Overdue for a refresh — no successor announced yet. Prices should be at their lowest
Best for: Anyone who wants basic health tracking — steps, sleep, heart rate, SpO2 — without spending more than $40 or carrying a bulky watch. Works with both iPhone and Android. A popular choice for kids, older adults, and budget-conscious fitness beginners.
Full details →Late in cycle — a new model is likely coming
Best for: Regular runners who race 5K to marathon distances and want accurate GPS, detailed training load management, and long battery life. Multi-band GPS makes it particularly valuable for city runners or trail runners where single-band GPS loses accuracy.
Full details →| Xiaomi Smart Band 9 | Garmin Forerunner 265 | |
|---|---|---|
| Tier | Fitness Tracker | Sports GPS |
| Platform | iOS & Android | iOS & Android |
| Battery | 14 days | 13 days |
| Always-on display | ✅ | ❌ |
| GPS | ❌ | ✅ |
| Cellular | ❌ | ❌ |
| Health sensors | hr, spo2, stress, sleep | hr, spo2, hrv, stress, body battery, training readiness |
| Released | Jul 22, 2024 | Mar 1, 2023 |
| Cycle length | 365 days | 1188 days |
| Cycle advice | bad | bad |
| Deals advice | good | good |
| Next model | — | — |
Most fitness trackers at this price use basic LCD displays. The Smart Band 9 brings a vivid AMOLED always-on screen — rare at this price point.
Continuous heart rate, SpO2, stress, and sleep tracking — all running for 2 weeks before charging. Most smartwatches last 1–2 days.
Full functionality on both platforms via the Mi Fitness app, including notifications, sleep analysis, and health trends.
L1+L5 multi-band GPS reduces position drift in urban canyons and dense forest — a meaningful upgrade over single-band watches for competitive runners.
Daily score combining HRV status, sleep, acute load, and recovery time — tells you whether to train hard, easy, or rest on any given day.
Estimates your finish time for 5K, 10K, half-marathon, and marathon based on your current fitness — useful for pacing race-day strategy.