Lei Jun, the tech entrepreneur and marketing expert behind Chinese smartphone maker Xiaomi, “accidentally” leaked what looks like the company’s next-generation fitness tracker, the Mi Band 2 and smartphone Mi Max, yesterday when live streaming an event through Xiaomi’s video streaming app.
Xiaomi’s first fitness tracker, Mi Band 1, has enjoyed some successes thanks to handy features and affordable price of only 13 USD. The shipment of the product surpassed 12 million last year, accounting for 15.4% of the global market share, according to a report by IDG. The company announced in March that they have sold 18.5 million Mi Bands since their launch two years ago.
The leaked pictures show that the new wristband features an LED screen, which the first-gen product failed to offer. There’s also a button near the screen.
CEO of Huami Technology, Xiaomi’s partner in wearables and the developer of the Mi Band, disclosed earlier that the price of this new gadget is going to be higher than the first-gen product.
From the appearance, Mi Band 2 is on par with a slew of smart wristbands made by Chinese hardware makers. Furthermore, customers in China are more picky than two years ago when smart wearables were brand new concept. Perhaps price alone isn’t enough to lock the attentions of users this time.
Of course, we still have to wait for the official release to see whether there’s interesting feature updates.
In the same video, Lei leaked the company’s flagship smartphone Mi Max. The photo confirmed previous rumors about the product: screen larger than 6-inch, and a rear finger scanner along with no Mi logo in the front.
Xiaomi will release the Mi Band 2, Mi Max and MIUI 8, Xiaomi’s custom Android system update, in a press conference slated for May 10.
A Screenshot of MIUI8
Image credit: Xiaomi