Huawei and Xiaomi make some of the most popular smartbands, and the Huawei Band 7 and Mi Band 7 for many good reasons are two very popular smartbands, especially among fitness enthusiasts. Each of these two has a very lightweight design with lots of activity-tracking features and a long battery life that lets you go multiple days from a single charge. I have been using and comparing both smartbands against the Galaxy Watch 5 Pro, and in this post, you’ll learn the differences between the Huawei Band 7 and Mi Band 7 to help decide which is right for you.
Interestingly, both Huawei Band 7 and Mi Band 7 are now succeeded by the Huawei Band 8 and Mi Band 8 respectively. I have compared both devices and in my opinion, I think the more stylish Mi Band 8 is a better smartband than Huawei Band 8. Moreover, while I think the Huawei Band 8 isn’t a worthy successor to its predecessor, the Mi Band 8 is outrightly a worthwhile upgrade.
So let’s take a look at the differences between Mi Band 7 and Huawei Band 7. The main difference between these two is the shape and of course the user interface. Beyond these, these two track the same activities, have the same AMOLED display and have about the same 14 days battery life.
Huawei Band 7 vs Mi Band 7 Full Specifications Comparison
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Meet the Companion Apps
Before anything else, you should know that the Huawei Health app is the companion app for the Huawei Band 7 while the Mi Fitness app is the companion app for the Mi Band 7. These apps will allow you to pair the smartband to your phone. From the apps, you can configure how the Band tracks your activities and functions.
Both apps have very clean interfaces with a number of interesting features that’s user friendly even for the absolute beginner.
Design
The main difference between the Huawei Band 7 and Mi Band 7 is the appearance. One has a rectangular shape while the other has a pill shape. Of course, for me, the rectangular shape looks better, it looks more like a smartwatch than a smartband.
Both devices have chassis made of plastic while the straps are made of silicone. Though, while the straps of the Huawei Band 7 are detachable, the Mi Band 7 has a hollow strap design that engulfs the Band (that has been changed with Mi Band 8).
Both devices are rated 5ATM which means it is safe to wear any of these while swimming or in the shower. I have worn both devices to the bathroom many times, and not for once did I have any problem.
As mentioned earlier, each of these two is very lightweight and compact. Although, the Huawei Band 7 is 2.26mm slimmer than Mi Band 7. Meanwhile, even though these two are very lightweight, Mi Band 7 weighs 2.5 grams less.
Bottom line, after using these two smartbands for 1 year, I’ll say that each of these two is awesomely designed and very durable.
Display
These two smartbands have AMOLED-powered displays which is very colorful and easy to read. While the Huawei Band 7 has a 1.47 inches display, Mi Band 7 has a 1.62 inches display. Though considering the shape of the Huawei Band 7, it has a bigger aspect ratio that allows you to see more at a glance. That is, it actually has a bigger display than Mi Band 7.
Navigation on both devices is very easy. Huawei Band 7 has a touch-sensitive screen in addition to a side button. The side button will allow you to go to the app menu when you press it from the homescreen. Meanwhile, the Mi Band 7 only supports touchscreen as the only means of navigation.
You have the option to store a couple of watch faces on both devices, and you can change watch faces by pressing and holding the homescreen. To add more watch faces, you will need to go to the respective companion apps.
Despite having tiny displays I never had any problem reading complications on any of these two, even on very sunny days. On that note, it is 4 out of 5 for both devices’ displays.
Health Tracking
Tracking your daily activities is at the core of both the Huawei Band 7 and Mi Band 7. Each of these two will track your steps, calories, distance, heart rate, sleep, blood oxygen and stress.
Each of these two will count calories and steps as long as you wearing the Band. And when compared to the Galaxy Watch 5 Pro, both Huawei Band 7 and Mi Band 7 did pretty well in counting my steps.
Beyond counting your steps, each of these two will track your sleep in all four stages of sleep. And when you wake in the morning you can see time spent in the awake, light, deep and REM stages of sleep. From the respective apps, you can see more details of your sleep.
