Kelly Choos 
My favorite general fitness tracker is the Fitbit Charge 5. But priced at $150 (£169, AU$270), it might not be the best option for your budget. If you’re looking for a solid, inexpensive fitness tracker, let me introduce you to the $60 Xiaomi Mi Band 7. It has a large color screen, sleep tracking, blood oxygen monitoring, and 24/7 heart rate monitoring, just like Fitbit’s tracker. . At less than half the price, can it match the Charge 5? Surprisingly, in many ways it is.
I love finding cheaper alternatives to big name products and even having an entire YouTube series dedicated to the cause. The new Mi Band 7 is a viable competitor to more expensive smartwatches and trackers from brands like Fitbit and Amazon, as long as you don’t need certain health functions. While it’s not as accurate as the Charge 5, it’s packed with workout tracking options and connectivity features to suit most people’s needs.
Watch my full comparison in the video on this page or read the cheat sheet.
Both groups work on iOS and Android.
Lexy Savvides/CNET
A large, bright display makes the Mi Band 7 feel premium for its price
Put these two trackers side by side and you’ll notice they both have color touchscreens. But the Mi Band 7 beats out the Charge 5 with its larger 1.62-inch display. This means you can view a little more text on the screen without having to scroll, which is useful for reading message notifications or viewing workout stats. Both screens have a permanent setting, so you don’t have to raise your wrist to see the time. I find them both easy to see in broad daylight… as long as I remember to turn the screen brightness to maximum on the Mi Band 7.
Navigation is easy on both, but I prefer the Charge 5 for overall usability, as I can double-tap any screen to go straight back to the clock face. With the Mi Band 7, sometimes I need to go back several pages to get back to the beginning.
Comfort is very subjective, but the slimmer design of the Mi Band 7 makes it more suitable for smaller wrists.
Fitbit is better if you want accurate heart rate tracking
I test all trackers against a chest strap, which is considered the gold standard for consumer heart rate tracking. The Charge 5 does a great job of matching the strap after a minute or two of embarking on a cardio workout like a jog or run. But the Mi Band’s heart rate readings lag significantly behind the strap when doing the same exercise. I noticed this while hiking up a steep incline, during which Fitbit and the strap mirrored my heart rate at around 130 beats per minute. The Mi Band remained at a more moderate 95 bpm.
The Charge 5 is more effective at accurately capturing heart rate during vigorous exercise and workouts involving arm movement, such as dancing, running, or walking. But for more stationary exercises like bike rides, the Mi Band 7 does just fine.
That said, the Mi Band 7 has a ridiculous number of workout types available: 120 in total. It’s not a typo. The Charge 5 only has 20 workout options, with six slots on the device itself that you can manually customize in the app.
More importantly, the Charge 5 is the only one of these trackers to feature built-in GPS. This means you can leave your phone at home and still accurately track distance and route information. The Mi Band 7 only has GPS connected, which is probably my biggest disappointment with its overall fitness tracking features.
Sleep tracking differs on the two bands.
Lexy Savvides/CNET
Sleep tracking is also better on the Fitbit Charge 5, as I found it more accurately reflected my awake time during the night. I also felt that the sleep score of the Charge 5 was more in line with how I felt in the morning compared to the very high score I would get from the Mi Band 7. After 14 days of tracking your sleep in a month , Fitbit Premium subscribers get a sleep profile with deeper insights and a so-called sleep animal that reflects your sleeping style.
You will need to enable the advanced tracking option in the iOS or Android app to get more in-depth sleep tracking on the Mi Band 7 as it is not enabled by default. The Charge 5 also comes with a Food and Drug Administration-approved EKG app to detect signs of atrial fibrillation, unlike the Mi Band 7. Both can also track blood oxygen at night, but the Mi Band can also take spot readings on demand or track continuously throughout the day.
For smart features, the Mi Band 7 wins hands down
You can set alarms and timers and view phone notifications on the Charge 5 and Mi Band 7. When paired with an Android phone, you can also send and customize quick text replies on both. But only the Mi Band 7 has music playback controls for your phone and a calendar app to see your agenda.
The Mi Band 7 offers many more watch faces, including third-party options. It also has a find my phone function, a camera remote and a flashlight. The Charge 5 is more limited with just 24 watch faces, but Fitbit just added find my phone functionality in the latest July 2022 update. It also has Fitbit Pay for NFC payments from your wrist, so that the international version of the Mi Band 7 that I have does not include NFC.
Battery life is also another win for the Mi Band 7, but it’s not as long as previous models like the Mi Band 6. In my tests with daily workouts, sleep tracking, and always-on display off, I get four days from the Charge 5 and seven days from the Mi Band 7.
Lexy Savvides/CNET
Step and sleep tracking don’t have to hurt your wallet
The Charge 5 is the best overall tracker if it fits your budget. It features comprehensive sleep tracking, high heart rate accuracy during cardio workouts, and provides valuable insight into your overall well-being. There’s a reason it won an Editor’s Choice award in 2021.
But at less than half the price, I’m pleasantly surprised by the Mi Band 7, and it’s now my preferred budget alternative. The battery lasts longer than the Charge 5 and has an impressive array of workout tracking options. Plus, it’s more of a smartwatch alternative than Fitbit’s tracker if you want a fuller second screen for your phone.
