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Anticipating the Xiaomi Mi Smart Band 9: Potential features & release date

In this article, we will explore the eagerly awaited Xiaomi Mi Smart Band 9, examining its potential release schedule and the innovative features that users may look forward to.

Generation 8 dropped in the spring of 2023 in China, but the international version of the same took its sweet time. We only saw it in late September. In fact, the global edition of the Pro has not launched at the time of writing this article. No doubt, it will land soon.

Its worth pointing out there are no actual leaks so far on Mi Band 9. Which means this article is about what one could reasonably expect from the 2024 version, based on the progression of features of the last few iterations of the device. Of course, when additional information does become available, we will update this piece.

Jump to

Release date, price
Design
Features
Final words


Xiaomi Mi Band 9: Predicting the launch and pricing

Xiaomi has been fairly regular at releasing subsequent generations of the Mi Band every year. Since 2016 these were unveiled in May or June, with 2021 and 2023 being the exception when we saw it a bit earlier.

  • Xiaomi Mi Band – July 2014
  • Xiaomi Mi Band 1S – November 2015
  • Xiaomi Mi Band 2 – June 2016
  • Xiaomi Mi Band 3 – May 2018
  • Xiaomi Mi Band 4 – June 2019
  • Xiaomi Mi Band 5 – June 2020
  • Xiaomi Mi Band 6 – March 2021
  • Xiaomi Mi Band 7 – May 2022
  • Xiaomi Mi Band 7 Pro – July 2022
  • Xiaomi Mi Band 8 – April 2023
  • Xiaomi Mi Band 8 Pro – August 2023
  • Xiaomi Mi Band 8 Active – October 2023

Looking forward to Xiaomi Mi Band 9, we don’t see any reason for this release schedule to change. Which means the earliest we can expect the next generation is March 2024 in China, with a more likely release date in late May or early June. Hopefully the wait for the international edition will not be as long as it was for Gen 8.

As far as price, this has slightly increased over the years. The base variant of the current generation will set you back around $60 (check price on Amazon). This type of price point is probably the top end of what a person would want to pay for a budget fitness tracker. This is why we don’t really see Xiaomi bumping up the price and further.

Retailing for double the cost of the base version, the Pro is quite expensive for a fitness band. If we do see a Mi Band 9 Pro, don’t be surprised if it undercuts this price.


Design evolution: What’s next for Mi Band 9?

Here’s an Infographic showing how the Mi Band has changed over the years.

Xiaomi Mi Band infographic
Xiaomi Mi Band over the years

The biggest news with the 2023 Mi Band release is the fact that three iterations dropped. A normal and Pro variant, along for the first time a version dubbed Active. To remind, the Pro version was released for the first time in 2022. So the company is gradually expanding its Mi Band range.

Mi Band 8 has stuck to the tried and tested look of prior generations. Something that clearly resembles a fitness tracker, measuring 48mm × 22.5mm × 10.99mm.

Xiaomi Mi Band 8
Xiaomi Mi Band 8

The Pro, on the other hand, is treading the line between fitness bands and smartwatches. It features much wider 46 × 33.35 × 9.99mm dimensions. Plus it has some more premium materials in its build such as a metal chassis in addition to the polycarbonate case. 

As far as the Active, that one is a budget version of the base variant retailing for about half the price. Unsurprisingly, its features have been somewhat stripped back.

Will we get a non-Pro, Pro and Active next year? It seems that the non-Pro and Pro have become regulars. We’re not so sure about Active. It will depend on its reception. Do we really need an even more budget Xiaomi Smart Band? Probably not.

Display

A slightly larger display with each subsequent generation has become somewhat of a tradition of the Xiaomi Mi Smart Band. The size of the screen has been bumped up for several years in a row.

Having said that, 2023 is an exception for the non-Pro version. That’s probably because it is unreasonable to keep increasing its screen size. However, The Pro did see an increase.

The non-Pro Mi Band 8 has a pill-shaped display that measures 1.62 inches (192 x 490 pixels). It also has an always-on option. An aspect that has improved in 2023 is the maximum brightness that the bracelet can reach, which for the first time exceeds 600 nits of brightness to approach the level of smartwatches. The refresh rate has also been improved to 60Hz.

The 8 Pro packs a square-shaped screen with an even larger 1.74 inch (336 x 448 pixels) AMOLED. That’s up from 1.64 inches last year.

One cannot reasonably expect any further increases unless Xiaomi comes up with a radically new design. It would burn the line between fitness bands and smartwatches a bit too much.

