Zhang Yuhan, a 29-year-old financial magazine editor in Beijing, is on the lookout for a smart wristwatch and has been trawling Alibaba Group Holding"s Tmall and other e-commerce platforms to pick the best one.

"I want to buy a smart device that can analyze my daily exercise and tell me more about calories burned, heart rate changes, number of paces taken and distance covered. I haven"t decided which one to buy because there are too many brands."

Not all sports lovers are undecided like Zhang. Many of them already have smart bands and smartwatches, which are set to record their daily running distance, duration of sleep and calories consumed.

Competition in the wearable band sector has become intensified as a slew of technology companies are ramping up efforts to launch more feature-packed models, which include health-tracking options and offer meaningful data about their health status.

The global wearable band market grew 5.6 percent year-on-year in the second quarter, with a total of 40.9 million units shipped, according to market research firm Canalys.

Wristwatches now account for 62 percent of global wearable band shipments, and the consultancy expects wristwatches to be the key growth driver in the wearable band category for the years to come.

Chinese tech giant Xiaomi Corp overtook Apple Inc to become the top-shipping wearable band vendor in the second quarter. The Beijing-based company shipped 8 million units during the period for a 19.6 percent market share.

Apple closely followed with 7.9 million units shipped, while Huawei Technologies Co ranked third with 3.7 million.

"Xiaomi made a wise move to hasten the release of the Mi Band 6, which is a more compelling device than its predecessor," said Cynthia Chen, a research analyst at Canalys, adding that Xiaomi"s quick pivot to basic watches also helped the company boost its wristwatch shipments by 1.3 million units this quarter.

The Mi Band 6 performs day-today health tracking with a host of enhanced health monitoring features, such as heart rate monitoring, as well as a sleep tracking function that monitors naps and breathing during sleep. It also comes with stress monitoring, a deep-breathing guidance function and customizable tracking for women"s health to provide users with comprehensive insights into their body and lifestyle.