Smartwatches often elude me, with many looking far too sporty to be fashionable and some far too fashionable to wear to bed to track sleep or sweat on. I mean, that is what they are meant for, but it just feels wrong to me. Luckily, the Xiaomi Smart Band 8 smartwatch walks a fine line between fashion and function, and it has a few more tricks up its sleeve, too.
First, this device is the perfect size for me. I usually wear my Fitbit Inspire 3, but it is limited because of its extremely small screen at 1.4″. The Smart Band 8 has a 1.62″ AMOLED screen with a 60Hz refresh rate. I know it doesn’t sound a lot bigger, but it feels bigger and clearer, with a better overall use of space. The Xiaomi Smart Band 8 smartwatch also beats the Inspire in its crystal clear picture and vibrant colours.
I hate being that girl who talks about style more than tech because, honestly, I’m a mom—I’m not all that flashy. However, the Xiaomi Smart Band 8 smartwatch really can blend in with any aesthetic. With many bands available, which include the TPU (Thermoplastic Polyurethane) band in various colours, plus classier bands that melt metal and faux leather to dress things up a bit, the Xiaomi Smart Band 8 brings options. You can also turn the Smart Band 8 into a necklace or a pebble that clips to your shoe.
“The Xiaomi Smart Band 8 smartwatch walks a fine line between fashion and function, and it has a few more tricks up its sleeve, too.”
Now, let’s talk tech. We talked about the gorgeous AMOLED screen—which, by the way, comes with more than 200 watch faces—but what else can the Xiaomi Smart Band 8 do? It features a high-precision 6-axis sensor, PPG heart rate sensor, and Ambient light sensor. This brings auto-brightness modes so you don’t blind yourself at night. Thankfully, its Do Not Disturb mode also helps here.
The Xiaomi Smart Band 8 also has 2.5D reinforced glass. I put this thing through its paces, and it came out flawless. The face of the watch is incredibly durable. However, the band that came with it was white and wearing black sweaters has discoloured the band a lot. I’d opt for a different colour in the future.
Clearly, I’m not the sportiest in the bunch, but the Xiaomi Smart Band 8 features over 150 sports modes and monitoring features. Hence, the pebble mode above. Attach the Smart Band 8 to your shoe if you’re a runner for in-depth running data. The device also has 5ATM water resistance for sweating, swimming, or just getting caught in the rain.
I mainly use my smartwatches for my heart rate, stress, steps, sleep and notifications. I was able to move those all to the front of my settings on the watch, so I didn’t need to filter through every time I wanted to see someone. I can view basic details in a swipe. My Facebook Messenger, Slack, Gmail, texts, phone calls and music all display on the screen. With other watches like my Watch GT 3 Pro from HUAWEI, I always had trouble getting extra apps to sync, but I had zero issues with the Xiaomi Smart Band 8 at any time.
“Battery life on the Xiaomi Smart Band 8 is outstanding.”
In terms of compatibility, the Xiaomi Smart Band 8 supports Bluetooth 5.1 BLE, Android 6.0 and above and iOS 12.0 and above. With the Mi Fitness app, I had zero issues using the device. Connecting the Xiaomi Band 8 to my Xiaomi 13 Pro and then again to my OnePlus 11 5G, I had zero connectivity issues during testing, which is more than I can say for my Fitbit Inspire 3.
Battery life on the Xiaomi Smart Band 8 is outstanding. I thought that the larger screen, when compared to my Inspire, would mean I had to sacrifice its battery, but I was very wrong. I can go almost two weeks between charges, probably longer, but I can’t bring myself to wait. I’ve gone away for work for more than a week and don’t even think about bringing my charger because I have that much faith in it. It also charges to full in around 40 minutes, gaining around 30% in just ten.
The only complaint I have about the Xiaomi Smart Band 8 is how gestures work. I wish there was some sort of button or sensor on the sides to wake it or bring you back to the main screen. Often, I will open notifications and get stuck on the screen, and the simple swipe doesn’t always bring me back. It is a minor inconvenience, but it can get frustrating when I just want to get back to the main screen without marking everything as read.
The Xiaomi Smart Band 8 has everything I could need in a smartwatch, tracks more than I could ever use and does it with an insanely long-lasting battery life. Coming in at only $62.99 USD, I couldn’t imagine choosing another smartwatch for my day-to-day, especially since I can the Xiaomi Smart Band 8 up with accessories, too!
