Xiaomi Mi Band Optical Heart Rate Edition

Thank god, the Xiaomi Mi Band Optical Heart Rate Edition finally doesn’t require a flash sale scramble anymore!

So I bought one without hesitation and gave it to my mom.

Once I got it, I saw the packaging is identical to the original Mi Band 1, and still just as bare-bones. Open it up and every aspect is basically no different from the Mi Band 1 except for the added heart rate monitoring.

And it still charges with the same old plug-in method.

After charging it up and starting pairing, I found the problem: in its quest to be idiot-proof, the Mi Band pairing makes you “put the band on and bring it close to the phone and it’ll find it automatically.”

Except there were two Mi Bands in the room—one Mi Band 1 and one Mi Band Optical Heart Rate Edition—and no matter how I paired, it either couldn’t find the Optical Edition or just went straight to connecting the first-gen band. Nothing to be done about it; the first-gen one had been worn for so long, after all.

So I thought about it and said screw it: took the Mi Band 1 out of the house, made sure it was at least twenty meters away from the phone, re-paired, and succeeded.

Tested the heart rate—my mom’s showed up fine, but mine wouldn’t come out no matter what.

Damn it… whatever. The old lady’s happy wearing it, and it’s nice to compare step-count rankings with her friends on WeChat Moments.