Xiaomi Mi Band 4 to land later this year Huami CFO confirms

Xiaomi Mi Band 4 will definitely land in 2019, just don’t look for it in the next few months.

Essential reading: Xiaomi Mi Band 4 – what to expect from the next generation budget tracker

This is according to David Cui, Chief Financial Officer at Huami. For those not in the know, Huami is the company that manufactures Xiaomi’s flagship activity band.

“For Mi Band 4, it’s going to be in this year. It will be in 2019. But I’m not sure, it’s going to be in March and April. But, it is going to be in this year,” he said at Huami’s quarterly earnings call.

“So, right now, Mi Band 3 is still hot sale — is still — so really, really well. The margin is not shrinking, the shipments are not shrinking. So we will pick — work with Xiaomi to pick the right time to launch Mi Band 4 in the year.”

Huami executives added that each version of the Mi Band brings something new to the table. These upgrades make successive iterations even better options for those looking to stay fit and save cash. Executives hinted that Xiaomi Mi Band 4 will also bring new functionality but did not go into specifics.

The current version keeps tabs on all the fitness basics and heart rate, it lets you see messages and Caller ID, there is an option for muting calls and NFC connectivity. Mi Band 3 also has functions for checking the weather forecast, turning off the alarm and more.

While not as comprehensive as some of the other options out there, the fitness band gets the basics right. But there is always room for improvement.

The screen, for example, leaves a lot to be desired when it comes to visibility in the sunlight. Its responsiveness to touch is also not that great. There’s no altimeter or barometer for counting floors. Plus, despite its water resistance, the band does not track swimming.

It would be a stretch at its price point but built-in GPS would also be nice. Or at least Connected GPS. This would allow for better quality stats for running and cycling, as well as some more advanced performance metrics such as VO2Max.

Elsewhere in the call, Huami reported another strong quarter. Strong sales and profitability in the all important Q4-2018 were largely due to its Amazfit product range. This consists of a line of devices such as the Pace, Verge, Stratos and Bip. In fact, shipments of Amazfit products tripled in 2018 as compared with 2017. This, along with sales of Mi Band 3, resulted in a 78% increase in revenue last year.

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