Xiaomi has shipped over 1 million Mi Smart Band 6 units worldwide
CEO Lei Jun announced that the Xiaomi Mi Smart Band 6 has surpassed 1 million shipments globally. And keep in mind that most of those are from China, since sales there started on April 2, but it only went global a few weeks later.
Even so, the Mi Band 3 hit the 1 million mark in 17 days, the Mi Band 4 got there even quicker, just 8 days. The cheap-but-capable smart bands have been waning in popularity, while Xiaomiâs âhearablesâ (i.e. more advanced wireless headphones) have been picking up the slack. They helped the company secure its second place in the wearables market.
The Mi Bands first came around in 2014 and were pretty basic. The original had only three LEDs and didnât even have a heart rate sensor. Yet Xiaomi managed to sell over 10 million in 9 months. It helped that they cost only CNY 80 a piece (around $13), the current model is triple that (more if you get the NFC version, but thatâs available only in China).
Xiaomi has sent out promo boxes to reviewers in China, which contain all the major Mi Band models â from the very first one to the 6. This offers a nice retrospective of how far the bands have come. Hereâs what that box looks like. And before you ask, it doesnât seem like something you can buy, itâs just a reviewerâs package.
The original band had three LED indicators and its main functions were notifications and sleep tracking, the Mi Band 1S added a heart rate sensor. The second model added a 0.42â OLED display, the third one enlarged it to 0.78â and introduced the NFC version, then the fourth model switched to a 0.95â color OLED. The fifth one made it bigger and simplified charging with a magnetic cable, the sixth (current) model filled the front with a pill-shaped 1.56â display.