This post was edited by maxnate at 13:33, Jul-28-2016
Hi Fellow Miui Fans,
Much awaited Mi Band 2 was launched about a couple of months ago. I am sure you all have read specifications, details and reviews about it. For a detailed unboxing review and specs, you may refer to this thread by super moderator @GR33dyBlackie
This post is aimed at providing users who do not have first hand expeirence of Mi Band/Mi Band 2 a look and feel of various features available in Mi Band 2 and updated Mi Fit app in order to enable them to make an informed decision.
I am going to presume that your Mi band 2 is already connected with your phone (which is easy as 1, 2 & 3). After this, once you tap on mi fit app, it will bring you to this home interface of the app.
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There are three basic tabs as you can see on the bottom of the screen- Status, play and profile. Lets explore them one by one.
Below is the extended screenshot of app home page. You will notice that the number of steps which is in dial format in previous screenshot, turns into text in order to allow app to display more information on the screen once you scroll down.
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Once you have scrolled down, you will notice that there are four basic information shown there - Sleep data, weight data, heart rate data and streak data. Streak refers to the number of days you have been achieveing your daily steps target.
STEPS DATA: The full dial on home screen of app corresponds to the steps target as set by you (we will come across how to set up steps taget at later part of the post. The highlighted portion corresponds to the already achieved steps target for the day.
Once you click anywhere on steps dial, it will bring you to below steps stats page which by default contains todays data. you can of course click on back/forward buttons to browse historic daily data
As you can see above, data is very detailed. Apart from total steps, distance covered and calorries burnt, it also shows how many steps were taken and during which hours of day.
On the bottom of screen, you can tap on stats button to see daily/weekly/monthly stats and various related data as per below screenshots.
Tapping on top right part icon on today's steps stats page (small upload/export icon) will bring you here to share stats page, whereby you can share the data in visually appealing format directly to various social media platforms by a single tap.
SLEEP DATA: Once you tap on sleep section in purple color, you are straightaway redirected to current day sleep data with details. Please see below screenshot for information available. The dark bands repesent deep sleep and light bands represent light sleep against time shown horizontally.
At the bottom of screen, there is an option to edit the sleep data, in case if it has been recorded wrongly. Also there is stats section at the bottom of screen which shows daily, weekly as well as monthly data as per below screenshots:
Again, tapping on top right part icon on today's sleep stats page (export icon) will bring you to share page for sharing your data to various social media platforms.
WEIGHT DATA: Same as Steps ans Sleep, Weight data brings you to the summary page. Here you can add weight manually or if you have Xiaomi Smart Weight scale, it can sync data directly. Weight changes are shown graphically in the middle of the screen as well as below graph in numeric format.
An auto calculated BMI as well as exact weight are displayed also, along with your position on body type slider below based on your BMI.
At the bottom of the screen, there is an option to add weights manually.
Clicking on top right export icon again brings you here to share stats page. However, there is an option to hide weight and other information (good news for those who are not comfortable sharing their weight and only wanna share the change in weight only).
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HEART RATE DATA: Once you tap on heart rate section, historical saved heart rate data is displayed. Please note that you will need to manually trigger the heart rate calculation. There are two ways to do so: 1. Via Mi Fit app- tap on measure button on bottom of screen 2. Via Mi band 2 screen- if you have enabled to show heart rate in display - just go to the heart rate section. It usually takes 5-10 seconds to calculate the heart rate.
Based on heart rate calculated, you can view the slider where your heart falls in or should fall in, on the activity spectrum.
Same as other sections, when you tap on top right, you have social media sharing option. Capture the quantum of your adreline rush and share it with your social apps.
STREAK DATA As the name suggest, it displays last streak of number of days you have been achieving your steps target along with dates to and from for the streak. You also have the option this with social media app
NEW RUN/WORKOUT FUNCTION: A new function has been added in updated app which allows you to track your hear rate during running. You can enable it by clicking on run icon situated at top left on main home tab of app
Noted that you will need to turn GPS on to make it work efficiently and it allows you to keep history of your running.
In running settings, you cam configure pace alert, i.e. Mi band 2 will vibrate if you run at a speed leeser than specified. you can set up your preferred speed via slider in settings. Similarly you can also set up maximum heart rate and band will vibrate once you cross the specified heart rate.
This completes the items in home/status tab of app.
SECOND TAB/PLAY TAB: Lets move the second tab of app which is labelled as Play tab (Personally I do not agree with the nomenclature, calling it as Play). For me it is more of settings for linking phone with band.
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CALL SETTINGS First setting is call, whereby you can configure whether you wish your band to vibrate if there is an incoming call. Very useful for me as my phone is on permanent silent mode
You can toggle the vibration on band on and off. You also have an option to not to be notified on Mi Band 2 via vibration when the call is from unknown number.
Also there is an option to change settings as to after how many seconds of delay in call, you wish the vibration to kick off. Minimum delay is 3 second and maximum delay in call notification on band is 30 seconds.
