Xiaomi Mi Band 5 Review

One of the biggest flaws that we found with this tracker is that it only offers fairly limited options for an online community or other social features. This might not be the tracker for you if you're hoping to compete and challenge your friends and family for extra motivation.

Fitness Impact

This fitness tracker delivered some very accurate results in our step-counting test. We compared the count shown on the Mi Band 5 against a manual count for three separate one-mile walks, then averaged the results to determine the score. This tracker only had an average error of around 9 steps. It was also fairly accurate when it came to calculating distance, only having an average error of 0.03 miles for these three trials.

This fitness tracker doesn't have a built-in GPS, so it relies on your phone for speed, distance, time, and elevation. The metrics are limited if your phone isn't connected, but it actually can be quite accurate in our experience, depending on what type of phone you pair it with.

This wearable has 11 different activities that it can track, like outdoor running, treadmill, cycling, indoor cycling, walking, elliptical, rowing machine, yoga, jump rope, pool swimming, and freestyle. It mainly just collects your duration, heart rate, and distance for these, though it will also tabulate strokes and strokes per minute while swimming.

Unfortunately, it doesn't track the number of stairs you climb throughout the day, and it's fairly limited when it comes to social functions. You can add friends to compare steps or sleep info and keep track of your history, but there aren't other options for challenges or competitions.

Health Impact

The Mi Band 5 delivered fairly accurate results in our heat rate testing, where we compared it to a chest strap monitor with resting heart rates. It was off by an average of 15 bpm or so at more elevated levels.

The Mi Band 5 will notify you if you have been sedentary for too long. We didn't find any aids for keeping with a diet, and this tracker doesn't estimate any calories burned from your resting metabolic rate, only calories burned from an activity.

We found the sleep tracking to be lackluster on this tracker, as it would tend to miss times when our tester woke up during the night. It will automatically turn on, though. The Mi Band 5 also has a silent alarm, vibrating for about 10 seconds based on what you set on your smartphone.

Ease of Use

The Mi Band 5 has a claimed battery life of up to 14 days and takes about 2 hours to charge. It has a proprietary magnetic charger that is fairly strong and isn't easily knocked off. We like that the companion app is easy to navigate with straightforward menus.

We found it very simple to navigate through the menus on the device itself using the home button or the touchscreen. This fitness tracker is also water-resistant to 5 ATM/50 meters. The band is nice and stiff, making it quite easy to put on or take off. We also like how easy the latch is to operate.

Ergonomics

We like how lightweight and comfortable this tracker is to wear, making it easy to forget that you are even wearing it. It is fairly plain in appearance, so it isn't the best option if you are looking to make a style statement, though it's a great option if you prefer your wearables on the more discreet side.

This tracker also maintains a very low profile with cleanly rounded edges, so it rarely gets caught when putting on a backpack or jacket.

Display

The screen is easy to read at night, but the backlight isn't bright enough to make it easy to see in full daylight. The touchscreen is responsive to taps and swipes and will get most smart notifications that your phone can get. You can customize the watch face, and there are subsequent menus that show your current fitness data tallies.

Value

While this tracker is one of the least expensive options out there, it does have some fairly major concessions to keep the price down. It's a great value for those who value budget above all else, but might fall short for someone with more substantial expectations from their fitness tracker.

Conclusion