Mi Band 8 with redesigned straps gets a debut date

Xiaomi’s Mi Band fitness trackers are pretty popular with people who want a featureful wearable that doesn’t hurt their wallets. This year too, Xiaomi is launching the Mi Band 8 with a slight redesign. According to an official poster on Xiaomi’s China website, the new pill-shaped fitness tracker will debut alongside the Xiaomi 13 Ultra on April 18.

The Mi Band 8 should first become available in China before its global release. That’s how Xiaomi has always played it. The international version of the tracker should also be slightly different than its Chinese variant, likely missing NFC support or a voice assistant. We can also expect a Pro variant of the new Mi Band 8, as the company launched one for the Mi Band 7 last year.

As far as the design goes, not much seems to be changing on the Mi Band 8. It still features the oval AMOLED display, which we expect to be the same as last year’s model. One significant change you can spot in previously leaked images is the redesigned strap mechanism. Rather than a wrap-around band, the Mi Band 8’s strap connects to the device on each side.

The Mi Band 8 will also likely offer all the same activity tracking basics as the Mi Band 7. Fitness tracking features should include continuous blood oxygen monitoring and low SpO2 alerts, all-day heart rate tracking, sleep tracking, and stress monitoring. The base model should offer connected GPS, while the Pro variant should get built-in GPS.