Mia's Review: Mi Band

Decided to skip another week of #wellnesswednesday and put up my review of Mi Band instead. Well, it's still fitness related though. 

Was initially eyeing a gadget that can track my calories burnt when I spin, but after a small research and asking around, it seems that most of the fitness trackers available in the market aren't capable of tracking that accurately, and I wasn't eager to spent hundred over dollars on a gadget that probably won't perform to my expectation. Then, I found Mi Band, an exceptionally inexpensive fitness tracker, which you can get at just less than $20 on qoo10.com.sg

Do note that Mi Band comes with a default black band. All other colours are to be bought from 3rd party seller at an equally inexpensive price. 

To start using your Mi Band, all you have to do is the download the MiFit application from your GooglePlay store and get the gadget fully charged. That's all!

With every start up of the application, you'll automatically be prompted to switch on your bluetooth such that the data on the Mi Band can be sync over to your mobile phone. 

And yes, even though I've set my target as the 'recommended minimum' of 8000 steps a day, on my normal days I usually walks over 10,000 steps. 

Not doing very well in the sleep factor, though. :(

And apart from just tracking your steps (and work out, which I'll get to it later on the accuracy), the Mi Band can also help to track your running route, which they seem to have removed after the latest software update and I don't know why, sit-ups and jumping rope. 

And as you can see, under the tab of vote for more sports...

There's a whole list of exercises 'coming soon, out of which I've voted for riding. And after the latest software update, the voting system was removed with nothing new added to the previous list of just sit-ups and jumping rope. 

Err, meehhhhh...

And as you can see, Mi Band also has a alarm clock function, which you can set the time for the band to vibrate. The vibration is more than enough to wake me up, though if you're an extremely heavy sleeper, it might not work for you.

Now, to the accuracy of Mi Band. 

IMO, it's pretty bad. Haha, but of course you can't expect excellent accuracy with the amount of money you paid for it. 

I've tried tracking the tracker and to my horror, I took a hundred over steps when I visit the loo in office, when in actual fact the distance from my desk to the washroom is barely 30 steps. 

And so I further test it out.

Turns out, as long as you shake your hand (with the Mi Band on) hard enough, it'll track as steps. So I've probably took a a good 50 'steps' just by washing my hands thoroughly after visiting the loo. 

And if you go back to the screenshot of my daily steps taken, you can see that the Mi Band tracked that I've 'worked out' at different times of the day, when in actual fact, I'm really just walking around. Perhaps it was the walking speed that has done the trick, but IMO I've hardly worked out at all. Sometimes, it'll even track as running. Like, whatt?

And previously when I cycled from ECP all the way to Changi Village (1 hr 15 minutes ride) and back, it was counted as just a short while of 'working out' plus some 'steps' and with a meagre 90+ kcals burnt. Okay, really?

So my verdict is simple. You pay peanuts, you get peanuts. 

For just barely $20, it'll probably be a pretty decent daily steps taken estimator (note that I'm not calling it a tracker anymore). But if you're hoping for a good gauge of how many calories you've burnt on a day to day basis, this basic fitness tracker is not for you. 

And with that, I'll also like for you to share with me on what fitness tracker you're currently using, if any. I'm still looking around for one that can track (or gauge) how much calories I've burnt when I spin or do other form of exercises. 

So just drop me comments down below and let me know your recommendations!

And lastly, a very Happy Chinese New Year to all and Meh the Huat be with you! 

Till then,

Mia Foo