Software and Features Performance and Power Navigate this review: Unboxing | Specs | Design and Display | Software and Features | Performance and Power | Verdict | Buy or not This is the Smartprix review of the Realme Band 2 and here’s a ready reckoner of everything you can expect out of the box: Let’s grind.

Band with StrapCharging baseUser Manual

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The key design change is straight-up evident. The watch face is rectangular now like Huawei and Honor bands. The shape is a matter of preference but objectively it is bigger in size (1.4 inches) and presents a better 167×320 pixel resolution. It is all touch and decently responsive. The dial faces at the offer (50 in total) within the Realme Link app are mostly cool but I’d love to see more vibrant choices. The TFT LCD is plenty bright at 500 nits. In outdoor conditions, Band 2 has to be placed at 50% and more brightness to be visible. At night visibility is not an issue. Well, you can also read more from the screen thanks to that real estate. Now since it isn’t OLED, limit your expectations with respect to pitch blacks and popping contrasts. Now you can wear a band matching the watch face as the Band 2 comes with universal 18mm strap support. The default one feels sturdy but looks plain in the whole grey color. There is a Dare To Leap imprint which if you like would seem cool and if not, is easy to scratch off. Also, the band wasn’t very comfortable after extensive wear, although it weighs about 27.3g only. This could be with just me and might be comfy on yours. In any case, swapping the strap with a different one either new or an old spare shouldn’t be a hassle. One last thing about the design is the presence of 5ATM water resistance. So you can wear it while submerged in fresh water and it is rated to withstand water pressure up to 50 meters. There is a dedicated swimming mode here in the mix of sports activities. This we will get into in the following section. Pairing the Band 2 is easy through the Realme Link app which involves turning on Bluetooth and scanning a QR code. The same app is where you’d find all stats regarding your health and fitness performance in colorful comprehensible graphs. It is one of the finer apps of its kind. There is a wealth of features and settings to toggle. The app lets you organize the order of apps and tiles on the watch. You can also download and push watch faces to the band. Overall, no issues with the app. Over to the band, navigating across whose various menus are by simple swipes and taps. You’ll be using the capacitive button underneath the screen in going back a screen and returning to the home. Being a fitness band, you get to keep tabs on 24×7 heart rate, SpO2 rate, stress levels, sleep patterns, and the typical steps, calories, the distance traveled (using the phone’s GPS), and other metrics. We’ll pry into the efficacy of these things in a later stage. Realme has allowed 90 sports modes, out of which 14 can be enabled on Band 2 comprising things like swimming, cycling, running, etc. Other smart features in the mix are the option to control music playback and camera shutter of the phone, get phone notifications including calls, weather reports, reminders, and alarm stuff. There is even an option to manage Realme’s other IoT devices. Now the only thing missing is the inability to respond to calls and messages. Anyways, moving to the actual workings: After completing 30 mins of workout, the band vibrates and displays 30 Mins completed. The band vibrates once it records the burning of 300 kcal and displays the same. The band also vibrates when we don’t move for over half an hour. This sedentary reminder displays – Move Around. This drives us to stay active at intervals. Quality of life feature, I feel. You can choose the type of workout you want to do and set distance, duration, calorie, etc, or even select the no-set mode for doing the exercise without a deadline. If the user selects 20 mins of an indoor run, the band vibrates at the halfway distance that is 10 Km. As mentioned already, this thing offers 24×7 automatic heart rate monitoring abled by GH3011 chip. It also lets you know your heart rate bpm while resting or exercising. It would even notify you with danger alerts if any. Now, like any other similar consumer health tech gadget, this one also gives out data that is for reference only and not something to be compared against pro-medical equipment. Still, in my comparisons with a Pulse Oximeter, the reading from this one was actually closer. You’d be asked to keep your hand firm while it calculates. Mine ranged between 97-98%. Not bad. Btw, the blood oxygen scanning and stress analysis have to be started manually. Post the latter, you can follow a barebones breathing guide. Even the knowledge of your sleep status can help in your wellbeing if you will. Last but definitely not least, Band 2 is bearing a 204mAh battery which is rated for 12 days of runtime. On my wrist, it ran for 10 days. I used it continuously at 50% brightness and the battery life went from 95% to 10%. After 10% there was a sign from the band to plug in the charger. It took almost 30-45 mins to fully charge. Now the bundled magnetic puck is one more thing to carry around if you go on long trips. And with that, it’s time to wrap up. Realme Band 2 is a refinement over the original in the sense that it offers a newer design, a bigger display, standard smartphone companion features, a longer battery life, sought-after health trackers, and a copious amount of sports activities with acceptable levels of accuracy for a budget fitness band. Now sure if this had an AMOLED screen, better notification reply system, and built-in GPS, that would’ve sweetened the pot. There is also my pet peeve with the strap but this could be an isolated case and the good thing is that it can be easily interchanged with an 18mm alternative. Not just that, those mentioned amenities would cost you more and so for the asking price of Rs. 2,499, you’ve got a fair deal here. Speaking of which, we haven’t taken prevailing sale deals and discounts into consideration as they tend to change. But needless to say, you do consider them in your purchase decision.

Rare rectangle design18mm universal strap5ATM water resistance90 sports modes24×7 Heart rate tracking, SpO2 sensorLong battery lifeRealme Link app

No calling or message reply optionConnected GPS onlyNot AMOLED

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