Xiaomi’s smart band lineup (formerly Mi Band) is now in its ninth generation, and the Smart Band 9 Active is the most affordable of the group. With a €25/£20 suggested retail price, this plastic nugget is one of the most affordable smartbands on the market.
Xiaomi Smart Band 9 Active Specifications
- Display: 1.47” TFT LCD touchscreen, 172 x 320 px resolution, 60 Hz refresh rate, 450 nits peak brightness
- Straps: Detachable proprietary straps, 135-215 mm adjustable length
- features: 5ATM rating, Real-time heart rate monitor, 24/7 blood oxygen level monitor, Sleep tracking, Stress monitoring, Sports tracking, Step counter, Meditation, Notifications, Idle alert, Phone finder, Weather forecast, Music and camera controls, Alarms, Stopwatch, compass, barometer, flashlight.
- game mode: Outdoor run, indoor run, outdoor walk, cycling, hiking, trekking, jumping rope, freestyle (50 more in Mi Fitness app)
- Sensor: PPG optical heart rate sensor, SpO2 sensor, 3-axis accelerometer, barometer, rotor vibration motor
- Connectivity: Compatible with Bluetooth 5.3, Android 8.0 and iOS 12+
- Battery: 300 mAh
- Colour: black, beige white, pink
- Dimensions:46 x 27 x 9.99 mm
- weight: 16.5 grams without strap
Some compromises had to be made to reach that price point, and they’re shown in the TFT LCD with its thick bezels, all-plastic construction, and basic design. You still get the usual health and activity tracking features we’ve come to expect from Xiaomi wearables, but is that cheaper price enough to justify adopting the Active over its siblings or competing devices?
This reviewer had the Band 9 Active on his wrist 24/7 for over two weeks, and these are his findings.
design
Xiaomi Smart Band 9 Active is an affordable smartband made entirely of plastic. The device is shaped like a nugget, with a one-piece TPU strap holding it tightly in place. The only visible change to the Band 8 Active is the slightly raised lip around the display, which should provide better protection, and it certainly helps prevent occasional bumps on door handles and table corners.
The 1.47-inch TFT LCD offers 172 x 320 px resolution and 60Hz refresh rate. It’s rated at just 400 nits of brightness, which is fine, even when viewing outside in direct sunlight. Still, an OLED panel like the Smart Band 9 or 9 Pro is miles better in terms of viewing angles, contrast, and brightness.
We’re also missing the physical buttons here, which has been the standard for the Band 6 for days, but we’re still not convinced the all-swipe gesture navigation model is the best way to go, especially when your hands are wet.
The smart band 9 Active uses proprietary straps, which are sold by Xiaomi, and we are already seeing listings from third-party manufacturers on AliExpress. The retail package includes the Band 9 Active, a black TPU strap, Xiaomi’s proprietary two-pin magnetic charging cable, a quick start guide, and a warranty leaflet.
Our review unit came with Xiaomi’s official Luminous Strap, which adds a pop of style and functionality for runners with fluorescent elements that glow in the dark for safe evening runs.
Like its predecessor and seemingly every smartband over the past few years, the Band 9 Active is 5ATM waterproof, meaning it can dive into freshwater up to 50 meters. In layman’s terms, you would be fine to take it to the pool and take a bath.
features
The Smart Band 9 Active features a light path sensor with optimized health and fitness monitoring algorithms. It can monitor your heart rate and blood oxygen saturation 24/7 as well as offer sleep and stress tracking. Xiaomi is also bringing over 50 sports modes, which will include all the basic options you would expect.
Coming back to the entry-level price, Xiaomi omits GNSS satellite positioning on the Band 9 Active, so you’ll have to rely on your smartphone’s positioning data to track your runs.
Like the rest of Xiaomi’s smart wearables, the Band 9 Active comes with access to hundreds of watch faces through Xiaomi’s Mi Fitness companion app. The only downside is that it doesn’t get automatic brightness control. Due to its TFT LCD nature, the Band 9 also does not support Active Always On Display (AOD).
The Band 9 Active connects to your Android/iOS smartphone via Bluetooth 5.3, and you can sync incoming notifications to keep your wrist buzzing. You’re limited by the tight horizontal space on its screen, and there’s no way to reply to incoming messages. There are no speakers or microphones on the device, so making Bluetooth calls is prohibited. However, you can control music playback from your wrist and use the band as a remote shutter for your phone’s camera.
