Xiaomi Mi Band 2 vs. fake: is it worth overpaying

Packaging and equipment

The first thing that catches your eye is the different boxes. The original Mi Band 2 lies in a beautiful white box. Above - a high-quality print, everything in the best traditions of Apple. Sorry for the comparison, but it's obvious here.

They did not stand on ceremony with a fake: they put it in a similar box made of yellowish cardboard. No logos, no identification marks - apparently, they wanted to keep the intrigue. Or they just saved. By the way, the first generation of Mi Band was sold in similar boxes.

The set of the original and the fake is the same: in each box you will find the tracker itself, a silicone bracelet and a charger.

Design

At a cursory glance, the original Mi Band 2 cannot be distinguished from a fake. But the devil is in the details. The plastic in the fake is cheap, the glass is slightly thicker, the touch button is larger, the heart rate monitor and charging connector are different.

But you notice this only when comparing head-on, otherwise it is rather difficult to understand who is who.

By the way, if we talk about design, then the first Mi Band seems to me more interesting. Yes, there was no convenient screen, but the gadget conquered with its minimalistic appearance. Mi Band 2 is indistinguishable from most of the no-names that AliExpress is littered with. It's still cool, well made, but no longer so catchy. Well, okay, all this is taste, let's return to the comparison.

The straps of the original and the fake are similar, but exactly until you pick it up. Both are silicone, but the original is much softer: you can wear it all day without discomfort.

The device is securely attached, so you will not lose it even during training. The first generation sinned with this: the tracker could easily be lost, especially over time, when the strap lost its elasticity.

The fake is made of some kind of oak rubber, it rubs the hand and is unpleasant to the touch. Although the tracker sits in it, too, like a glove.

The clasp of the Mi Band 2 is much better than the first version. It no longer sticks out, so it will not itself scratch on the table and scratch the laptop.

Screen

The Mi Band 2 feature is a screen that displays time, steps, distance traveled, heart rate and calories burned. It's tiny, black and white, and lights up when you touch the touch button or lift your wrist.

Was he really needed? Time shows, you can quickly see useful information. But I'm not sure if it can withstand a couple of falls on the asphalt. There are questions about how the touch button works in cold weather or during training. Honestly, there was no time to test, therefore, owners of Mi Band 2, please unsubscribe in the comments.

The same screen is also in a fake. The size, operation and interface are similar. But it is much brighter than the original, albeit of lower quality - numbers and icons in the "ladders".

By the way, here's what else I didn't like. Previously, Mi Band could be worn on either side, now - only so that the touch button is under the screen. The picture does not flip, so the numbers will be upside down.

Possibilities

Mi Band 2 does everything that most fitness trackers on the market can do. He counts steps, calories, measures heart rate, wakes up in the morning and buzzes when notifications from the phone. The vibration is quite noticeable - it is difficult to oversleep in the morning.

And here's the thing - a fake for 600 rubles can do the same thing. The gadget will wake you up and measure your pulse. True, the difference in measurements turned out to be decent, so I would not particularly trust the fake.

To conveniently track your activity and sync with your smartphone, you need to install the application. Available for Android and iOS, the latter, by the way, has already been adapted for the iPhone X. Initial setup is quick and easy.

The application builds sleep charts, shows your activity during the day. The interface is simple but tasteful.

The official Mi Band application refused to work with a fake. More precisely, it simply did not see him. Having rummaged in the instructions, I found out that I need to install a program called DayDay Band. To my surprise, it turned out to be quite usable. Intuitive interface, localization is even better than that of Xiaomi. Not adapted for the iPhone X, perhaps.

In terms of capabilities, both trackers turned out to be extremely similar. I was even ready to put an equal sign between them, but the fake has one drawback that crosses everything out. The gadget has disgusting autonomy: it hardly survives for a couple of days, then it just turns off. Without warning. What kind of activity is there if the tracker is constantly dying.

In this regard, the original Mi Band 2 with its royal 20 days of work is beyond competition.

What is the bottom line

Fakes in the firebox. Seriously, the Mi Band 2 is not a gadget worth saving on. It's a cool fitness tracker that's compact, practical, and more than affordable.

And a fake is a fake. It may look very similar, but upon closer inspection, a bunch of jambs will come out, so the money will be wasted. Remember, the miser pays twice.