Xiaomi is often criticized for copying everything Apple; from the sleek, slim smartphones that look like iPhones and the black t-shirts Lei Jun wears to channel Steve Jobs' black turtlenecks.
But the Chinese electronics maker has a bunch of new things up its sleeve that it did not copy from Apple. In fact, Xiaomi is taking one step further into a territory Apple has never gone into, or at least never showed signs of going into. The Mi phone maker has expanded from phones and fitness wearables to manufacturing shoes, or more specifically, smart shoes.
Xiaomi has partnered with Li Ning, a Chinese sporting goods and fitness brand that is well-known in China for selling sports apparel and fitness shoes, to create the Li Ning Smart Shoes. On the outside, the shoes don't look any different from your regular, old "dumb" shoes. The difference is what is inside.
Underneath a cutout on the heel of the shoe, one can find a tiny Bluetooth fitness tracker that sends information gathered by the military-grade motion sensors embedded into the shoe and sends the information to Xiaomi's Mi Fit fitness app, which can be accessed via smartphone. The sensors will be provided by Huami and can withstand up to a year's worth of running to record vital information such as steps taken and calories burned, although it is unclear whether the shoe will collect other information not specific to running or walking.
The shoes and the embedded sensors inside are waterproof, sweatproof and have the ability to withstand the pressure of pounding feet on the dusty ground or on a cemented sidewalk, so users are assured that the shoes last long enough for them to recoup their money's worth.
And speaking of the price of the shoes, Li Ning plans to sell them for 199 yuan, which is equivalent to around $32 in the U.S. That is very cheap, considering a decent pair of running shoes without smart tracking features will cost buyers much more than $32. There is also a second, apparently higher-end model, which will cost 299 yuan or $64, but neither Xiaomi nor Li Ning has made known the differences between this and the less expensive version.
The entry-level pair will make its debut on Li Ning's website on July 20, but Xiaomi seems to have no plans of selling it on its own website. Also, the shoes appear to be limited to the Chinese market for now. However, if Xiaomi or Li Ning decide to take the smart shoes to stateside, it will be competing with more established brand names the likes of Nike and Adidas, which sell a pair of iPod-connected shoes and the miCoach Speed Cell respectively.
