Mi Band 4 vs Playfit Smart Band: Can the underdog capture Indian market?

Both the Playfit smart bands give tough competition to the Mi Band 4 and are easily available, unlike Xiaomi's offering.

After a wait of months, Mi Band 4 was finally launched in India last month but its availability still remains a concern. Meanwhile, a Delhi-based startup called Play also entered into the competition and launched its series of smart fitness bands, watches, and earphones. The startup is using advertisements aptly and has caught the attention of many people with its Playfit bands.

The company offers 2 smart bands, both named as Playfit smart band. One of them boasts a mere price tag of Rs 1,331 and has a "button touch" with a TFT LCD Colored screen, which means all the functions available in the band can be accessed by the button at the bottom and it doesn't feature a full touchscreen. But at the price tag of Rs 1,331 which is significantly lower than Mi Band 4's Rs 2,299, one can't complain much.

Apart from the button touch, Playfit smart band offers heart rate monitoring, sleep tracking, step count monitoring, 14 different sport modes like walking running etc, provides you the option to control the music player and camera of your smartphone, Call and Notification Alert, Alarm Clock and Mobile Phone finder and also Sedentary Alert. The company claims a battery backup of 7-10 days on "normal usage".

The other Playfit Smart Band with a full-color touchscreen is a close competitor of Mi Band 4, boasting a price tag of Rs 2,108, the band offers similar features as its younger sibling apart from the IP68 Dust and Waterproof rating compared to 5 ATM Deep Waterproof of the Button Touch version. In the looks department, however, this band spice things up and looks much more premium, available in 2 funky color options.

Both the bands give tough competition to the Mi Band 4, which offers 5 ATM waterproof built, but Xiaomi's offering cuts it above with much better battery life, watch faces, changeable straps and overall is a better user experience with the Mi Fit app. Xiaomi's band also offers an AMOLED display and adjustable brightness. But the Button Touch version still makes sense if you are on a budget, it offers everything one needs at a much lower price and is available easily, unlike the Mi Band 4.

The Mi Band series has built a solid fan base in India and also has a good customer service network. The Delhi-based startup Play although will have a tough time gaining the trust of people.