Xiaomi Smart Band 9 Pro Review: Good For The Price, Elegant For A Fitness Tracker

Fitness trackers are associated with outdoor activities and exercise, so they're built and marketed as rugged devices designed for someone with an active lifestyle. Because of this, many fitness trackers, like the Fitbit models you can buy, come with silicone or TPU straps that are more durable than stylish.

These devices prioritize function over form. While you can use them as part of your everyday wear — like when you're going to school or the office — fitness trackers are often unsuitable for black tie events, especially if you're a lady. While there's nothing wrong with swapping your fitness tracker for a dress watch for a few hours, you'll lose some of your health data, which might be unacceptable for some, especially those obsessed with their body.

This is where the Xiaomi Smart Band 9 Pro comes in. This fitness tracker has all the features of the Xiaomi Smart Band 9 we've previously covered, but it comes with a larger display with a more sophisticated design. So, what else do you get with the Pro version of Xiaomi's fitness tracker?

The thing that stands out the most with the Xiaomi Smart Band 9 Pro is its appearance. It has a similar shape to the Apple Watch Series 10, and its 1.74-inch AMOLED puts it around the same size. But if you get the leather quick-release strap, the device transforms from a rugged-looking gadget into a classy watch.

You can also match this with the various watch faces available on the Mi Fitness app, with over 200 options to choose from. These designs are split into categories, like Mechanical, Formal, Analog, Digital, Utility, and more, allowing you to easily choose a display that will fit your current activity.

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The only downside to this is that you're limited to the watch face styles that Xiaomi makes available on its app. Unlike smartwatches like the Samsung Galaxy Watch 7 we've reviewed, you cannot install third-party apps on the Smart Band 9 Pro. This means that you're also limited to the tools that Xiaomi provides via its app.

The biggest advantage of fitness trackers over smartwatches is their amazing battery life. For example, the Xiaomi Smart Band 9 Pro I'm wearing right now still has 51% battery power left, even if I last charged it 13 days ago. I've also been wearing the watch nearly 24/7 since then, and I only take it off when I'm taking a shower.

Note that this is the basic configuration that it arrived in. If I turn on some of its advanced features, like advanced sleep monitoring, all-day blood oxygen tracking, all-day stress monitoring, and more, I'd expect the battery life to drop by half, meaning I need to recharge it about every week.

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Still, this is so much more than the 24-hour average battery life of other smartwatches. For example, I need to recharge my Samsung Galaxy Watch 7 before I go to work. Otherwise, I'd run out of juice before my day ends. That's why I always have its charger with me in my bag.

My wife would often get irate when I miss her calls because I can't feel my phone vibrate in my bag, that's why I bought a smartwatch. The Xiaomi Smart Band 9 Pro delivers the same ability, alerting me on my wrist whenever a call or message comes through.

However, it only tracks your SMS and phone calls by default. If you want it to monitor your other messaging apps as well, you need to turn it on manually in the Mi Fitness app. Xiaomi also only syncs with the most popular apps, like WhatsApp,, Snapchat, Telegram, Discord, and more. But if you're using a more obscure messaging app, like Slack, it falls under the Other category, and it's not even a guarantee that it will work with the Smart Band 9 Pro.

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Beyond that, you also get other features like Calendar, Task reminders, Alarm, Weather, and World Clock. However, only Calendar syncs with other services like Google Calendar. As for the rest, you must set them directly on the tracker or the Mi Fitness app, which reduces their usefulness if you don't like dealing with multiple apps.

Of course, given that the Xiaomi Smart Band 9 Pro is a fitness tracker, it also comes with a lot of exercise and activity-tracking features. It lists a few basic activities within a couple of taps, like Walking, Outdoor running, Freestyle, Hiking, Outdoor cycling, Treadmill, Jump rope, and Pool swimming. But if you tap More, you'll see a total of 150 activities, so you can see how your body performs accurately, no matter what activity you choose.

Aside from that, you also get heart rate and blood oxygen level monitoring. Although these are often used for tracking your heart and breathing performance when you're exercising, they're also great for monitoring your health if you have some cardiac issues. It may not be as sophisticated as the ECG function you find on the Apple Watch and other smartwatches, but this should be more than enough for most users.

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A good sleeping habit is also one of the key aspects of good health, and this fitness tracker can help you get that. It monitors your sleep duration, as well as your average sleep and wake-up time. If you turn on its advanced features, it will also show your REM sleep as well as your nighttime breathing rate, which could help you catch disorders like sleep apnea.

The Xiaomi Smart Band 9 Pro is a great substitute for smartwatches if you don't want to spend over $300 on a wearable. The Xiaomi Smart Band 9 Pro is priced at less than $100 on Amazon, making it an affordable option for those who need basic fitness tracking and notifications on their wrist, but still want something that they can wear during black tie affairs and formal functions.

However, the listing on Amazon doesn't give you the leather strap option. So, if you want to wear this watch for formal events, I highly recommend getting a compatible leather strap that fits its quick-release mechanism. Aside from the leather and TPU strap options, Xiaomi also offers braided straps suitable for water sports, magnetic straps for everyday wear, and Milanese straps, which are also great for formal events.

If you're only after basic fitness tracking and don't really care for style, you could save a few bucks and go with the basic Xiaomi Smart Band 9 instead. But if you can afford the extra $50 for this Pro version, I highly recommend getting this one instead. Even if you rarely go to banquets and galas, the larger display this fitness tracker has makes it worth the price.