Finally, the new Xiaomi Smart Band 9 fitness bracelet has been released. To be honest, I have been waiting for it for a long time, but unfortunately it doesn’t have any big upgrades as I would like to see. 

I have wanted Xiaomi smart bands to have Bluetooth phone calls since the last generation, but the Smart Band 9 still doesn’t have it.

Moreover, visually, you will not see any difference between Xiaomi Smart Band 9 and Smart Band 8. 

However, the new Xiaomi fitness bracelet has a much brighter screen of 1200 nit. 

We will talk about some other updates in this article.

By the way, along with the new fitness bracelet, the Redmi Buds 6 Active and Redmi Buds 6S wireless earbuds have been released. If you have previous Xiaomi earbuds, then you will be interested to know about the next generation.

Unboxing

What’s in the box with the Xiaomi Smart Band 9?

First, you should know that I have the Chinese version of the Xiaomi Smart Band 9. However, there is already a global version of it.

In addition, the new Smart Band 9 is available in versions with and without NFC. I have the one without NFC. 

Inside the box is a user manual in Chinese, a magnetic charging cable and the smart band itself. 

That’s it! 

Design 

Does the Xiaomi Smart Band 9 look exactly like the Smart Band 8?

By the way, I would like to show you the Smart Band 9 and Smart Band 8 side-by-side, but I don’t have the previous bracelet right now. So, we will only be looking at the new fitness tracker. 

As I said before, the new Xiaomi smart band looks almost the same as the previous one. It has the same 1.62-inch display, but we will talk more about it a little later. 

I have the Xiaomi Smart Band 9 in black, and it has a metal frame. If you buy a fitness bracelet in white color, it will have a ceramic frame. 

The new smart band is also available in silver, blue and pink gold colors with metal frame. 

By the way, there are many different straps available for the new fitness bracelet. Some of them make it look more classic than sporty, like leather, fabric, or even metal. 

I have the Xiaomi Smart Band 9 with a usual black silicone strap. You can take it off the same way as the previous generation. Moreover, the straps are compatible between the Smart Band 9 and Smart Band 8. That’s very good because I know many people upgrade their bracelets with each generation, and they have many straps of different colors left over. 

The magnetic charging pins on the back look the same, so I think you can also use one charging cable for two bracelets. 

However, the health tracking sensors in the Smart Band 9 are different, because the new bracelet has gotten improvements in sleep and heart rate monitoring. We will check it out later. 

The Xiaomi Smart Band 9 is still 5ATM waterproof, so you can use it in the swimming pool or shower, but not in the sauna. 

Display

One of the major upgrades in the Xiaomi Band 9

Talking about display of the new Xiaomi fitness bracelet, it has the same diagonal and resolution as the Smart Band 8 and even Smart Band 7: 1.62 inches and 192 x 490 pixels. 

You know, I am even glad the screen size remained the same because it doesn’t need to be bigger. After all, it is a bracelet, not a watch. 

One of the main changes in the Xiaomi Smart Band 9 is the screen brightness. Now it is 1200 nit. For comparison, the previous bracelet had only 600 nit. 

Honestly, I don’t remember having any problems using the Smart Band 8 outdoors, but I certainly will not have any with the new Smart Band 9. The display can be seen very well even in direct sunlight. 

The fitness bracelet is equipped with an ambient light sensor, so it can automatically adjust the brightness of the screen. 

Since this is an AMOLED panel, it also has Always-on Display support. 

However, it is not surprising because the previous Smart Band 8 also had an ambient light sensor and AMOLED panel. 

Let’s move on to the functions of the Xiaomi Smart Band 9. There may be something new here. 

Functions

Does HyperOS change anything?

First of all, the new Xiaomi fitness bracelet runs on Xiaomi HyperOS. We can see it at startup, as well as in the settings. 

I have already talked in the article about Redmi Watch 4 that I don’t see any special features of the HyperOS on smartwatches. 

The interface of the Xiaomi Smart Band 9 is the same as the Smart Band 8. 

By pressing and holding on the screen, we can change the watch face. Here you can remove a dial that you don’t like and customize it. 

There are many other watch faces available in the mobile app. 

By swiping right, there is a menu with Do Not Disturb Mode, Find Phone and Settings. We will look at the settings a little later. 

You can also find widgets by swiping left, such as sleep, heart rate, weather, music player, AliPay and Weixin Pay. You know, I don’t need the Chinese payment services, so I would like to remove them. We can do this in the Mi Fitness app. Here we can change the order of widgets, remove some of them or even add some. 

If you want to read new notifications, swipe down from the main screen. 

