Xiaomi bracelet 3 is one of the seven new products launched by Xiaomi 8 on May 31. The core change is that the screen has been expanded and turned into a touch screen, with a price of 169 yuan. What is more exciting is that the NFC version costs 199 yuan, but the latter will come in September.
The first generation Xiaomi bracelet swept the smart wear market with a price of 79 yuan, and changed the rules of the game forever. The subsequent Xiaomi Bracelet Optical Edition (99 yuan) and Xiaomi Bracelet 2 (149 yuan) are both products of the same generation with unmatched cost performance. As their successor, Xiaomi Bracelet 3 is still unbeatable. Invincible, really lonely.
Admittedly, in addition to the touch screen and the addition of some small functions, the Xiaomi bracelet 3 has not changed much. But if there is no accident, it will be the smart bracelet with the largest shipment before Xiaomi Handband 4. It is still necessary to conduct a more detailed evaluation for this product destined to become a landmark.
PS：
According to the chronological order, the author has used 1 year Fitbit Charge, 1 year Samsung Gear Fit, half a year TicWatch 2, 1.5 years Fitbit Charge 2, and also used Xiaomi bracelet 1/light sensitive version/Xiaomi bracelet 2, Apple Watch 1/2, TicWatch 2 NFC version, Samsung Gear Fit 2 for a period of time. I have experienced a little from 2014 to 2017, most of the smart watches/bracelets, including Samsung Gear series, Moto/LG/Huawei Android Wear (now renamed Wear OS) products.
Because the author has used Fitbit and Gear Fit series for the longest time, it is inevitable to compare them in writing. And they are the strongest products in the smart bracelets, so they may look like their Amway. However, it should be noted in advance that they are all good products, but they are too expensive to be used in large quantities. It is not recommended that entry-level users spend a lot of money on these products, especially after the Xiaomi bracelet 3 comes out.
In this paper, the appearance, wearing feel, screen, touch control, hand lighting, interaction and endurance, APP and function, data and precision are described in different points.
Packaging and accessories
The millet bracelet 3 is packed and the millet bracelet 2 on the upper right is packed
Upper left millet bracelet 2 charging cable, lower right millet bracelet 3 charging cable
The packaging of Xiaomi bracelet 3 follows the rhythm of Xiaomi mobile phone, changing from kraft paper box to pure white packaging, with transparent hard glue flip cover and sticky handle. The accessory is also the instruction manual and the family style "noodle" charging line. In addition to the size of the main body bracket, the contacts and length of the two generations of charging lines are almost the same.
Appearance and workmanship
In appearance, we directly compare it with the previous generation Xiaomi bracelet 2 (upper left):
Upper left millet bracelet 2, lower right millet bracelet 3
The appearance of the core part of Xiaomi bracelet 3 has undergone great changes, with a small increase in thickness and a big circle in size. The front is like a mobile phone screen changing from flat glass to 3D glass. It's just a cobblestone shape. Whether it's more beautiful or not is up for debate.
Touch buttons are reserved on the front. Previously, concentric circles of aluminum alloy were used as the identification area. This time, concave curved plastic was used as the button identification area (reminds me of the ultrasonic fingerprint of Xiaomi 5s that did not open a hole but dug a groove). The body of the heart rate sensor on the back has hardly changed, the body code is engraved on the side of the main body, and the position and spacing of the charging contacts have not changed.
Xiaomi Bracelet 3 and Xiaomi Bracelet 2
The tolerance control of Xiaomi bracelet 3 is much better than that of common bracelets. The seam is closed at the side and is usually covered by the watch strap. The edge of the main part is directly connected with the silicone strap, rather than being wrapped by the silicone strap. Handover of main body and watch band The joints are closely fitted and the height difference is small. With the clip of the main body of the bracelet, it is difficult to slip like the original Xiaomi bracelet when wearing Xiaomi bracelet 3. The price of this small tolerance is that the strap is too tight, so it needs some force to take the main body out of the strap when charging.
Comparison, workmanship and wearing feel
Xiaomi bracelet 3, Xiaomi bracelet 2 Fitbit Charge 2、 Samsung Gear Fit 2
The main part of Xiaomi bracelet 3 is longer, but the advantage of narrow watchband is still there. Compared with the higher level smart bracelet, it is still very small. But in my opinion, I prefer the appearance of Xiaomi bracelet 2.
Compared with the change of the main body of the bracelet, the change of the watchband is smaller, but the direction of the change is more preferred by the author, and they are all chasing to improve the wearing comfort.
