It’s been eleven years since the original Xiaomi Mi Band was released, and the series has now reached its tenth generation. The Mi Band has been a catalyst for Xiaomi’s growth in the wearables market, while maintaining its status as one of the best value devices.
With the official release of the Smart Band 10, Xiaomi has attempted to improve upon its best-selling wearable gadget by introducing a few hardware upgrades and slightly increasing the starting price.
Table of contents
Xiaomi Smart Band 10 Specifications
- Display: 1.72-inch AMOLED touchscreen, 212 x 520 pixels, 60 Hz refresh rate, 1500 nits HBM brightness
- Straps: removable branded straps, adjustable length 135-210 mm
- Functions: 5 ATM water resistance, real-time heart rate monitor, 24/7 blood oxygen monitoring, sleep tracking, stress monitoring, sports tracking, step counter, meditation, notifications, inactivity alert, find phone, weather forecast, music and camera control, alarm clock, stopwatch, linear vibration motor, flashlight.
- Sports modes: outdoor running, indoor running, outdoor walking, cycling, hiking, pool swimming, jumping rope, freestyle (more than 150 others in the Mi Fitness app)
- Sensors: PPG optical heart rate sensor, SpO2 sensor, 3-axis accelerometer, barometer, gyroscope, electronic compass
- Connection: Bluetooth 5.4, compatible with Android 8.0 and iOS 12+
- Battery: 233 mAh
- Colors: black, silver, pink, white
- Dimensions: 46.57 × 22.54 × 10.95 mm (metal), 47.74 × 23.94 × 10.95 mm (ceramics)
- Weight (without strap): 16 grams (aluminum), 26 grams (ceramic version)
The main new features in this year’s Xiaomi Band 10 are a slightly larger and brighter screen, as well as claimed more accurate health and activity tracking. Plus, you get an updated vibration motor in the same basic design that’s remained largely unchanged since the Band 7. So, do the new products justify the higher price?
Design
Xiaomi hasn’t changed the design of the Smart Band 10 much. It’s still the same pebble-shaped bracelet with an elongated and narrow AMOLED display. The new model has a larger screen diagonal — 1.72 inches compared to 1.62 inches for the previous model. The frames have become thinner — 2 mm on each side, and they are perfectly symmetrical.
Another important innovation in the Xiaomi Band 10 is the improved maximum brightness. The bracelet now produces 1500 nits (HBM), which is higher than the 1200 nits of the previous model.
It’s a welcome update that comes in handy when using the Band 10 outdoors on sunny summer days. You’ll still get the automatic brightness adjustment we used during our review, as well as the Always-on Display (AOD) feature for when you just need to glance at the time.
Our review sample of the Xiaomi Band 10 is the Ceramic Edition. This is not the first Xiaomi bracelet with a case made of this material, but the first one to hit the global market. The side frame is made of ceramic, and the bottom part, where the sensors are located, is still plastic.
The Xiaomi Smart Band 10 Ceramic Edition comes in an elegant white color that resembles a stormtrooper’s armor. Another thing that immediately catches your eye is how much heavier it is than previous smart bracelets. Our test unit weighs 26 grams without the bracelet and 44 grams with the fluororubber strap.
For comparison, the regular metal Band 10 should weigh around 16 grams without the strap. Despite the extra weight, the ceramic-coated Band 10 feels a little more substantial.
We’d like to digress a bit here, as the lack of physical buttons on the last four generations of Xiaomi smartbands has been a constant irritant to many users.
We’re still not convinced that the gesture navigation model is the best way to use a wearable, especially if you have wet hands, so we’d strongly recommend Xiaomi at least consider bringing back buttons on the upcoming Xiaomi Smart Band 11.
The contents of the box are typical for devices of the Xiaomi Smart Band family: a branded two-pin magnetic charging cable, a quick start guide and a warranty card.
Xiaomi has also released its new pearl chain pendant that will turn the Xiaomi Band 10 into a fashion accessory if that’s your thing.
Functions
Smart bands have proven themselves as inexpensive activity tracking devices, and in recent years, they have become closer to smart watches in terms of functionality. However, a band always has its limitations compared to a full-fledged smart watch, and the Xiaomi Smart Band 10 is no exception.
Firstly, it doesn’t have a speaker, so you can only receive notifications of incoming calls without being able to answer them. For obvious reasons (due to the size), there is no on-screen keyboard, so you can’t reply to incoming messages.
Our global version doesn’t support NFC, and Xiaomi has once again ditched the GPS receiver, so you’ll have to bring your phone to track your runs and other such activities.
Xiaomi Band 10 connects via Bluetooth 5.4 and is equipped with a variety of sensors, including an accelerometer, gyroscope, optical heart rate sensor, pulse oximeter, and light sensor.
This year, there is a new feature – an electronic compass. This is certainly a good feature, but in our opinion, a separate GPS receiver would be a more useful addition.
Another innovation in the Xiaomi Band 10 is the ability to broadcast heart rate data during workouts to third-party devices, such as a bicycle speedometer.
Xiaomi Band 10 also supports guided running routes and provides deeper integration with Xiaomi’s AI-powered ecosystem of things, allowing you to control compatible Xiaomi devices and smart appliances.
Xiaomi Smart Band 10 is equipped with a new linear motor with an updated algorithm and customizable vibration modes. You can assign different vibration modes for incoming notifications, calls, and alarms.
