My favourite total health tracker is the Fitbit Cost 5. However priced at $150 (£169, AU$270), it will not be the best choice to your price range. Should you’re on the lookout for a strong health tracker on a budget, let me introduce you to the $60 Xiaomi Mi Band 7. It has a giant shade display screen, sleep monitoring, blood oxygen monitoring and 24/7 coronary heart fee monitoring similar to Fitbit’s tracker. At lower than half the worth, can it presumably match-up to the Cost 5? Surprisingly, in some ways it does.

I really like to search out cheaper options to big-name merchandise and even have a whole YouTube collection devoted to the trigger. The brand new Mi Band 7 is a viable competitor to costlier smartwatches and trackers from manufacturers like Fitbit and Amazon, so long as you do not want sure well being options. Despite the fact that it isn’t as correct because the Cost 5, it is filled with loads of exercise monitoring choices and connectivity options to go well with most individuals’s wants.

Watch my full comparability within the video on this web page or learn on for the cheat sheet.

A giant, vibrant display screen makes the Mi Band 7 really feel premium for its value

Put these two trackers facet by facet, and you will discover each of them have shade touchscreens. However the Mi Band 7 edges out the Cost 5 with its bigger 1.62-inch display screen. This implies you possibly can match barely extra textual content on the display screen with no need to scroll, which is useful for studying message notifications or viewing exercise stats. Each screens have an always-on setting, so that you need not increase your wrist to see the time. I discover them each straightforward to see in broad daylight… so long as I bear in mind to show up the display screen brightness to max on the Mi Band 7.

Navigation is straightforward on each, however I want the Cost 5 for usability total since I can double-tap on any display screen to get straight again to the clock face. With the Mi Band 7, I generally have to swipe again a number of pages to get again to the beginning.

Consolation is extremely subjective, however the Mi Band 7’s slimmer design makes it extra appropriate for smaller wrists.

Fitbit is healthier in order for you correct coronary heart fee monitoring

I take a look at all trackers in opposition to a chest strap, which is taken into account the gold normal for shopper coronary heart fee monitoring. The Cost 5 does an awesome job of matching the strap after a minute or two of embarking on a cardio-based exercise like a jog or run. However the Mi Band’s coronary heart fee readings lag behind the strap considerably when doing the identical train. I observed this on a hike whereas strolling up a steep incline, throughout which each Fitbit and the strap mirrored my coronary heart fee at round 130 beats per minute. The Mi Band remained a extra subdued 95 bpm.

The Cost 5 is healthier at precisely capturing coronary heart fee throughout vigorous train and exercises that contain arm actions, like dancing, operating or strolling. However for extra stationary workouts like spin bike rides, the Mi Band 7 did simply high quality.

That stated, the Mi Band 7 has a ridiculous variety of obtainable exercise sorts: 120 in complete. That is not a typo. The Cost 5 solely has 20 exercise choices, with six slots on the gadget itself which you’ll customise manually within the app. 

Extra importantly, the Cost 5 is the one one among these trackers that has built-in GPS. This implies you possibly can depart your telephone at residence and nonetheless precisely observe distance and route data. The Mi Band 7 solely has linked GPS, which might be my largest disappointment with its health monitoring options total.

Sleep monitoring can be higher on the Fitbit Cost 5, as I discovered it extra precisely mirrored my awake time through the night time. I additionally felt the Cost 5’s sleep rating was extra in-tune with how I felt within the morning in comparison with the super-high rating I might get from the Mi Band 7. After 14 days of monitoring your sleep in a month, Fitbit Premium subscribers get a sleep profile with deeper insights, and a so-called sleep animal that displays your sleep model.

You may have to toggle on the superior monitoring choice within the iOS or Android app to get extra in-depth sleep monitoring on the Mi Band 7 since it isn’t on by default. The Cost 5 additionally comes with a Meals and Drug Administration-cleared electrocardiogram app to detect indicators of atrial fibrillation, not like the Mi Band 7. Each can also observe blood oxygen at night time, however the Mi Band can even take spot readings on demand or observe constantly all through the day.

For good options, the Mi Band 7 wins hands-down

You’ll be able to set alarms and timers and examine telephone notifications on each the Cost 5 and Mi Band 7. When paired with an Android telephone you may also ship and customise fast textual content responses on each. However solely the Mi Band 7 has music playback controls to your telephone and a calendar app to see your agenda. 

The Mi Band 7 has far more watch faces to select from, together with third-party choices. It additionally has a discover my telephone function, a digicam distant and a flashlight. The Cost 5 is extra restricted with solely 24 watch faces, however Fitbit did simply add a discover my telephone function within the newest replace in July 2022. It additionally has Fitbit Pay for NFC funds out of your wrist, whereas worldwide model of the Mi Band 7 that I’ve does not embody NFC.

Battery life can be one other win for the Mi Band 7, but it surely’s not as long-lasting as earlier fashions just like the Mi Band 6. In my testing with day by day exercises, sleep monitoring and the always-on show turned off, I get 4 days from the Cost 5 and 7 days from the Mi Band 7.

Monitoring steps and sleep does not must dent your pockets

The Cost 5 is the perfect total tracker if it matches in your price range. It has complete sleep monitoring, nice coronary heart fee accuracy throughout cardio-based exercises and offers priceless insights into your total wellbeing. There is a purpose why it earned an Editor’s Alternative award in 2021.

However at lower than half the worth, I’m pleasantly shocked by the Mi Band 7, and it is now my favourite budget-friendly different. The battery lasts longer than the Cost 5’s and it has a staggering array of exercise monitoring choices. Plus it is extra of a smartwatch different than Fitbit’s tracker in order for you a extra complete second display screen to your telephone.