The Xiaomi Mi Band 2 is now official, and continues the Chinese company's tradition of super cheap fitness tracking.
The Mi Band 2 introduces a screen for the first time in Xiaomi history, and also debuts smartwatch style notifications. Xiaomi shifted over 10 million Mi Band fitness trackers in the first nine months of 2015 and sits in third place to only Apple and Fitbit in the wearable tech space.
Wareable verdict: Read our full Xiaomi Mi Band 2 review
With Xiaomi's super competitive pricing enabling it to take on the likes of Apple and Fitbit, it's set to be one of the most anticipated devices of 2016. Read on for everything you need to know.
Xiaomi Mi Band 2: Design
The 24/7 activity tracker features a 0.42-inch OLED screen that's covered by scratch resistant glass and an anti-fingerprint coating for that extra layer of protection.
That's joined by a single physical button just below the display, which enables you scroll through three different screens. Those are time, steps and heart rate information, for the record. The only missing metric is that there's no screen dedicated to distance.
Xiaomi claims the silicone strap holding the screen in place is made from a more breathable, anti-sweat material and will be available in black, orange, green and blue colours.
Xiaomi Mi Band 2: Features
The Mi Band 2 has been slapped with an IP67 water and dust-resistance certification, which means you can wear it in the shower and it's okay to get a little splash of water when you're washing the dishes or your hands.
As far as tracking goes, you still get an optical heart rate monitor that Xiaomi claims will offer improved accuracy over the previous Mi Band Pulse. A new pedometer algorithm coupled with ultra low power accelerometers is also designed to deliver improvements to step tracking.
Wareable verdict: Xiaomi Mi Band Pulse review
Of course, sleep tracking is still a key feature, breaking down your deep sleep and light sleep patterns.
A built-in vibration motor also means the introduction of inactivity alerts, giving you buzz when you've been sitting too long at your desk.
With the addition of a display, you do get some smartphone notification love here as well. The Mi Band 2 will vibrate for incoming calls and texts. It's pretty basic, but that's no real surprise here. Like its predecessor, the Mi Band 2 can be used to unlock a selection of Android smartphones.
The Mi Fit app has been given a makeover introducing a new-look user interface, and adding more ways to drill into your data. It'll work with Android phones running 4.4 or later and iPhones running iOS 7.0 and above.
Xiaomi Mi Band 2: Battery life
In terms of battery life, the Mi Band 2 packs a 70mAh battery that can deliver up to 20 days on standby. That sounds an impressive number, but as we found testing the Mi Band Pulse, we'll reserve judgement until we've had some time to try it out.
Notifications and activity will take a chunk out of that figure, and we'll need to see in excess of five days for it to keep up with the likes of the Garmin Vivosmart HR.
Xiaomi Mi Band 2: Availability and price
At present the Mi Band 2 is only officially on sale in China for 149Yuan.
It did the same with the original Mi Band, but there's no problem picking one up from a reseller regardless of where you reside. Geekbuying has the Mi Band 2 at while on Amazon you can pick one up for about .
For comparison, in early 2016 the Mi Band Pulse went on sale, packing an optical heart rate sensor, for 99Yuan; that's about . It's not officially on sale outside of China yet - but you can grab one on Amazon for . So those prices kind of check out.
We're currently awaiting a sample of the Xiaomi Mi Band 2 for a full and in-depth review.
This won't be the only wearable we're expecting to see from Xiaomi this year. Earlier this month Huang Wang, the CEO of manufacturer Huami - which works with Xiaomi - let slip that a Mi smartwatch will be launching in the next couple of months. We're expecting details in early June.
How we test
By Michael Sawh
Michael Sawh has been covering the wearable tech industry since the very first Fitbit landed back in 2011. Previously the resident wearable tech expert at Trusted Reviews, he also marshaled the features section of T3.com.
He also regularly contributed to T3 magazine when they needed someone to talk about fitness trackers, running watches, headphones, tablets, and phones.
Michael writes for GQ, Wired, Coach Mag, Metro, MSN, BBC Focus, Stuff, TechRadar and has made several appearances on the BBC Travel Show to talk all things tech.
Michael is a lover of all things sports and fitness-tech related, clocking up over 15 marathons and has put in serious hours in the pool all in the name of testing every fitness wearable going. Expect to see him with a minimum of two wearables at any given time.