Review of Xiaomi Mi Smart Band 4 NFC - fitness bracelet with support for contactless payment

2024 Author: Malcolm Clapton | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:44

How Mi Pay works, which card can be linked and how secure it is.

A fitness bracelet Xiaomi Mi Smart Band 4 NFC arrived in Russia - the first model in the line with support for contactless payments. Together with him, the company launched the Mi Pay payment system on the Russian market. Let's talk about this and other features of the new product.

Table of contents

• Specifications
• Design
• Application and features
• Mi Pay contactless payment
• Autonomy
• Outcomes

Specifications

Bracelet width	18 mm
Adjustable bracelet length	155-216 mm
The weight	22.2 g
Display	0, 95 ‑ inch, AMOLED, 240 × 120 dots, 16 million colors, 2.5D ‑ oleophobic glass
Memory	512 KB RAM, 16 MB ROM
Communications	Bluetooth 5.0, NFC
Battery	125 mAh
Supported operating systems	Android 4.4, iOS 9.0 and above
Sensors and gauges	Three-axis accelerometer, three-axis gyroscope, heart rate sensor (FPG)

Design

Outwardly, we have the same Mi Band 4 - all the differences from the standard version boil down to NFC support and a 10 mAh battery.

The bracelet is made in the form of a capsule, which is attached to a polyurethane strap. There are no design delights here, everything is extremely utilitarian. However, those who like to stand out can find a third-party strap to their taste, since the choice is quite large. The model is also compatible with accessories from Mi Band 3.

The case is made of plastic and is IP68 water resistant, which means the bracelet will survive swimming in a pool or heavy rain. However, you should not subject him to more serious tests, for example, jumping into water.

On the back side there is a heart rate sensor and magnetic charging contacts. The bracelet comes with a USB charging station. To recharge the bracelet, you have to remove the strap - not very convenient.

At the front there is a 0.95-inch AMOLED touchscreen. The resolution is 240 × 120 pixels, the matrix is capable of displaying 16 million colors. But the main thing is excellent readability in the sun thanks to its high brightness and anti-reflective glass.

Under the display there is a touch button "Home", pressing it returns the user to the main screen with a dial. The rest of the control is carried out from the touch screen.

Application and features

As befits a companion device, Mi Band 4 NFC is able to display notifications from a smartphone. The screen is large enough to display up to 10 lines of text. However, you won't be able to reply to the message directly from the tracker.

Most of the bracelet functions are available in the proprietary Mi Fit program. In fact, this is the main way to interact with the device - connecting it to a smartphone without Mi Fit will not work. Owners of Huawei and Honor gadgets should keep this in mind, since there is no app in the AppGallery store.

In Mi Fit, you can enable screen activation by raising your hand, constant monitoring of your heart rate and sleep quality, night mode with brightness adjustment and unlocking your smartphone using a bracelet.

The program also offers activity statistics with visual infographics, a rich set of watch faces, notification settings, updating and searching for a device. The bracelet itself provides access to training modes, weather, notifications and activity briefs.

In addition to running, walking and cycling, the bracelet supports swim and free workout modes. During the exercise, heart rate, calories burned, distance, steps and route are measured.

There is an inconspicuous detail in the body - a hole for a microphone. However, do not flatter yourself: there is no support for voice input. Meanwhile, the Chinese version of the bracelet works with the XiaoAI voice assistant. Whether something similar will appear in the Russian version is still unknown.

The sensors on the back not only measure the heart rate, but also monitor the quality of sleep and its phases. There is also a smart alarm clock that goes off in the REM sleep phase - that's when it's easiest for the owner to wake up. However, the response of the vibration motor is not the most pleasant.

Mi Pay contactless payment

The main features of the novelty are support for NFC and the Mi Pay payment system. The bracelet works only with MasterCard cards of banks "Tinkoff", "Raiffeisen", VTB, "Otkrytie", "Russian Standard", "Credit Bank of Moscow", "RosselkhozBank", "CreditEuropeBank" and the service "Yandex. Money". Sberbank and Alfa-Bank are also working on integration with Mi Pay.

It was not possible to add a map in the application the first time due to an incomprehensible error. After a short agony, the service sent an SMS activation code, and everything finally worked. To pay for your purchase, just go to the "Cards" section, select the one you need and bring the bracelet to the terminal within a minute.

It is convenient to pay for purchases from the bracelet: you do not need to take your smartphone when going to the nearest store. However, there are questions about security. The only way to protect yourself is a four-digit unlock code of numbers 1-4. It can be compiled in the "Laboratory" section of Mi Fit.

The tracker is automatically locked when removed from your hand. But the number of unlocking attempts is not limited, and choosing the right combination from 256 possible ones is not so difficult. So if you lose the bracelet, it is better to immediately reset the card data in the Mi Fit application.

Autonomy

A 125 mAh battery is installed inside the tracker. The claimed battery life is 15 days in a sparing usage scenario. With constant monitoring of heart rate and sleep, the bracelet consumes 9-10% of the charge daily. It takes 1.5 hours to fully recharge the battery.

Outcomes

Should I switch to a new product from the standard Mi Band 4? Depends on how much you need Mi Pay. The contactless payment function has long been asking for wearable electronics - now it is not necessary to take out a smartphone at the checkout. However, Xiaomi is worth working on to protect against hacking.

In official retail, Xiaomi Mi Smart Band 4 NFC can be bought for 3,990 rubles, on AliExpress - a thousand cheaper.