Realme Band 2 review – After a debut certainly revisable in the smart band market, Realme try again with Realme Band 2, a completely different model from its predecessor from all points of view starting from the price, which in my opinion is one of its weaknesses. I got to try it for a few days and today I’ll tell you how it went.
Current but anonymous design
Following a well-established trend, too Realme Band 2 uses a screen that represents a cross between a smartwatch and old smart bands. In this case, we have a 1.4-inch TFT panel, with good brightness in all conditions, with a resolution of 167 x 320 pixels, more than enough to read even the smallest writings well.
Although in my opinion, the best design for this kind of product, Realme’s proposal has no element that can distinguish it from the competition, which adopted this design at least a year ago. Mind you, the build quality is very good, the plastic of the case is of quality, the strap is in very soft TPU and made with materials that do not irritate the skin.
It has often happened to me, even with more expensive products, to see red skin under the strap, a sign of the use of low-quality or not perfectly bio-compatible materials. While weighing just 27 grams, Realme Band 2 returns an unexpected sense of solidity, starting with the strap closure system. Small demerit note for the protective glass, which impressively retains the fingerprints, as can be seen in the images of this article.
Autonomy disappointing
Realme’s specifications speak for themselves: the 204 mAh battery guarantees about 12 days of autonomy with continuous heartbeat detection. On paper, therefore, excellent data, partly justified by the absence of the Always On mode which would have led to much worse results. The reality of the facts, however, is quite different, at least in my case.
It will be for the number of notifications I receive (although they are limited they exceed 100 per day) or for the ignition with the rotation of the wrist that works day and night, but I have never managed to exceed 5 days of autonomy. The result is decidedly disappointing and very far from both what the manufacturer promised and what other reviewers have reported, but even by minimizing all sources of consumption (notifications, measurements, vibration intensity), things have not improved. The good thing is that the recharge is fast, in just over an hour the battery returns to 100%, without overheating or problems of any kind.
Too bad also for the absence of an item that allows you to set the clock on 24 hours, leaving the AM / PM mode as the only option that I find particularly annoying to use. The touch screen is good but not flawless, especially in the lower part: it happened to me more than once to want to press the checkmark to activate a function and instead touch the touch button that makes you go back, a decidedly frustrating thing.
On the other hand, the function of turning on the screen with rotation of the wrist is good, even if almost a second passes from rotation to ignition.
Good fitness tracker, GPS is missing
While it is true that sports or outdoor enthusiasts will probably choose a sport to watch to record their progress, it is also true that there are smartwatches with GPS receivers on the market at prices lower than that of Realme Band.
Overall, however, the fitness functions are several and the accuracy is good. Their certification for diving up to 5 atmospheres allows you to use the smart band even in the rain or in the most intense workouts when sweat is abundant. The software responds reactively and overall the user experience is never frustrating, except for the cases I described above.
By swiping to the right you enter the quick settings, which allow you to activate the do not disturb mode and adjust the brightness, as well as to enter the complete settings menu. By scrolling to the left instead we access four widgets, to see a summary of the fitness data, the sleep data, the heart rate measurement, and the weather forecast.
Notifications are visible by scrolling down, in the same way as the gesture used on a smartphone, while scrolling upwards we enter the menu reserved for applications. You can register a physical activity by choosing from over 90 available but without a GPS receiver. To record the track you need to have your smartphone with you and take advantage of the latter’s GPS, to which the smart band connects via Bluetooth 5.1. Absent any other type of connectivity, since we do not find WiFi nor NFC.
It cannot also constantly monitor saturation as well as the level of stress, which must be measured manually. The sleep tracking works automatically, and with reliable results, after all, the data of which, as well as all the others collected by Realme Band 2, can also be read on the companion app to be installed on the smartphone.
For the rest, it is possible to view notifications, without the ability to respond, set alarms, reminders, and timers, with the ability to set the intensity of the vibration.
In conclusion
Although it does not have major problems, apart from the revisable autonomy, I do not feel like recommending the purchase of Realme Band 2, unless you have products from the Realme ecosystem. In this case, you can use the smart band to interact with them by activating the appropriate option.
The absence of a GPS receiver and the selling price, close to 50 euros, put it in direct competition with other more established competitors that have already been on the market for some time. If the price drops to around 30 euros then it is worth buying. Below is the link for the purchase on Banggood, which I thank for the sample used in my tests.
Buy Realme Band 2 at 41 euros with the code BGb011e5
