I did a few measurements and they all came in between 95% and 100%. This is considered a healthy range. I also did a comparison of measurements with a few other devices, and the readings were always within a 2% margin. Which is not bad. I was also impressed by the abilitity of Amazfit Band 5 to detect sporadic naps. Some of the premium brands still struggle with this. There are also a couple of additional features that measure stress or encourage you to engage in concentrated, meditative breathing for a minute or two. Both are welcome inclusions and ones that can help you stop and rest for brief periods throughout the day. There was talk Xiaomi’s device might come in a pro variant with these very same features. However that iteration never surfaced. It seems the functionality was reserved for the Amazfit band. The companies have a working relationship as Huami, which owns Amazfit, manufactures the Mi Band. This partnership was recently extendedto least at least until 2023.

Amazfit Band 5 review: a more high-spec Mi Band alternative Amazfit Band 5 review: a more high-spec Mi Band alternative

The sensor on my Amazfit Band 5 is constantly glowing red at night. Is this normal or is there a defect? It is very disturbing and also consumes a lot of battery. Huami is also testing a breathing quality option. This is currently in Beta but it can be enabled via the settings. It spits out a value in the morning that ranges from o to 100 points. The higher your score the better your sleep breathing quality. Huami says the score can be improved by sleeping on your side, making sure not to drink alcohol before sleep, by losing weight and exercising more. Like the Xiaomi Mi Band 5, it's quite refreshing to see modes like indoor rowing and the jump rope mode with the offer of activity specific metrics. Probably the weirdest thing on offer is being able to use the band as a remote control for the camera on your smartphone. Just open the camera app and set it up ready to capture the image, then tap the shutter button in the camera section of the band and bob’s your uncle. No idea what you’d need it for, but it’s a fun thing to have on-board.You can also connect it to Strava and Relive to soak up the Kudos and create videos of your outdoor adventures. Sleep monitoring is included, with a breakdown of the hours you were in bed, plus an analysis of light and deep sleep. Again, this is a rough idea of your sleeping patterns, as my reports stated that I hardly ever reached deep sleep throughout the couple of weeks of wearing the band. The most obvious one is the touch button below the display. The Amazfit wearable has a circular one, the Xiaomi an oval one. Another difference is that the whole thing is a tiny bit larger than Mi Band. Its actual dimensions are47.2 x 18.5 x 12.4 mm. All of your progress is recorded in the Zepp app and you can review your performance either on a daily, weekly, monthly or annual basis. The PAI system awards you points for various activities and if you fill out the quite detailed breakdown of your body size, then it can closely monitor your improvements over time and get the boost of hitting the targets it sets.

Amazfit Band 5 user manual (English - 27 pages) Amazfit Band 5 user manual (English - 27 pages)

Just like Mi Band, Amazfit Band 5 has a 1.1 inch full colour AMOLED, with 2.5D curved glass protection. That’s actually a nice size for a fitness band. The colours are really vibrant and the text is quite sharp thanks to the126 x 294 pixel resolution and brightness up to 450 nits. The star here is the screen. It's a high quality AMOLED screen that's colorful, bright, vibrant and is superior to screens that cost more (we're looking at you Fitbit).When we did manage to get some data, it was kind of what expected. Average heart rate data and maximum heart rate data was largely off in comparison to a chest strap monitor. Based on our experience, it's capable of spending that time away from the charger but that really is dependent on what features you have turned on and use regularly. I was keen to try it out. What follows are my impressions after living with it on my wrist for the past ten days. Design Those with heart issues should make sure to enable the heart rate alert option. You manually set the value and if there is no obvious activity and your heart rate is above it, you’ll get a notification. There’s no built-in GPS so you will need to really on your smartphone’s satellite signal. It will suffice for the occasional run, but it’s no sports watch. Make sure you don’t forget to switch on Connected GPS if you’re running. Without it I found the band is pretty bad at figuring out your distance.