Xiaomi’s smart home gadgets make it easier than ever to turn a regular home into a smart one. By adding one or more connected devices to your everyday routine, it’s possible to elevate your home’s intelligence quotient with very little energy expenditure.
These gadgets take the form of smart speakers, which may be controlled via voice, app, or even remote control if you’re old-school like that. Connected clocks and lamps make for unobtrusive additions to a living space that nonetheless respond to commands, easing the effort required to navigate your home.
And, finally, Xiaomi’s collection of smart home kit can be operated as part of its own custom setup, integrate into an existing installation thanks to broad compatibility, or installed piecemeal to suit a tighter budget. The convenience of on-demand internet searches, voice controlled lighting and audio playback, and all the might of Google’s Assistant and on-call lists, reminds, and travel updates make Xiaomi’s smart home offerings more attractive than they’ve ever been.
Speaker of the house
Xiaomi has two smart speakers on offer in South Africa. The first, called the Xiaomi Smart Speaker (R1,099), packs in Google’s smart Assistant for voice-controlled searches, reminders, and customized routines when paired with other smart devices. There’s an integrated Chromecast, handing you control over streaming to compatible Google devices. Like, say, your Android TV. A high quality microphone and speaker ensure that you’re heard around the room and playback is crisp, clear, and detailed. As with other Assistant-capable devices, it’ll recognise individual voices for better command accuracy.
For something a little different, the Xiaomi Smart Speaker with IR Control (R999) has a very similar feature set but includes an LED clock and an infra-red transmitter for controlling legacy devices – like air conditioners and TVs – using smart home protocols. It steps down its larger siblings 12W speaker to a 5W effort but it’ll pump out the volume anyway.
On the clock
If the LED clock is something you’re attracted by, the Xiaomi Smart Clock (R1,199) features a 4in display with a range of clock faces. Google Assistant voice control, audio playback, and even video streaming is an option. This means that connected it to a system with a Xiaomi smart camera lets you use it as a portal to another room. This allows for remote door monitoring or repurposing as a baby monitor, if you’ve got the compatible kit on hand.
If not, it’ll dispense the information you want, help to vocally control other devices in your home, and generally help you to get out of bed in the morning.
Light of your life
Round out your introductory smart home with three smart lights – one for the bedroom and two better suited to desks and the associated high efforts involved at sitting at them. The Xiaomi Bedside Lamp 2 (R1,099) is a large pill-shaped tube of intelligent luminousity. RGB integration means you can tint it one of 16 million shades, via the app or voice, if you know what you’re asking for. It’s dimmable, supports vocal, app (through the Mi Home app), and on-device touch controls, and will be the last thing you talk to before going to bed.
The Xiaomi LED Desk Lamp 1S (R1,199) is an altogether different animal. Featuring metal construction, a small footprint and an even more compact folded shape, and several different lighting modes, this voice-controlled device is a perfect work or study companion. It can be set for Focus, Reading, Computer, or Child modes, suits Google, Amazon, or Apple smart setups, and also plays very nicely with the Mi Home app.
Finally, there’s the Xiaomi Smart LED Desk Lamp Pro (R2,199). You know they only put ‘Pro’ in the name when there’s something serious going on and that’s the case here. Similar to its less high-end cousin, expect all-metal construction and a compact footprint,, a broad range of smart home compatibility, plus a selection of different modes. There’s something extra to be seen, however.
The Desk Lamp Pro is able to adjust lighting temperature and brightness automatically, making it perfect for longer sessions. Brightness goes up to 700 lumens, while the 90RA Colour Rendering Index lets it adjust to any lighting temperature. If you’re putting in the hours, this desk lamp will be right beside you, boosting your performance all the way.
Seen enough to make the jump to a smarter, better home? Xiaomi’s collection of smart home gadgets are available in South Africa, from Takealot, Yuppiechef, and Incredible Connection. Start your home down the path to intelligence today. You owe it to yourself.
