I wore the Xiaomi Smart Band 10 on my wrist for a year, practically never taking it off — and this anniversary fitness band gave me a good reason to reconsider my attitude toward the entire Mi Band lineup. At a price of 2700-3000 rubles on marketplaces, it remains the most balanced offering in its segment. But compromises were inevitable — here are the conclusions I reached after a year of use.

Is the Mi Band 10 worth buying in 2026?

Xiaomi Smart Band 10 Design — How Comfortable Is It to Wear All Day

I love this band simply because it exists. Over the years, the lineup has changed significantly, but the Xiaomi Smart Band 10 has remained just as compact as it was ten years ago. The body retained its familiar capsule shape but got rid of the main issue of previous generations — the display finally has symmetrical bezels, and the notorious “chin” is a thing of the past. Weight — 15.95 grams without the strap, dimensions 46.57×22.54×10.95 mm. On the wrist, the band feels like an extension of your skin: I would forget it was on my hand, especially at night during sleep tracking.

The Mi Band 10 has a pleasant-to-touch body that is extremely hard to damage

The main thing that makes me happy is the huge (by gadget standards) AMOLED screen. 1.72 inches with a resolution of 212×520 pixels and a peak brightness of 1500 nits — a noticeable upgrade compared to the Smart Band 9. The picture is smooth, without the stuttering that plagued previous generations. Auto-brightness works incredibly accurately: the screen is readable in sunlight without any issues, and it doesn’t blind you in the dark. There are noticeably more beautiful watch faces, plus tons of menu customization options — you can set it up to your liking in five minutes.

I got the aluminum body — nothing got scratched over the year, it holds up great. But the silicone strap is traditionally the weak point. It gets worn from rubbing against clothes, picks up stains, and there’s no way to clean it. The attachment mechanism, however, is reliable: the band stays securely on the wrist, and it never fell off even during workouts.

Xiaomi Smart Band 10 Battery Life — How Long Does It Really Last

The 233 mAh battery has the same capacity as its predecessor. Xiaomi promises up to 21 days of battery life in standard mode and about 9 days with Always-On Display enabled. Honestly, the charge doesn’t hold as well as it used to, and that’s with the adaptive Always-On Display that’s only active on a schedule.

Overall, the Mi Band 10 delivers excellent battery life compared to other bands

But if you turn off everything unnecessary — continuous heart rate monitoring, extra sensors, full-day AOD — you can reliably get a week and a half. Charging is fast, a full cycle takes about an hour via the magnetic cable. The only issue is that the magnetic connector is still inconvenient compared to something like the Apple Watch — you have to find the right position, and the contacts sometimes don’t connect on the first try.

Workouts and Sports Modes on the Xiaomi Smart Band 10

Workouts are still solid. The band supports over 150 sports modes through the Mi Fitness app, features automatic workout detection, activity ring closing, and a highly detailed summary for each session. Out of this entire list, you realistically use 5-7: outdoor and indoor running, walking, cycling, swimming, and strength training. The rest is just padding.

Workouts are decent, except for inaccurate distance tracking

The optical heart rate sensor works noticeably more accurately than previous generations — readings now stabilize almost immediately, without the lag during the first few minutes. VO2 max, recovery time after exercise, and heart rate broadcasting via Bluetooth to a stationary bike or treadmill have been added. 5 ATM water resistance allows swimming in a pool, and the swimming mode recognizes stroke style and counts laps.

But there’s one major drawback — no GPS. Because of this, the band miscalculates distance: instead of an actual kilometer, it counts about 700 meters, and by the end of a run, you’ve supposedly run 1.5-2 km more than the actual distance. And as usual — it counts steps while riding in a vehicle.

Mi Band 10 Smartphone Compatibility and the Mi Fitness App

The Xiaomi Smart Band 10 works via Bluetooth 5.4 and is compatible with Android 8.0 and iOS 14.0 or newer. There are no issues with health monitoring: you can enable all measurements at once — heart rate, SpO2, stress sensor, sleep phases — and get a detailed overview of what’s happening with your body throughout the day. However, you’ll also get a quickly drained battery.

There are no major compatibility issues, but there are some annoying quirks. The Mi Fitness app constantly displays a notification asking you to allow the band to run in the background — what this means and why it’s needed isn’t entirely clear. Also, Mi Fitness widgets only update after manually opening the app, not in the background. With CMF watches or Apple Watch, there are no such problems — data syncs automatically.

Xiaomi Smart Band 10 Drawbacks — Is It Worth Buying in 2026

To summarize the weak points: no GPS with distance inaccuracies, power-hungry software when all sensors are enabled, the murky background operation issue with Mi Fitness, and the silicone strap that loses its appearance within a couple of months. Nothing critical, but I won’t sugarcoat it either.

Bright screen, great battery life, compatibility. The Mi Band 10 is definitely worth getting

Nevertheless, at 2700-3000 rubles, the complaints quickly fade into the background. The Mi Band 11 is unlikely to be fundamentally better — the lineup has long plateaued, and each generation receives barely noticeable changes. So feel free to grab the Xiaomi Smart Band 10 — it’s still a great value.