Realme Band Review: Bang-for-the-Buck Fitness Tracker?

Realme Band Review: Bang-for-the-Buck Fitness Tracker?

Realme Band Review Philippines

We review the Realme Band! 

Realme is the latest phone brand to join the smartphone + IoT (Internet of Things) ecosystem with the launch of the Realme Band. Realme’s first fitness tracker positions itself as the most affordable offering in the market, making it ideal for those who need a reliable device to track their fitness journey.

While it has its quirks thanks to its somewhat lackluster display, the new fitness band delivers a lot of excellent features for the money. Check out our Realme Band Review below:

Pros 

-Useful exercise/water drinking reminders 

-Landscape orientation good for better reading of notifications 

-Cheapest fitness tracker to have 24/7 heart rate monitoring 

 

Cons 

-Display struggles in broad daylight 

-Delayed call and message notifications 

 

photo of the Realme band sensorDongle-free design 

The Realme Band keeps it simple with its dongle-free design, with the USB-A charging port hidden on the silicone strap connector. Removing the strap from the module is not difficult, making it a breeze to change straps with the Realme Band. Aside from black, other color options include olive green and Realme’s trademark yellow. 

close up photo of the Realme Band monitor

As for the display, you have a 0.96-inch TFT LCD panel with a lone capacitive button for navigation. The use of a TFT panel instead of AMOLED isn’t great, as the display struggles in broad daylight even if I crank the brightness up through the Realme Link app. You can always remedy this by choosing other watch face options in the Realme Link app, but that doesn’t solve the problem entirely. 

close up photo of the Realme Band monitor

Unlike most fitness trackers, the Realme Band offers both landscape and portrait viewing orientations. I prefer the landscape orientation, as it makes viewing notifications and other essential fitness data easier.

screenshot of the Realme Band app

Aside from the usual idle alert reminder, the Realme Band has an option to remind you to hydrate. Like the idle alert reminder, you can adjust the reminder’s vibrating period to fit your hydration needs. In my experience, the default 1.5-hour reminder fits my current lifestyle well. 

Like other fitness trackers, the Realme Band has notifications for calls, messages, emails, and social media updates—all programmable within the Realme Link app. In my experience with it, I noticed that there’s a delay in receiving notifications. Resolving this involves syncing the Realme Band with the Realme Link app once in a while. The issue is not a big deal, as Realme can fix this through a future update. 

photo of the Realme BandDecent set of fitness tracker features 

Realme tried to pack as many features as possible with the Realme Band despite its price point. You have a 24/7 heart rate monitor, step tracker, sleep tracker, and 11 different sport modes. Unlike other fitness trackers, the Realme Band lets you select three different sport modes (through the Realme Link app) instead of having all 11 sport modes on the band itself.

Battery life is decent with the Realme Band. With both idle alert and drink reminders enabled and 24/7 heart tracking rate on, we managed to clock in around 5 days before we need to charge it. Topping up the Realme Band takes around an hour. 

Photo of the Realme Band on a wristVerdict: a promising budget fitness tracker 

Just like with its smartphone offerings, the Realme Band offers great value for money as one of the most affordable fitness trackers to date to have a 24/7 heart rate monitoring feature. While it uses a TFT display instead of AMOLED panel, Realme made up for it by incorporating unique features like landscape orientation, drink reminder, and a dongle-free charging solution. 

There’s no official PH price for the Realme Band as of this writing. Given its Rs 1499 price in India, the Realme Band should be priced at around Php 1.1k when it becomes official in the country.

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