Xiaomi Mi Band 5 rumored to have a much larger display, global NFC support

The Xiaomi Mi Band series of fitness wearables have been a favorite of ours for years. The reason? The devices contain great fitness tracking features for an ultra-low cost. That includes 2019’s Mi Band 4, which you can currently buy on Amazon for about $34. Now a new but unconfirmed report claims that the Xiaomi Mi Band 5 is on the way in mid-2020, and it looks like it will have some nice hardware upgrades.

According to Tizenhelp, via unnamed sources, the Xiaomi Mi Band 5 will have a much bigger 1.2-inch AMOLED color display. That’s a massive increase compared to the Mi Band 4’s 0.95-inch screen. The report also claims the Mi Band 5’s display will have more contrast, so in theory, it should be able to be seen better outside in the daylight.

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Another major addition that’s reportedly coming to the Mi Band 5 is global NFC support. The Mi Band 3 and 4 models did have NFC features, but they were only enabled in Xiaomi’s home country of China. Also, the bands only supported the company’s own Mi Pay system. If NFC support is put into the Mi Band 5 for the rest of the world, it means that it could be used for smart payment systems like Google Pay.

In addition, the report claims that the Mi Band 5 will cost 179 yuan in China and will launch in June in that market. That’s about $26 in the US. Of course, the final US price could be a bit higher when it actually launches in this country.

Keep in mind the claims in this report have not been confirmed by Xiaomi, so take them with a degree of salt. However, it certainly is looking like the Xiaomi Mi Band 5 could jump this fitness band family to a new level while still retaining a very low price tag.