Mi Band 5 Said to Feature Larger AMOLED Display and Worldwide NFC Support, Pricing Also Tipped

Xiaomi's Mi Band series has been a runaway success for the company, thanks to its combination of competitive features at an ultra-low price. Now, Xiaomi is reportedly looking to take things up a notch with its next fitness band, tentatively called the Mi Band 5. As the name suggests, the Mi Band 5 will succeed the Mi Band 4, and will reportedly pack a larger 1.2-inch AMOLED display. Additionally, Xiaomi will reportedly equip its upcoming fitness band with NFC support that won't be locked to a particular region.

A new report from TizenHelp mentions that Mi Band 5 will come equipped with a 1.2-inch colour AMOLED display, however, the resolution and other attributes such as brightness output are not known. In comparison, the Mi Band 4 packs a 0.95-inch colour AMOLED display with 120x240 pixels resolution. The report adds that the Mi Band 5's display will offer a higher brightness output, better contrast, and improved readability under natural light.

Another notable feature that the Mi Band 5 will bring is support for NFC outside China as well. Xiaomi already offers NFC variant of the Mi Band 4 in China, but the stock sold in other markets like India lack NFC support. With the Mi Band 5, Xiaomi might change that, and offer NFC support across all markets. What this means is Mi Band 5's NFC support will let users make payments for travel and other supported forms of transactions irrespective of geography.

The Mi Band 5 is said to be priced at CNY 179 (roughly Rs. 1,800) upon its launch, which amounts to an increment worth CNY 10 (roughly Rs. 100) over the asking price of Mi Band 4. Huami will reportedly manufacture the Mi Band 5 for Xiaomi, but so far, nothing has surfaced regarding a launch date of the upcoming fitness band.

Xiaomi is giving away smartphones for Re 1 to celebrate it's two-year anniversary in July

The company is hosting special flash sales between July 20 to 22, with amazing offers and disscounts up for grabs.

To commemorate it’s two-year anniversary in India, Chinese smartphone maker Xiaomi is hosting a festival celebration This month. From July 20 to 22, the company will offering some crazy flash sale deals, slashed prices, as well as completely new items.

The biggest event of the festival are the special flash sales on all three days. Fans will be able to purchase Xiaomi devices for just Rs 1. July 20 will see the Mi5 and the 20000mAh Mi power bank on sale, July 21 will have the Redmi Note 3 and Mi Band, and July 22 will host the Mi Max and Mi Bluetooth Speaker. All you have to do to participate is share the post on Facebook by July 19, and then be ready on the Xiaomi website at 2pm. Be sure to keep your adrenaline running high, because only a very limited number of devices are up for grabs.


In addition, Xiaomi is also adding some new items to the roster, at 10am from July 20 to 22. The 10000mAh Mi Power Bank for Rs 1,299, Mi Capsule Headphones for Rs 999, and Mi In-Ear Headphones Pro Gold for Rs 1,799 will all make an appearance. You can also catch some special offers on other devices, exclusively on the Xiaomi app. The Mi 5 Gold will be available with free Mi In-Ear Headphones Pro Gold for Rs 24,999, the Mi Max with a phone case for Rs 15,248, Redmi Note 3 with a phone case for Rs 10,198, Mi 4i with Mi USB Cable and Mi USB Fan for Rs 11,999, and more will be available.

Xiaomi is also offering up free smartphones for people that play the match game on its website, so make sure you give it a whirl; you might end up being a lucky contestant.

Xiaomi’s Wearable Device Tracks Your Sleep, Steps And Heart Rate

Xiaomi’s much-speculated second wearable device is now official, after the Chinese company unveiled the Mi band pulse.

A report from speculated that the Mi Band, the company’s debut wearable, made Xiaomi the world’s second largest seller of wearables behind only Fitbit. That was before the Apple Watch went on sale, of course, but this follow-up builds on that potential.

Beyond tracking your steps and sleep, alarms and some notifications, the Mi Band Pulse includes a heart rate tracker, as previously speculated. That addition — the device usesPPG to measure your heart rate — has made it slightly larger than its predecessor. The original Mi Band took a little time to add iPhone support, but Xiaomi’s website confirms that the wearable will work with both Android (4.4 or later) and iOS (iPhone 4S / iOS 7.0 upwards) from the get-go.

Most importantly, the device has retained a low price tag. That’s 99 CNY, or around $15, this time around. The original Mi Band will still be available for those seeking something more basic, with a  slightly lower price of 69 CNY, or around $11.

Fans of Xiaomi and its low-priced tech gadgets may be disappointed to hear that the wearable will go on sale in China only initially, as part of the country’s massive 11/11 Singles Day online shopping festival.

Xiaomi told us that it doesn’t yet have anything to say about international sales. However, we expect the Mi Band Pulse to be available outside of China soon, since the Mi Band itself retails in India, Europe and the U.S. too via Xiaomi's global mi store.

I bought a Mi Band recently as an inexpensive way to test whether fitness tracking is something that I want to take seriously. With the addition of a heart rate tracker, Xiaomi just made dabbling in this area more compelling — although we haven’t tested the Mi Band Pulse out yet.