Xiaomi Mi Band wristbands are popular, and they combine useful activity tracking features at affordable prices. Now that the Xiaomi Mi Band 3 is consolidated on the market, it is interesting to compare it with its predecessor, the Mi Band 2, launched two years ago.
Mi Band 3 vs Mi Band 2: Is it worth the upgrade?
The Mi Band 3 brings new features, but is it worth buying it if you already have a Mi Band 2? Check below if it's worth buying a new smartband, or if you should keep your Mi Band 2 for a while longer.
Design
You are unlikely to notice a major design change between the Xiaomi Mi Band 3 and its predecessor. Both are thin and light, wrap your wrist with a silicone strap.
There is a small tracker inside this silicone bracelet, which can be removed and placed on another bracelet. There are several third-party options on the market, ranging from silicone bracelets in other colors, to metallic bracelets that imitate gold, silver, rose gold or bronze.
The Xiaomi Mi Band 3 has a slightly larger screen, but that's not a major design change that will change the way you use it. It's still remarkably light, and doesn't weigh on your wrist.
Exibição
In terms of screen, both offer OLED displays, displayed only in black and white. Both smartbands are small, but the Mi Band 2 is smaller by 0,42 inches, while the Mi Band 3 almost doubles to 0,78 inches.
The Mi Band 3 has a much better screen when it comes to resolution, at 128 x 80 pixels, while the Mi Band 2 is only 72 x 40 pixels, as well as touchscreen functionality. But while only the newer model has a touchscreen, both have a touch key, below the screen.
If you are looking for the best of these two products in terms of design and display, the Mi Band 3 is worth opting for.
physical activity tracking
Beyond Mi Fit: 5 apps for your Mi Band in 2021Xiaomi has a lot of tools for tracking fitness on both Mi Band 2 and Mi Band 3, but the newer device is better when it comes to tracking.
Both bracelets are capable of counting your daily steps and showing your sleep quality, and all this data will appear in the Mi Fit app, which you can download to your smartphone.
There's also a heart rate monitor on both smartbands, which allows you to keep track of your heart beats per minute. But unfortunately none of the bracelets have GPS capabilities. And this is necessary, because if Xiaomi integrated a GPS in its smartbands, it would certainly have to raise their market price.
Water resistance
While the Mi Band 2 is water resistant, the company does not recommend using it for swimming, as with the Mi Band 3 bracelet. If you practice water sports and want to be able to track your physical activities in the water, the Mi Band 3 will be much better than Mi Band 2, which is not suitable for swimming pool use. Specifications
you need to see- Is it worth buying a Xiaomi Mi Band 3 smartband?
- Xiaomi Mi Band 2 Review: Is it worth buying a bracelet?
A version of the Xiaomi Mi Band 3 (sold only in China) has NFC functionality, and this allows the use of the Xiaomi Pay service. But it is only this Chinese version that has the feature. For most of the world, it is not possible to get the NFC version.
The Xiaomi Mi Band 3 also comes with more reliable connectivity technology, in the form of Bluetooth 4.2 (compared to Bluetooth 4.0 on the Mi Band 2).
Battery
In this aspect, the Mi Band 3 also has an improvement over the Mi Band 2, as it has more battery capacity. The Xiaomi Mi Band 2 comes with a 70mAh polymer lithium battery, while the Xiaomi Mi Band 3 is built with a 110mAh battery.
Price
The truth is that both the Xiaomi Mi Band 2 and the Mi Band 3 are impressively cheap, considering what each can do. The Mi Band 3 is newer, so it's a little more expensive, but it's still at a very affordable price.
Currently in Spanish stores, you can find the Xiaomi Mi Band 2 at around R$100, while the Xiaomi Mi Band 3 can be purchased for a range of R$165.
The price, as you can see, is so low, that with a difference of around R$70, we recommend choosing the Mi Band 3, in case you don't have the Mi Band 2.
If you have a Mi Band 2, there might not be much of a reason to upgrade to the Mi Band 3, especially considering that the Mi Band 4 is expected to launch in 2019.
Reasons to buy a Mi Band 3
- The screen is bigger: If you want to have a bigger screen size, it is clear that the best option to buy is the My Band 3. In this case, it is PMOLED and has 0,78 inches, in addition to a resolution of 128 x 80 pixels.
- Brightness is improved: You won't have trouble reading notifications because the Mi Band 3 has a brighter screen.
- Bigger battery: Xiaomi went from 70 mAh battery in band 2 to around 110 mAh, which means an average battery life of around 20 days.
- More features: The renewed Xiaomi Mi Band 3 bracelet comes with new functions to interact with the smartphone.
- See the full review of the Mi Band 3
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R$ 107,91
Xiaomi Smartband Mi Band 3 See offer
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R$ 107,91
Xiaomi Smartband Mi Band 3 See offer
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R$ 107,91
Xiaomi Smartband Mi Band 3 See offer
Reasons to buy a Mi Band 2
- It's cheaper: At the moment, the Xiaomi Band 3 costs R$165, while the Mi Band 2 costs around R$100. You can save some extra money that will allow you to buy more bracelets, for example.
- See the full review of the Mi Band 2
