Xiaomi is bringing Mi Band 6 NFC to Europe
Xiaomi Mi Smart Band 6 NFC
Xiaomi introduced its sixth generation smart band back in March and as we noted in our review it was missing NFC, which meant no contactless payments with the band. It’s rare that Xiaomi releases an NFC-enabled band outside of China, but this is exactly what is happening today
The Xiaomi Mi Smart Band 6 NFC was created in collaboration with Mastercard, which will be handling the contactless payments with the band. And you can do more than just pay at the register in a store, the band will also let you into public transport (at least if your city uses NFC cards).
Another change from the original Band 6 is that this version has a microphone, so you can talk to Amazon Alexa. If you have Mi Home automation at home, you’ll know that you can give it voice commands over Alexa – as long as there’s a smart device with a microphone close by. With this band you will always have one on your wrist.
The Xiaomi Mi Smart Band 6 NFC works with Mastercard and Amazon Alexa
The rest of the Mi Smart Band 6 NFC is the same as on the original model besides the price. The NFC version is coming to Europe at €55 (that is €10 more than the vanilla version).
Xiaomi Mi Smart Band 6 gets "full screen" AMOLED display
Xiaomi Mi Smart Band 6
This is the biggest upgrade since the Mi Band 3 added a color screen. The Xiaomi Mi Smart Band 6 takes inspiration from smartphones and features a display with rounded corners. According to official numbers, this is a 1.56” display, though its pill shape makes it tricky to measure.
The important number is that this offers about 50% more screen real estate than the previous generation. The screen has 152 x 486 px resolution (326 ppi) and brightness up to 450 nits. The screen is covered with tempered glass with anti-fingerprint coating.
1.56" "full screen" display • 326 ppi pixel density (152 x 486 px resolution)
The other major upgrade is the inclusion of SpO2 tracking. It enables the band to track your blood oxygen level during exercise, but it also allows it to track your breathing quality while you sleep (REM tracking is available too). A heart rate monitor is still on board, able to track your heartbeats 24/7.
SpO2 sensor for blood-oxygen tracking • 6 fitness modes are detected automatically
The 125 mAh LiPo battery is the same size as on the previous generation and promises the same 14-day battery life, despite the increased screen size. This band uses the same magnetic snap-on charging as its predecessor.
Additional health features include female health tracking and stress monitoring. When it comes to exercising, there are 30 fitness modes, double that of the old model. 6 of these modes can be auto detected: walking, treadmill, cycling, rowing machine (ergometer) and elliptical.
Xiaomi Mi Smart Band 6 color selection • A closer look at the band
The band is water resistant up to 5 ATM, so you can take it swimming and even snorkeling. It comes with a silicone strap available in Black, Orange, Yellow, Olive, Ivory and Blue. The band measures 47.4x18.6x12.7mm (so about the same as version 5), the strap length can be adjusted between 155mm and 219mm.
The Xiaomi Mi Band will be available in China soon for CNY 230 ($35/€30) for the regular version. The NFC edition costs CNY 280. In Europe the band will cost €45.
Xiaomi Mi Smart Band 6 NFC
Xiaomi introduced its sixth generation smart band back in March and as we noted in our review it was missing NFC, which meant no contactless payments with the band. It’s rare that Xiaomi releases an NFC-enabled band outside of China, but this is exactly what is happening today
The Xiaomi Mi Smart Band 6 NFC was created in collaboration with Mastercard, which will be handling the contactless payments with the band. And you can do more than just pay at the register in a store, the band will also let you into public transport (at least if your city uses NFC cards).
Another change from the original Band 6 is that this version has a microphone, so you can talk to Amazon Alexa. If you have Mi Home automation at home, you’ll know that you can give it voice commands over Alexa – as long as there’s a smart device with a microphone close by. With this band you will always have one on your wrist.
The Xiaomi Mi Smart Band 6 NFC works with Mastercard and Amazon Alexa
The rest of the Mi Smart Band 6 NFC is the same as on the original model besides the price. The NFC version is coming to Europe at €55 (that is €10 more than the vanilla version).
