Xiaomi Smart Band 7 Pro Review

Xiaomi Smart Band 7 Pro turned out to be an improved version of the regular Band 7. In basic things, they are identical, but the word “Pro” was added not for beauty. It refers to some cool new features of the Xiaomi fitness bracelet – built-in GPS and a large screen with Always On mode. Is the new Xiaomi Smart Band 7 Pro worth its $100?

Xiaomi Smart Band 7 Pro is a classic modern fitness bracelet with typical functionality for such a gadget:

• Step counting, pulse measurement, blood oxygen, sleep monitoring;
• Receive notifications, control the camera and music of the smartphone;
• Profiles for multiple sports.

A big plus is a big screen

Now the Xiaomi smart bracelet looks great on the hand. The big screen holds more information, it's bright and has a beautifully designed system, and the app is full of cool watch faces. Xiaomi Smart Band 7 Pro is not the first Xiaomi bracelet with a large screen because Redmi Band Pro came out even earlier, devoid, however, of GPS and the Always-On Display function. Display:

• The system is as simple and clear as possible. From the application on the smartphone, it is easy and detailed to configure. But, alas, for some reason, the animation of changing widgets was slightly twitching on the main screen. Moreover, home screen widgets don't scroll endlessly. That is, you have scrolled through all the widgets to the right and do not get to the main screen with a clock, but seem to run into a wall. On the left is a menu with quick settings. Unread notifications are indicated by a small icon at the top.
• The photographs show that the fonts seem to be fuzzy. In reality, there is no such problem, everything is beautifully and smoothly displayed. On the camera, it was noticeable how the display of Xiaomi Smart Band 7 Pro flickered, due to for which it was necessary to select exposure. Such flickering on the clock was imperceptible live. For example, below is a comparison of the screens of Xiaomi Smart Band 7 Pro and Huawei Band 6 (the latter did not flicker). Another niggle is the notification text is gray instead of the more contrasting white.
• With a black dial, the display appears to be frameless, but, of course, it is not. It's funny how the bottom border is bigger than the top one.
• A maximum of 7 watch faces fit in the bracelet's memory, some of them cannot be deleted by default. Since stock dials are boring, you have to maneuver between a couple of your favorites, removing and installing them, which is not very convenient.
• But you can set your photos on the watch face. Up to 8 pieces are placed in the rotation, which are scrolled by clicking on the screen. Too bad they don't alternate themselves, which would be more logical.
• Always On Display – always on screen mode. The feature is very useful because the time is always visible as on the most ordinary clock and there is no need to raise the brush to activate the screen (it's especially disappointing when this movement does not work). The photo below is just an example of an active screen.
• You can put a digital clock or hands on the Always-On Display. The choice depends on the digital when installing, which sometimes there is a preview of the active screen. You can only configure the work schedule, but you cannot choose what exactly to show on the screen. No notification icons, no steps, no combination of hands with date or digital clock with battery power – this is not configurable in Xiaomi Smart Band 7 Pro.

Sport features

The main feature is GPS. The bracelet builds a route for a run, walk, or trip without pairing with a smartphone, displaying the result in the form of a racetrack map. After synchronization on the smartphone, the scheme is placed on the map, and everything is clearly and beautifully visible. GPS on Xiaomi Smart Band 7 Pro only works outdoors with walking, cycling, and running. Workouts:

• Without a Smartphone. If you train without a smartphone, the data is stored in the bracelet and smartphone. If you start the workout on your smartphone, then only there it will be saved. It turns out that the application is still your constant companion.
• Goals. You can set goals for each sport profile. Running, walking, bike, jump rope, exercise equipment, pool – goals are available for distance, time, number of jumps, calories, number of pools, and in the process, time, calories, heart rate, distance, and speed are displayed. For most other profiles, the goal is just time and calories. The corresponding indicators will also be displayed during the training: pulse, calories, time.
• Profiles. Separately, the watch has a powerful running profile with a mode for beginners, which combines walking and jogging for 2–3 minutes, respectively. There are also modes for burning fat, endurance running and interval running (combination of sprints and runs). All of them are further divided into basic and advanced levels and include, in addition to the main run, walking as a warm-up. Everything works beautifully with notifications, tips, and measurements.
• What profiles are for?  Why do we need profiles at all? There are more than 200 of them, and the readings are essentially the same: this is necessary for a beautiful and convenient design of your activity statistics. On Monday you run, on Tuesday you walk, on Wednesday you ride a bike, on Thursday you have darts, and on Friday you have a car race. You are such a versatile person, the clock will say on Saturday.

Battery

We did not have enough time to test the Xiaomi Smart Band 7 Pro to test the battery in full and in different scenarios. With screen brightness turned on to maximum, Always On Display, continuous heart rate monitoring, notifications and a couple of workouts with GPS – ate 44% per day. This is a lot, but in a different combination of these conditions, you can easily squeeze out a week of work.

Xiaomi Smart Band 7 Pro

For the most part, a good fitness bracelet with advanced functionality, but not without jambs. It builds GPS routes perfectly without a smartphone. It has a large, bright screen with a nice Always On feature display. Sports functionality, although it does not bring anything new, at the same time pleased with a serious multi-level profile for running. The rest of the basic functions of Xiaomi Smart Band 7 Pro as a fitness bracelet do not raise questions.

Like

• Large bright screen;
• Looks great on the hand;
• Always On Display;
• GPS works great without smartphone;
• Advanced running profiles

Dislike

• Slight glitches on the main screen;
• Regular dials are not deleted;
• There are no settings for Always On Display.