Xiaomi Smart Band 11 is official with sleep HRV and a 2,000-nit display

Xiaomi Smart Band 11 has now launched in China, and yep, it is still stupidly cheap. Prices start at CNY 289, with Xiaomi adding sleep HRV, a brighter 2,000-nit screen and a thinner body without messing with the 21-day battery life.

There are four versions this time, including a new all-metal model alongside the regular, NFC and Ceramic editions. It is basically Xiaomi taking an already very good cheap fitness band and tightening a few screws rather than trying to do anything dramatic.

Quite a bit of this had already leaked a few days ago, so there are not many huge surprises for those who have followed the news. But we can finally separate the real stuff from the pre-launch noise and speculation.

The display is brighter, but Xiaomi hasn’t made it bigger

Xiaomi has stuck with a 1.72-inch AMOLED display, which is the same size used on the Smart Band 10. The 2mm borders remain as well, although peak brightness has jumped from 1,500 nits to 2,000 nits.

That is probably the display upgrade that makes the most sense. The screen on the Smart Band 10 was already very good, so making it easier to see outdoors is more useful than adding a fraction of an inch and making the whole thing larger.

The body has slimmed down too. Xiaomi lists the new model at 9.99mm thick and 15.58 grams without the strap, compared with 10.95mm and 15.95 grams for the standard Smart Band 10.

The weight difference is basically nothing, but losing almost a millimetre of thickness could be more noticeable. These bands are already tiny, and anything that makes one sit flatter against the wrist should help when wearing it overnight.

Sleep HRV is probably the upgrade to pay attention to

The more interesting change is sleep HRV monitoring. This was one of the obvious omissions when I reviewed Smart Band 10, particularly as Xiaomi was already collecting plenty of heart rate, sleep and stress data without giving you HRV alongside it.

Smart Band 11 now measures HRV during sleep, with Xiaomi also talking about AI-powered sleep interpretation and recommendations. We saw this in the leaked advertising material, but it is now part of Xiaomi’s official pitch for the device.

That could make the health side of the band more useful rather than simply adding another number to Mi Fitness. Nightly HRV becomes much more interesting once the software builds a personal baseline and starts showing how readings are moving relative to your usual range.

The rest of the health package is fairly familiar. There is heart rate, blood oxygen, stress and women’s health tracking, along with more than 150 sports modes. Xiaomi is also sticking with 5ATM water resistance.

Battery life remains quoted at up to 21 days. There is no increase over Smart Band 10, but that is hardly a complaint when Xiaomi is still getting close to three weeks on paper from something this small.

There are now four Smart Band 11 versions

The range itself has become a little more interesting. There is the regular Smart Band 11, an NFC version, the returning Ceramic Edition and a new All-metal Edition. The latter uses a Unibody metal construction and gives Xiaomi another option for people who want the band to look a little less like a basic fitness tracker.

The NFC model supports features such as offline payments and digital cards, although availability of those services will depend heavily on the country. That has always been the catch with NFC on Xiaomi’s bands, so I would not assume the Chinese feature set will carry over unchanged when the global version arrives.

Smart Band 11 also runs Xiaomi HyperOS 4. Xiaomi is highlighting integration with Mi Home devices and Xiaomi cars, while its promotional material makes a surprisingly big deal of improved compatibility with Apple’s ecosystem, including notifications across devices and support for Apple Shortcuts.

Chinese pre-orders start at CNY 289 for the standard Smart Band 11. The NFC model starts at CNY 339, while the Ceramic Edition and new All-metal Edition are priced from CNY 399. There is no global launch information yet.

Source: Weibo (via Notebookcheck)