Recently I got my hands on the Samsung Galaxy Fit and being a long time Mi Band 4 user, I couldn’t understand the $50 price bump. Well, of course, it’s Samsung and you get a couple of extra features like Reply to notifications, auto-workout detection, etc.
But, on the surface, both of them look similar. For instance, both of them have a colored 0.95 inch AMOLED display with a similar resolution. Both are capable of launching workout activities straight from the band. Other standard features like stopwatch, alarm, call and app notifications, etc are present on both the fitness bands. Now, with the similarities out of the way, let’s see what’s different between the Mi Band 4 and Samsung Galaxy Fit.
Samsung Galaxy Fit vs Xiaomi Mi Band 4
1. Galaxy Fit does not have a GPS
Like most budget fitness tracker, the Mi Band 4 has connected GPS, which means it takes the location using the GPS hardware of your phone. Galaxy Fit, on the other hand, lacks both regular and connected GPS.
The Galaxy Fit, cannot trace the route but it can point to the location you were running. If you are into a lot of trails or outdoor running, the lack of connected GPS can be a huge disappointment. Additionally, the connected GPS also plays an important role in outdoor cycling.
If GPS is an important feature for you, I would rather recommend Amazefit, it has built-in GPS
2. Galaxy Fit has ‘Reply to Notifications’
The most standout feature of the Galaxy Fit is “Reply to notifications”. It got me really excited as it is non-existent in most of the budget fitness bands. And after using it for a couple of weeks, I have to say it makes you more productive as you don’t have to pick up your phone each time to reply to messages. Obviously, due to the smaller screen, there is no option to type the response. Hence, it comes inbuilt with few generic native replies which you can always replace with custom text.
Mi Band 4 on the other hand, can only show you notifications from apps.
Read: 10 Best Mi Band 4 Apps, Watch Faces and Tips and Trick
3. Galaxy Fit has more workout activities
Both bands are capable of launching workout activities like swimming, treadmill, running, cycling, etc. But, the Galaxy fit has more outdoor activities like swimming, running, hiking, cycling, etc. You also get a bunch of bodyweight exercises like squats, push-ups, planks. Moreover, I was amazed to see sports activities like lawn tennis, table tennis, volleyball, etc in the workout section. However, these are just different workout label and they only track your heartbeat, calories and workout duration. There was no specific tracking related to these sports activities.
Read: Mi Band 4 Review – Best Budget Fitness Band?
4. Automatic workout tracking
Mi band 4 lacks automatic workout tracking. Galaxy fit has it, but it’s not perfect either. For instance, I was playing table tennis and the walking workout detection started. This still is passable. But when you are actually working out, the workout detection triggers so late that you are almost halfway done.
Another notable problem is a conflict of auto-workout detection with the manual workout. Almost all the time I went out for a run and manually started the running activity, it would collide with the auto-detection. Most of the time, the watch wouldn’t track anything so I would end the manual activity. Eventually, long after the run, the automatic workout detection would popup with my run details. At certain times, the automatic activity would kill the manual activity midway and start its own activity tracking from scratch.
Read: Best Apple Watch Workout Apps to Train Harder in 2019
5. Both have NFC, but not really
Both the bans have NFC but the availability and use case is highly limited. In case of the Mi Band 4, the NFC variant is only available in China and works for services like Ali Pay. Whereas, the Galaxy Fit uses NFC for wireless charging. Apart from this, the NFC cannot be used for any other purpose.
6. Both have few exclusive features
The Samsung Galaxy Fit has a few extra features which are missing in the Mi Band 4. It can detect stress levels, set up breathing exercises, count water, and calorie intakes. The stress level detection is just another way of detecting your heartbeat and putting it up on a stress meter.
The breathing exercises are a good addition that needs to be triggered manually. Upon triggering, it asks you to inhale and exhale for a min alternatively. I even tried out the calorie and water intake counter but it is more of a gimmick. It is no more than a counter where you have to manually make entries all the time. You might be better off using a third-party Android app for diet planning and tracking.
The Mi Band 4, on the other hand, has music playback controls. It comes really handy when you are on the run and your headphone doesn’t support audio switching. The playback control works with all the third-party apps like Spotify, YouTube, YT Music, etc. Additionally, Mi Band 4 has a huge support of third-party apps like Sleep as Android, Mi Fit Tools, you can even change watch faces in Mi Band 4, and much more, which enhances the usability quotient of the Mi Band 4.
7. Battery Life
Mi Band 4 has a slightly better battery life than the Samsung Galaxy Fit. Due to the automatic workout detection and frequent heart rate tracking, the battery lasts only 4-5 days. However, if battery life is of utmost priority to you, you can turn off the automatic workout and heart-rate detection in the Settings. This will double up the battery life and enable it to last around 11-12 days.
8. Price
Finally, we need to address the elephant in the room. The Samsung Galaxy Fit costs $100 whereas the Mi Band 4 costs around $40. There is not much to talk about on the Samsung Galaxy Fit barring a couple of useful features like Reply to Notifications, auto-workout detection, etc. The UI is also clean and more responsive as compared to the Mi Band 4.
Samsung Galaxy Fit vs Xiaomi Mi Band 4: Which one to buy?
Overall, I wouldn’t really recommend the Samsung Galaxy Fit over the Mi Band 4. On the other hand, if you feel the “Reply to Notification” is worth spending $100, then you might as well go more and get the Galaxy Watch instead. The newly launched Galaxy Watch Active 2 is also an attractive deal and probably the best smartwatch an Android user can get.
For any issues or concerns regarding the Mi Band 4 and Samsung Galaxy Fit, do let me know in the comments below.
Also Read: Honor Band 5 vs MI Band 4 – Which Fitness Band Should I Buy
