Xiaomi Smart Band 9 Review: Affordable Fitness Tracker with Strong Features

Xiaomi Smart Band 9: A budget-friendly fitness tracker with great battery life, reliable health tracking, and a bright display.

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Xiaomi is known for making affordable fitness trackers and new Xiaomi Smart Band 9 is no exception. It’s a budget-friendly option that doesn’t compete with high-end brands like Apple Watch, Garmin or Fitbit but it offers a solid range of features at a low price.

Xiaomi Smart Band 9 includes sleep tracking, step counting, heart rate monitoring, and calorie counting. You can also use it in different sports modes, though it lacks GPS. While the accuracy is good, it’s not perfect.

You can also use Smart Band 9 like a simple smartwatch, with features like notifications, music control and weather reports. Some features may have small issues, like buggy notifications or trouble pairing, but they’re easy to overlook considering the price.

This is a great choice for anyone new to fitness trackers, offering good value without spending too much.

Xiaomi Smart Band 9 Specification

Feature	Specification
Screen Size	1.62″ AMOLED
Resolution	192 x 490
Brightness	Up to 1200 nits, auto-adjustable
Sensors	Acceleration, Gyroscope, Heart Rate, Blood Oxygen, Ambient Light
Wireless Connectivity	BT5.4
Battery	233mAh LiPo
Charging Time	About 60 minutes
Water Resistance	5ATM
Shell Material	Aluminum alloy frame + high-strength polymer
Weight	15.8g (without wristband)
Dimensions	46.53 x 21.63 x 10.95 mm
System Requirements	Android 8.0 or iOS 12.0 and above
Supported App	Mi Fitness
Battery Life	Up to 21 days
Health Sensors	High-precision 6-axis, heart rate monitor, blood oxygen sensor
Colors	Silver, Black, Blue, Rose, Gray
GPS	No
Connectivity	Bluetooth 5.4

Xiaomi Smart Band 9 Price and Availability

Xiaomi Smart Band 9 is now available for purchase offering a budget-friendly option for fitness trackers. Released in late September 2024, it comes at a price of $60 / £34.99 / AU$79.99, making it one of the most affordable trackers on the market.

Xiaomi Smart Band 9 offers great value for its price, especially compared to other fitness trackers like Fitbit Inspire 3, Huawei Band 9, and Samsung Galaxy Fit 3. While it may not match top brands like Apple or Garmin, it delivers solid performance at a much lower cost. If you’re looking for an affordable wearable from a trusted tech brand, Xiaomi Smart Band 9 is worth considering.

Price is a slight increase from its predecessor, Xiaomi Smart Band 8 Pro, which originally launched for $99 / £60 / AU$95. However, just six months later, Band 8 Pro has dropped in price, often being found at half its original cost from various retailers. Despite this, Smart Band 9 still undercuts most of its competitors, making it a great choice for anyone looking for affordable fitness tracker without sacrificing quality.

Xiaomi Smart Band 9: Design

Xiaomi Smart Band 9 has a simple and practical design that will feel familiar to experienced fitness tracker users. It features 1.62-inch AMOLED screen with a resolution of 192 x 490 offering a 60Hz refresh rate and bright 1200 nits max brightness. This upgrade makes it much easier to see screen outdoors in bright sunlight. Automatic brightness adjustment works well and I didn’t face any issues with it.

Touch sensitivity on Smart Band 9 is great even when my hands were wet which was a common problem with older models. Band doesn’t have physical buttons but uses a gesture-based navigation system which is easy to get used to.

Band’s body measures 46.53 x 21.63 x 10.95 mm and weighs only 15.8g. It’s made of aluminum which gives it a sturdy feel and its 5ATM water resistance means it can handle being submerged in water. It’s also smaller than many other fitness trackers which is ideal for people who prefer less bulky wearables.

Smart Band 9 comes in several colors, including black, silver, light blue, rose and gray, with matching straps. Default strap is TPU which was a bit tricky to use at first while magnetic loop strap tended to loosen during use.

Xiaomi Smart Band 9 Performance

Xiaomi Smart Band 9 lasts up to 21 days on a single charge, which is great for a fitness tracker. I got around 20 days with regular use including a long 8-hour run. This is longer than most other fitness trackers which usually last about 14 days.

Band doesn’t have built-in GPS but it uses your phone’s GPS, which works well enough. It wasn’t too far off in tracking a marathon. Other features like heart rate, steps, and activity minutes were mostly accurate. Sleep tracking sometimes thought I was asleep when I was reading but it still gave useful details about my sleep stages.

There are 155 fitness modes, including running, swimming and even things like auto racing and chess. Most modes track time, calories and heart rate which I found useful.

For runners, Smart Band 9 offers good tracking and helps with interval training. It also tracks your “Vitality score” to show your weekly exercise progress, but it only counts activities you’ve logged.

Xiaomi Smart Band 9 Features

Xiaomi Smart Band 9 works with Mi Fitness app on your phone. Setting up the band with the app can be tricky and some parts of the app weren’t in English. But the app is good for tracking your fitness data and changing watch face. There are several attractive watch faces that show your data in a simple way.

You can use band for non-fitness features like controlling music, checking weather, turning on Do Not Disturb and finding your phone. It can also alert you when you get notifications on your phone but sometimes it repeats same alert or sends too many notifications at once.

Band also has a raise-to-wake feature to turn on the display when you lift your wrist, but it doesn’t always work. You might need to tap the screen to see the time.

While these small issues can be annoying, Smart Band 9 works better than many other budget fitness trackers I’ve tested, though it’s not perfect.

Pros and Cons of Xiaomi Smart Band 9

✅Pros	❌Cons
💲 Budget-friendly	🚫 Lacks built-in GPS
🏗️ Sturdy and well-constructed	🛌 Deep sleep tracking can be inaccurate
🌟 Bright display with always-on option	❌
⚙️ Customizable software	❌
🔋 Impressive battery life	❌
🏃‍♂️ Comprehensive fitness and health tools	❌

Conclusion

Xiaomi Smart Band 9 stands out for its low price but it’s not cheaply made. It has a smooth interface, reliable health tracking and bright display. While there are a few issues they’re easy to overlook considering affordable price.