The quality of the display on Mi Band 8 and 8 Pro is pretty high. But this could always be an area for improvement, along with screen protection. All the Xiaomi Mi Bands so far are succeptible to scratching. That could easily be changed with a more robust display.

A capacitive or physical button?

The all-screen front on Mi Band means Xiaomi has had to do away with the physical button below the display that can be found on some of the predecessor generations. So you need to rely purely only on the touchscreen to navigate the screen. That’s all well and good but a physical button can be useful in wet conditions, while you are wearing gloves, etc.

Might we see a return of some sort of physical button on Gen 9? We wouldn’t rule it out. A good route might be something akin to the capacitive button which can be found on some Fitbit fitness bands and smartwatches.

Also a change that Mi Band 8 brought is the ability to wear it in a number of different ways, in addition to the wrist. This is a nice touch and we expect for it to be part of the 2024 feature-set.

Better battery performance?

Battery life on the current vanilla version is an excellent 16 days on a single charge. This has remained relatively unchanged in the last few generations although the battery life does take a hit with adavanced features. The Pro can keep going around 14 days despite a larger capacity battery. This is primarily due to its larger, more power-hungry display.

Awesome battery life is one of the main attractions of the Mi Band and we expect this to remain to be the case in the future. However, wireless charging would be a nice addition. It would make refuelling your device easier.

The water resistance is also quite good at 5 ATM on the current generation, suitable for swimming. Expect more of this on the next generation.


Feature set: What to anticipate in the Mi Band 9

Apart from the design changes, the latest iteration of the popular smart doesn’t come with much that is new. Which is the reason most people have opted not to upgrade.

The sensors are unchanged from last year, some have perhaps been upgraded to a newer generation. The Mi Band 8 now supports 150 workouts and sports modes, 30 more than the Mi Band 7. Xiaomi has also added a new boxing training mode and additional running statistics in addition to other fitness dat. And that’s pretty much it.

Fitness & health tracking

The Mi Band ticks most boxes for those after a basic fitness tracker that won’t break the bank. This includes steps, distance, calories, stress, a heart rate monitor, blood oxygen, sleep, female health tracking, activity and more. Expect generation 9 to come with all this and more. Of course, the quality of statistics should be improved as the next device will come with the latest tech on offer and improved algorithms.

You won’t find the bells and whistles of a Garmin, Apple or Fitbit on the Mi Band but you do get a lot. In 2022, for the first time we got some advanced performance metrics such VO2 Max, ATPPC, Aerobic, and Recovery Time. 

An altimer remains the one obvious omission. This is used to calculate floors climbed. We hope to finally see this on Gen 9.

Another possibility is a skin temperature sensor. A number of companies such as Fitbit and more recently Apple have added this. It would allow for better all-round health tracking.

And what about built-in GPS, by default? Mi Band 8 relies on your smartphone’s sattelite signal for this. So if you are doing a run outside and want detailed maps of your exercise and accurate stats, you need to have your smartphone with you – which is not ideal.

Of course you can opt for Pro, which has this, but then you are not really buying a budget wearable. To remind, the Pro supports five satellite systems, GPS, GLONASS, Galileo, GQSS, GNSS.

Smart functionality

We would also not mind if the whole app ecosystem received a revamp. A the moment you have a choice of the Mi Fitness app and Zepp Health. Neither of these is really that great from a user friendliness perspective.

Some iterations and regions of the Mi Band have an NFC option. However this is not widely available globally. An NFC chip with proper support for a wide range of regions and banks on Mi Band would be nice.

Finally, Mi Band 8 allows you to control music from a connected smartphone. Built-in storage for music would be a useful addition, albeit an unlikely one.


Final words: Awaiting the Xiaomi Mi Band 9

One thing is certain, the release date of Xiaomi Mi Band 9 is still months away. The wait for the international version may not end until the summer of 2024.

So if you don’t feel like waiting, check out our Mi Band 8 vs 7 comparison feature. Is the latest edition worth buying? If you don’t need built-in GPS and are looking for an affordable or entry-level fitness tracker, than the answer is yes. It has all the things that have made the predecessor versions of the band so popular.

This article is our expectation based on the logical progression of the series. No doubt, in the months ahead there will be leaks about the upcoming device. We’ll aim to update this article when new information becomes available. 

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Marko Maslakovic

Marko founded Gadgets & Wearables in 2014, having worked for more than 15 years in the City of London’s financial district. Since then, he has led the company’s charge to become a leading information source on health and fitness gadgets and wearables.

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