Xiaomi Mi Band 4 leak reveals color display, bigger battery (Updated)

Update, June 4, 04:43 a.m. ET: Xiaomi has revealed the Mi Band 4‘s China launch date on Weibo (via DroidShout). In a poster published earlier today, Xiaomi confirmed the fitness band would launch on June 11 and offered a few hints as to what it would include. 

The poster seemingly confirms the new band’s design and its use of a color display. Meanwhile, the translated text on Xiaomi’s Weibo post also hints that three devices will launch at the event next week. 

We’d heard rumors of a potential Mi Band 4 variant with NFC accompanying the regular model, but nothing regarding a third product. There’s a chance it’s a new Huami Amazfit wearable rather than another Mi Band, though. 

We still don’t know anything about international availability. However, the Mi Band 3 launched in China on May 31, 2018 before making its way to India the following July. If that’s any indication, we could see the Mi Band 4 outside of China by next month. 

Previous coverage, June 3, 05:00 a.m. ET: We’ve come across numerous Xiaomi Mi Band 4 rumors already, including leaked renders, specs details, and even some suspected real-life photos. Though we still don’t know exactly when it will launch, today we’ve gotten our hands on some more potential Mi Band 4 photos and details via MySmartPrice.

The fitness band’s design appears to be similar to that of the Mi Band 3, with the Mi Band 4 seemingly featuring an oval display area like its predecessors. Yet it looks like the series’ concave, circular button may have been dropped from the new model for a less-conspicuous capacitive button.

Additionally, it looks like Xiaomi may have ditched the traditional monochrome Mi Band display in favor of color screen. Take a look at the new photos side-by-side below. 

MySmartPrice also suggests the Mi Band 4 will house a 135mAh battery, up from the 110mAh battery in the Mi Band 3 (seen below). While this sounds like only a slight upgrade, the extra 25mAh would represent a more than 20 percent increase in battery size overall, which ain’t half bad considering the space Xiaomi has to work with inside these compact bands. The Mi Band 3’s battery life was already one of its highlights, too. 

Other Mi Band 4 rumors we’ve heard include superior connectivity thanks to Bluetooth 5.0 support, and a separate Mi Band 4 variant which would include NFC. This likely means the fitness tracker would support contactless payments via Mi Pay in India and China, and a faster connection to wireless devices everywhere else. MySmartPrice also says the band will receive support for Xiaomi’s Xiao AI digital assistant. 

If all this speculation is accurate, the Mi Band 4 would no doubt be another big success in terms of hardware. As underlined in our Mi Band 3 review, though, it’s arguably the software experience that needs the most improvement in the Mi Bands — and we still know little about how this is shaping up on the Band 4. 

There’s no new word on the Mi Band 4’s potential price, but with a better display and connectivity, it will likely cost more than its predecessor; you’re looking at $30 to $40 for the Mi Band 3 on Amazon these days. The Mi Band 4 model with NFC was previously tipped to cost 499 yuan (~$72). 

The Mi Band 4 is expected to launch later in 2019. Until it’s here, you can check out what we think are the best fitness trackers 2019 at the link.