Garmin Forerunner 35 vs Xiaomi Mi Band 6

Well, we're pretty much all my workout gear. The risk based heart monitor to me was a major selling feature. I want to be able to learn the maximum I ...

95 inch display, the Mi Band 5 which had a 1.1 inch display and now that 1.56 inch display on the Mi Band 6 you can really see that it's quite a bit b...

I used the quick-release wristband because I would go back and forth between my road bike. I don't think I'll ever rely on it again because this is the second time it's disconnected accidentally, and certainly the last time since there's no hope of finding it along the 10 mile trail of rock and mud.

I'm over the 'smartwatch' phase and will revert to a classic analogue watch but still want a vibrating alarm and notifications. I don't care for health tracking or step counters.

Garmin won't be able to sell the Forerunner 35 for $200 for too long. $150 seems like a better price point. I'm sure a Forerunner 35-level watch will be selling for only $100 or so in a couple more years. The Forerunner 35 wears pretty nicely

Leave the tech behind when sleeping, please. That being said, is the Mi Smart Band 6 worth your quid? Yes. If you're budget-conscious but still want a...

Are you a runner looking to take training to the next level, but can't afford a really pricey device? Wondering why in the world you'd even need one? I was in your shoes! As an activity tracker, the Forerunner 35 is very nice. I give it 3 stars because many of the features that a runner would use don't work, and I feel it's deceptive to sell a device with these features when they're not really usable for training. Essentially, this is a good activity tracker posing (ineffectively) as a training tool. Many reviewers mention that the Forerunner 35 isn't for "serious runners", and I took that to mean that they believe "serious runners" need all the complexity of a very expensive watch

However, as it stands, I would not recommend it. If you want something similar to the Mi Band 6, the Honor Band 6 is likely a much better option. I'd ...

I use it primarily as a device to help family at home feel comfortable with me being off grid.

Each one has been a worthwhile upgrade for various reasons. My primary uses of the Band is as more of a smart watch than a health tracker. I use it for telling the time (obviously), receiving notifications (can't remember the last time I've had my phone off of silent), sleep tracking, and setting timers. I couldn't care less about step tracking, heart rate, O2, etc

I think as long as you can run comfortably at a conversational pace, your HR shouldn't matter too much. That's not to say you shouldn't strive to get better at running, but there are so many more metrics than just HR to tell you if you're on the right path. Happy running :)

I personally don't need all the features of a smart watch, so I just got a mi band. $50, 10 days of batter life, and notifications are pushed to my watch.

95 at Fitbit)(Opens in a new window) , which gives you the option to send a canned response, emoji, or voice-to-text reply.

You can find your phone if you tap, that your phone will beep and, of course, there is actually in the app on your phone a find. My band feature, whic...

While I have found getting these alerts on my wrist pretty useful, this particular feature falls short of what the Pebble offered. There's no queue or timeline for reviewing notifications as there is on the Pebble and I find I miss the ability to simply scroll back through previous alerts. BATTERY LIFE The Forerunner 35's battery life is outstanding. I get between 8 and 10 days between charges, and a full charge takes only a few hours

I've had previous versions of the Mi band and this one is just as good. It's a bit worse in battery life, but I have all the features turned on. As with previous models, if you turn off some of the more constant features you get better battery life. As a casual tracker and not someone dedicated to counting my steps each and every day - it's great

What I don't like: ------------------ Phone integration for text and call notifications is spotty. Sometimes they work and sometimes they don't. It's a nice feature when it works. The phone downloads slowly but reliably to my Moto G7 Power

However, I haven’t been able to get text notifications no matter what I try for the last month and the call notifications are spotty. I get notifications for emails like I should which makes it even more frustrating as this isn’t what I originally NEEDED. This is incredibly disappointing considering these were 2 of my biggest wants in a smart watch. I enjoy the watch for the price but if you’re wanting a watch with notifications this isn’t it

The first of the three times I got up to pee the Garmin showed that my ARHR had by that time dropped to 44, indicating that even though customer service told me that ARHR is an average over the last 7 sleep periods, my ARHR when I went to bed was close to 44 - which tracks with readings of the previous night, which also dropped intranight to 44. However, last night, except for those 4-5 brief intervals, which totaled about 10 minutes across the duration of my 6:30 sleep period, the graph of my HR shows a resting pulse that ranged from 34-44, with the average for the night being about 40. Yet at the end of my sleep period my ARHR had gone back up to 45! How did customer service explain this anomaly? Apparently the device ignores any resting pulses below 40 as artifacts, and since my RP was in the 30's for about an hour and a half, and since this wasn't even counted in averaging over the night (which gave more weight to the brief periods when my RP was in the high 40s and 50s) there was no drop in my ARHR, and in fact, over the last 6 months I've only briefly ever gotten it down to 44, even though my actual RP for the night is typically around 10-42, except on the nights after intense training sessions. Despite these evident software design flaws, my overall impression of Garmin, and even of the Forerunner 35, is positive

Personally, my two cents is I prefer smartbands over smartwatches, and these days I consider it to be a basic accessory for my phone like having BT earbuds. Smartbands are more minimalist design/feel on my wrist for me, and pretty adorable for starters. I don't want, or need an expensive, or bulky device on my wrist. Just an affordable, and slim wearable band like the Mi Band 6 that I can casually wear 24/7 (save for charging, cleaning, showers, etc

SUMMARY As disappointed as I am in the Apple Watch as a running watch, I'm not switching to the Garmin until they address at least the first two items under CONS above. I feel certain the CONS I mention above are purely in the software, so hopefully they'll enhance some of those capabilities in a future update. If not, maybe Garmin needs to release a Forerunner 40 that handles those features better. The higher end Garmins may already cover those complaints, but they're too expensive for a running watch and not sufficiently capable for a smart watch

e., the first two steps worked, meaning a bluetooth connection was established. I tried all obvious trouble shooting. And, of course, you need to pair it to update the firmware, as there were updates to be had