Until recently, to get your hands on a Xiaomi device requires grey market import or travelling overseas. With the launch of the official Australian online shop launch, it is much easier to get your hands on their many tech, and also official support. I kicked things off with the Xiaomi Smart Band 10.
Why start with the Smart Band?
As the number 10 implies, this is the tenth generation of the Xiaomi Smart Band.
I have the Mi Band 2 and the Band 6 in the past. All of them were bought for the kids because they are a great, slim line activity tracker with some extras such as weather and music control. They have no built in tracking, remote audio features and the like, but does have an alarm to help wake them up in the morning.
My daughter has been using the hand me down Smart Band 6 for most of this year now. We had an agreement that if her teacher ever tells us that she is distracted by it in class, then it is going to be taken off her.
To her credit, she has been super good about it and her teacher has made it a point to let us know that.
As a reward I had planned on getting her a more current one this Christmas, rather than keeping a hand me down. As luck would have it, Xiaomi was happy to come to the party.
A Lasting First Impression
I’ll own up to this. I got into the Smart Band 10 when she was asleep and got it all set up to replicate her Smart Band 6 set up. The only thing I couldn’t keep was the watch face so I picked something that I think she would like.
Then I wrapped it all back up back in the packaging and surprised her after school the next day.
We got the Glacier Silver colourway as our review unit, and it is also available in Midnight Black, Mystic Rose and Pearl White.
One of the most attractive features that has always been part of the Smart Band product line, is the easy ability to change the band. It is as simply as popping the clips and clipping a new band in.
Unlike the Smart Band 6 where the unit pops out of an enclosed single piece strap, the straps on the Smart Band 10 is more like a traditional watch band – one on each side.
There are plenty of variety available from the official Xiaomi store – from TPU, to silk knitted, leather and metal. With the Smart Band 10, they have added a pearl-chain pendant option although take note that it may vary the readings in this particular configuration.
If you don’t fancy the official straps, there is a plethora of aftermarket ones available. Just poke around on all the usual websites and browse around.
Compared to the Smart Band 6, the Smart Band 10 is a little shorter and a bit wider.
It features a 1.72″ 60Hz AMOLED pill-shaped display, has a 73% screen-to-body ratio and 2.0mm bezel. The display maxes out at 1500 nits in High Brightness Mode (HBM) which helps make the screen readable even in direct sunlight.
The device body weighs in just 15.95 grams. Depending on your strap, the final weight will vary.
Core Features
For those who are fitness fans, the Smart Band 10 has over 150 sports modes, powered by a nine-axis motion sensor.
At 7 years old, Arraiya isn’t training for any Olympics, but she is always active and loves her dance classes. What we like to see is her general heart rate, blood oxygen saturation, and her sleeping pattern.
For her, she likes to be able to set her school day alarms and record her daily steps. The weather feature is a must. The cute and numerous interchangeable watch faces is an endless source of entertainment.
Like most kids, she is generally difficult to wake up on school days. But on the weekends, she is usually up at the crack of dawn. I don’t need to explain myself to other parents just how much fun that is – not.
But with the Smart Band 10, she would happily be able to access the history and tell me what time she woke up. It at least gives me a feel for how she is tracking, before she hits the overtired meltdown territory.
So in a complete departure of how I usually review a gadget, my daughter is taking us through all the features she loves on the Xiaomi Smart Smart 10. Bear with us for a totally adorable debut review.
Just a note: this video review was totally unscripted other than some prompts. So apologies in advance when it feels a little unstructured. Also please excuse the cameo from the cat, and the background noise of a busy household.
Arraiya’s Verdict
Initially I was not confident on whether Arraiya would take to the Smart Band 10. Sometimes when she is used to something, she does not necessarily care to change.
However she really took to it from the get go. The bigger and brighter screen, is an substantial improvement over the previous one especially -when she uses it as a torch.
The real clincher was when she discovered some clock faces comes with games. Basic maths games which is pretty appropriate at her age, and pushes her just that little bit out of her comfort zone.
It still falls in line with our parenting boundaries and school guidelines, where it has no ability to make or receive calls.
Kevin’s Final Thoughts
From a parenting perspective, this is an affordable activity tracker that does not give too much features, but enough to empower a child. The varied and affordable bands available keeps it looking fresh and new.
More importantly, it will grow with the child as their activities takes off. More sports, more fitness. It is rated to be 5ATM water resistant – submersed up to 50 metres. It is perfectly safe to wear in the swimming pool, and I can’t wait to see what it says after swim week.
Switching over to adult mode, one of the most attractive features of the Xiaomi Smart Band 10 is its super lightweight. No smart watch really comes close, although you are giving up on NFC at a minimum, but even that is not a standard feature in smart watches.
For someone like me, wearing a full smart watch and it’s associated weight for extended periods will trigger my De Quervain’s tenosynovitis. That combined with possibly carpal tunnel syndrome causes pretty intense pain in my wrists. At under 20g, the Xiaomi Smart Band 10 seems to be a lot more palatable for longer periods.
At the same time, all the core features I care about – notifications, time, messages are available on the screen for me to see. And if I need to respond, I can then chose to pull the phone out of my pocket.
As the weather warms up and I look to establishing a better exercise routine, it gives me all the options I could need to track my progress.
The Xiaomi Smart Band 10 has a RRP A$89.50, and is available from the official Xiaomi Australia website. There is a small but handy discount on Amazon Au, from A$70.44 depending on the colourway.
DRN would like to thank Xiaomi for providing the review unit.
