So recently the Honor Band 5I released which is the lighter a version of the latest Honor Band 5 and if you have been following the budget
fitness segment there is already MI Band 3I released a few weeks ago which
again is the lighter version of the MI Band 3 and not the MI Band 4.
So, how do these lighter versions compare against each other,
well you know what the Honor Band 5I is way better than the MI Band 3I so of course
there's no point in comparing these. It would have been better if Xiaomi had
launched MI Band 4I rather than the MI Band 3I anyways about the comparison
would be the MI Band 4 and hence the question has to be asked which is the best
budget fitness band to buy in 2020, well I have the answer let's find out.
Now before we get on to the comparison the Honor Band 5I is almost
identical to the Honor Band 5 with a few differences like the Honor Band 5I has
in build USB charger you do get a lower s LCD display instead of AMOLED and the
lack of AMOLED display in Honor Band 5I means slightly inferior sunlight legibility
the display looks side-by-side indoors not much of a difference but when you go
outdoors you can clearly see the difference between AMOLED and LCD, other than
that consider the Honor Band 5I has slightly cosmetic upgrade over the Honor
band 5 with a new strap which I like with that out of the way let's get back to
the MI Band 4.
So it's not much different from the Honor Band 5 but how
does it compare with the MI Band 4, well I have to give the display part to the
MI Band 4 the AMOLED display looks great and it really makes a difference when you
see it outdoors under bright sunlight however display is not the only thing you
see when you are working out outdoors. I often see my fitness band while I am
running and bigger icons and text really helps the icons and text on the Honor Band5I look bigger and so does the text it would seem like a small detail but
outdoors it's easier to figure out the Honor Band’s menu then the MI Band 4,
another thing worth pointing out is the built-in USB charging this is the first
time a major Fitness Band has included built-in USB charging while the MI Band
still has that proprietary charger which is not something anyone would like to
carry around while travelling.
But you know what's interesting about the Honor Band 5I the
blood oxygen monitor or the SpO2 monitor and you know what it's not there out
of the box. The official website says it would be available later via OTA update
and we will update you on that. I got one OTA update that included music
playback controls just like the MI Band 4 but straight up I prefer the honest implementation
of the music playback control check this out once I go to the music playback
menu the Honor Band 5I stays on for almost 45 seconds this is not the case when
you are on any of the other menus and here is side by side on how the MI Band 4
music control functions it turns off as soon as it can this is a tiny inclusion
in the firmware from Honor but means a lot when you use it.
But you know what you don't review a Fitness band sitting here
in the office, because it's a Fitness band so let's move out I took a run with
both the MI Band 4 and Honor Band 5I and here's the data side-by-side to give
you a perspective
we also have the Nike Run Club data as you can see the HonorBand 5I is closer to the NRC data which is the most accurate one the MI Band 4 didn't
do that bad but still, Honor Band 5I was consistently accurate another point to the note is that the MI Band 4 has connected GPS so it can use your smartphone's GPS
data.
The Honor Band 5I also has extra workout activity 8 to be
precise but surprisingly there is no swim tracking it's present on the Honor Band
5 but I don't see it in the Honor Band 5I interesting, apart from the workout the Honor
Bands have better sleep tracking true sleep tracking I mean and it's good it has
been consistently good since the Honor Band 4 if you look at the MI Band 4 and HonorBand 5I data side-by-side the MI Band 4 is just there but the Honor Band 5I has
much more advanced algorithm which makes it slightly more accurate and provides
better sleep analysis like it could detect I got up in the morning for about 23
minutes whereas the MI Band 4 had no clue.
To end this let's talk about third-party apps and battery
life Honor Band 5I clearly loses out on the third-party app support the MI Band4 works with Android gadget and MI tools etc. and you also have the option to
sideload custom watch faces although the Huawei health app does provide a watch
face store but it doesn't give you the option to sideload your own watch faces
so the MI Band 4 clearly has the upper hand when it comes to third-party apps
and same is the case with battery life on continuous heart rate tracking to
sleep monitoring the Honor Band 5I lasted around five days whereas on similar
usage MI Band 4 would pull off eight to nine days so the Honor Band 5I clearly
has an inferior battery but the USB charger is all I wished for you can just
plug it into a laptop or even the power bank and you're good to go.
So which one should you buy well if you like tinkering with
your band and you don't mind do three apps on your phone then MI Band 4 is for
you, it has got a better display better battery life and huge third party app
support but if you ask me I would cite the Honor Band 5I it has better
algorithm, consistency sleep tracking, pricing, mobile app and UI but having
said that you wouldn't go wrong either way.