Software and performance
Like its predecessors in the Xiaomi smart band series, the Band 9 Active boots a familiar-looking real-time operating system (RTOS), which operates entirely through swipes. The UI includes card-based widgets, although you can’t customize or group different widgets into a single card as you can with more premium smart band models. The app layout is list-based and has 16 built-in apps without the option to add any third parties.
The UI feels easy to navigate thanks to the 60Hz refresh rate, and everything works as expected. The screen is slightly wider than the vanilla Smart Band 9, but it’s still tighter than the Band 9 Pro’s 1.74-inch 336 x 480px panel.
The Mi Fitness smartphone companion app stores one month of health-tracking and workout data and you can sync your data with Apple Health or Google Fit, as well as Strava and Suunto.
mi fitness app interface
We tested the Band 9 Active by pairing it with an iPhone 15 Pro. Connectivity between the two was very good, with no interruptions in data sync and some minor delays in incoming notifications.
Health and Activity Tracking
Heart rate tracking on the Band 9 Active is configurable to 1, 10 or 30 minute intervals like its predecessors and you can monitor 24/7 for a better overall picture of your HR fluctuations. The Band 9 Active’s readings are in line with the readings from the Xiaomi Band 8 and 9 series and also in line with the readings from the Huawei Watch Fit 3.
The same can be said about the SpO2 readings, which are on par with what you’ll get with other smartbands in this price range, with some minor deviations all resulting in or around the same results.
Sleep tracking on the Band 9 Active includes the standard set of metrics like total sleep time with light breaks, rapid eye movement (REM), and deep sleep stages. During our review, we found that the Band 9 Active falls short in terms of sleep and wake times compared to the Huawei Watch Fit 3.
Sleep data from Smart Band 9 Active inside Mi Fitness app
Xiaomi’s latest band also consistently showed longer sleep times than its rival and it also failed to tell wake-up time during the night, which was not the case with the Huawei wearable. Another problem is that you don’t get a deep sleep timer on the band, so you have to go to the Mi Fitness app every time.
As for workout tracking, we tested the Smart Band 9 Active with the Huawei Watch Fit 3 at the gym, where both were put to the test in an average workout with a combination of treadmill running and weightlifting.
Band 9 Active Sample Workout Data
The Band 9 Active reported less steps and total run distance. Both devices recorded similar results in heart rate readings during workouts. Still, we found that the Band 9 Active overestimated the maximum heart rate reading by about 10BPM, which seems to be a pattern on Xiaomi wearable devices.
The absence of a dedicated GNSS tracker inside the Band 9 Active means you’ll have to bring your phone if you want to document outdoor runs.
battery life
The Band 9 Active has a 300 mAh battery, which Xiaomi claims can last up to 18 days with moderation or up to 9 days with more action.
In our tests, we found the Band 9 Active lasted up to 8 days with display brightness set to 60%, with every other day workouts active, as well as all health and activity tracking features, and notifications.
That’s a pretty good endurance in our books, although we’d be hard-pressed to reach the advertised 18 days unless you turn off most health tracking features and significantly reduce the display brightness.
What is not so good is the slow charging, which took over 90 minutes to go from 0 to 100%.
decision
The Xiaomi Smart Band 9 Active is the company’s most affordable fitness tracker, and it offers a good overall package with its compact and sturdy build, waterproof design, and good battery endurance. You get the usual mix of health and activity tracking features and a rich companion app that summarizes your health, sleep, and activity trends.
The TFT LCD isn’t the brightest, and it’s a far cry from OLED displays like other smart bands from Xiaomi and its competitors. Sleep tracking doesn’t leave much to be desired and the build quality, while decent, feels quite cheap compared to the vanilla Smart Band 9. Given the Active name, we expected a built-in GNSS satellite receiver to track outdoor runs and hikes, which is a missed opportunity here.
Xiaomi Smart Band 9 Active
At the end of the day, Xiaomi’s Smart Band 9 Active is worth considering solely because of its starting price, which is hard to beat. If you want a more premium smartband experience, we’d recommend purchasing the vanilla Smart Band 9 or its more premium brother – the Smart Band 9 Pro.
