Xiaomi may be best known for making cool smartphones that many of us don’t have the opportunity to buy, but its latest product to tempt us isn’t a mobile device, nor a smart TV, or connected home product. Instead, it’s a pair of smart sneakers, made in conjunction with Chinese sports and fitness brand Li Ning.
The smart shoes feature a tiny Bluetooth fitness tracker that slips inside a cutout in the heel, which then communicates with Xiaomi’s Mi Fit app on your phone. From here, wearers will find the usual information including steps taken and calories burned, but there’s no details on whether more running-focused data is also collected. The app is the same one that connects up with the Xiaomi Mi Band, and with the company’s Bluetooth connected scales, for a more complete picture of your health.
Xiaomi’s wearable tech partner Huami will produce the sensor, and Li Ning will sell the shoes through its own website. There are two pairs, one of which is a brand new design, while the other is an existing style adapted to take the sensor. You’re probably expecting the price for be high for these new sneakers, after all, running shoes are usually expensive enough, but slap the word Smart before anything and that cost gets even higher.
However, that’s not the case here. The newly designed Li Ning Smart shoes are the equivalent of $65, and the ones based on the current model are even less, coming in at just $32. Perhaps given the bargain price of Xiaomi’s Mi Band fitness tracker, such a competitive price shouldn’t come as a surprise.
Both pairs will be on sale before the end of the month, with the new design already given a release date of July 20, while the second pair will follow shortly afterwards. At this time there’s no word on whether the shoes will be sold internationally.
