Realme Band Review - Sports Tracker

   

Realme Band Review - Sports  Tracker:

Realme made its debut just two years ago in May 2018 with the Realme 1. In the short time since, the company has launched over two dozen smartphones and expanded its business in over 25 markets across the globe.

Realme offers great value for money smartphones across different segments, but the company is also quickly expanding its ecosystem. It launched its first true wireless earphones last December and in March its first fitness tracker, dubbed Realme Band.

 

Priced at the super aggresive INR1,499 ($20/€18), the Realme Band comes with a decent set of features including 24-hour heart rate monitoring, IP68 dust and water resistance and a USB-A connector for hassle-free charging. I used the Realme Band for more than two months and I'm ready to give you a rundown of its real-life performance.

About & Design:

The Realme Band has a sleek, clean design. Its body is made of plastic and has subtle curves, which allow it to fit nicely on your wrist. The smartband comes with detachable straps made of TPU, that are 16mm wide and have an adjustable length of 152-227mm.

The TPU straps are soft and feel comfortable. I wore the Realme Band for almost an entire day every day for over two months and it didn't cause any discomfort. At 20 grams, the Realme Band is very lightweight and it's easy to forget that you are wearing it. In fact, there were times I didn't feel the Realme Band on my wrist and had to look to make sure it didn't fell off.

Removing the strap from the top reveals the USB-A connector on the main module, which comes in a single gray color. But you get three options for the straps - Black, Green, and Yellow.

The main module has a PPG optical heart rate sensor on its back and there's a circular capacitive button below the display that lets you operate the Realme Band.

Realme Band specifications:

• Display: 0.96", 160x80 pixel color screen
• Straps: Detachable TPU straps, 16 mm width, 152-227 mm adjustable length
• Features: Real-time heart rate monitor, IP68 rating, USB-A connector, Sleep Tracking, Sports Tracking, Step Counter, Smart Notifications, Idle Alert, Drink Reminder
• Sports Modes: Run, Walk, Bike, Hiking, Fitness, Climbing, Spinning, Yoga and Cricket
• Sensors: PPG optical heart rate sensor, 3-axis accelerometer, Rotor Vibration Motor
• Connectivity: Bluetooth 4.2, Compatible with Android 5.0+
• Battery: 90 mAh
• Colors: Black, Green, and Yellow
• Dimensions: 19.6 x 11.9 x 240 mm
• Weight: 20 grams

                          

                         Realme Band  with detachable TPU straps

A single tap on the button lets you navigate through the menu, which includes heart rate monitor, alarm, daily step count, regulatory details about the Realme Band as well as three of the nine sports modes set by default - Yoga, Cricket and Run. A long-press on the button for two seconds lets you check your daily step count data, manually measure heart rate, turn on the sports modes, and enable/disable alarms.

The Realme Band is IP68 certified, meaning it's protected against dirt, dust and sand, and you don't have to take it off your wrist when going in the shower. You can also wear it while swimming, but the smartband doesn't track swimming so you won't get any data about your performance.

                               

Display

The Realme Band sports a 0.96" TFT screen of 160x80 pixel resolution, which is capable of displaying 65,000 colors and up to 64 letters on one page. The smartband supports five watch faces and more will be added with future updates. You can choose the watch face you like from the Realme Link app, which we'll examine in detail in the Software section.

The default watch face displays time, daily step count, and a Bluetooth connection icon. It also shows the battery level of the Realme Band, but I'd have preferred battery percentage instead since I always had to open the Realme Link app to check the exact charge left in the cell.

None of the watch faces display the battery percentage right now, so that's something Realme can perhaps look to add through a software update.

Moreover, I'd have also liked to have customization options for the watch faces to see different information on the screen, like date or the daily average heart rate.

                               

Battery life

The Realme Band packs a 90 mAh battery which Realme says can offer six days of autonomy with heart rate monitoring turned on, and nine days without it.

In my testing, the Realme Band lasted seven days on an average with 24x7 heart rate monitoring and a barrage of notifications throughout the day (read: 100+), which consume additional power because the smartband vibrates when you receive them.

However, the usage didn't include any workouts, so those who'll use the Realme Band for activity tracking with 24x7 heart rate monitoring will get less endurance.

That said, the sports modes don't work when the battery drops below 20%, but step counter and heart rate monitor do. And once the battery dips below 10%, the Realme Band only shows the time on the screen and you have to charge the smartband to use other functions.

The Realme Band comes with a USB-A connector for hassle-free charging. This is easily one of the best features of the smartband since you don't need any additional cables to juice up the battery - simply remove the strap from the top side of the display and insert the USB-A connector into a USB-A port.

This is very convenient because you can not only charge the Realme Band using your phone's adapter but also through your laptop or power bank. And if your smartphone supports reverse wired charging, you can use a USB OTG adapter to charge the Realme Band with your smartphone. I wish more smartbands come with USB-A or USB-C connectors.

The Realme Band took around 1 hour 30 minutes to charge from 10% to 100%, and when it's charging, the red-colored indicator above the screen lights up but you don't get any notification from the Realme Link app when the battery is fully charged.