2 weeks with the Xiaomi Smart Band 9: This will do!

The Xiaomi Smart Band 9 is a wearable for those not ready to spend hundreds of dollars on a smartphone accessory. A gorgeous AMOLED display and reliable health tracking for $50 are great value. The setup process wasn't ideal, but this wouldn't be a problem if you bought the global version.

Xiaomi is a brand with a legacy for a few things: flagship killer smartphones, great $5 wide earbuds, and the Mi Band series, or Xiaomi Smart Band. I’m pretty sure it was called the Mi Band when it first launched. Now, it's in its ninth generation, and as always, I took it out to the real world for some testing. Here's what I found.

To start off the review with some downers, the setup process was a complete nightmare. The band doesn't have a power button, so you have to charge it to turn it on. Sure, okay, but then you're greeted with a QR code that directs you to install an APK file of the Mi Fitness app. No, you can't use the same Mi Fitness app from the Google Play Store—it just won't register. You also have to set your region to China, which felt very fishy and chaotic. I would even recommend waiting for the global version just to avoid dealing with this. But once you're in, things start to look up.

I have the regular version with an aluminum case. I wouldn't say it feels premium, but it doesn't feel cheap either. For daily activities, it does a good job of preventing scratches. So far, I’ve only seen one visible scratch, which came from accidentally smashing it against a barbell. While Xiaomi didn't mention any specifications on the glass used, it seems to do a pretty good job at resisting scratches. There’s also a ceramic version, which is cool, but it was only available in white, and I didn’t think it would go well with a steel band. The size and weight haven’t changed from its predecessor, at 10.95 mm and 15.8 grams—small, very light, and it’s still a 1.62-inch AMOLED display at 192x490 resolution. The brightness has increased to 1200 nits, so I had no trouble viewing this display, even in the sunniest summers of Korea. That said, the brightness setting is automatic and takes a few seconds to adjust. Also, the bezels are noticeably asymmetrical, but fortunately, the interface makes clever use of the AMOLED display to hide that as much as possible. I only noticed it when using a colored watch face.

As expected, I do like the look of the Mi Band with the steel bracelet, but I have to give it to Xiaomi—the included rubber band feels really great as well. I hate that it comes in this gray color for the silver model, so I stick with the steel band 90% of the time, but it’s also easily interchangeable with the click of a button. Next to those buttons are redesigned sensors that look a lot more refined. Xiaomi claims that these sensors are 16% more accurate for heart rate and 7.9% more accurate for sleep tracking. While I have absolutely no way to test that, the band was able to accurately detect a one- to two-hour nap, and the total sleep time seemed on point as well. The heart rate was also consistent with the intensity of the workout, although the device does tend to actively measure heart rate only when it's in workout mode. As you know, wearables are still far from true health monitoring, but I did appreciate that these metrics provide a basic insight into your health.

Speaking of which, the band supports over 150 sports activities, two of which I actually used: weightlifting and treadmill. Again, nothing too fancy—it recorded time, estimated calories burned, and heart rate. The step count was on par with the readings I got on the Samsung Health app, which is a good sign, I guess. It’s also 50 meters water-resistant, so you can actually take it to the shower or go swimming—unlike some cheaper smartwatches that claim an IP68 rating but don’t recommend you do either of these activities.

Then there’s Xiaomi HyperOS. Xiaomi doesn’t mention much about their new processor, so I had little expectation, but maybe it’s the combination of their new operating system and processor. The software experience was very smooth—60 Hz on this small display is plenty and feels just as responsive as any high-end smartwatch. The biggest difference is in app support—there are no third-party apps available, which means you can see notifications, but you can’t interact with them or view previous messages once they’re dismissed. The interface has some quirky aspects as well; for instance, there’s no home button or gesture for it, so you have to manually swipe left to go back to the home screen every time. When you read a notification and want to see the time again, you have to wait a few seconds even after the display turns off—otherwise, it’ll just show the previous screen. The raise-to-wake feature works great now after a software update, but if you want to use the always-on display, you have to disable raise-to-wake completely.

Finally, the band includes a pretty decent 233 mAh battery. Even with features like sleep monitoring and breathing rate turned on, which consume more power, the device lasted me well throughout the week and then some. Charging was slower than expected—it took almost an hour, and the percentage would sometimes decrease, which was weird, but overall, I’d say battery life was solid.

So, should you buy the Xiaomi Smart Band 9? Well, if you’re new to wearables like I am, I would recommend these overly cheap $30 alternatives from lesser-known companies. The metrics are consistent, performance is fast, and this actually says you can take it swimming. It does have its drawbacks—mainly the small display that makes it hard to view messages, the absence of a home button, etc. But for $50 or $40, I’d say this is a great and even stylish entry point into wearables. After using this, I realized I’m more conscious of how much I sleep or whether I get my daily steps in. I can also easily find my phone with the Find Phone feature. So yeah, I would recommend it, but just make sure you don’t import the Chinese model—the setup process is just not worth it, and a lot of the watch faces are in Chinese, although I’m not sure if this is the case for the global version.

So that’s been my review of the Xiaomi Smart Band 9. I’d love to know your opinion or any tips from the Mi Band community, so please leave a comment, like, and subscribe for more videos. Thanks for watching, and I’ll see you in the next one.