The $46 Amazfit smart bracelet. (Photo : Xiaomi)
Huami Technology, the wearables arm of Xiaomi, has officially made the Amazfit smart bracelet available for online Chinese shoppers via Tmall.com. The product was launched in Sept. 2015, following the massive success of the Mi Band.
Amazfit retains its predecessor's fitness features with its pedometer and sleep monitor support. It can also send alerts for incoming calls and indicate the time, just like a regular watch.
What makes the Amazfit stand out from Huami's earlier offerings, however, is in the design. The smart bracelet does away with bulky cases common in other wearables. Instead, it adopts a round stainless steel watch face paired with a slim strap.
"We have already grasped the market with the low price and basic functionality of the Mi, while this time we will focus on people who care more about design and sense of fashion," said Huami CEO Huang Wang in a press release.
Chinese actress Gao Yuanyuan collaborated with the company design-wise, according to a Global Times report.
"It caters to the user's need for fashion and allows them to enjoy the conveniences that a high-tech product can offer to their lives," the actress said in an interview with the news website.
With the Amazfit, Huami is seeing fitness as the most viable segment in the wearables space. A 2015 survey by Euromonitor revealed that fitness and health are the key reasons why online consumers would purchase a smart wearable.
Now, however, the challenge for manufacturers is to make a feature-heavy device while keeping it stylish.
This gap between design and functionality appears to be what Huami is trying to rub out.
"Amazfit has won the iF Design Award 2016 and the Red Dot Design Award 2016, and is recognized worldwide for its refined design," stressed Huang in a Global Times report.
The Amazfit retails for 299 yuan or about $46.