On several occasions, to test the sleep-tracking accuracy of these two, I wore the Huawei Band 7 and Mi Band 7 alongside Versa 3 and Galaxy Watch 5 Pro. The results showed that both smartbands are quite consistent in tracking my sleep. Though, I noticed that you need to wear the Huawei Band 7 properly to get it to track your sleep accurately. It shouldn’t be too tight or too loose, and it shouldn’t be more than 1-2 millimeters away from your wrist.
Similarly, both Huawei Band 7 and Mi Band 7 will track your heart rate throughout the day. You need to enable automatic heart rate tracking to monitor your heart rate continuously with any of these two. Compared to Galaxy Watch 5 Pro, both smartbands were consistent in tracking my heart rate. From the respective apps, you can see your heart rate history including your resting heart rate, maximum and minimum heart rate.
The Huawei Band 7 and Mi Band 7 will also monitor your stress level throughout the day. And when you feel stressed, there’s a breathing app on both devices that can guide you through a breathing session.
These two will also monitor your blood oxygen. Both Bands feature loads of preloaded sports modes, though, Mi Band 7 has more sports modes. It features 120 sports modes while Huawei Band 7 has 95 sports modes.
Like their respective predecessors and even successors, the Huawei Band 7 and Mi Band 7 lack inbuilt GPS. However, these two can still map your routes by connecting to your phone’s GPS. This means you must carry your phone along. From my experience with both devices, the Mi Band 7 mapped my routes far better than Huawei Band 7. To map your routes accurately with Huawei Band 7, you must start the workout on your phone, otherwise, routes, pace, and other metrics totally deviate when compared to other trackers.
I compared the route mapping accuracy of both smartbands against the Versa 3 and Galaxy Watch 5 Pro, the results showed the Mi Band 7 is a better device as far as outdoor activity tracking is concerned.
Overall, as per activity tracking, both smartbands are well equipped to track your daily activities. However, the Mi Band 7 is a better choice for tracking your outdoor activities and it has more preloaded sports modes.
Managing Notifications and essential apps
Like many smartbands, both the Huawei Band 7 and Mi Band 7 will keep you updated when you receive a notification on your phone. You simply need to enable notifications for your preferred apps and you will get a vibration every time there’s a new message.
Both devices will also allow you to reply to messages with the quick reply functions. Though, the quick reply function for Mi Band 7 is only available on the Zepp Life app (note that you can pair the Mi Band 7 to your phone using the Mi Fitness or Zepp Life app, though Mi Fitness is the official and main app).
When there is an incoming call, you have the option to reject the call outrightly or you can reject a call using preset replies.
You will find utility apps like the timer, weather, stopwatch, and alarm apps on both Smartbands. These two also have music control apps that will allow you to remotely control music playing on your phone from the Band. In fact, the two apps I use most often are the remote music control and timer apps.
Battery Life
One of the interesting things about the Huawei Band 7 and Mi Band 7 is that each of these two will allow you to go multiple days from a single charge. With always-on mode turned off, notifications enabled for 10 apps and twice workout a week, I get about 10 days of battery life with both Bands. Interestingly, the Mi Band 7 has a battery saver mode that when enabled will allow you get even longer battery life. The Huawei Band 7 lacks battery saver mode.
Charging these two is very easy, though I noticed the Huawei Band 7 charges faster. It takes less than an hour to fully charge while the Mi Band 7 takes a little over an hour to fully charge.
Conclusion
In conclusion, my experiences with these two have been positive overall. Both smartbands are well equipped to help you stay active and connected. The battery life of both Bands is also awesome.
However, for me, the Mi Band 7 is a better choice than Huawei Band 7. It does a better job of mapping my routes and tracking my outdoor activities. Moreover, I don’t need to be too careful about how I wear it to sleep, it just tracks my sleep every time. On the contrary, the Huawei Band 7 didn’t track my sleep on many nights because I didn’t wear it properly.
Though, the Huawei Band 7 with its rectangular shape looks more like a smartwatch which obviously leaves it with a better appearance.
In all, it is your call, you decide.