It’s been a while since I last reviewed a wearable, so here we go. This time we played around with the Xiaomi Amazfit Bip, which is a fitness bracelet with a pretty generous screen, which makes this closer to a smartwatch than a fitness bracelet. Available on Banggood.com at $79.99, the device gets reviewed below.
This is a very light device, at just 31 grams and aside from reviewing it we also unboxed it in the same video. Inside the box there’s a manual plus a charger with two metal pins. The device has a GPS and a pulse sensor, plus a huge battery, that on paper promises 30+ days of battery life. One of the unusual feats here is the Always On Display, also a touch display by the way.
And in spite of that the battery is still amazing. We’ve got a GPS on board, barometer, geomagnetic sensor on board and a heart rate sensor, which is not very accurate in my book. Sometimes it shows too many beats per minute, much more than the sports gear I use for example. There’s a 3 axis accelerometer on board and sleep tracking features are on the table too.
This smartwatch is very comfy to jog with and sleep with, because it’s very light and feels light on the wrist. The only problem appears when the sweat builds up on the belt. The design is all plastic and silicone, but once again light and slim. The display uses 2.5D glass and looks very sexy and stylish. It’s a 1.28 inch screen panel here, with Always On functionality and looking great in the sun.
I also have to mention that the Xiaomi Amazfit Bip has IP68 rating, which means it’s dust and rain splash resilient. The battery is a Li-Po 190 mAh unit, which easily gave me 3 weeks of functioning. I actually spent a few days at around 8% or so, so that’s great. This wearable has a crown button, which has simple uses: keep it pressed, press it and that’s it. Keeping it pressed activates or deactivates a sports session.
The UI is very simple on the watch, with swipes to navigate between functions and options, either vertically or horizontally. As far as fitness monitoring is concerned, I’m happy with the step count, but in real time when the iOS Mi Fit app I used notified me about the kilometers I went, it also counted the trip I took with a bus. I have to say I associated the watch with my iPhone 7 and iOS, plus the Mi Fit app.
It’s got a great and minimalistic UI and I’m especially loving the stats displayed for the sleep tracker. You even had a small questionaire and advice. You can select the activity you do, including threadmill, jog, walk and more. Watch face settings can be changed and notifications are also available. The watch will notify you with vibrations only, no trace of sound here. If you need a more fashionable watch, you should choose replica watches.
Also, messages from Whatsapp and Facebook will be shown pretty clearly, but with messed up symbols when emojis appear. You can set objectives in the Mi Fit app and even see your jogging path on the map, thanks to the GPS. So basically, I love all the features, except for the not very accurate pulse sensor and the odd counting of the bus rides as steps in real time. At least that’s fixed when the jog or walk is over, with the number of steps being shown realistically. I’m also not a fan of the fact that the belt kind of gathers lint.
I’d say what the Amazfit Bip is not as good looking as the Misfit Shine, but it’s certainly well specced enough. I give it an 8.6 out of 10 and you can get one from Banggood.com at $79.99.
