Review: Xiaomi Mi Band Leather Strap (MiJobs)
The Xiaomi Mi Band is a basic, yet very comparable wearable to other offering from Fitbit or Jawbone, with cool features such as notification alerts, but the design isn’t exactly fashion forward. The Mi Band comes with a standard silicon rubber strap, typically in black, although there are other cheerful and colourful options. However, they are still more suited as a sports accessory. Pair it with formal clothes, and the Mi Band stands out like an odd ball.
To ensure that you are still counting your steps and monitoring your exercise, Xiaomi have released a leather strap for the MiBand complete with alloy case. You can’t buy it yet from the Mi Shop in Singapore though. The brains of the MiBand simply slot in to the leather wrist strap of a more upmarket look.
Different from Original
The unit I bought from Taobao is a MiJobs branded, third party accessory that looks similar to the original Mi Band leather strap released from Xiaomi. The original pieces holding the Mi Band tracker unit is made of metal, wheras the third plastic is undeniably plastic. Overtime, it might not be as durable as a metal holder.
The leather is decent quality, and feels like a small watch. However, the joints where the leather meets the case is an area of high stress and just after a day of wearing, I can see stress marks forming on the leather near the joint. The straps are leather and might not be able to withstand if exposed to sweat or water. However the leather straps look easy to replace using standard 12mm watch straps. The fact that it is screwed on means that you need to unscrew the joints in order to charge your Mi Band. Luckily, the Mi Band can last for weeks on a single charge.
The MiJobs Mi Band leather strap retails around $15-20. So make sure you are not overcharged, the original from Xiaomi is at 199 RMB which translates to around $40-50.
I bought it from Taobao with the Buy for Me Concierge service and shipped it over with 65Daigou. Total cost with their previous free shipping promotion was $14.69, agent fee $1.18. If not for the free shipping, the base shipping price is $5. Alternatively, you can buy it from Passion Gadgets over at Qoo10 (S$18.90 excluding shipping).
小米手环真皮腕带 小米牛皮手环腕带 小米智能手环皮革腕带米布斯
Price : S$14.69
Weight / Volumetric Weight 0.13kg
Verdict
Depending where you buy it from, it might cost more than the Mi Band tracker unit itself. Are you willing to splurge on a purely fashion accessory? I think it looks pretty nice – a quick way to jazz up your Mi Band. The original Mi Band with the silicone strap is great for sports. With this leather band, not so. The problem here is that the Mi Band is screwed into the leather strap and you can’t switch straps that easily.