Xiaomi Smart Band 8 Pro review

A few years ago we had a clear distinction between smartbands and smartwatches. The band was a compact wrist wearable that would measure some basic vitals like heart rate and steps while also boasting some additional utilities like a weather app and timer. A quick look at the Xiaomi Smart Band 8 Pro shows that the band form factor has evolved to look like a smartwatch but the same can’t be said about its features.

Xiaomi Smart Band 8 Pro specifications

• Display: 1.74" AMOLED touchscreen, 336 x 480 px resolution, 60Hz refresh rate, 600 nits peak brightness
• Straps: Detachable straps, 22mm width, 130-205mm adjustable length
• Features: 5ATM rating, Real-time heart rate monitor, 24/7 Blood Oxygen level monitor, Sleep tracking, Stress monitoring, Sports tracking, Step Counter, Meditation, Notifications, Idle Alert, Phone Finder, Weather Forecast, Music and Camera Control, Recorder, Alarm, Stopwatch, Compass, Barometer, Flashlight
• Sports Modes: Outdoor Run, Indoor Run, Outdoor Walk, Outdoor Cycle, Hiking, Strength Training, Jump rope, Freestyle (150+ more in Mi Fitness app)
• Sensors: 4-channel PPG optical sensor, 3-axis accelerometer, barometer, rotor Vibration Motor
• Connectivity: Bluetooth 5.3, Compatible with Android 8.0 and iOS 12+, dual-band L1+L5 GNSS, NFC (market dependent), microphone and speakers
• Battery: 289 mAh
• Colors: Black, Light Grey
• Dimensions:46 x 33.35 x 9.99mm
• Weight: 22.5 grams without strap

Xiaomi’s latest Pro Smart Band brings the same basic design as its predecessor alongside minor spec bumps. A slightly larger screen and bigger battery are the highlights but is that enough to get you to warrant it over the regular Band 8 or its direct competitors from Amazfit and Huawei?

Design

Xiaomi Band 8 Pro features the same basic design as the Band 7 Pro with a rectangular chassis and metal lip. The AMOLED screen has grown to 1.74 inches, offering 336 x 480px resolution and a 60Hz refresh rate. Band 8 Pro boasts up to 600 nits of peak brightness compared to 500 on the Band 7 Pro and features a Gorilla Glass 3-reinforced screen. The display is easily usable even in direct sunlight and there’s an auto-brightness option if you prefer that route.

The casing is once again made from plastic and Xiaomi added a metal lip on the side that gives a more premium look and feel. Band 8 Pro comes in black and light gray colors. Xiaomi went with a new TPU strap design that attaches to the Band 8 Pro’s body via a proprietary quick-release mechanism. It looks sturdier than the mechanism on last year’s Band 7 Pro which had some durability issues with its attachment points.

The strap lacks a traditional belt buckle which makes the process of securing the Band 8 Pro on your wrist a lot more cumbersome at first. Band 8 Pro is fairly light at just 38 grams (22.5 grams without the strap) and we found it comfortable to wear 24/7. There are no physical buttons which has become the norm since the Xiaomi Band 6 but we still feel like a power/back button would be a useful addition.

Band 8 Pro is 5ATM waterproof so you can comfortably take it to the pool and during shallow water activities like surfing. The retail box brings a USB-charging puck that ends in a USB-A connector, a quick start guide, and a warranty leaflet.

Features

Band 8 Pro boasts the same health and activity tracking features as the Band 8 and Band 7 Pro with 24/7 heart rate monitoring, SpO2 tracking, sleep and stress monitoring. You can track 150+ sports modes and the built-in dual-band (L1 and L5) GNSS satellite receiver ensures you can track your runs without bringing your phone.

Like all Xiaomi smart wearables, Band 8 Pro boasts a diverse set of watch faces on the Mi Fitness app with enough choices to fit any style. You can store up to 14 watch faces at a time on the Band 8 Pro which is twice as much as on the Band 7 Pro.

Some watch faces come with multiple complications that are customizable and can also serve as app shortcuts. You can also tweak their colors by holding down the watch face on the home screen. Band 8 Pro supports Always on Display (AOD) mode with some first and third-party watch faces being replicated on the AOD screen while others get one of the four default AOD themes.

Band 8 Pro runs a basic RTOS which is entirely operated via swipes. You get customizable card-based widgets that you can group in groups of up to four. You can choose between a grid or list app layout. There are 23 built-in apps but no third-party ones. Our international version does not come with an NFC receiver though units sold in China do. Two other notable omissions include the absence of a microphone and speaker which means no voice calls.

