19.4.2021 | 3 MIN
It hasn't even been 9 months since the fifth generation of the popular Chinese smart band saw the light of the day, and now there is Xiaomi Mi Band 6. The question is... How did Xiaomi manage to enrich this band after nine months?
The dominant feature of the new generation is definitely the display, which has grown from 1.1 inches to 1.56 inches and uses Full Screen Amoled technology. Xiaomi used the entire front side of the band and covered it with a display. You can also appretiate the increase in the resolution to 152 x 486 pixels and the increase in the fineness of the display to 326 ppi. This fineness is also used, for example, in iPhones, so there is definitely something to look forward to.
Smart bands are often condemned for a small and difficult-to-read display, but Xiaomi has now cleverly compensated for this with a decent size, so the band may finally be suitable for people with poor eyesight.
The new Mi Band 6 has now dimensions 47,4 mm x 18,6 mm. The thickness of 12,7 mm stayed the same, which made it possible for straps from the previous generation to fit on this model as well. The weight is also almost identical (12.8 grams).
Changing the look of Mi Bands is no science. You just exchange the strap and that's it. Until now, however, it was only possible to buy the black version and then buy another different color strap. But so far it looks like the sixth generation is going to be different and you will be able to buy it with a strap color other than black right away. Mi Band 6 will be available in black, white, yellow, blue, orange and brown.
Xiaomi is gradually increasing the range of sports activities, with the fourth generation having a choice of 6 sports, the fifth with 11 sports, while the Mi Band 6 can now monitor up to 30 sports activities.
We have seen heart rate and stress monitoring in previous generations, but something new that the sixth generation also brings is a blood oxygenation sensor. The pulse oximeter is used to indicate diseases and other ailments.
So far, we have talked about the new things Mi Band 6 offers, but let's also analyze what we know from previous generations. The battery life of this model is around 14 days, which is the same as in Mi Band 5.
In addition to the pulse oximeter, the band also has a heart rate sensor and an accelerometer that measures the steps you took during the day. Furthermore, Mi Band also records your stress, calories burned, breathing, sleep or your condition through the PAI (Personal Activity Intelligence) indicator.
From the smart features, it displays all notifications from your phone, can control the music played on the phone and you can also find the weather forecast, alarm clock, timer, stopwatch or the handy "Find my phone" function.
Yes and no. One argument is that the sixth generation brings a few improvements that can be much apprecited in everyday life. For me, the biggest plus is definitely the increase in display and pulse oximeter. At the same time, the price tag for a Mi Band (assumed to be approximately CZK 1,200) is not so high for it to hurt too much when switching to a newer model due to these tweaks.
So why not? These improvements, on the other hand, are not the kind of bomb that will lift you up from your chair and say to yourself, "I have fives, but sixes are somewhere else entirely." If this band finally brought an NFC chip that would allow contactless payment, the decision would be simple - certainly yes. But the fact that we still don't get an NFC chip in Europe (only the Chinese market) makes the decision a bit more difficult.
Well, if you don't have a smart band and you're considering a purchase, it's definitely worth it to pay a little more for the sixth generation.
