I'm an ex-personal trainer who specialised in run training, and I've been an amateur jogger for over 20 years. I find the best way to motivate myself is to 'run by distance'.
Here are the things that I think most important in a fitness band:
1. Run without having to carry a phone
The mi band tracks distance without a phone being carried too, however it is more accurate with the kilometres if you do carry your phone as well. But for most people with larger phones that's certainly not ideal. The mi band is not completely accurate when used without the phone but it's good enough for an amateur runner, it maybe 5-10% out, and I think it's algorithm uses your height, age and time run to estimate distance. FYI the mi band does not have a GPS in it so if you do carry your smartphone with you (with GPS), the mi app will show you the exact route run.
2. Tell me each kilometre that I've run without fiddling around with the device
There is a distance alert setting which can be set to 1, 2, 3, 4 km etc, and the band will vibrate when that setting is reached. So I set this to one kilometre and it tells me for each kilometre that I've run and I'm really happy with this setting, since I then don't have to try to view the numbers on the band as I run.
3. Fitness running statistics gathered for me over time as a trend
I previously used RunKeeper which is one of the most popular apps for runners. The band pairs up with an app called mi fit and this is a pretty good app*. It allows you to track your progress over time in various kinds of fitness activities such as running, outdoor cycling, indoor cycling, treadmill, yoga, freestyle (which I think means weights) and a few others. The only frustration for me is that roller skating is not included. *When buying any fitness band it's far more important to check the app is good because many of the cheaper ones have terrible apps (based on intensive research and reading reviews).
After owning the band for about 3-weeks I'm really really happy with it and I find it very much motivates me to do some kind of exercise everyday if not two different kinds of exercise. I should say now that I am a freelancer working from home or wherever I happen to be, and because I'm still building up my clientele, I do have a lot of free time and I love to spend this on maintaining and improving my fitness.
Best things about the band
1. Long battery life
I think this one lasts about a week but I always charge my devices somewhere between 20 and 80% because I think that might extend their battery life. There's also a magnetic charger which means you don't have to disassemble it to charge it like some other cheaper devices, which I read in reviews can fall apart whilst being worn, and lost (not this band!!)
2. The app is easy to use
...and allows you to completely configure the band to suit your usage. For example you can choose from thousands of watch faces I chose one which allows me to easily see the numbers on the screen which being only about 1.5 inches high is sometimes difficult to read especially when running and that's another reason why I like the vibration alert for the distance that I've run. The band has various configurable menu options and I've set mine to be only work out, status, weather, stress, breathing, cycles, and more. You can set the band up to give you all sorts of notifications and alerts from your phone such as text messages and maybe even social media, but since I work partly in social media I really don't want these notifications going crazy on my wrist all day and I have turned off notifications.
3. It's waterproof and has so many features
...you can wear it in the shower, track swimming in the pool, track your sleep including time spent in REM sleep, and the huge amount of features and workouts make it a decent product for most users.
4. It can be set to 'auto-pause' when you stop moving
A great feature if you get stuck at a road crossing, or you're a beginner runner who needs to stop often to stretch
5. You can export data
...into other apps such as RunKeeper and Google fit but for me, this is far too much of a bother.
Worst things about the band
1. There are two settings: one for sleep assistance which helps monitor sleep if you wear the band at night and another for heart rate monitoring. The problem with these two settings when turned on is that the pulse monitor on the back of the watch flashes green quite regularly - so I turn that off. For some reason I personally find this irritating to my wrist. I'm not sure why this is, maybe it's some kind of electromagnetic thing but I prefer to sleep without the band and to turn off both of these features so that the band does not measure my heart rate. I know that my heart rate is normal anyway and I don't particularly care. The heart rate monitoring probably does turn on when I'm exercising but that's fine for me. The band is is possible to wear overnight but for my small wrist I find it a little bit uncomfortable when sleeping.
2. The size of the text on the band makes it very difficult to read when jogging - If you glance at your wrist to try to see how far you have run, or the time or anything like that, the numbers are so small and coupled with jogging up and down - in possibly bright sunshine - means it's impossible to read the band face. I wish it was possible to change that work out face so that you could just pick one major statistic to be able to read as you jog for example distance or time or pace. I have gone through hundreds of watch face designs online, and choosing a new face only affects the watch face but does not affect the workout screen, and these watch faces are all extremely busy with very small text. I finally found one which just has the current weather temperature with a weather symbol the time, the day of the week the date (unfortunately in USA format rather than British format) and the kilometres walked and steps each day. There is a serious lack of very simple and readable watch faces in the watch face apps.
In summary
Would I buy the mi band 5 again?
Yes absolutely for €26 this is a fantastic and motivational tool for your fitness
Since buying this band, I've run 3 times as often, my pace has improved, and I'm running without stopping so often. I'm definitely fitter and slimmer and I feel great every day.
Perfect for non pro athletes, excellent price, most features and workout types covered.
+You should take the 'step statistics' with a pinch of salt, as 'steps per day' is not the be-all-and-end-all of health. As an ex personal trainer I can tell you that on days when I am doing a good long run compared with days where I just do a walk or a skate, the Mi Band sees very little difference when totalling up the steps, and to my knowledge, this is not an accurate representation of overall health - it's better to check the amount of time you spend in VO2Max in the app. So it's a good motivational tool but don't take the 'step statistics' too seriously.
*Sometimes, I use affiliate links with my recommendations, which if bought via the link earns me a few cents at no extra cost to you. This helps with the cost of keeping this site alive so I can continue to guide you on your travels. I would never ever ever recommend anything I don’t or wouldn’t use myself.
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