Notification support is basic as you only get a few lines of text without support for images, emoji, or video. The Mi Fitness app stores a month’s worth of health-tracking

and workout data and you can sync your data to Apple Health or Google Fit as well as Strava and Suunto.

Software and performance

Band 8 Pro brings a familiar, swipe-based user interface that looks and runs like other non-Wear OS Xiaomi wearables. The obvious benefit over its non-Pro sibling is the larger screen which fits more content in widgets, notifications, and health and activity readings. The 60Hz AMOLED display is fluid and colors are saturated. While basic in terms of functions the UI feels snappy and runs without noticeable lag.

You get a fair bit of customizability with the option to add up to four pages of widgets with each housing up to three complications at a time. Editing the widgets and their complications is done via the Mi Fitness companion app.

Xiaomi Smart Band 8 Pro widgets editing

Notifications come in promptly but there’s no way to interact with them or to send out pre-determined replies. Connectivity was solid and I did not experience any interruptions while paired to an iPhone 15 Pro.

Health tracking

We should start by saying that smart wearables like the Band 8 Pro are not medical-grade instruments and as such their health-tracking features are merely useful to gauge trends in your general well-being.

Heart rate tracking on the Band 8 Pro is configurable in 1, 10, or 30-minute intervals and you can also set alerts for high and low heart rate readings. We found the heart rate and blood oxygen saturation readings from the new 4-channel PPG optical sensor to be consistent with readings from competing smart bands and smartwatches when resting.

Band 8 Pro feature a 4-channel PPG optical sensor for heart rate and SpO2 readings

We did encounter a few instances during workouts where the Band 8 Pro would overreport heart rate readings by up to 10 BPM compared to the Xiaomi Watch S3 which features a 12-channel PPG optical sensor.

Sleep tracking was on point for the most part with accurate go-to-sleep and wake-up times. There was an odd instance when the Band 8 Pro decided I was taking a nap during a haircut appointment. The sleep app on the Band 8 Pro gives you a detailed breakdown with percentages for deep, light, and rapid eye movement (REM) sleep.

You also get average heart rate and blood oxygen readings on the band and you can toggle the breathing score beta feature which can warn you of early signs of sleep apnea.

Activity tracking

Band 8 Pro supports for over 150 sports modes with most of them showing the same key metrics like time elapsed, calories burned, and heart rate. The stretching courses are a new addition that features guided animations on how to warm up before a workout and cool down after one.

Outdoor running mode gets support for more specific marks like pace, cadence, stride, and it can collect running data via the built-in dual-band GNSS receiver. GPS accuracy leaves some to be desired. Band 8 Pro routinely struggled to show the correct side of the sidewalk on my runs and walks and even showed that I had gone in the water during a recent walk along a lakefront.

Sample Walking session with GPS tracking and activity metrics

Band 8 Pro also supports automatic workout detection, training load and VO₂ max with suggestions for recovery times. Step counting is accurate and on par with other wearables, we’ve tested recently.

Battery Life

Xiaomi Band 8 Pro boasts a 289 mAh battery that is claimed to last up to two weeks between chargers with typical usage and six days with AOD mode.

In our testing, we got 8 days of usage between charges. This figure was achieved with the screen set to 50% brightness, all the health tracking features activated alongside a workout every other day, and notifications. A full charge using the magnetic charger takes 80 minutes.

Verdict

Xiaomi Band 8 Pro is a larger version of the Band 8 with an added dual-band GPS receiver and a larger battery. It may not bring the functionality of a true smartwatch as it lacks third-party apps, voice calling, and rich notifications but it offers great battery endurance which can last you over a week between charges with all the health and activity tracking. It does so at a fraction of the price of a smartwatch and offers great build quality, a great companion app, and an ever-expanding set of watch faces.

We would like to see the addition of a speaker and microphone to the Band series for even more usability and NFC on units sold outside of China. Wireless charging is another omission that will hopefully make its way to the Xiaomi Band series soon.

Band 8 Pro is a minor upgrade over the Band 7 Pro with a larger and brighter screen, better battery endurance, and a similar premium design. While it may look like a smartwatch, Band 8 Pro doesn’t have the features to back it up. Still, at its current price of $64/€70/£62, Band 8 Pro makes sense if you factor in its premium design, onboard GPS, and solid battery life.

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