When comparing Garmin Vivosmart vs Xiaomi Mi Band 2, the Slant community recommends Xiaomi Mi Band 2 for most people. In the question“What are the best fitness trackers?” Xiaomi Mi Band 2 is ranked 16th while Garmin Vivosmart is ranked 25th. The most important reason people chose Xiaomi Mi Band 2 is:
It's a great option if you're not looking to invest a lot of money but still want a tracker with a decent set of features.
Specs
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Pros
Pro Smartwatch-like functionality
Vivosmart is capable of showing smartphone notifications and control music playback.
Pro Logs exercise
Pro Week's battery life
Pro Some customization options
Pro Displays time
Pro Good step counter
Pro Good product for the price
It's a great option if you're not looking to invest a lot of money but still want a tracker with a decent set of features.
Pro Same functionality of competitors for half the price or less
You get step tracking, sleep tracking, vibrate notifications, call notifications, clock, alarm, custom actions (via third party apps), heart rate reader (albeit not the most precise one) for the fraction of the cost of the competitors.
Cons
Con Companion app is difficult to use
The way the information is presented is confusing and incoherent and there's no logical way to find necessary information.
Con No activity autodetection
Vivosmart does not automatically detect when you start to walk or run, you have to start and stop activity manually.
Con Reps counting feature does not work for some exercises
Reps counting feature is not reliable, sometimes it misses few reps and with some exercises it can count 1 rap, even if you did 10 reps for example. And it can't detect when you start the exercise, so you have to start and stop the counter manually. In practice I frequently forget to start and to stop the counter so after some time I simply sopped using this feature.
Con Difficult to check current time because display most of the time is turned off
In order to turn on the display, for example to see current time, you need to raise you hand and after some delay display some times turns on, sometimes not.
Other option is to double tap the display, which requires both hands.
If you frequently checking current time, it is really annoying.
Con App requires you to provide personal data in order to work
You have to register in the app providing information about your age, gender and weight.
Con App does not work without internet connectivity
It is not possible for example to enter your weight if you are not connected to the internet.
Con No GPS data is collected
Con Very unreliable build quality
There are many reports of the track malfunctioning right out of the box or after only a few hours of use. This includes the LED display not working, the heart rate function not working, and buyers being sent used products.
Con Heart rate monitor is very unreliable
Along with frequently not working at all, it has a tendency to be quite inaccurate. It struggles to read the HR when you're sweating as well so isn't useful during exercise.