The wearing of wristwatch bracelets emphasizes "non feeling", and the key point of non feeling is "light" and "dry". The former is mainly determined by the "weight, strap width and shape" of the bracelet core. But as long as it is a bracelet, it will rarely roll over. The latter focuses on silicone material selection and surface treatment. The dry surface will not be sticky when sweating:
The black strap of Xiaomi bracelet 3 is lighter in color, and the proportion of "glitter" mixed in is increased (of course, it may be that Xiaomi bracelet 2 has been used for a long time and is aging, so the color is darker in contrast). The width of the strap remains the same, but the thickness is slightly thinner, Lighter and drier to the touch.
In terms of wearing comfort, if the Fitbit Charge 2 and Samsung Gear Fit 2 large bracelets and Apple watches are 70 points, the Xiaomi bracelet 2 and most small bracelets can get 85 points. Xiaomi bracelet 3 With this watch strap alone, I think I can give 90 points Of course, the gap is not big.
The 10 points deducted is still the heart rate sensor. This part must be close to the skin, and it is convex. I haven't seen a product that can handle it perfectly for the time being.
In terms of maintenance, The new large arc design is friendly to the touch screen, but the price is maintenance. The front is not surrounded by silicone as before, which is easier to scratch. The watchband is originally a waste product, which can be replaced if spent, but the main body will spend a lifetime with the product. But on second thought, emmm， This is a 169 yuan bracelet. It seems that I have been worried too much.
Screen, touch, light up, interaction and endurance
The core changes of Xiaomi bracelet 3 come from this 0.78 inch 128 * 80 OLED touch screen, focusing on touch, brightness and fineness:
Touch: Since the Xiaomi bracelet has a screen, there has been no common setting of hitting the screen to light the screen in similar products. Instead, it uses the touch control to light the screen (why is the Xiaomi bracelet series more power saving?). Xiaomi bracelet 3 The touch button also lights up the screen, and the screen area can only be touched after the screen is lit . With the current version of the firmware of Xiaomi bracelet 3 (May 31), the touch screen logic is that the distance required for upward strokes is shorter and more sensitive, but it is also easier to be mistakenly identified as left and right slip; The downward stroke requires a longer distance and is relatively less sensitive. The overall sensitivity/response speed is completely OK. However, the official has changed two firmware versions several days before the product release. It cannot be ruled out that the touch screen logic will be changed later;
Brightness: This OLED screen is bluer than the previous generation (the previous generation's color is yellow), The brightness is slightly higher, but it is slightly darker than Fitbit Charge and Charge 2 . The advantage is that you won't be blinded by the time at night, but the disadvantage is that the readability will be lower in the sun (of course, it's not enough to cover the sun to see).
Size and fineness: exactly It is much more exquisite than the normal bracelet , has gone beyond the scope of enough, to pursue the field of display delicacy. However, it should be noted that the official claim of PPI is 193, which sounds very high (of course, it cannot be compared with the PPI of mobile phones that are often more than 300, but the PPI of 193 is already higher than that of common desktop monitors, and the 22 inch 1080P screen is only 100 PPI), but in fact, the normal screen is color, and one pixel contains three sub pixels, red, green and blue, The screen of most smart bracelets (including Xiaomi bracelet 3) is monochrome.
If you really want to compare, the PPI of an ordinary display must be multiplied by 3, or the PPI of a bracelet must be divided by 3, which is barely worth comparing (Pixel/sub-pixel shapes are also different, and cannot be directly compared) 。 However, Xiaomi has not yet made full use of this high PPI monochrome OLED screen, not to mention that the rendering method of the notification font still needs to be improved. The number of the default dial is still "pixel style", dare you render a more delicate dial for the font edge? (covering his face, laughing and crying)
Notification effect: After all, the screen is small, and the font set by Xiaomi is also large. Chinese characters are displayed in the form of 4 * 6. In translation, in the notice, the first page has 15 Chinese characters (the first line scrolls to display the app name, the second line scrolls to display the sender), and the second page can display up to 24 Chinese characters.
90% of the notices can be displayed in one page, and 99% of the notices can be displayed in two pages (one screen should be drawn). After Alipay/WeChat payment, you can immediately see the notice on your watch, and you can also take a glance at the SMS and WeChat notices to decide whether to reply with your mobile phone, The experience is very close to a smart watch.
Raise your hand
Fitbit Charge 2、 Xiaomi bracelet 2, Xiaomi bracelet 3 (you can simply compare the difference in screen brightness)
The smart bracelet that has time to display is the second generation bracelet. The bracelet of the early generation had no screen, and most of its fate was to fall into ashes in the drawer. However, in order to save power, smart watches and bracelets both raise their hands to light up or hit the light screen (Xiaomi bracelet is a touch button). However, the speed of raising hands to light up different products is different, which can be described as a gap. If the hand light is too slow, you have to be calm for several seconds to see the time, and the experience is better than tapping/touching; If it is too insensitive, the user will not use this function again after waiting several times.