ALARM SETTINGS You can set up to 10 alarms on your Mi Band 2. These alarms are independent of your phone and work even if the phone is off (useful for people who use their phone till last drop of juice before sleeping). Use of alarm is well exlained in app screenshots below
Alarms can be set up in same manner as MIUI with different repeat frequency as your phone alarms
OTHER APP NOTIFICATIONS Up to 5 other custom apps from your phone can be set to send notifications to your band via vibration. however if the notifications are frequent, such as whatsapp or viber, it will drain your battery faster. Please note that these 5 apps do not count call and SMS. First step is to add Mi Fit to exceptions as per below screenshot
Once you have added it as exception/autostart you can toggle app notification on and off and choose up to 5 custom apps that you wish to send notification to your Mi Band 2. Apps can be choose via manage app button on bottom of screen.
In the new app, we are also provided with an option of receiving notification only if screen is locked. This saves you battery as well as notifications if you are already using the phone
The Mi Band display has custom visual notification for most of popular messaging apps such as we chat, whatsapp etc which are unmistakable. By having one quick glance on your Mi Band 2 display, you can know which app has received notification.
IDLE ALERT: You can set your Mi Band to remind you if you have been sitting in same place for more than an hour. Useful for people with desk Jobs. You can also specify start and end time and turn on/off DND feature
OTHER NOTIFICATION SETTINGS Other notification settings allows you to have an overview of band notifications status and enable or disable them
You have an option to receive a notification on Mi Band 2 if you have reached your goals
SMS notification settings allow you to toggle between notification as well as opting out for notifications from unknown numbers
LINKING TO PHONE ALARM You also have an option to enable vibration your Mi Band 2 if your phone alarm is ringing. As on date of writing this post, the vibration on Mi band 2 and on notification on phone are to be turned off separatly and hope it will be improved/fixed in future.
DND DND settings allow you to toggle on and off vibration alerts on you Mi band 2 as well as to set up timings for auto DND on and off.
UNLOCK YOUR PHONE VIA MI BAND 2 Mi band 2 is able to unlock your phone via bluetooth, if you wish to do so, based on proximity to the device and it can be easily set up by tapping both devices (band and phone) at the same time once you are in this section of app.
The new app has additional functionality of allowing you to set up the unlocking range (i.e.preferred proxomity) before the device is unlocked via bluetooth.
If you wish to turn off this feature (i.e. youwish to stop the auto unlock via bluetooth proximity), you can go to your phone settings and toggle device unlock to off under unlock with bluetooth device settings (as of now app settigns can not turn off this feature directly)
THIRD TAB/PROFILE TAB: This brings us to the last/third tab of Mi Fit app which is labelled as Profile tab. Home screen of this tab gives basic details of your profile, average steps, total kilometres and longest streak.
This also allows you to add new devices such as smart scale or shoes etc
Here is an extended screenshot of home screen of this tab
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MI BAND 2 Settings Once you click on device in profile tab, it brings you to this sceen where you can see when was your Mi Band 2 was last charged and how much of battery is left. In case you wish to find your band, you can tap on find band and your band will vibrate wherever it is.
Here you have option to specify/change, in which hand you are wearing your Mi Band 2
You can also toggle on/off sleep assistant feature here which records and analyzes your sleep data, if turned on. Also you can toggle settings if you wish to turn on/off auto screen on when you lift your wrist. if turned on, Mi band dispaly will auto turn on (and display time) if you make a wrist movement as if you wish to see time.
It also allows you to unpair your device here.
DISPLAY ITEMS In Mi band dispaly settings, you can confire which items you wish to display on your Mi band display as per below screenshot.
Please note that if heart rate option is turned off, you will not be able to measure heart rate from device itself and you will have to trigger it via app.
You can set up your daily steps goal as well as your weight goal here. You can reset/ edit/ delete goals as well.
Wake up notification as well as status reminder notification can be turned on/off here if needed.
There is also a section for options to add friends, message them, get your QR code as well scan their QR codes etc in the app settings.
OTHER APP SETTINGS Mi Fit App settings allow you to check for app updates and set up/change the unit system you wish for the app for distance and weight measurements.
And finally there are options to view the Mi Fit app version as well as to send feedback about Mi Fit app.
REAL LIFE PICTURES OF MI BAND 2 VARIOUS DISPLAY ITEMS (Taken with Mi 5)
TIME DISPLAY Displays current time
No of STEPS DISPLAY Displays steps walked for current day
KM DISPLAY Displays kilometres walked for current day
CALORIES BURNT DISPLAY Displays calories burnt for current day
HEART RATE DISPLAY Displays current heart rate (not wearing in pic hence blank)
BATTERY LEFT DISPLAY Displays how much percent of battery is left
SENSOR Picture of back sensor
BACK CLIP Picture of back metallic clip (same material as button on front)
SIZE COMPARISON (for those who doubt it may look big on your wrist)
I have tried to cover all aspects of usage of app as well as Mi Band 2 as on date of publication of this post. In case you have any queries, please hit reply button below and I will try to answer them, at earliest opportunity, to the best of my knowledge and ability.
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