While the budget phone segment is full of interesting and powerful devices offering premium features, the budget wearable market in India is not as aggressive. That being said, Chinese smartphone maker Xiaomi has already set a benchmark to build a solid fitness band, and sells it at an affordable price.
These days quite a few brands are launching their wearable devices as fitness trackers are becoming popular for all the good reasons.
These fitness wearables can not only help you track your daily sports activities, but can also serve as your smartphone companion. Infinix is the latest brand to see the wearable space. The company is targeting people who want to track their health and fitness at a basic level while getting some smart features.
For Rs 1,799, Infinix’s latest Band 5 offers a common design, basic daily activity tracking, long battery life and some smart features. The big question that comes to mind is whether Infinix offers customers the best offer to pull away from the famous brand Xiaomi. Also, does it provide good value for your money? Read our Infinix Band 5 review to find out.
Design, performance, user interface
The Infinix Band 5 looks slightly different from its predecessor – the XBand 3. The company has improved the design and given it a much better look. It still follows a common fitness band design. It is not fancy and also not for slim-wright. There is also a neat design touch.
The company has added silver accents at the top and bottom of the band’s screen to give it a unique look. The tracker has a 0.96-inch screen mounted in a plastic wristband. You get a color IPS display and not an OLED display, which is disappointing.
Infinix has opted for the more traditional watch clap, making it easier to wear and even reducing the chance of its closure. But Infinix’s fitness band is not so comfortable that it can be worn day and night because the straps are too tight. This usually happens with users who have short wrists. One would also notice a difference between the arm and the band, which makes it look strange.
Removing the band for charging is quite a task. You will not be able to take off the strap in seconds because it requires too much strength. The Infinix Band 5 comes with an IP67 waterproof rating, which is a nice addition. This means that the wearable is rated to be submerged in water, which is one meter deep for about half an hour.
With the Infinix Band 5, you do not get a full touchscreen display. For navigation, just below the display is a capacitive home button. In addition, the actual performance is much smaller than the overall length of the tracker. This is fine given the price of demand. Text crisp appears on the display. The colors also look good. We had issues reading it under direct sunlight.
There are no physical buttons on either side of the band. To turn on the display, all you have to do is tap on the home button or lift your wrist. Users can jump to a particular screen by long pressing the home button. You can long press the button to change the face of the band.
The company has added only three faces, which look decent. The fitness band’s default screen shows a lot of information, including time, weather, constant heart rate, battery percentage, day, date, and month. However, there is no direct button that returns you to the home screen if you are in a separate menu. But the Touch’s response to the Infinix Band 5 is quite good.
Infinix Life2.0 App, Activity Tracking
To pair band 5 with your phone you will need to use the Infinix Life2.0 app. The company’s app is compatible with both Android and iOS devices. The app will let you setup smartphone notifications.
While some bands do not allow you to add applications to receive notifications on the band, Infinix’s app can add as many as you like in the “APP reminder” section. You’ll get information on the band immediately, but you won’t be able to answer any messages, calls or information, which is fine at this low price point.
There are some nifty features that Infinix has added to its app. There are different settings for Call reminder, SMS reminder, App reminder and Sedimentary reminder.
The latter allows you to set the time without exercise reminder. There is also a built-in vibration alarm, a “bracelet finding” feature if you get it wrong, and a “shake to take a picture” option. You can also set on-screen time.