Xiaomi Mi Band 2 goes on sale
Chinese tech giant Xiaomi, has recently unveiled the updated and upgraded version of its popular and affordable fitness band – the Mi Band 2. As of yesterday, the new tracker is officially available to Chinese consumers. No word on Amazon availability yet, but GearBest is selling the tracker for just under $40.
The company’s original Mi Band, which launched two years ago with a retail price of around $15, sports a 30-day battery life, acts as an alarm clock and tracks your fitness and sleep. The low cost fitness tracker received a bump in specs late last year to include a heart rate sensor.
Xiaomi’s third generation device includes all these features, in addition to a 0.42-inch OLED display which is covered by a scratch-resistant glass and the anti-fingerprint coating. This means that for the first time, Mi Band users will not be tied to their smartphones to check on their daily progress.
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The 24/7 activity tracker includes an upgraded pedometer algorithm and a more accurate optical heart rate sensor, along with the usual step, calorie, and sleep tracking (deep and light sleep). Optical heart rate sensors typically work by shining a LED light on the skin and measuring how the light is scattered by blood flow. You will be able to scroll through all these metrics via a button located at the bottom of the display.
The Mi Band 2 is also capable of unlocking your Xiaomi phone (alongside providing notifications from it), and will tell you to move if you’ve been sitting for too long.
The device weights only 7 grams and is splash proof (IP67 water resistance rating). Rather impressively, despite the inclusion of a screen, once charged The Mi Band 2 can keep running for up to 20 days on standby. The tracker now comes with an interchangeable more breathable, anti-sweat, silicon band, and you can choose between the Black, Blue, Green and Orange options.
We think Xiaomi is sitting on a winner here. The Chinese company shipped over 10 million Mi Band fitness trackers in the first nine months of 2015 and the new tracker may help it close the gap to Apple and Fitbit.
Aside from the bump in specs, the new device has received a slight bump in price compared to Xiaomi’s other trackers – and will retail for around $23 (149 Yuan). In terms of price, this still puts the tracker in the lower end of the budget fitness category.
 | Xiaomi Mi 2 Band |  |
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