Xiaomi has also added the ability to vibrate your wrist when you swipe back to the menu, which is certainly nice, but as we’ve said, a physical or even capacitive back button would have been a better option.
Band 10 is waterproof up to 5 ATM, allowing you to take it with you to the pool and withstand immersion in fresh water up to 50 meters deep.
Xiaomi is also touting an updated activity tracker with an improved fitness tracking algorithm. For more details, see the Health and Activity Tracking section.
Software and performance
The Xiaomi Band 10 runs HyperOS 2.0, which looks and feels just like previous generations of Xiaomi smartbands. It’s a real-time operating system (RTOS) that runs on swipes and has several third-party apps and card-based widgets.
We would like to highlight once again the lack of physical buttons on the Xiaomi Smart Band 10, which makes it difficult to navigate the interface on this small and narrow screen in many ways.
The 60Hz refresh rate display leaves nothing to be desired in terms of smoothness: everything works as expected, without any lag or hiccups.
The Band 10 now offers a total of 26 pre-installed apps, including a new running route tracking app, a compass app, Tasks apps, and Focus Mode.
One of the notable innovations of Band 10 is the ability to add widgets directly from the bracelet itself, without having to go to the Mi Fitness app.
Another benefit is that Xiaomi has made the text on the Xiaomi Band 10’s display slightly larger than on the Band 9, making incoming messages and UI elements easier to read.
As with all Xiaomi wearables, you’ll need to install the Mi Fitness app on your phone to get started. It’s a one-stop shop for accessing your health and activity data, as well as customization, watch faces, and updates.
The Mi Fitness app stores a month’s worth of health data and gives you access to a virtually endless list of watch faces, with plenty of options to suit your style.
From classic analog to minimalistic electronic modes and even animated versions with animals and simple games, the Xiaomi Band 10 offers perhaps the best selection of watch faces to date.
Almost all Xiaomi Band 10 watch faces support the AOD feature, with varying degrees of additional information displayed at all times. Some also add visual information such as battery status, weather, and step counter.
Xiaomi allows you to store a month’s worth of health and exercise data, and you can sync it with Apple Health, Google Fit, as well as Strava and Suunto.
Some of the software shortcomings that annoyed us were the lack of emoji support and the inability to use the band for other purposes once the timer started.
For some strange reason, Xiaomi still uses the American date format (mm/dd), which is not very convenient for users in other regions.
During our testing of the Band 10 and iPhone 15 Pro, call quality was excellent. We didn’t experience any missed notifications or dropped connections.
Health and activity tracking
With the Band 10, Xiaomi also offers its most advanced optical heart rate sensor, as well as blood oxygen saturation, sleep, and stress metrics.
In our testing, we found that the Band 10’s heart rate readings were much more accurate than previous smartband models, both at rest and during workouts. We compared the results with the Huawei Watch Fit 3, and both devices showed similar readings.
Previous Xiaomi smartbands have tended to overestimate heart rate data, especially at the beginning of workouts, but the Band 10 appears to have fixed this issue.
SpO2 readings were generally accurate with little deviation from what we measured with a dedicated pulse oximeter.
Sleep tracking is still not as accurate as other brands. The Band 10 consistently reported inaccurate sleep time, randomized REM sleep data, and deep sleep data that didn’t match reality.
When it comes to activity tracking, the Band 10 performed just as well as our reference Huawei Watch Fit 3. During our workout tests, which included running on a treadmill and strength training, both devices recorded nearly identical heart rate readings.
This is a significant improvement over previous Xiaomi smartbands, which tended to overestimate heart rate data.
Xiaomi Band 10 also supports built-in running courses with basic and advanced options broken down by intervals. They are also adapted for walking, jogging, and sprinting with options for beginners and advanced.
These workouts will help you achieve specific goals such as improving your endurance, sprint time, and lung capacity.
Battery life
The Xiaomi Smart Band 10 has a 233mAh battery – just like the Band 9 (review) – and Xiaomi claims it can last up to 21 days with normal use or 9 days in AOD mode.
In our testing, we found that the Band 10 lasted 10 days on a single charge with all health tracking features, AOD mode, and notifications enabled. Truly impressive endurance for such a compact fitness tracker.
If you do need to recharge, it will take about 50 minutes to restore the battery to 100%.
Conclusions
Smart Band 10 is the best Xiaomi bracelet in this series. The updated AMOLED touchscreen has become noticeably brighter than previous models, and the text has become more pleasing to the eye due to the increased diagonal. Another nice addition is the improved vibration motor, and finally we see accurate heart rate readings, which is commendable.
The Xiaomi Band 10’s build quality is top-notch, and the new Ceramic Edition is simply stunning. Battery life easily lasts over a week, and the endless selection of watch faces combined with a wide range of fitness tracking features should be enough for most users.
Sleep tracking accuracy leaves much to be desired, and we’d like to see better notification management with the ability to reply to incoming messages.
There are some great alternatives to the smart bands from Huawei and Honor that offer nearly identical features and the ability to take calls for about the same price as the Band 10.
But if you’re looking for a more compact device with accurate heart rate monitoring, a vibrant AMOLED display, and more than a week’s battery life, the Band 10 should be on your list.
Pros
- Vibrant AMOLED display with excellent outdoor readability
- Great build quality, especially the Ceramic Edition
- Improved accuracy of heart rate measurement
- Excellent battery life
Cons
- No GPS receiver
- Inaccurate REM and deep sleep readings
- No ability to make voice calls
- No physical buttons