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Honor is one of the best smartphone companies that also makes wearables. Its smartwatches have a lot of features and are affordable, and its fitness trackers are great low-cost devices for health and exercise. There are a lot of affordable fitness trackers on the market. The Honor Band range competes with the Huawei Band range, the Xiaomi Mi Smart Band range, the Oppo Band range, the OnePlus Band range, the Samsung Galaxy Fit, and more. Honor used to be the best. Its Band 5 was one of our favorites, and this introduction may seem to contradict the bad review and low score for Honor’s Band 6.
The Xiaomi Mi Smart Band 6 (also called the Mi Band 6) is a cool little fitness tracker that doesn’t look like much at first glance, but it has a lot of tools to help you keep track of your health and fitness. It looks almost exactly like the Xiaomi Mi Smart Band 5 that came out last year, except that the screen is now even brighter and clearer, making it easy to see your daily stats at a glance. When it comes to features, there’s more of an emphasis on general health and wellness than just workouts.
Honor Band 6 vs Mi Band 6 Comparison Table
| Specification | Honor Band 6 | Mi Band 6 |
|---|---|---|
| Display | 1.47-inch AMOLED | 1.56-inch AMOLED |
| Resolution | 194 x 368 pixels | 152 x 486 pixels |
| Sensors | Heart rate monitor, SpO2, Sleep monitoring, Stress monitoring | Heart rate monitor, SpO2, Sleep monitoring |
| Battery | 14 days of typical usage | 14 days of typical usage |
| Water Resistance | 5 ATM | 5 ATM |
| Connectivity | Bluetooth 5.0 | Bluetooth 5.0 |
| Compatibility | Android 5.0 or later, iOS 9.0 or later | Android 5.0 or later, iOS 10 or later |
Honor Band 6 vs Mi Band 6: Design
The Mi Smart Band 6 is a simple fitness tracker with a long, thin silicone band. In fact, it’s almost the same as the one that came before it, except that the screen is brighter and clearer. The case is slightly longer (47mm instead of 46mm), but you can’t really tell the difference. It comes in six colors: black, orange, yellow, olive, ivory, and blue. If you like the design of your Smart Band 5, you’ll be happy to know that you can use the same strap with the new device.
The Honor Band 6 looks better than the Honor Band 5. It seems to have some of the same parts as the Honor Watch ES, which is a more expensive Honor smartwatch. It has a typical body and two straps, but the straps are harder to take off than on most bands. The strap is made of silicone, which isn’t the most comfortable band material in the world. You can buy this smart band from its official website.
Honor Band 6 vs Mi Band 6: Display
The screen is one of the best things about the Mi Band 6. Its 1.56-inch AMOLED screen is bigger than most smart bands and responds well to touch and has a sharp resolution. It has the same 326 pixels per inch of sharpness as the average iPhone’s Retina Display, and its 152486 resolution and (up to) 450 nits of brightness make everything look clear even when viewed outside. The size and shape of the tracker are similar to those of its predecessor, but the display now takes up most of that pill-shaped front, whereas on the Band 5, it was just a small rectangle in the middle.
The Band 6 has a larger 1.47-inch AMOLED touchscreen with a resolution of 194 x 368 and tempered glass to protect it even more. That’s a big step up from the thin 0.95-inch screen, but it’s not quite as big or impressive as the 1.64-inch screen on the Watch ES. The extra space is nice, though, because it makes it easier to take in information and lets Honor put more on the screen for you to see. It also has a high-quality AMOLED screen that can attract fingerprints and be hard to see in bright sunlight.
Honor Band 6 vs Mi Band 6: Battery Life
Xiaomi says that a single charge of the Mi Band 6’s 125mAh battery will last for an extra-long 14 days. That’s a good possibility, but you’ll see a big drop in that number if you use features like PAI, which increase the amount of heart rate monitoring. Before you flip that switch, Xiaomi does tell you that the battery life will be cut in half. The Mi Band 6’s battery life will naturally get worse the more you use it.
The battery life of budget trackers has always been one of their best features, and the Honor Band 6 is actually at the top of its group. Honor says its battery will last up to 14 days, and if you use it a lot, it will last 10 days. After testing it for more than a month, this thing keeps going and going, lasting so long that when the low-battery alert comes, it’s a little bit of a surprise.
Honor Band 6 vs Mi Band 6: Tracking
There are, however, some problems. At this price, it’s not surprising that there’s no built-in GPS, but the connected tracking was wrong during our tests. It added 500m to a 5K run that we had already measured. It’s also not the most comfortable thing to wear on long runs because the band is hard to tighten enough to stop small, distracting movements.
Huawei’s TruSleep software can track how long you sleep, what stages you go through, how well you sleep, and even give you information about the quality of your sleep. You can see your progress for daily activity tracking on watch faces that can show stats and on the daily activity tracking widget. Head to the Activity records menu to see how your activity has changed over the past week.
Which one should you buy?
Prices are about the same for both, but you might be able to get a Mi Band 6 for less if you can find it on sale. At the time of this writing, the Mi Band 6 costs $43 on Amazon and $38 on AliExpress, while the Honor Band 6 costs $45 on Amazon and $38 on AliExpress. No matter which one you choose, you can be sure that it will mostly work the way it says it will, and for the price, it’s hard to ask for more.
Honor Band 6: THE GOOD AND THE BAD
The Good
- Stress monitoring feature
- Compatible with iOS 9.0 or later
The Bad
- A little less compatibility than Mi Band 6.
Mi Band 6: THE GOOD AND THE BAD
The Good
- Compatible with iOS 10 or later
- Lower price point than Honor Band 6
The Bad
- No stress monitoring feature
FAQS
Should i buy Honor Band 6 or Mi Band 6?
Based on these points of comparison, Mi Band 6 comes out on top. I think it looks better, has a slightly longer battery life, has better smartphone app options, and comes with a lot of extras. But the Honor Band 6 can’t be ignored because it has a better and brighter screen and works almost like a smartwatch.
Is Huawei Band 6 better than Mi Band 6?
If you do unusual sports, the Huawei Band 6 is better for you. The Mi Band has “only” 30 sports modes, but the Huawei Band 6 will have sports like skydiving, laser tag, and car racing.
Is the Honor Band 6 a good choice?
We think the Honor Band 6 is the most stylish and comfortable fitness band on the market. The features are good, the battery life is great, and the way it tracks sleep is the most straightforward and complete we have seen.