The Mi Band 7 from Xiaomi – More Smart Band Updates

Note: Big update October 2022 to the included original June 2022 article – see the end.

I’ve written in here several times about my love for the Xiaomi Mi Band range – I’ve had them all and in June 2022 the brand-spanking new Bluedtooth 5.2-based Mi Band 7 arrived on my desk. How exciting!! Yes, I’ve had the Samsungs and Garmins etc., much of the time I use a band but most are not pretty un- exciting) – the Mi range being the exception IMHO. The Mi Band 7 came from Hekka.

By now I have my Mi Band setup off to a fine art, I make sure the band is reset (just in case), ensure Bluetooth is activated in the phone (originally my Xiaomi Poco X4 Pro in this case) – pull up the sadly-named Zepp Life APP and hit + to add a device at which point “searching – keep the band close to your phone” – I do this (mainly in the past using the predecessor to Zepp Life, the sensibly named Mi Fit) – there is now also a Mi Fitness…. but let’s stick with Zepp Life.

But no, for the first time EVER, band not found. I tried several variations (the Mi Fit APP did not know about the Mi Band 7 by model yet but I did a search) to no avail.

Having torn out my last hair, I went off to the Android Play Store to look for Zepp Life and sure enough, an upgrade was available and that uprade DOES support the Mi Band 7. I grabbed it.

Note to Mi Band designers – they refer to “the App” in the leaflet. Better to name the actual APP and minimum version required?

The Zepp Life APP told me that my Mi Band 6 and would be disconnected and proceeded to pair the Mi Band 7. Seconds later I noted it was updating the firmware on the Mi Band 7… I waited patiently. (The red+white band in the photo above is my smaller Mi Band 6).

“Please wait for about 6 minutes” – well, I guess that’s better than the usual, unrealistic “wait a sec…” that everyone else does…

“Downloading…” and so it did. Good job I’d charged everything as instructed. Like watching paint dry? Yes. And after the 6 minutes, the phone started transferring the update to the Mi Band 7 – more paint drying. Be prepared to lose the best part of 15 minutes the first time around. During this second half of the installation, the APP was saying “connecting” instead of “updating” which seems a bit odd but it got there in the end.

I have to say that extra width is worth it for those of us with less than 100% eyesight. The built-in faces are very good and there are a shedload of new modes, but more importantly (for me), the store has some NEAT new watchfaces and I was hoping the independent watch faces will still work – they do.

The older independent Mi Band 6 Apps won’t work (yet) but I see that someone has been quick on the ball – Mi Band 7 Watch Faces is available in the Android Play Store. The image on the left is one of theirs – AND YES… I LOVE IT ALREADY – new band, new faces, new sports modes, improved heart and oxygen checking, bigger screen – what more could you want in that price bracket?

At the original time of writing, Mi 7 Band APP had only a small-ish independent watchface selection but as the band had just been released in June 2022, that’s not at all surprising – clearly, in-house AND external face support is there – I’m glad I have the Mi Band 7 and I feel confident it will succeed and the number of faces will continue to grow… read on…

The band is lovely – needs a new strap I reckon (I’m not that keen on the default black silicone strap but then I never was) and beware, these will be wider as well so don’t expect bands for Mi5 and 6 to fit. When I’m done with this update, I’ll go looking for straps. About 30% wider incidentally.

I’ve recently passed my Mi Band 6 onto a local – I’m that confident that the range of watch faces for the Mi Band 7 will continue to expand. As for straps – there are a already lots out there – and of course, AliExpress claim they have some until you look carefully at some of the ads. Nothing special yet – I’m betting by the start of July 2022 there will be LOADS of faces, straps and more. I kind of fancy a gold strap myself.

Keep in mind however, there’s a chance that wider display will necessitate more frequent battery charges especially if, like me, you keep the brightness up full.

Update October 16, 2022

BIG update – remember above I noted a limited selection of watch faces? Well, that’s all changed now. Disappointingly, after owning both Mi Band 5 and 6 and having access to a range of decent faces only really surpassed by the WAY more expensive Samsung smart watches, the Mi 7 was launched with a minimal set of faces available via the store in their APP for free – but then, it WAS early days back in June. Now, I got up this morning and as I do, went to find a new watchface. I noted that Xiaomi now have a much better range of faces in Zepp Life – but have started charging for their best faces (opportunism or desperation? They always used to be free!). They do have plenty but I’m mean when it comes to watchfaces and I like to have LOTS.

Thankfully here are several APPS on the Android Playstore – including some similarly named – I’m going to direct you to THIS one – see the APP icon on the right.

The above Mi Band 7 APP is free with ads (but no ads in the – also free – watch faces themselves) and this morning I added several BEAUTIES to my Mi Band 7. And here’s the thing: they no longer need to redirect you to the Mi APP – faces can be downloaded straight to the band! Easy!

Finally, the AMAZFACES APP also has a small number of faces for the Mi7 and also no longer needs you to go via the Mi APP to install.

I just picked up this burned-out-look watch face from Amazfaces – free of course and a lot prettier in real life than in this photo.

It won’t be the last – I spend more time collecting watch faces than I care to think about. Just out of interest, I’ve now changed phones and the Mi Band 7 syncs perfectly with my Samsung S22 Ultra and several other phones I’ve tested it with.