realme sent over its newest budget-friendly fitness tracker a few days before tonight’s realme Tech Life launch. The realme Band 2 marks my first experience with a wearable from the brand, so I was excited to see what it had to offer. Could it offer all I needed from a fitness band? Here’s how my first 24 hours with the realme Band 2 went.
October 19, 2021
3:11 pm
The realme Band 2 comes with all the necessary accessories and nothing more. It comes with the fitness band, user guide, and charging cable. When compared to the realme Band, the realme Band 2 has a bit more rounded rectangular look. The unit I got comes in Black. The holes on the straps go pretty high up, which means the band can fit more wrist sizes. The straps are replaceable, but I’m unsure if realme will sell other strap options. It would be great if they did, though.
There are no buttons on the watch, keeping things simple. So, the way to power it up initially is to charge on its charging base. It doesn’t charge the same way as its predecessor, so don’t just put away the cable it comes with. The charging cable isn’t that long, so it’s meant to be kept near your power outlet or USB charging hub.
4:22 pm
It took me just a few minutes to set up the realme Band 2. The instructions show up on the 1.4-inch TFT color display. You will need to download the realme Link app to set it up.
I wasn’t able to get the QR code to work when pairing the wearable with my phone. But I was able to use the second method where the app scans for the Band 2. And then I was good to go. There was even an update that came in through the app for bug fixes and other improvements.
8:15 pm
On the Band 2 itself, realme has added many of the apps and features you can expect from a fitness tracker. There’s actually more here than I expected. The Band 2 supports over 90 workout/sports modes, which is 10 times more than the previous generation. On the watch, there are already 14 of those activities included. You can view your latest workouts, activity stats, and recent sleep data. It can measure your heart rate, SpO2 or blood oxygen, and stress. You can even practice quick breathing exercises here, which I appreciate.
As with most consumer fitness trackers, this isn’t a medical-grade device, but it can be your guide to how your health and fitness are faring. Of course, you need to see a medical professional for your health concerns.
Beyond its health and fitness features, the realme Band 2 has many smart features, too. You can receive notifications, control music playback, find your connected smartphone, and control realme smart home devices via the realme Link app.
You can customize the Band 2 further via the Link app. You can set event reminders and alarms. Customize what apps or features and workouts you use, set health reminders, find the realme Band 2, set up weather information so it can show on the watch, and install realme Band 2 updates.
This fitness tracker is a watch, after all, so you get access to alarms, stopwatch, and timer features. Aside from that, it can even act as a mini flashlight.
October 20, 2021
12:00 am
Possibly not the best time to start using a fitness tracker. But I had to tune into an event held in the US, so I took a nap after dinner and set an alarm on the Band 2 to catch the live stream. That gave me a chance to test out the timer and vibration motor. I typically rely on a smartwatch’s timer or alarm to wake me up because I don’t like blaring alarm sounds.
I tried the timer app on the realme Band 2, and it seems to be a bit finicky. The timer rang a couple of times ahead of the time I set for it to finish. I got it to work after, but this inconsistency isn’t ideal. The vibration strength was good, though, even when I left it set at medium. You can change between low, medium, and high vibration strengths.
The raise to wake function was also a bit finicky while I was lying down. I’m not fixating on this observation too much since that is a weird position for the gesture. But I just wanted to point it out. There is a digital touch button at the bottom of the display that you can tap to wake the screen, anyway.
The realme Band 2 recorded my nap quite accurately, and it gave me more detail about how my sleep went through the realme Link app.
5:10 am
I finally get some time to sleep. I checked how much battery the Band 2 drained throughout the day, and now I’m down to 84%. I have notifications on, so I needed to find the Do Not Disturb feature on it. I like that realme gives three options on the Band 2: Enable, Schedule, and Smart. The first two are self-explanatory, while the Smart option considers when you’ve fallen asleep. It won’t alert you of any notifications during that time.
I’ve kept the screen’s brightness at 40%, finding it sufficient even outdoors. But now, it’s too bright as I turn in for the night (morning, really). So, I’ve turned it down to 20%.
10:10 am
I’ve been able to sleep comfortably with the Band 2 on, but I couldn’t really sleep too long today because of another busy day ahead. I checked how much damage the sleep tracking and heart rate monitoring did to the battery, and it’s now at 81%.
I wanted to do a quick, light yoga session, and it’s easy enough to start a workout. But I had a little moment trying to find a way to stop the session. I tried swiping through the interface, and I was only met with the music controls and a large pause button. Apparently, the pause button was what I needed to press for a few seconds so that it’ll pull up the pause or stop buttons.
It’s not the most intuitive or obvious way. realme needs to work on that implementation. But thankfully, I managed to figure it out.
The display is generally responsive, but sometimes it takes a couple of tries for my taps to register. When it comes to customization, realme offers 50 different dial faces to choose from. You can even use a photo you want as a watch background.
3:34 pm
It’s over 24 hours since I’ve first used the realme Band 2, and it’s been enjoyable so far. Playing around with the tracker and the app, I’ve noticed some extra features available. There are health reminders you can activate, like when you reach your goals, a reminder to stand up, and even reminders to drink water. You can set the intervals of when you’ll get alerted. I’ve been trying to get a photo of it when it shows up on the watch face, but it’s just a quick alert, so I tended to miss it.
The 24-hour heart rate monitoring is also something you can toggle on and off, with options to enable high and low heart rate warnings. Its heart rate monitoring seems to be on par with what my Fitbit Versa tracks. This band uses a GH3011 sensor to monitor your heart rate as accurately as possible.
As I wrap up this quick first impressions story, I checked the battery life, which is at 71% now. In the final review, I’ll let you know how long I can go on a single charge with this fitness tracker. realme claims you can get up to 12 days of use on a single charge.
The realme Band 2 features water resistance of up to 50m. I would’ve wanted to try it out on a swim in a pool, but that isn’t accessible to me right now. This can come in handy if you like to hike or camp or do other outdoor activities; at least you can continue using it even if there’s a bit of rain.
First thoughts
I find the realme Band 2 to be a promising option in its segment. It doesn’t just offer the basics, but it goes a bit beyond that. And that’s exciting.
realme is offering the Band 2 for PHP 2,490 in Black. As an early-bird offer, the realme Band 2 will be available for only PHP 1,740 on Lazada and Shopee starting October 22. You can also buy the fitness tracker at realme authorized stores nationwide.
Buy the realme Band 2 from Lazada HERE. *
Buy the realme Band 2 from Shopee HERE.
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