Huami, manufacturer of Xiaomi’s Mi Band, launched its own fitness band, Amazfit, on Wednesday at a price of RMB 299 (USD 47).
Huami launched two distinct models of the Amazfit, Yueshuang (Moon Frost) and Chidao (Equator) at the launch event. Both models mainly consist of a ceramic body and are waterproof for daily use.
In contrast to Mi Band’s low price strategy, Amazfit targets the high end with improvements on design and functionality.
Amazfit can be adapted to use with pendants, earrings and other accessories. Different from the oval shape of the Mi Band, Amazfit adopts the shape of a hollow circle, resembling a traditional Chinese jade Ping buckle. Amazfit supports wireless charging and mobile payments in addition to the Mi Band’s activity and sleep tracking, call alert, and alarm functions.
Though Amazfit has tried to establish a fashionable brand image, user reviews over on Weibo seem to be fairly disapproving.
The Amazfit will be released in mid-October. Applications for beta testing will open on September 17th via Amazfit.com.
Huang Wang, CEO and founder of Huami, disclosed at the Amazfit launch event that Xiaomi’s Mi band has seen shipments of ten million. Overall shipments for wearable device trackers in Q1 2015 were 11.4 million units, according to IDC.
Huami raised USD 35 million from Banyan Capital, Sequoia Capital, Morningside Ventures, and Xiaomi CEO, Lei Jun’s Shunwei Capital last December. Huami’s estimated value is reported to be USD 300 million.