Xiaomi Mi Smart Band 6 gets "full screen" AMOLED display
Xiaomi Mi Smart Band 6
This is the biggest upgrade since the Mi Band 3 added a color screen. The Xiaomi Mi Smart Band 6 takes inspiration from smartphones and features a display with rounded corners. According to official numbers, this is a 1.56” display, though its pill shape makes it tricky to measure.
The important number is that this offers about 50% more screen real estate than the previous generation. The screen has 152 x 486 px resolution (326 ppi) and brightness up to 450 nits. The screen is covered with tempered glass with anti-fingerprint coating.
1.56" "full screen" display • 326 ppi pixel density (152 x 486 px resolution)
The other major upgrade is the inclusion of SpO2 tracking. It enables the band to track your blood oxygen level during exercise, but it also allows it to track your breathing quality while you sleep (REM tracking is available too). A heart rate monitor is still on board, able to track your heartbeats 24/7.
SpO2 sensor for blood-oxygen tracking • 6 fitness modes are detected automatically
The 125 mAh LiPo battery is the same size as on the previous generation and promises the same 14-day battery life, despite the increased screen size. This band uses the same magnetic snap-on charging as its predecessor.
Additional health features include female health tracking and stress monitoring. When it comes to exercising, there are 30 fitness modes, double that of the old model. 6 of these modes can be auto detected: walking, treadmill, cycling, rowing machine (ergometer) and elliptical.
Xiaomi Mi Smart Band 6 color selection • A closer look at the band
The band is water resistant up to 5 ATM, so you can take it swimming and even snorkeling. It comes with a silicone strap available in Black, Orange, Yellow, Olive, Ivory and Blue. The band measures 47.4x18.6x12.7mm (so about the same as version 5), the strap length can be adjusted between 155mm and 219mm.
The Xiaomi Mi Band will be available in China soon for CNY 230 ($35/€30) for the regular version. The NFC edition costs CNY 280. In Europe the band will cost €45.
Leak: Xiaomi Mi Band 6 will have a GPS receiver, reworked UI, smart home features and more
The firmware for the Xiaomi Mi Smart Band 6 was discovered in the Zepp app (formerly Amazfit), which revealed the key upgrades over the current Band 5. As usual there are two versions – one for China (XMSH16HM, with NFC) and one for the global market (XMSH15HM, most likely without NFC).
The new band will feature a built-in GPS receiver, which will provide accurate speed and distance data for your exercises (the screen is far too tiny for navigation). For faster positioning, the phone app will send A-GPS data to the band.
The new band will feature an SpO2 (blood oxygen) sensor, just like the current model. However, the Band 6 will add 19 new exercise modes. Here are the new ones and the menu icons that come with them:
Icons for exercise modes
- Indoor fitness
- Indoor ice skating
- HIIT
- Core training
- Stretching
- Stepper
- Gymnastics
- Pilates
- Street dance
- Dance
- Zumba
- Cricket
- Bowling
- Basketball
- Volleyball
- Table tennis
- Badminton
- Boxing
- Kickboxing
To help your concentration, the Pomodoro Technique has been added – a time management method that uses a timer. App notifications will be blocked during a 25 minute period, then the band will vibrate to remind you to take a 25 minute break.
Users will be able to view sleep data on the band itself (currently, you can only view in the phone app). This may indicate a larger display and there are some clues that the display will have a higher resolution.
The UI is getting a new look, here are some of the default watch faces:
The Mi Smart Band 6 will be able to control smart home devices that use the Mi Home platform. It’s not clear if this will be region-dependent, however. If it is, you’ll still be able to rely on Amazon Alexa to control things (the Chinese version of the band will use Mi AI instead).
309 emojis for the Xiaomi Mi Smart Band 6
It looks like the new band will be able to show emojis inside notifications – 308 images were discovered among the Resources files. The band will also be able to decline calls with automatic replies, things like “I am currently driving, please contact me later.”
The current Mi Smart Band 5 launched in mid-July of last year, so we're several months away from the sequel.
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