When we compared the Fitbit Air with the Xiaomi Smart Band 10 in August, the conclusion was tidy: Xiaomi for your wrist, Google for your physiology. The Band 11 arrived in Europe at the end of October and muddies that a little. It keeps the price gap, adds the one overnight metric the Band 10 was missing, and comes with something we have never had from Xiaomi before: an honest battery figure. So this is not a rerun of the Band 10 page. It is a fresh look at whether a brighter, slightly more health-literate Xiaomi changes the answer against the $99 band that has become the reference point for the whole screenless category.
One housekeeping point before the specs. The Band 11 is not sold in the United States yet, so this is a euro-versus-dollar comparison for the time being. The Band 10 is still the Xiaomi you can buy in America, and that comparison still stands for US readers.
Disclosure: Fitcoin is our product. We are not affiliated with Google, Fitbit or Xiaomi, we do not sell either device, and we take no commission from any link on this page. Fitcoin is mentioned as the rewards app that reads what these trackers write to Apple Health or Health Connect. Health figures from either band are wellness estimates, not medical readings.
What the Band 11 changed
Three things, and only three. The 1.72-inch AMOLED is the same size as the Band 10's but peaks at a quoted 2,000 nits instead of 1,500, which is the kind of difference you notice on a bright run rather than on a spec sheet. The body is a shade thinner at 9.99 mm and 15.58 grams, thanks to a new graphite battery cell. And Xiaomi now tracks HRV during sleep, which it did not before, and which is the metric that lets Mi Fitness say something about recovery rather than just duration and stages.
What has not changed matters more for this comparison. There is still no GPS, so a run is only mapped if your phone comes with you. There is still no ECG and no irregular-rhythm alert. The 150 sport modes remain a brochure number. And the price moved up a little: €59.99 in Europe for the standard band, €79.99 with NFC, against a Band 10 that was often $45 to $55 in the US. Our Band 11 review has the full launch detail; the Air is unchanged since it launched in May and our review covers it.
Side by side
| Fitbit Air | Xiaomi Smart Band 11 | |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $99 (US list) | €59.99, or €79.99 with NFC. Not yet in the US |
| Screen | None | 1.72-inch AMOLED, up to 2,000 nits |
| Weight | About 12 g | 15.58 g without strap, 9.99 mm thick |
| Battery (maker's figures) | About 7 days; fast charge adds a day in minutes | 21 days light, 10 days normal, 6 days always-on |
| Water | 5 ATM | 5 ATM |
| Overnight metrics | HR, HRV, breathing rate, SpO2, skin temperature, sleep stages | HR, sleep HRV (new), SpO2, sleep stages |
| Heart rhythm | AFib alerts where available | None |
| Readiness or recovery | Daily Readiness Score, free | Vitality-style score in Mi Fitness |
| GPS | None | Phone only |
| Notifications | None by design | Calls, messages, apps on wrist |
| App and phones | Google Health, Android and iPhone | Mi Fitness, Android 8+ and iOS 14+ |
| Subscription | None required; Premium optional at $9.99 a month | None |
The three questions that actually decide it
1. Do you want to look at your wrist?
This is the whole argument and it has not moved since the Band 10. Xiaomi's screen is the best you can buy at this price, now bright enough to read in direct sun, and it gives you the time, a heart rate mid-set, a glance at who is calling, and a pace readout on a run with your phone in your pocket. The Air gives you none of that on purpose. Its buyers want a device that collects overnight data and otherwise stays quiet, and the no-screen design is the feature they are paying $99 for, not a saving Google made.
If you find yourself checking a watch during a film, buy the Air. If you have ever been annoyed that a Whoop cannot tell you the time, buy the Band 11. Most people know which of those they are before reading any further.
2. How much health depth do you want for the money?
The Band 11 closed one gap. Sleep HRV was the metric that let the Air claim to know something about your recovery that Xiaomi did not, and Mi Fitness now has it. Treat that as a real improvement; a nightly HRV trend is the single most useful number a cheap band can give you, and a €60 device with one is a better health tool than a €50 device without.
But the Air's lead is not one metric. It is AFib alerts, which no Xiaomi band offers and which at $99 is still unmatched. It is skin temperature variation and breathing rate under Vitals, with a personal 30-day range drawn around each. It is a sleep score Google rebuilt this spring around duration plus five quality measures. And it is the Daily Readiness Score, a 1 to 100 figure from HRV, resting heart rate and a week of sleep, delivered free, where Whoop charges $199 a year for the equivalent. Mi Fitness is a good logger. Google Health, for all its Premium nagging, is a health product with a decade of Fitbit sleep research behind it. If you care about what the data means rather than seeing it, the gap is still about $40 wide and worth paying.
3. Where do you live?
A boring question with a decisive answer. In the United States, the Band 11 does not exist at retail. You can import one, but Xiaomi's NFC payments are unlikely to work with your bank and a warranty claim means shipping to Europe. American readers choosing between Google and Xiaomi are really choosing between the Air and the Band 10, which is cheaper still and only loses the brighter screen and sleep HRV. In the UK and Europe the Band 11 is on Xiaomi's own store at €59.99 and the comparison is live. In Japan it goes on sale on 4 November at ¥7,980, with a ceramic edition at ¥10,800.
