Xiaomi Mi Band 3

The Xiaomi Mi Band 2 can do a lot considering its low price, so we've been excited to try out the updated Xiaomi Mi Band 3.

This new tracker comes with a load of new features including notifications, but it doesn't lose the super low pricing we've seen on previous trackers.

We've used the Xiaomi Mi Band 3 for just over a day, so here are our first impressions and we'll be reviewing the fitness tracker in full soon.

Xiaomi Mi Band 3 price and release date

Announced in May 2018, the Xiaomi Mi Band 3 isn't currently available globally like some would have hoped. The Chinese pricing is set at 179 yuan for the basic model, which is around $30 / AU$36.

It's not officially available in the UK yet, but you can buy the tracker from Gearbest for £22.76 at the time of writing. Whether Xiaomi will see fit to officially release the tracker around the world is currently unclear.

There's also a more expensive version available in China for 199 yuan (around $33 / £23 / AU$40), but the only extra feature is NFC, and that's not currently available from Gearbest in the UK.

Design and display

The Xiaomi Mi Band 3 isn't going to floor you with its design, but it does look better than previous fitness trackers from the company.

It's notably light on your wrist at 20g, which means we didn't really notice we were wearing it for the day it was on our wrist. The exact dimensions of the tracker are 17.9 x 46.9 x 12mm, so this won't be like wearing a smartwatch - it's a lot smaller.

The screen is bigger here than on the Xiaomi Mi Band 2 as it's a 0.78-inch OLED panel that sits vertically on your wrist. It's a touchscreen, so you can pull your finger across it to roll through the menus but so far we've found that feature quite temperamental.

There's a touch key at the bottom of the screen which you can hold down to activate features or press it to go back, but we haven't found that particularly tactile in our first day of usage.

The screen itself is black and white, so it won't give you vibrant stats directly into your eyes but the resolution is good at 128 x 80 pixels. It seems that it's difficult to read in direct sunlight though from our limited testing.

You can take the Xiaomi Mi Band 3 in the shower with you or swimming as it's also waterproof to 50 meters.

Fitness and features

There's a heart rate sensor on the back of the tracker, which in our intital testing worked quickly once you hold down the button to activate the feature. The Mi Band 3 will also keep an eye on your step count and give you those details on the display or within your Xiaomi app.

The Mi Band 3 is designed to track running, cycling and walking, but there isn't a GPS tracker in here so it won't keep an eye on your location.

In fact, it doesn't feature Connected GPS either so you'll have to rely purely on your phone to be able to keep an eye on your route with this tracker.

You can also take the Xiaomi Mi Band 3 swimming, but we haven't been able to test this yet so we don't know what sort of stats you'll get when you take this in the pool for a quick dip.

And there's also sleep tracking on the activity band, so it should be able to help you monitor your sleep quality.

In terms of notifications, you'll have limited ones come through to your wrist including text messages. Xiaomi has said it plans to extend the notification features to further apps in the future too.

Specs and battery life

There's no official word on what's inside the Xiaomi Mi Band 3 to power it yet, but we'll be sure to put the tracker through some extensive testing before finishing up our final review.

It connects to your phone with Bluetooth 4.2 technology and is compatible with phones running Android 4.4 software or iOS 9 and above. There's also NFC on some Chinese versions of the Xiaomi Mi Band 3, allowing you to use it for contactless payments, but there's currently no word on whether other regions will get that functionality.

As for battery, that's something we'll be testing for our full review. Xiaomi claims its band will last for 20 days in standby mode, but there's no word on how long it will last with intensive exercise and constant use.

It's a 110mAh cell and it's seemingly not draining much at the moment so we're hoping it will last the entire review period, but check back for our full review soon to know exactly how long it lasts.

Another reason to hope it lasts a while is that charging up the Xiaomi Mi Band 3 isn't the easiest thing to do. You have to pop the tracker out of the band and slot it into a proprietary charger, so this won't work with your average micro USB or USB-C cable.

Early verdict

The Xiaomi Mi Band 3 isn't going to offer anyone a top-end experience of tracking exercise and activity, but if you're looking for a fashionable device that doesn't weigh down your wrist and offers a wide range of features you'll likely be happy with it.

The price will remain the highlight of this product, but our first impressions of the Xiaomi Mi Band 3 suggest that it offers a major improvement in fitness tracking too.