Mi Band 4 vs Honor Band 5: Should you wait for the Mi Band 4 launch?
Huawei sub-brand Honor recently launched an upgrade of its own fitness tracker lineup in India, ahead of Xiaomi releasing the Mi Band 4. While we still have no word on when the Mi Band 4 would launch in the country, the Honor Band 5 may seem like a good option. But should you quit waiting and go ahead and buy the Honor Band 5 right now? Read on to know more.
Also read: Mi Band 4 Review: So good, it makes the Mi Band 3 look ancient
Design, Display: Honor Band 5 wins
The Honor Band 5 and the Mi Band 4 are almost similar sized fitness trackers. However the Mi Band 4 follows the pill-shaped design, while the Honor Band 5 looks more rectangular, like its predecessors. Both fitness trackers have a 0.95-inch AMOLED colour display with resolutions of 240 x 120 pixels.
You can get the Honor Band 5 in ‘Midnight Navy’, ‘Coral Pink’ and ‘Meteorite Black’ and it comes with textured straps. The Mi Band 4 on the other hand offers a simple texture-less strap in black, orange and burgundy, but you can get aftermarket bands in many colours and colour combinations. Moreover the Mi Band 4 can even take up straps from the Mi Band 3, thanks to the near identical design.
The only major difference is that the Honor Band 5 strap offers a punch-in mechanism like most common watches do. This is more reliable and secure compared to the snap-on mechanism straps on the Mi Band 4.
Features: Tie
The Honor Band 5 has Huawei’s ‘TruSleep2.0’ sleep-monitoring, which allows the band to identify six common sleeping problems. The band can detect your heart-rate and is water resistant up to metres and can identify four main kinds of swimming strokes.
The Mi Band 4 also monitors sleeping patterns and your heart rate. Heart rate detection can be also enabled during activities like cycling and power walking. It is also water resistant and can recognize 5 different styles of swimming.
The Mi Band 4 misses out on the Blood oxygen (SPO2) sensor that some fitness trackers have started to offer, including the Honor Band 5. However the Mi Band 4 offers a lot more customization in terms of ‘watch-faces’, with about 70 in-app options to choose from and hundreds of unofficial faces available on other apps on the play store compared to the Honor Band 5, which does support watch faces but the option is yet to appear on the Indian firmware, according to Flipkart testimonials.
Battery: Mi Band 4 wins
The Honor Band 5 takes 1.6 hours to fully charge and the company claims a battery life of 2 weeks or 14 days on a single charge on moderate usage. In comparison, the Mi Band 4 takes about 2 hours for a full charge but lasts 20 days on a single charge on moderate usage.
Also read: Get the Xiaomi MI Band 4 in India right now for under Rs 2,500
Connectivity: Mi Band 4 Wins
The Honor Band 5 still relies on Bluetooth 4.2. Though functional, it isn’t better and more efficient than the Bluetooth 5.0 found on the Mi Band 4. Features include answering and rejecting calls, phone finder, and app notifications.
The Mi Band 4 comes with Bluetooth 5.0 and the supports features like app notifications, incoming calls, music control, phone finder, a time-based night mode and a DND mode.
Pricing: To be disclosed on launch
The Honor Band 5 sells for Rs 2600 on Flipkart. The Mi Band 4 has not been launched yet in India, but its equivalent price in China translates to about Rs 1700. We expect a likely price of Rs 2000 to Rs 2500 when the band launches in India, since the older Mi Band 3 is currently selling for Rs 1999.
Verdict
The Mi Band 4 is the better budget fitness tracker of the two except for the SPO2 capabilities of the Honor Band 5. But that being said the Honor Band is also likely the more expensive of the two. The Mi Band 4 will launch in India most likely at a cheaper price than the Honor Band 5, which will make it a better overall value for money choice.
Also read: Get the Xiaomi MI Band 4 in India right now for under Rs 2,500
Also read: Mi Band 4 Review: So good, it makes the Mi Band 3 look ancient
Also read: Mi Band 4 vs Mi Band 3: Should you upgrade?
