Xiaomi Mi Band copies - even the Chinese one is fake

What's not Chinese is fake - so the saying goes. But what if the Chinese are already copying from each other, pardon me, drawing inspiration from each other?

Recently, I had a new experience with Mi Band 2 and Mi Band 4 using the Yoho Sports app, because it turned out that it is possible to make a smart bracelet, especially the app, very badly. It's just clunky, awkward and makes you feel like a clunky copy.

The Mi Bands have the advantage of being made of quality materials, the software is well designed and the app is very good. Unfortunately, none of this can be said for the Yoho app replicas.

The watch doesn't fit the strap properly, one wrong move and it falls apart. This raises legitimate questions about water resistance.

The app is insanity, and you'd give a quasi-unknown Chinese app full access to your phone just to get a good watch? Most of the problem lies in the software, because while Mi Bands remain usable away from your phone, these bracelets can't even show the time and date without a Bluetooth connection... The usability is tragic to say the least, and the display isn't very responsive.

In short:

If you don't have the money, wait, save and invest in a proper Mi Band if you don't want to waste it.

Possible solutions for those in the know:

• Building a new community-developed open source app
• Also open firmware development by the community

Chinese manufacturers (too) sometimes copy from each other, with better or not so better results. These watches fall into the latter category, both in terms of materials and software quality. Xiaomi's original Mi Bands are the exact opposite of the copies: the use of materials and the software are both perfectly fine.