Mi Band 6 – Xiaomi NEVER Fails to Disappoint

I’ve been a user of Xiaomi’s wearables since the original Mi Band back in 2014. The reason for it being Fitbits are just too darn expensive. Over the years, I’ve found that the Mi Bands are great alternatives for a fraction of Fitbits. Sure, the Fitbit is more popular and has more features. But, it isn’t a priority of mine to be on the devices with the most features. I prefer technology with more freedom tied with them. Luckily, the Mi Band 6 falls into that category, like its predecessors. It’s time for me to share how I’ve used my Mi Band 6 and what you should do in order to get the most out of it.

The Newly Upgraded Display is AWESOME

The Mi Band 6 has an upgraded display from its predecessor, the Mi Band 5. It has a screen that takes up virtually the whole body. You can see a nice big clock, step counter, or a big weather display if that’s what you like. With the customization that the watch comes with, you can see whatever you want at any given time.

Being able to customize the watch face allows an end-user to have a very good experience because they can make the watch work comfortably for themself. The Xiaomi watch face system lets you use any watch face that can be loaded on the device through an app. Specifically for watch faces, you can actually use an app from an app store dedicated to watch-faces.

Managing the Mi Band 6 is…Interesting

With the release of the Mi Band 6, Xiaomi wanted to upgrade its management interface with a new app called “Xiaomi Wear”. While it seems like a good idea since the Mi Band 6 Chinese edition has new features, such as Alexa and NFC Payments, it does not work well for American users, such as me. Sure, you can pair the watch and easily transfer your data from the classic “Mi Fit” app, now called “Zepp Life”. But, the interface only works with the metric system of measurements and it also lacks compatibility with additional third-party apps.

Notify & Fitness for Mi Band is a GREAT Alternative

While the Mi Band 6 is fully backward-compatible with Zepp Life, I’ve had problems with the stock Xiaomi apps in the past. I have personally experienced issues ranging from incompatibilities to inaccurate data. Back when I used my Mi Band 4, I couldn’t stand using the Mi Fit app because of how limited it was with what you could do with it.

That was why I bought the Notify & Fitness app on the Google Play Store. I imagine that the readers of this article that consider this watch are Android users, which is why this app is something that I recommend to all Mi Band users. But, if you’re an iPhone user, you’ll be out of luck. It does not officially support iOS.

The app unlocks the functionality of the smartwatch that was therefore closed off in the stock app. With it, you can easily connect with third-party ecosystems (Strava, Google Fit, Runkeeper) and also manage notifications with style. You can customize your Mi Band with anything you desire. For anyone who wants to supercharge their Mi Band experience, I highly suggest checking out the app.

PAI: Personal Activity Intelligence

Now featured in this device is the PAI system or Personal Activity Intelligence. In the Notify & Fitness app, you can find it under Activity Score (AS). If you record an activity via the “Workouts” section, you get points depending on the length and exercise of the activity. The higher the number, the more active you were. This only works if you constantly record workouts and activities, such as walks, runs, cycling, or other sports.

The Mi Band 6 serves as a Blood Oxygen Monitor

The Mi Band 6 now comes with a blood oxygen monitor sensor and you can use it for accurate sleep tracking. Manual measurements are also available. Additionally, with the SpO2 tracker, you can also use it with a stress tracking tool that is newly featured in this watch. It expands the functionality and usability of the device because it serves as a nice health monitoring tool that not many other watches can imitate.

My Mi Band 6 Overall Rating: 9.5/10

The Mi Band 6 contains new features that prove it to be a worthy upgrade. If you use it with the Notify & Fitness app, you’ll be able to use it as a very capable smartwatch and fitness tracker. While it does not contain more expandable features like the Apple Watch and WearOS Watches have, it’s a great smartwatch focused on Fitness monitoring with the SpO2 monitor and Stress monitoring as well.

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