Mi band 5 is a firmware update to mi band 4 with a slightly bigger display okay. So yes the mi band 5 has finally launched in India at a price of 2500 INR with a slightly bigger 1.1 inch colorful AMOLED display. high fitness tracking points, women’s health tracking. Features like the menstrual cycle ovulation phases etc but you also have the mi band 4 price at 1800 INR out there which was again the best fitness band available. So the question that has to be asked is should you buy the mi band 5 or Honor band 5 or again is mi band 5 price worth upgrading over the mi band 4.
Yes, the mi band 5 is the best fitness band out there but no you shouldn’t get it. Here’s my full review of the mi band 5. Well now to ease this review let me divide it into four parts and this is what you should be looking for while purchasing a fitness band one display, fitness tracking and accuracy, sleep tracking, and finally third-party apps in that order.
Display
Let’s start with the display first. Both the mi band 4 and the mi band 5 have a nice AMOLED display. However, the knee bend 5 takes it up a notch you get a slightly bigger 1.1-inch display compared to the mi band 4. 0.95-inch display with slightly more pixels and better resolution in comparison to the mi band 4 the mi band 5 can get brighter. Mi band 4 could go up to 400 nits whereas the mi band 5 can now go up to 450 nits but in general usage, I could see the difference in sharpness of the display when kept side by side but if you have any of these you would hardly complain the difference of 50 minutes of brightness is barely noticeable.
I could hardly tell the difference the most important or noticeable upgrade is this bigger display. Now the icons in the menu are bigger it’s easier to touch interaction with the entire display. Moreover, during the workout, the data that has to be seen is now larger. It’s very easy to notice them like here during an outdoor run. The text is now slightly bigger due to the sharper display. It’s easier to read as well on the go. So I would rate the mi band 5 display slightly better than the mi band 4 and the honor band 5 but not a significant difference.
Fitness Tracking
So the display is marginally but definitely better on the mi band 5 but what about the real deal workout and accuracy. Well to start off the mi band 5 offers more workout activities 11 to be precise over 6 workout activities on the mi band 4. The honor band 5 has 10 workout activities. Now the extra added workout activities are indo-cycling elliptical rowing machine yoga and jump rope.
Now indoor cycling elliptical yoga just displaces time calories heart rate this could have easily been a part of freestyle training the only useful added workout I could find is jump rope if you’re into that maybe you should consider the mi band 5.
Rest you get all the general workout activities like running cycling walking swimming on all the three bands in terms of accuracy. I took a run with all the three bands and here’s that data more or less the mi band 5 and honor band 5 are on the same page. In terms of distance measurement more or less the mi band 4 and event 5 are on the same page.
In terms of heart rate and distance measurement here, I have the mi band 4 mi band 5 and the apple watch 6 measuring heart rate side by side a plus-minus 10 difference maybe. I would say all the three bands are on par and consistent a small addition is made to the mi band 5. Now before any exercise, there are settings to customize heart rate and distance alert.
The best one is the auto-pause feature it automatically pauses the workout when it detects no movement that’s nice. The amaze fit whip had it for a while and it’s good to see it coming to the mi bands. Additionally, mi band 5 also provides a stress measurement and breathing exercise. Well, let’s just say you would barely use it also has women tracking features like menstrual tracking and ovulation phases. But for obvious reasons, we weren’t able to test that. So if you’re a girl me band 5 has some exclusive features for you and it’s good to see that.
Sleep Tracking
So the mi band 5 had a better display and slightly more workout activities with similar accuracy. But there’s an underrated part of fitness band sleep tracking. People underestimate the quality of sleep a lot and it’s really important to sleep for seven to eight hours. Now hands down honor band 5 have the best sleep tracking in this segment the mi bands aren’t bad but it’s just the honor and is so good. The honor band is clearly able to distinguish between just lying on the bed and sleeping. The mi bands can’t do that moreover if you are someone who takes a nap in the daytime.
Well honor band 5 and mi band 5 both can detect naps round the clock again i couldn’t test this but that’s something worth mentioning here on the mi 5. The honor band 5 clearly has more details and sleep time accuracy over the mi band 5 and even the mi band 4. So the mi band 5 had a better display and slightly more workout activities with similar accuracy the honor band 5 has better sleep tracking. but the biggest factor that always makes the mi bands a clear winner over any fitness band is the third party apps
Third-Party Apps
The amount of customizations you can do with me band is just insane. Everything you want to do with this band. But to sum it up you can display map directions on the band, answer calls, sync data to strava which is most important for me set custom reminders, etc there’s a whole lot. You would find a lot of customization within the app. However, the point is all these hacks that work with mi band 5 also work with the mi band 4 which doesn’t make it an x-factor exclusive to me band 5.
Battery
Now let’s talk about the cons it’s not like things are all better on the mi band 5. The major bummer is the battery surprisingly even after bumping the display. The battery has been reduced by 10 mah. So earlier you had a 135 mah battery on the mi band 4 and now it’s 125 mah on the mi band 5. The difference clearly shows I could get through the mi band 4 for about 6 to 7 days on hardcore usage whereas the mi band 5 only lasts 4 to 5 days that’s like a difference of 2 days plus the charging mechanism.
It’s better now you don’t have to remove the capsule but a built-in USB charger would have been much appreciated. So to sum it up the mi band 5 only has a bigger display and slightly more workouts over the mi band 4 but you wouldn’t notice the display difference. If you don’t see it side by side and most of the workouts are just pointless except jump rope in terms of third party apps and workout accuracy. The mi band 4 is on par with the mi band 5. Also, the battery on the mi band 4 is better than the mi band 5.
Conclusion
Let me rephrase it me a band 5 is just a firmware update to the mi band 4 with a slightly bigger display and a different charger whatever features the mi band 5 offers could just have been a firmware update to the mi band 4. So should you upgrade from the mi band 4 no don’t do that? So what should you buy? well, the mi band 5 price is currently 2500 rupees costly than the mi band 4. If you can get the mi band 5 price at 2500 but if mi band 4 drops lower in price it’s a better deal overall. If you’re a girl mi band 5 has exclusive features for you you should get that.
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