The upcoming Xiaomi Mi Band 5 will enhance
the heart rate tracker with SpO2 measurement (blood-oxygen saturation).
Additional health features will include menstrual cycle tracking. The
international version was said to gain NFC support, previously exclusive to
China. However, some new info casts doubt on global NFC support, but mentions a
new “Mi Smart Band 5” version with a model number XMSH11HM (the regular Band 5
will be XMSH10HM).
The Smart Band will have AI assistant
support, specifically Amazon’s Alexa. On previous generations, models sold in
China had NFC on board and a mic for a digital assistant, but that only worked
with the Chinese-speaking Xiao AI.
Alexa is a much better pick for a global
release as it already understands eight languages (covering the Americas,
Japan, much of Europe and India). Note that as the band lacks a speaker,
Alexa’s replies will be text only.
Good thing then that the screen will grow
to 1.2” while bezels will shrink (the fourth gen screen is 0.95”). The band
will likely be unveiled in China first, some time in June with a global version
to follow a couple of months later.