In terms of speed, Apple Watch series and Fitbit Charge 2 are among the fastest products, while Xiaomi bracelet 3 has slightly improved speed, but there is no essential difference, There is still a gap with the top peers. It still takes more than half a second to see the time . The availability is acceptable, but the author still thinks that in the process of lifting his hand, he should touch the button blindly first, and then look at the time, which is more efficient.
shock
The smart bracelet can only remind users by shaking. If the shaking is too weak, there is no sense of reminding; The shock is too strong. Although it can ensure that people can wake up from sleep, it is too annoying to remind them at ordinary times.
In addition to the problem of insufficient vibration in early bracelets, most bracelets now have strong enough vibration to deal with alarm clock vibration and notification. However, I haven't encountered the bracelet that can shake me out of sleep every day for the deep sleep user who "sleeps like a corpse".
The Xiaomi bracelet 3 has a similar vibration force to the previous generation, which is relatively moderate and adequate.
interactive
The interaction is still shown by the gif diagram. First, an interface arrangement diagram is shown:
Slide up and down to switch the classification of major functions
Slide left and right on the specific function page to view the details, and the step number page is on the top
Direct dial switching is supported, but only three options are available for the time being. But there is no dial that can directly display the real-time heart rate or power, which is a pity
Slide the notification page left and right to view the notification, and long press the touch button to clear the notification. Up to 24 Chinese characters can be displayed on a single page. If the notice is too long, it will be automatically paginated
Even the weather forecast is available. You can switch between three days of weather forecast
The entire UI and interaction design is quite reasonable, except that the reset time of the secondary interface is too short (in the sub function page, the screen will be off if you do not operate for about 7 seconds, but you will return to the desktop immediately after the screen is lit again. The setting of 10-15 seconds may be more suitable for users who often struggle with functions like the author) The logic of the timer is a little complicated (long press Start/Reset, before resetting, tap Return will not take effect, and may be confused when entering for the first time), but there are not many small problems.
In terms of endurance, although the battery capacity of Xiaomi bracelet 3 has also increased from 70mAh to 110mAh, the screen has increased, and the touch screen has been added with more functions. Officially, it maintains the same 10 day endurance of the previous generation, which is still much better than the Fitbit Charge series (about 5 days' endurance) and the Samsung Gear Fit series (about 3 days' endurance).
In actual use, I have always connected my mobile phone, opened all message push, notified about 30-40 times a day, and there is a wake up alarm clock. The heart rate detection frequency is 10 minutes/time. Even though this frequency is used, the power consumption of Xiaomi bracelet 3 is about 10% - 15% every day. Running for 7-10 days is no problem, The endurance has not changed significantly, it is still very long 。
APP and functions
In the smart bracelet, except for the Samsung Gear Fit series, which can change dials and install apps, but also "pretend to be a bracelet", no bracelet has more functions than the Xiaomi bracelet series. Even the Fitbit does not have so many functions in its own bracelet. This function is better than the MIUI bracelet (the earliest geek MIUI) He also learned the bad habit of MIUI. Every time the app is opened, there are advertisements... If you want to check your heart rate or detailed exercise data frequently, this is still annoying, but there is nothing else to be picky about.
Four primary interfaces of Xiaomi Sports app
At first glance, the app function is very complex, but for many users like the author who give up treatment and exercise, the "exercise" and "discovery" pages in the middle can be ignored. The following is a brief description in order:
The home page of the core "status" is the display of three core information, namely, "heart rate, exercise and sleep". The rest of the "compliance records, community and weight" are hidden manually when the author opens them;
The "Sports" page is close to the fitness app Keep. All kinds of exercises are accompanied with screen tutorials and action guidance, and the experience is completely OK;
The "Discovery" page contains paid courses, events, shopping guides and tutorials, which are more like advertising promotion, so they are used less frequently;
My page is a simple personal information statistics, as well as detailed product settings.
The function of the bracelet is summarized as "step counting, sleep, heart rate detection and notification", but Xiaomi There are no rivals in terms of notification, reminder and customized richness . In addition to the most common "vibrating alarm clock and vibrating notification", the notifications of "incoming calls, SMS messages and apps" can be set separately, with standard reminder, long sitting reminder and events (the reminder data is stored in the bracelet, which has the advantage that it can work without the mobile phone, but it can take effect only when manually added in the app, which is not very practical), Even the timed Do Not Disturb mode is available (this is absolutely rare in the bracelet). However, the function of searching for mobile phones is still reserved. The default ringing tone (similar to the ring of boxing) or the ringing tone of incoming calls can be selected as the search tone.
