Xiaomi Smart Band 10 Review: Still the Budget Band to Beat?

The Xiaomi Smart Band 10 sticks closely to the formula that has made Xiaomi's fitness bands so successful: keep the hardware small, the battery large and the price low. That lack of reinvention makes it a fairly unexciting upgrade for Smart Band 9 owners, but it remains an excellent first fitness tracker.

Its 1.72-inch AMOLED display is one of the highlights. With up to 1,500 nits of HBM brightness and a 60Hz refresh rate, it feels far more polished than its budget positioning suggests. The aluminum-bodied standard model weighs just 15.95g without its strap, making it easy to leave on for workouts, sleep and everyday activity.

Fitness tracking is similarly impressive for the money. Xiaomi includes more than 150 activity modes, heart-rate and blood-oxygen monitoring, stress tracking, improved swimming metrics and Bluetooth heart-rate broadcasting. Professional testing has generally found exercise heart-rate and activity tracking good for this class of device.

The main compromise is GPS. Unlike the Smart Band 10 Pro, the standard model has no independent positioning, so runs and rides require a connected phone for route data. It also misses the Pro's sleep HRV measurement. For buyers who always exercise with a phone, neither omission may matter much.

Battery life is another strength, although Xiaomi's 21-day figure deserves context. TechRadar achieved roughly 18–19 days, while a more feature-heavy Tom's Guide test lasted closer to seven days. Continuous health monitoring and display settings clearly make a big difference.

Mi Fitness remains less polished than the hardware. Sleep information is plentiful but isn't always particularly actionable, and community reports show occasional synchronization quirks. Sleep-stage and wake detection should be treated as wellness estimates rather than medical measurements.

The Smart Band 10 ultimately makes the most sense for someone who wants inexpensive, lightweight activity tracking rather than a miniature smartwatch. The Huawei alternatives may offer stronger software, while the Smart Band 10 Pro is unquestionably better for runners who want built-in GPS. But if you're carrying your phone anyway, paying more may solve problems you don't actually have.