New Xiaomi Smart Home Purchases

AI Speaker, Temperature and Humidity Sensor, Scale 2, DC Inverter Fan Usage Experience

Getting Started

Following the previous post “Smart Home First Experience — Apple HomeKit & Xiaomi Mi Home” on how to use Xiaomi smart home products; I continued to buy a few more Xiaomi home products and tried to make all home appliances smart… I can only say it’s a pitfall. Initially, I just wanted to buy a desk lamp because Xiaomi’s design is beautiful. I researched its smart features and fell into the pit!

New Purchase — Xiaomi AI Speaker

Price: NT$ 1,495

Features:

Can voice control all connected Mi Home smart devices
Taiwan region offers 3 months of KKBOX membership
Powerful voice intelligence; compared to Siri, Siri = 3-year-old child ¶In addition to basic voice assistant functions (check weather, news, information, control appliances, play music…) ¶It also has many extended skills (ask about TV shows, play mini-games, chat, tell jokes, act as a maid, yes, it talks to you in a maid’s tone!!) ¶Supports custom functions (custom words, corresponding actions)
Additionally, it can infer and suggest actions, unlike Siri which only answers the weather question; Xiaomi AI Speaker might ask if you need a reminder to bring an umbrella, more considerate and warm.
360-degree sound reception and playback, sufficient volume; very responsive and accurate when called.
Can directly act as a Bluetooth music speaker

Disadvantages:

When used as a Bluetooth speaker, there is a serious 1-2 second delay when watching videos; this is quite a serious flaw, and there is no solution found on Chinese forums, the official stance is indifferent, it seems to be a hardware issue.
Does not support Spotify / Apple Music, for non-KKBOX users like me, after the 3-month free period, if you don’t want to spend money, you can only switch to the mainland region to use QQ Music.
Unlike HomePod, it does not support the home hub function. I initially expected to use the Xiaomi speaker as the smart home hub, so when I get home, Mi Home detects the Xiaomi speaker and can automatically execute corresponding actions (like Apple’s HomePod + HomeKit); it seems not possible!
Requires an additional Xiao Ai Speaker APP
Must set the same region as the Mi Home APP, my Mi Home APP is set to mainland China (due to more features), so Xiao Ai Speaker must also be set to mainland China

In summary, for daily use, it’s just a Bluetooth speaker that can play music, occasionally asking Xiao Ai Speaker to remind me of the time… that’s it, actually Siri can do that; not being able to use it as a Bluetooth speaker for the computer is really painful for me, but I have to say its voice functions are really smart and impressive! You can buy it for fun.

New Purchase — Mi Home Bluetooth Temperature and Humidity Sensor

Small item, NT$ 365

You need to buy an additional AAA battery to install; the official claims the battery life can reach one year, the round and compact design with magnetic hanging makes it convenient to take down and play with anytime, the dual-display screen allows you to quickly grasp the current temperature and humidity.

APP Temperature Record

Only supports Bluetooth connection, so if the phone is out of Bluetooth range, it cannot read the data; unless you buy a Bluetooth gateway or other Mi Home devices that support the Bluetooth gateway function.

List of devices supporting Bluetooth gateway from official documents

Generally, devices that support both WiFi and Bluetooth are supported, but Xiaomi AI Speaker does not!!

And I discovered something amazing, which is Mi Home DC Inverter Fan actually supports it, WTF!!!; so currently I use the Mi Home fan to transmit the temperature and humidity sensor information to the internet via WiFi.

It’s really weird… Xiaomi AI Speaker, desk lamp, table lamp, camera do not support the Bluetooth gateway function, but the fan does!

*Not sure if it’s only the temperature and humidity sensor that can do this

Additional note: the temperature and humidity sensor will not keep sending push notifications

Push notifications for too high temperature or too humid messages (but these temperature and humidity levels are very normal in Taiwan…)

How to turn off:

Go to “My” -> Top right corner “Settings” -> Device notifications -> Find Mijia Bluetooth Temperature and Humidity Meter -> Turn off

After turning it off, you will no longer receive push notifications!

New Purchase — Scale 2

It’s just a scale, NT$ 395

In addition to recording weight on the app, it also has functions like weighing objects and balance tests… but it’s mainly used for weighing; it has a beautiful appearance and can enhance the quality of your home even when not in use!

The scale requires a separate Xiaomi Health app. Open the app while weighing to sync the weight records.

Xiaomi Health App

New Purchase — DC Inverter Fan

The most satisfying appliance in this purchase, NT$ 1995

Basic functions of the fan

The left and right swing angle is 120 degrees, which is quite large. The wind power adjustment supports 1–100 levels, allowing you to adjust the wind power as you like. My favorite is the “natural wind” mode because I like direct blowing but often feel uncomfortable after a while. This natural wind mode allows me to keep the direct blowing mode without discomfort!

Appearance design

It maintains Xiaomi’s simple white design. Personally, I don’t like fans that are too metallic (they feel dirty). Xiaomi fans are very light and clean, and they look comfortable even when not in use.

Smart features

After adding it to the Mijia app, you can control all parameters (mode, switch, wind power, angle) from the app. You can also set periodic timing (e.g., turn off at 7:00 AM from Monday to Friday) and link with Mijia devices (e.g., automatically turn on when you get home, automatically turn on when the temperature exceeds 30 degrees) to play with smart home functions.

Additionally, I found that it can act as a Bluetooth gateway to help the Mijia Bluetooth Temperature and Humidity Meter transmit data.

*Not sure if only the temperature and humidity meter can do this

Current Equipment Summary

Mijia Smart Camera PTZ Version 1080P (Supports: Mijia)
Mijia Desk Lamp Pro (Supports: Apple HomeKit, Mijia)
Mijia LED Smart Desk Lamp (Supports: Mijia)
Xiaomi AI Speaker
Mijia Bluetooth Temperature and Humidity Sensor
Xiaomi Scale 2
Mijia DC Inverter Fan

Summary

The above is a summary of the new purchases. There is still a long way to go to reach the ideal (automatically turn on the air conditioner when the temperature is too high, the fan follows people, turn on the lights when coming home, turn off the lights and turn on the camera when leaving home, turn on the dehumidifier when the humidity is too high). It is even very rugged… you need to know how to modify circuits, and I found that my dehumidifier does not have a return function, and the air conditioner is also an old model. Many Mijia devices are not sold in Taiwan (e.g., universal remote control). I originally wanted to set up a smart home, but after thinking about it, it is not very useful. Currently, I am continuing to research what else can be made smart!

New Xiaomi Smart Home Purchases