Xiaomi's Mi Band 8 leaves behind the iconic single strap for new possibilities

Xiaomi’s Mi Bands have become synonymous with fitness tracking on a budget, and for a good reason too. Past devices have delivered excellently with their no-nonsense approach and great value proposition. The company is hoping to build on this same success as it’s just launched the Mi Band 8 at the Xiaomi 13 Ultra launch in China.

Design

The Xiaomi Mi Band 8 largely follows the same design language as its predecessor but with one key difference. You get the same capsule as you did before, housing the 1.62-inch AMOLED display with an always-on display, the sensors, and the battery.

What has changed this year is the strap and strap connection. Previous Mi Bands shipped with a unified strap that accepted the tracker capsule within itself. Now, with the Mi Band 8, Xiaomi is moving to a sleeker strap design that requires connecting a two-piece strap to either end of the capsule, much like how you would connect an Apple Watch to its band.

This sleeker strap design opens up the Mi Band 8 to some interesting new bands and pegs. Xiaomi is also showing off straps that let you wear the fitness tracker capsule as a pendant.

You can also buy a running clip that lets you attach the capsule to your shoe. The caveat here is that previous Mi Band straps are no longer compatible, though this isn’t the first time that Xiaomi is making such a move.

Features and functions

Outside of the housing change, the Mi Band 8 remains very similar to the Mi Band 7. There are over 150 sports modes for you to choose from for your workout. The fitness tracker retains functions such as continuous heart rate monitoring, blood oxygen monitoring, tracking for stress, sleep, steps, and calories, and even offering detailed VO₂ max professional workout analysis.

Xiaomi has also added some watch faces that double up as puzzle games.

In China, the Mi Band 8 also comes with a voice assistant and a separate version with NFC. However, Xiaomi traditionally skips these features for the international model, so keep that in mind. If you were looking for onboard GPS on the fitness tracker, that remains elusive for another generation as the tracker continues to offer connected GPS only.

Mi Band 8: Pricing and availability

The Xiaomi Mi Band 8 has launched in China for a price of 239 Chinese yuan (~$34) for the regular version and 279 Chinese yuan (~$40) for the NFC version. There’s no word yet on a global launch, nor any word on a Mi Band 8 Pro.