even though I’m connected. Same problem was there in MB 4. Seems like Xiaomi ignored it.
– Xiaomi should introduce some metallic straps. There are 3rd party straps available but their quality is just bad.
– Ads in android app. Ruins the whole experience.
– No SpO2 meter. Although not as useful, but still good to have.
– No scratch resistent glass. or at least provide good first party curved tempered glass.
CONCLUSION: Mi Band 5 is not as significant an upgrade as MB 3 to 4. But the magnetic charger, improved sleep tracking and indoor sports mode are all excellent upgrade. Not to mention the extra screen estate. As for the first-time buyers, Mi band is the most accurate band you’ll get under Rs 10k. No other band or watch in this range have such polished UI, reliable tracking and fine hardware quality.
Edit: I’ll update add some photos of band and screenshots of tracking data soon.
