Xiaomi Mi Band 7 launches in China with big new features
The Xiaomi Mi Band 7 has launched in China, bringing to an end months of speculation.
And we now have an idea of the changes Xiaomi is bringing for its 7th generation activity tracker – courtesy of the official Xiaomi site.
The screen has grown, and the band features a 1.67-inch AMOLED display, up from 1.56-inch on the previous generation. And the screen resolution has also jumped to 192 x 490. Xiaomi claims that the usable screen area has jumped 25% from the Mi Band 6 (full review) – so it should be easier and more pleasant to use.
The company has also launched 100 watch faces, which will play nicely with the new always on display, so the screen won’t completely dim when not raised.
Overall, the look and feel of the Mi Band 7 has stayed in line with the classic Xiaomi design.
And there’s a handful of new features too. The SpO2 sensor, which was introduced on the Mi Band 6, will now continuously monitor blood oxygen levels, and alert if they drop below 90%. That could have interesting applications for those suffering with respiratory illness – although we’re sure that it will come with the usual caveats about not being designed for medical purposes.
The amount of tracked workouts has also been increased to 120 – with some tracking of movement (jumping etc) within activities.
Those that use their Mi Band 7 for serious workouts will enjoy the post-workout recovery advice, which uses Excess Post-exercise Oxygen Consumption estimates. It will advise you how many hours or days to take a break after a workout session.
VO2 Max estimates and workout intensity feedback are also onboard, which makes the Mi Band 7 a better partner for those that work out hard.
Swimming tracking has also been boosted, and the Mi Band 7 will recognise 4 swimming styles, as well as tracking of snorkelling.
And finally, battery life has been boosted to 9 days of heavy use, up from just 5 days on the Mi Band 6.
And the Zepp Life app will replace the Xiaomi Mi app for tracking and storing data, which we reported back in April.
We’re still waiting for an international release, so there’s still some key features we’re waiting on.
The main one is rumors of GPS on board for tracking of runs, which would be a nice addition to the Mi Band 7’s feature set – and a worthy upgrade from the Mi Band 6. However, there’s no mention of that from Xiaomi’s official information on its Chinese site.
And the Chinese release also saw NFC and non-NFC options – so it will be interesting to see whether this goes internationally.
We’ll be updating on international specs, features and pricing when we get it. But the Mi Band 7 has a Chinese launch price of CNY 239 for the non-NFC version and CNY 279 for the NFC. That indicates a range between $36-$42 – in line with the Mi Band 6.