Finally, we can open the menu with all the apps on the smart band by swiping up. Let me list all the applications here: Stats, Workout, Activity, Running courses, Training state, Heart rate, Vitality, spO2, Sleep, Stress, Weather, Alarm, Mi Home or Xiaomi Home, AliPay, Weixin Pay, and Settings. 

By tapping on the More button, we also have Events, Tasks, Breathing, Stopwatch, Music, Find Phone, World Clock, Camera, Timer, Flashlight, and Focus. 

So, I can see some new functions in the Xiaomi Smart Band 9. 

First, the new fitness bracelet has running courses and training state. I don’t remember these functions in the previous fitness tracker. 

There is also a Xiaomi Home app to control smart home devices. 

You know, I also don’t remember the Tasks on the Xiaomi Smart Band 8. It seems to be a new function in Smart Band 9. However, you can add Tasks only in the app. 

I also noticed new animations and smoother performance on the Xiaomi Smart Band 9. I think it is a credit to HyperOS. 

Settings

In the settings menu, we can select the running mode, such as Pebble or Necklace, but for that, you need to buy special accessories to the fitness bracelet. 

Then, we have band displays.  

The display settings include brightness, auto lock, raise to wake, screen on, Always-On display and Cover to Sleep. 

One of the improvements of the Xiaomi Smart Band 9 is a new linear motor. The manufacturer promises 20 unique vibration modes, but I only found Standard, Strong and Off in the settings. Perhaps the modes will be added later with future updates. 

We also have Do Not Disturb Settings, Notifications, Auto Detect, Preferences, PIN, Battery, System and About on the new Xiaomi smart band.

Mi Fitness App 

Let’s talk a little about the mobile app, but without going into details because it is still the same Mi Fitness. 

First, you should know that if you have a Chinese version of the Xiaomi Smart Band 9, you need to select China region in the app settings, and only then connect the fitness bracelet. 

It looks like all the functions in the app are the same as in the previous generation, such as notifications, heart rate, sleep, stress, etc. 

However, as I said before, the new function here is Tasks reminders. You can add a list of tasks in the app, and then track them on a fitness bracelet. 

By the way, I read that Xiaomi Smart Band 9 supports games, but they can only be uploaded from an Android device. 

Let’s check it out. 

Mini Games

Finally games on the Xiaomi Band 9!

So, I reconnected the Xiaomi Band 9 to an Android phone. 

Now, there is an Apps menu in the Mi Fitness. You know, it is not available on iOS devices. 

Here we can download some mini games to the fitness bracelet. 

You know, I have heard that you can even install third-party games like Plants versus Zombies on the Xiaomi Smart Band 9. I don’t know how to do it yet, but if you are interested, we will make a separate article about this. 

Health Tracking

Is Xiaomi Band 9 suitable for sports?

The Chinese company claims that the new Xiaomi Smart Band 9 has more accurate heart rate and sleep sensors. 

Unfortunately, I don’t have the Xiaomi Smart Band 8 right now to compare it to the Band 9 side-by-side. 

Still, let’s measure my heart rate and SpO2 on the new fitness bracelet.

 Sports Modes 

Talking about workout modes, the Xiaomi Smart Band 9 has more than 150 of them. There are even running courses here. I have already seen them on the Redmi Watch 4, which also runs on HyperOS. 

By the way, when you start sport mode, you can see the GNSS on top, which means searching for GPS. However, the Xiaomi Smart Band 9 doesn’t have a built-in GPS, and it is actually using the GPS from a connected smartphone. 

Battery 

The battery life has become a little longer

One of the main improvements in the new Xiaomi smart band is an increased battery capacity to 233mAh and a longer battery life of up to 21 days. 

You know, I say “up to” because the battery life highly depends on the usage mode. For example, if you use the Always-On Display mode, then the battery life of the Smart Band 9 will be 9 days. 

Is Xiaomi Smart Band 9 worth the upgrade?

So, as I said at the beginning of the article, the new Xiaomi Smart Band 9 didn’t get any big updates, but that’s only at first glance. Yes, it looks similar to last year’s Xiaomi Smart Band 8, but it has many hardware changes. 

First, the screen is now twice as bright. This is a significant update. 

In addition, the Xiaomi Smart Band 9 runs on HyperOS. So far, I have only noticed changes in animation and smooth performance, but I have heard that third party games like Plants versus Zombies can be installed on a fitness bracelet.

Of course, a bigger battery and longer battery life is always a good thing. 

So, in my opinion, if you already have a Xiaomi Smart Band 8, it probably doesn’t make sense to buy the Smart Band 9. But if you have an older Xiaomi fitness bracelet than the Band 8, then the new Smart Band 9 would be a good choice.