Notification reminder setting interface
The following three functions are newly added The first two are all other domestic bracelets Functions not available:
Automatic heart rate detection frequency customization, One minute, 10 minutes and 30 minutes are optional. Finally, there is a bracelet with this function!!!! The Fitbit Charge 2 with the heart rate sensor on all day has no demand for this function, but Samsung Gear Fit series and several bracelet manufacturers that can't manually adjust the detection frequency so far, please find out;
Effective time of the function of raising hands to light up : Lifting the hand will consume power, but generally only smart watches with limited endurance will have this function. The advantage is that you can save electricity, but you have to manually click the screen when you urinate or wake up in the middle of the night;
Customized hiding and sorting of dial functions
Data and precision
Heart rate and step counting data
Sleep data
The information statistics interface of Xiaomi bracelet 3 is very useful: During the step counting process, it can automatically identify the user's continuous activities and make statistics. For normal running or playing, you can see the activity data on the details page of the day. The all-weather heart rate recording interval is 5 minutes, and you can see the specific value by sliding your finger on the curve. Interestingly, Even if the detection interval is adjusted to 10 minutes, this heart rate curve is also a data in 5 minutes
The accuracy of step counting, the start and end time of sleep are very accurate, and the latter is still above the Fitbit (The accuracy of sleep time points was the advantage of domestic products a few years ago, but Samsung and Fitbit have not been able to catch up.) 。 The accuracy of heart rate has also been gradually improved in the firmware upgrade in recent days. Two days before the press conference, the exercise heart rate value will be 10-20 higher than that of Fitbit. After the upgrade, the gap will be reduced to about 10, and finally it is available. It should be noted that, unless the heart rate is equipped with accessories, the heart rate value of the smart bracelet/watch is used to see the trend, and the absolute accuracy cannot be guaranteed.
Xiaomi's biggest weakness is that the default sleep statistics are too simple (High precision sleep statistics can be selected in settings, but it will consume more power). Although data analysis is still very good There are few bracelet products that can adjust the accuracy of default sleep statistics so low Compared with the default sleep statistics of Fitbit Charge 2, the difference between the details and presentation of the data is as wide as the Milky Way:
Comparison of sleep statistics between Xiaomi bracelet 3 and Fitbit Charge 2
Statistical comparison of heart rate between Xiaomi bracelet 3 and Fitbit Charge 2
summary
From the perspective of product, Xiaomi bracelet 3 The completion of all functions is very high The original functions of step counting, sleep detection and various notifications have not changed much, but now the screen can display complete notifications, have a stopwatch, and watch the weather forecast. The most important thing is that, Finally, we have all-weather heart rate detection Yes! The latter is the main reason why the author still insists on using Charge 2. The number of steps can be imported into WeChat (Fitbit can't import data into WeChat step counting now...), the endurance also remains at the level of 10 days, the wearing comfort has also been slightly improved, and the price is still at the level of 100 yuan.
The price of 169 yuan can easily break through everyone's psychological defense line. If you can't afford to lose, you can't afford to be fooled. That's what I said. But Xiaomi is not the cheapest in the same function, but If the availability is also included in the "cost performance ratio", it is now the most cost-effective bracelet This is the same as the Xiaomi bracelet before. Other similar products are certainly valuable, but in front of Xiaomi bracelet 3, there are more differentiated options. It is recommended to choose Xiaomi bracelet when you do not like or are not satisfied with its existing function performance.
Of course, although there are not many shortcomings, and there is a strong price as a cover, there must be some: the speed of raising the hand to light is still average, there is no dial that displays real-time heart rate or power (similarly, there is no custom dial), the appearance is different, the default sleep statistical accuracy is too low, and so on.
From a more macro perspective, this is the fourth Xiaomi bracelet. The global shipment of its entire series has exceeded 40 million, and it is undoubtedly the core player in the field of intelligent wear. Should Xiaomi/Huami (design and OEM) launch its flagship product? There must be some people who are not satisfied with the Xiaomi bracelet, so Fitbit and Jiaming are still alive.
To be honest, the cost performance of the latter two products is average, but they have always been the benchmark in the smart bracelet/watch industry, and are still exploring and improving new technologies. and The number of users should be several orders of magnitude higher. Should we go to the front of the industrial chain a few more steps? Being invincible on the way of cost performance is something worth boasting about, but it is also very lonely.
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