The Xiaomi Smart Band 7 Pro is a fitness tracker with smartwatch aspirations. That means a larger screen, and swappable straps. There's also built-in GPS, which is an upgrade over the standard non-Pro version. But the usual limitations for these activity trackers apply: No app store, no calls, and no custom replies for notifications. On the bright side, it will easily last over a week on a single charge.

The Pro version has a larger, rectangular watch face than the Xiaomi Smart Band 7. Hence, it looks more like a smart watch than the slim and narrow Band 7, though there's no crown or button. It comes in either black or white, with six colourful silicone, and two faux-leather straps. The Pro is slightly heavier (by 7g) than the Smart Band 7, but the difference is negligible. I found the Pro's regular buckle strap to be more secure, and less finicky than the Smart Band 7's pin-style clasp design. The Pro's 1.64-inch AMOLED screen is bright (up to 500 nits). It has an auto-brightness feature that's not available in the standard Band 7. Because of the bigger screen, it's easier to read notifications (but you can't respond to them), and tap on the icon of functions like the stopwatch or alarm.

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In terms of health and fitness tracking, the Pro offers the same features as the standard model. It monitors your heart rate, and blood oxygen, as well as your sleeping habits. There are around 110 exercise modes, and several trainer modes for running and interval training. The big upgrade here is the built-in GPS in the Pro version. So you don't have to bring your smartphone with you to track your runs accurately. But I still do so because I'm streaming music from my phone to my earbuds, and the Xiaomi band lets me control the music playback and volume. No Bluetooth calling, though, unlike the Huawei Watch Fit 2. However, the Pro is ultimately still a fitness tracker, not a smartwatch. There's no app store with third-party apps. I did find an icon for the Amazon Alexa voice assistant on my review set, but it's not supported in Singapore.

I have no complaints about the accuracy of the health and fitness tracking. The GPS lock is fast, too. But the notifications are sometimes delayed, and there's some lag while going through them. The onboard storage, at least for watch faces, seems very limited. I had seven watch faces installed, and couldn't add anymore without removing one. The Mi Fitness app is user-friendly enough, and can connect to the popular Strava running app. But it took fairly long to update the Band's firmware through the app. Xiaomi says the Smart Band 7 Pro can last around 12 days. I got around that figure by using the fitness tracker conservatively. For example, the Always-On display and the workout detection features were disabled.

At S$129, the Xiaomi Smart Band 7 Pro is almost twice the price of the Smart Band 7 (S$69). Whether the Pro is worth the extra cost depends on how much you value having a larger screen, and built-in GPS. If you just want a no-frills fitness tracker, Xiaomi's basic model is more than sufficient. But built-in GPS is very handy since you can ditch your phone, and still get accurate route tracking. Alternatively, the Huawei Watch Fit 2 (S$168) is another large-screen fitness tracker with similar features, including Bluetooth calls. The Xiaomi Smart Band 7 Pro is available now on Lazada, Shopee, and Amazon SG.

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Review unit provided by Xiaomi.