The Xiaomi Mi Band 7 boasts a notable upgrade from its predecessor, emphasizing a 1.62-inch AMOLED display with a resolution of 490 x 192 pixels. This enhancement provides users with a significantly larger screen area, enhancing the overall user experience, especially when utilizing the band’s always-on display feature. Moreover, the Mi Band 7 extends battery life and introduces new features like continuous SpO2 monitoring with low-level alerts, alongside a revamped user interface. Users can personalize their experience further with over 100 animated watch faces.
In certain regions, the Xiaomi Mi Band 7 is marketed as the Xiaomi Mi Smart Band 7. It incorporates essential tools and sensors for tracking fundamental fitness metrics, including heart rate, sleep patterns and stress levels. For fitness enthusiasts, it offers a plethora of sports tracking modes and enhanced workout analysis features. Notably, the band lacks built-in GPS and NFC support for digital payments in its global variant.
The Mi Band 7 underscores the philosophy that bigger is better, featuring a 1.62-inch AMOLED display-a noticeable increase from its predecessor, the Mi Band 6, which had a 1.56-inch display. This upgrade translates to a 25% larger viewing area and enhanced brightness, with a maximum of 500 nits compared to the Mi Band 6’s 450 nits. The addition of an always-on display enhances usability, although the lack of an ambient light sensor means brightness adjustments must be made manually.
Xiaomi has also redesigned the Mi Band 7’s user interface to complement its larger display, introducing new visuals and improved organization. Navigating the UI is intuitive, with swipe gestures for accessing notifications, apps and customizable widgets. The touchscreen is responsive and smooth, enhancing overall usability.
Despite these improvements, the Mi Band 7’s editing menu for watch faces is overly sensitive, often triggering unintentionally with regular use. This can be frustrating for users accustomed to more precise interactions. However, the band compensates with a wide range of watch face options, catering to various preferences from minimalist designs to data-rich displays.
Beyond the larger display, the physical design of the Mi Band 7 remains largely unchanged from previous models in the Xiaomi Mi Band series. It retains the familiar pill-shaped tracker housed in a flexible silicone strap, which offers adjustable fit and comfort. However, newer models like the Mi Band 8 have shifted to quick-release bands for added versatility.
The band’s clasp design also remains unchanged, utilizing the traditional pin-in-hole buckle system. While this design is familiar and functional for many users, it lacks the convenience of modern quick-release mechanisms seen in other wearables. The Mi Band 7 is available in a variety of vibrant colors, appealing to users seeking customization options without compromising on style or comfort.
Charging the Mi Band 7 is facilitated by a magnetic proprietary charger, allowing users to detach the capsule from the strap for more convenient charging. A full charge typically takes around two hours, supporting extended usage periods despite the device’s enhanced features.
In terms of battery capacity, the Mi Band 7 boasts a 180mAh battery, a significant increase from its predecessor’s 125mAh capacity. Xiaomi claims up to 14 days of battery life under typical usage conditions and up to nine days with heavy usage. However, practical testing suggests approximately one week of battery life with advanced tracking features enabled, demonstrating a balance between functionality and battery efficiency.
Enabling the band’s always-on display mode significantly impacts battery life, reducing it by more than half. Users can manage power consumption by adjusting settings or scheduling display activation, balancing usability with extended battery life as needed.
Pros of the Mi Band 7 include its larger and brighter display, accurate heart rate monitoring, continuous SpO2 tracking, extensive sports modes, a variety of band colors and overall affordability. However, the device is not without its limitations, notably the absence of built-in GPS and NFC support in the global model, inconsistent sleep tracking and a somewhat confusing app ecosystem.
Xiaomi has endeavored to enhance its fitness and health tracking capabilities with the Mi Band 7, integrating features such as continuous SpO2 monitoring and heart rate alerts alongside comprehensive sleep and stress monitoring. The band’s extensive range of sports tracking modes, totaling 120 activities, caters to diverse fitness needs, albeit with some redundancy in mode offerings.
For traditional fitness activities like running and cycling, Xiaomi has expanded training metrics to include training load, training effect and recovery time. While these metrics provide valuable insights, they do not match the depth offered by premium fitness trackers like Garmin, reflecting the Mi Band 7’s focus on affordability without compromising essential tracking capabilities.
The inclusion of VO2 max monitoring further underscores Xiaomi’s commitment to delivering advanced fitness metrics at a budget-friendly price point. However, the lack of built-in GPS remains a drawback, necessitating smartphone connectivity for accurate location tracking during outdoor activities.
Continuous SpO2 monitoring is a noteworthy addition to the Mi Band 7, capable of alerting users when blood oxygen levels drop below 90%. While this feature enhances health monitoring capabilities, it should not replace medical assessments for conditions like sleep apnea, highlighting the device’s role as a consumer health tool rather than a medical device.
In terms of sleep tracking, the Mi Band 7 provides insights into sleep stages comparable to leading competitors like Fitbit, albeit with some inconsistencies. Users can access detailed sleep stage data and trends through the Zepp Life app, facilitating comprehensive sleep analysis over daily, weekly, monthly and yearly periods. Despite these features, the Mi Band 7 may not match the precision of dedicated sleep trackers in identifying and analyzing sleep disturbances accurately.
It is important to note that despite its impressive display and functionality, the Mi Band 7 remains primarily a fitness tracker rather than a full-fledged smartwatch. While it supports basic smart features like notifications and music controls, it lacks advanced capabilities such as contactless payments and voice assistant support in its global variant. The absence of third-party app integration further limits its versatility compared to more comprehensive smartwatches.
The Mi Band 7 integrates well with both Android and iOS devices, offering seamless connectivity for receiving notifications and managing essential smartphone functions. The band’s small yet legible display ensures readability of notifications, weather updates and calendar events, enhancing its utility as a daily companion device.
Among its smart features, music playback control stands out as particularly useful during workouts, allowing users to manage music playback directly from the band without accessing their smartphones. While this feature adds convenience, it is commonplace among fitness-oriented wearables and does not distinguish the Mi Band 7 significantly in this regard.
The Mi Band 7’s app ecosystem, however, remains fragmented and confusing, with compatibility split between the Mi Fitness and Zepp Life apps. Each app offers distinct features and compatibility with third-party platforms like Google Fit and Strava, requiring users to choose one app for data synchronization to avoid data loss or duplication.
Both apps provide basic fitness tracking functionalities, focusing on simplicity and ease of use rather than advanced analytics or insights. The Mi Fitness app, reminiscent of Apple’s activity rings, categorizes basic health metrics into widget-based displays, offering minimalistic data visualization over time. In contrast, the Zepp Life app provides more detailed sleep analysis and comparative insights, catering to users seeking deeper health monitoring capabilities.
In summary, the Xiaomi Mi Band 7 represents a significant evolution in the budget fitness tracker market, offering a larger display, enhanced health monitoring features and extensive sports tracking capabilities. While it excels in providing essential fitness metrics and usability, it falls short in certain areas such as GPS integration, smartwatch features and app ecosystem coherence. Nevertheless, its affordability and comprehensive fitness tracking make it a compelling choice for users seeking a reliable activity tracker without breaking the bank.