So recently was able to grab hold of the much sought after Mi Band 2 through amazon here, http://amzn.to/2ePN8Kl. Finally! Having to set it up and make it work wasn't the smoothest things to do. So without wasting any time, here are the problems I faced and the solutions to them.
Installation of the sensor on the band
For some reason the picture in the manual that comes with Mi Band 2 shows the sensor tablet as being inserted from the wrong direction.
Frankly I found it more convenient and easier to insert it from the top of the band.
Now once that is done, wearing it shouldn't be a very difficult process. Initially, the band will display time on touching the circular patch on the display. Moving on to the next step.
Installation of the app : "Mi Fit"
The latest version of this app can be installed from play store in case of an android phone, its called "Mi Fit". Currently the latest app version is 2.2.4 released on 21st October 2016. Here's when the tricky part begins. As on 25th October 2016, this new update of the app has generated a tsunami of bad reviews for the app. Apparently, the new updated app has somehow caused the band to not detect the heart beat. Basically ,the software of the updated app has some bugs. I installed the latest version on my android phone. Mine is a 1st gen MotoG. On running the app and reaching the login page, I tried to register with the app by filling in the email address and password etc. After entering all the details including email and new passwords and confirming the email account, a "signing in" loading icon appears. After 2 minutes it says "Couldn't sign in, try again". I tried registering 10 to 15 times more with no avail. The same error on all attempts.
Now here's the solution I managed to figure out. First step is to some how manage to have your email registered with the company database without getting into the buggy app. I did this by creating an account at below official Xiaomi forum. Here's the link, http://en.miui.com/forum.php
Once you have a Mi account with registered email and password, try logging in with it in the mobile app and see if it works. If the same error persists (as in my case too) then try using an older version of the app. First uninstall the current version of app from the phone. Now download an older version of the app's apk file from the below website and install it on you phone, I installed version 2.2.1 for my MotoG phone.
http://www.apkmirror.com/apk/xiaomi-technology/mi-fit/mi-fit-2-2-1-release/mi-fit-2-2-1-android-apk-download/
Again with the previously registered email and password try logging in with the older version of the app. Hopefully, this should work.
No? it didn't work? still the same error? Okay, here's the final weapon in our arsenal. A VPN is what you need then. Download a free VPN app called "TunnelBear" on you phone from the playstore. The app requires you to resigter your email and do a email confirmation. Once this is done, run the app on your phone and set the country to USA from the dropdown list. Noe click on the slide/toggle button on the top of the screen to connect. This will take a minute or two. Once the bear pops out into USA map making a weird sound, you are good to go. Now, open the "Mi Fit" app on your phone and try to sign in again with the previously website registered email and password. This should most definitely lead you to the next page where you can enter you personal deatils and start using your Mi Band-2. In case it still not works just try a different country in the "TunnelBear" app, Japan may be? Or maybe try an even older version of "Me Fit" app.
Hopefully, this will help you to finally get your Mi Band 2 work and hopefully the makers listen to the voice of reason and update their app to make the process seamless. It shouldn't be so complicated guys!
Charging of Mi Band 2:
So once you have it working, it should be fairly simple to figure out various in-app options and features of the band. Or may be I'll post on it some time later too. But before that, its important to fully-charge the battery. Mine came with a factory charge of 16%. This can be checked through the app and the "battery check" option can also be added to the band, so that you don't have to again and again open the app for checking the battery level. Now to charge the battery, you need to use the charging USB cord set that comes in the box. Insert the sensor tablet into the socket. IMPORTANT!, make sure you insert the sensor tablet in correct position, the display side should be up and visible.
It can be plugged into a standard wall charger or into the USB of a laptop. I did my first charge from my laptop USB 3.0 port, it took about 3-4 hours to charge from 16% to 100%. On plugging for charging the display shows a battery icon with a charging animation that slowly fills up once its completely charges. This appears on pressing the button. It vibrates when plugged-in and also when its fully charged. You cannot use the band while its charging. If the charging icon does not appear and the sensor is responding to touch with all its functions while plugged in, this means that it is not charging. This can happen. One needs to make sure the orientation of the sensor into the charging socket is right and then push the sensor into the socket with some force to make sure the charging contact points are in contact with each other and then plug to USB to see if charges. This worked for me. Below is the charging icon that appears on the display,
So that's it about setting up the Mi Band 2. Hope it helped someone. Please leave a comment if you have any queries or even otherwise! Thanks.