Battery, with the marketing stripped out
The Band 10 page quoted Xiaomi's 21 days against Google's week and called it triple. The Band 11 lets us be more precise, because Xiaomi has published three figures rather than one. Light use, with most health tracking off and heart rate sampled every half hour, gets you 21 days. Normal use, which is how you will actually run it once you have switched on continuous heart rate and sleep tracking, gets 10. Leave the always-on display enabled and it is 6.
Google says about seven days for the Air and reviewers have found that about right, with a fast charge that buys a day in a few minutes. So the honest comparison is ten days against seven, not twenty-one against seven. Xiaomi still wins, and the win is useful rather than cosmetic; a band you charge every ten days spends more nights on your wrist. But if you were choosing the Band 11 because you believed you would charge it monthly, you were choosing it for a reason that does not exist. The NFC version, rated at 18 days light use because of the payment radio, follows the same pattern.
Mi Fitness versus Google Health
Mi Fitness does what a band app should: it shows you the numbers, it syncs reliably, it shares steps and workouts with Apple Health and Health Connect, and it does not try to charge you. It does not coach, it does not reorganise your training week, and its sleep analysis has improved with HRV but still reads like a report rather than advice.
Google Health is the more opinionated app. The free tier is genuinely generous, with sleep score, Vitals, HRV history and readiness all included, but the Premium upsell at $9.99 a month is pushed hard and Google has moved features between the free and paid tiers before. On iPhone there is a wrinkle worth knowing: the Air does not write to Apple Health directly. Your data lives in Google's cloud and other apps reach it through Google's connection rather than HealthKit. Android users get the cleaner path through Health Connect. If Apple Health is the centre of your setup, the Xiaomi is paradoxically the easier device to integrate, because Mi Fitness writes to it natively.
Verdict
The Fitbit Air is the better buy if:
- You want the most health insight available for under $100, including AFib alerts and a free readiness score.
- You are buying screenless on purpose, to get away from wrist notifications.
- You are in the United States, where the Band 11 is not sold and the Band 10 is the alternative.
- You would rather have Google's sleep science than Xiaomi's screen.
The Xiaomi Smart Band 11 is the better buy if:
- You want to see time, stats and notifications on your wrist, in sunlight.
- You want a nightly HRV trend and a readable sleep report without paying for the Air's extras.
- Ten real days of battery matters more to you than the Air's seven.
- Apple Health is your hub and you want a band that writes to it directly.
- You are in Europe or Asia and €59.99 buys you the current model rather than last year's.
Our call: the Band 11 is a better gadget than the Band 10 was and a slightly better health tracker, which makes it the best cheap band with a screen you can buy in Europe right now. The Air is still the better health product, and the gap is still worth about $40 to the people it is aimed at. The Band 10 verdict survives with one amendment. Buy Xiaomi for your wrist and Google for your physiology, and if you are in Europe, buy the 11 rather than hunting for a discounted 10; sleep HRV is worth the difference.
Frequently asked questions
Is the Xiaomi Smart Band 11 available in the US?
Not as of early November 2026. It launched in China in September and in Europe, Korea, Hong Kong and Japan through October and November. US buyers can import a European unit, but NFC payments may not work with American banks and warranty support is complicated. The Smart Band 10 remains the Xiaomi option sold in the US.
Which has the better battery, Fitbit Air or Smart Band 11?
The Band 11 in every scenario. Xiaomi quotes 21 days in light use, 10 days in normal use and 6 days with the always-on display; Google quotes about a week for the Air. In practice you will charge the Band 11 roughly every ten days and the Air roughly every seven.
Does either one need a subscription?
No. Mi Fitness is free with the Band 11. Google Health is free with the Air, including sleep score, HRV, Vitals and the Daily Readiness Score; Google Health Premium at $9.99 a month is optional.
Which one tracks sleep better?
The Air, on the strength of Fitbit's sleep staging and the way Google Health combines HRV, breathing rate and skin temperature into a readiness score. The Band 11 narrows the gap this year by adding overnight HRV, and its longer battery means you never skip a night to charge.
Can both feed Fitcoin or other reward apps?
Yes. Mi Fitness writes steps and workouts to Apple Health and Health Connect. Fitbit Air data lives in Google Health and reaches third-party apps through Health Connect on Android or Google's connection on iPhone. Either way the steps count.
Sources and method: Xiaomi's global Smart Band 11 product page and NFC FAQ, Xiaomi Japan's 30 October 2026 launch announcement and European store pricing, all checked 4 November 2026; Google's Fitbit Air product and Google Health help pages; and independent Air coverage since its May 2026 launch. Battery figures are the makers' own lab claims except where a reviewer measured otherwise. Prices are list in the currency each company quotes. We take no commission on either device.
Related reading: Fitbit Air vs Xiaomi Smart Band 10, Xiaomi Smart Band 11 review, Fitbit Air review, Band 10 vs Fitbit Charge 6, best screenless fitness trackers, Black Friday 2026 tracker deals
About the author: Harris Khan is the co-founder of Fitcoin. He studied at Loughborough University and has more than 15 years of personal experience across strength training, bodybuilding, Muay Thai and general fitness.