Xiaomi, a Chinese general home appliance manufacturer that has introduced the Redmi series of high-end smartphones to the Japanese market and is increasing its name recognition in the country. At the new product event on March 29, the new smart band "Mi Smart Band 6" was announced, and it was launched in China in early April.
As usual, I got the first lot, but it was replaced with an initial defect. It took me three weeks to get a working product, but I was finally able to check it out. In addition, this time I purchased the NFC version. The NFC version is 279 yuan ≒ 4700 yen (NFC model is 229 yuan ≒ 3860 yen).
According to a survey by IDC in the United States, Xiaomi holds the second place after Apple in the global wearable device market share in 2020, but the number of shipments last year was 18.3 due to the supply shortage of Mi Band. % has gone down. Still, it is tremendous to have more than 10% market share in the world.
Now, back to the Mi Smart Band 6. The basic appearance and structure are almost the same as Mi Band 5, but the core unit of the main body is several millimeters larger. The popular magnetic charging connector is common to 5 and 6. The shape of the TPU belt is very similar, but it is an exclusive product. The display area has increased by about 50% from 1.1 inches to 1.56 inches, and the resolution has increased from 126 x 294 pixels to 152 x 486 pixels. The memory has been increased from 512KB to 2MB, and the storage has been increased from 16MB to 32MB. The waterproof level is 5 ATM (equivalent to a depth of 50 m), which is the same as Mi Band 3 and later models.
The battery capacity is 125mAh, the same as Mi Band 5. Since the number of functions has increased, the number of continuous operation days has decreased, but it still lasts for about 2 weeks normally. The effect of increasing the internal memory is good, and the responsiveness of the operation is good, and the menu is switched smoothly and comfortably.
This year, the impact of COVID-19 or the expansion of health management functions
The heart rate sensor is equipped with the same photoplethysmographic (PPG) type as the previous model, but in order to support percutaneous arterial blood oxygen saturation (SpO2), a new light source for living body irradiation has been added. Added. Recently, due to the influence of COVID-19, pulse oximeters that read SpO2 are selling well to check health conditions. If such wearable devices can be easily measured and recorded, it will be very useful for the management of sleep apnea syndrome and asthma.
Sports modes have also increased from 11 to 30. The built-in 3-axis accelerometer and 3-axis gyro have improved measurement accuracy and response speed, and the 6 fitness modes of outdoor running, treadmill, rowing machine, elliptical, walking, and cycling are automatically detected from your body movements. to recognize and record. No need to switch between modes.
The well-received sleep monitor on the Mi Band 5 now includes breathing during sleep. By recording more detailed sleep quality, it will tell you various problems that are difficult to notice. I felt that PAI (Personal activity intelligence), which quantifies daily activity based on those data, and the accuracy of stress levels have improved compared to Mi Band 5.
If health monitoring is fully used, the positioning frequency of the sensor will increase, and the number of continuous operation days will be about 5 days. When I actually tried it, there was a battery level warning on the 6th day. However, it is amazing that the battery lasts for about 5 days while monitoring this much content.
Dedicated app already supports Mi Smart Band 6
If you've used Mi Band before, the installed "Mi Fit" is ready to use once paired with Mi Smart Band 6. It also supports various new functions of the band, and all reports are also available in Japanese. Compatible with smartphones with iOS 10.0 or later and Android 5.0 or later, and the connection is Bluetooth. The recorded data can be linked with Health Care on iOS and Google FIT on Android.
According to Dr. Yamane's report, the global version of Mi Smart Band 6 sold in Hong Kong seems to have passed Japan's technical standards, so it seems that sales in Japan will not be too far away. Both the mainland Chinese version and the global version have no problem with Japanese display if they are only displayed, and various notifications including SMS are correctly displayed in Japanese. However, the global version of the band itself cannot display menus in Japanese yet, so if you are particular about that, you should wait for the Japanese version.
This is the first time I have purchased the NFC version, but in mainland China, it should be possible to use it for various services such as cards for public transportation such as buses and trains, keys for security gates, and electronic money such as Alipay. . However, we are still at the stage of trying various things, but it was a treasure trove in Japan. I would like to use it when I can go to China someday.
I wanted to manage SpO2, so I switched from Mi Band 5 to Apple Watch Series 6, but I'm thinking of switching to Mi Smart Band 6. If you focus on health management and sports logs, I think Mi Smart Band 6 is a good choice. Above all, it can be introduced at less than 1/10 the cost of the Apple Watch, and it's really comfortable not having to charge it for several days. For most people, the Mi Smart Band 6 will probably suffice. It is an item that can be recommended so much.
* The Mi Smart Band 6 used in this review has been notified of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications' "Establishment of a special system for experiments using equipment that has not acquired technical compliance (Article 4-2, Paragraph 2 of the Radio Law)". I am using it on top of it.
This radio equipment has not been confirmed to comply with the technical standards stipulated by the Radio Law, and is only permitted to be used under special conditions stipulated by the law. Any use of radio equipment in violation of this condition will be subject to penalties and other measures stipulated by law.