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I promised myself I would never try the Xiaomi branded fitness tracker again, because from the sixth generation onwards I was always very disappointed, it's not for nothing that the Xiaomi Smart Band 8 was rejected by me big time but only stupid people don't change their minds and so here I am to try the Xiaomi Smart Band 8 Pro, a larger, more complete and decidedly more interesting solution.
CONSTRUCTION
Let's skip over the unboxing chapter, because inside the package we only find the wearable, the charging cable with magnetic pogo pins (proprietary attachment) and the manuals. An excellent thing is that the company also sent me a replacement strap, because this new version boasts a lot of customization thanks to a series of straps with quick release (but proprietary attachment) that range from more sporty looks to more elegant ones like the ones made in leather or Milanese mesh. On the brand's website you can find many to buy but by doing some research you can also find unofficial ones on various alternative stores.
Having said that, the new Xiaomi Smart Band 8 Pro is not a real novelty in terms of aesthetics and concept of the product itself, resembling for example the Band 8 Active or Redmi Watch 4, but this does not take away from the fact that the brand has worked very well indeed on the construction of the wearable which does not disfigure the wrist and above all does not leave out any aspect relating to comfort, also due to dimensions and weight equal to 46 x 33.35 x 9.99 mm (without considering the protrusion of the sensor) and 22,5 grams (without strap).
Case made with metal edges for greater durability and premium effect at a glance, but I would like to point out that compared to its smaller twin, the plastic used for the rear body of the band and relative protrusion of the sensors do not cause discomfort even during the most intense training sessions, where sweating becomes accentuated.
DISPLAY
The screen also contributes to a positive aesthetic opinion, thanks to a resolution of 336×480, 336 ppi and a brightness of up to 600 nits, moreover the automatic adjustment sensor is also present.
This contributes to excellent reading in all lighting conditions and the large display contributes to a pleasant and satisfying experience, with excellent visibility of the contents shown on the screen, icons, writings, graphics and above all the AMOLED technology used allows you to have a excellent color depth and contrast. This can be seen, for example, in the change of watchfaces, taking advantage of personal photos, but also with the various dials made available for free, many of which also have touch-responsive and customizable complications.
This is data which makes the experience very pleasant and satisfying when used: outdoors you can always see very well, the writing, icons and information are clear and sharp and the OLED technology allows for excellent color depth and perfect contrast.
We can wake up the display with the rotation of the wrist or by tapping on the touch surface but above all the brightness can be managed both automatically via sensor and in manual mode with a setting that you can decide and set regardless of the surrounding environment. The dedicated sensor is really reactive and in any case the peak brightness reaches up to 600 nits, thus allowing excellent readability even under direct sunlight.
The large 1,74-inch AMOLED display is at 60 Hz, which means having a decidedly rewarding fluidity of animations and navigation in the system. The large portion of the screen combined with a definition of 336×480 pixels, 336 PPI, offers a more than gratifying graphic experience, always offering full screen contents, without cut writing or anything else, all protected by Gorilla Glass third generation that helps keep the wearable looking like new, offering protection from bumps and scratches.
SOFTWARE AND FEATURES
Swiping right or left then accesses the many widgets available with which to quickly recall the most common functions, such as monitoring heart rate, SpO2, weather, sports activities and much more. However, we cannot respond to notifications or manage calls other than hanging up or alternatively sending a response via SMS, customizing the text from the app. Notifications can be read and deleted and the thing I liked is the synchronization with the smartphone, so once read on one device or the other you won't end up with a duplicate.
The system menu can be customized between list icons or in a more graphic style and among the functions there is no lack of remote music or camera management, viewing daily sports/health statistics, setting an alarm, timer, stopwatch, flashlight function and much more already seen on Band 8 but on this Xiaomi Smart Band 8 Pro, everything works correctly.
On Xiaomi Smart Band 8 Pro there is no lack of complete sensors, starting from optical sensors dedicated to heart rate and pulse oximeter, but also accelerometer and gyroscope in addition to the aforementioned lighting sensor but above all interesting integration is GPS/Glonass/BeiDou/Galileo/ QZSS which proved to be very fast in coupling with satellites and which allows you to carry out sporting activities with track recording without having to carry your smartphone with you. I repeat that the fix is very fast both outdoors and indoors, therefore even in less than optimal conditions with very overcast skies or under a canopy, perhaps just as you warm up before leaving for your run or activity in general.
The recorded track is precise but the information recorded relating to the activity is also quite rich, certainly not at the levels of products dedicated to sport, but more than sufficient to obtain a general picture of the activity carried out or personal health. Furthermore, having an AMOLED display available, we can have the Always On Display active even during the sports monitor, therefore always having an eye on the information displayed on the screen. All you need to do is synchronize the band with the dedicated app, available for both Android and iOS and thanks to Bluetooth 5.3, speed of synchronization and data exchange is guaranteed. Furthermore, synchronization with the app gives a broader view of the information collected, for example having available the division by KM of the map or even the time per KM during training on the treadmill. There are 150 sports that can be monitored, including aquatic ones, counting on a 5 ATM certification. Despite the many sports, not all allow the record of dedicated metrics, so in reality choosing one or another activity serves exclusively to categorize a type of training.
Xiaomi Smart Band 8 Pro was very accurate in recording steps, heart rate and SpO2, in fact the sensors are new generation and compared to the past they obtain more precise values of 10% for cardiac activity and 5% for SpO2. In fact, when comparing the recordings obtained by the Xiaomi band for example with a Galaxy Watch 6, the values of both were comparable. The calorie count data is a little less realistic, perhaps too optimistic and overestimated for the entire day.
AUTONOMY
Xiaomi Smart Band 8 also improves autonomy, greatly influenced by real use, but with its 289 mAh battery with full recharge in 80 minutes, you can even reach 10 full days of continuous use to drop to a minimum of 3 /4 days if you take advantage of everything you have available, such as AOD.
With a more common usage estimate, I personally got to 7 days, always having notifications active during the day to change them autonomously via the do not disturb function during the night hours, but I always had the stress, cardio, SpO2, sleep monitoring with the attached breathing monitor function active 24 hours a day. Surely in a market where smart watches struggle to exceed 4 days, having almost 2 weeks of autonomy is certainly a significant advantage.
PROJECTED IMPACT
At a price of €69,99, available both on Amazon and on the Mi Store, Xiaomi Smart Band 8 Pro is an excellent product, not perfect but not with obvious defects either. Impeccable display, extensive customization also due to dedicated straps, light and comfortable on both men's and women's wrists, presence of GPS, reliability of the data collected and clear and functional application, are just some of the strong points of a product aimed at anyone, sportsmen and not. The only real absences are the NFC, the lack of possibility of responding to notifications or calls from the wrist, but on the other hand we find ourselves in the presence of a fitness tracker and not a smartwatch, for these functions Xiaomi has other products in the catalog and above all not everyone is interested in having certain functions, which we already have with a smartphone, in which we have perhaps also invested a lot of money.
