Still, should that matter to the consumer? Probably not, although a quick Google search of ceiling lights by Yeelight or Mijia, and you’ll see a wide variety of ceiling lights on offer, some of which look decidedly similar. The reason this is mentioned is that today’s review product is by Mijia, and was purchased in Taiwan. Judging by the packaging and the manual, however, this is in fact an international product, or at least should be at some point soon, although whether it’s called ‘Mi Smart LED Ceiling Light 450’ where you live is another question entirely, so if you do see something that matches these specs, and is also HomeKit compatible, chances are it’s the same or a similarly worthy product. With that out of the way, let’s proceed with the review…

PACKAGING

As with most Mi branded products now, they’re not going to look out of place on the shelf at an Apple store, although given the size of this box, I’d say these aren’t going to be sat on shelves any time soon. The front has all the icons you need to let you know some of its features, which are;

• Adjustable colour temperature
• Dimming capabilities
• High colour rendering index (CR95)
• 100-240V
• App control
• Voice control
• Dustproof and mothproof

As can be gathered from the first point, this is not a colour lamp, but you do get cool to warm whites, which is fine for something designed to cover a reasonably large room. It’s suitable for 110-120v and 220-240v regions, so as alluded to before, this appears to be designed for international sales. The point about dust and moths is that the unit can be sealed much like the lid of a jar, which I’ll go into later. You can also see that aside from HomeKit compatibility, it will work with Amazon Alexa, and the Google Assistant.

Whilst it’s got control for colour temperature, like many lamps and bulbs from Mijia (Yeelight…), it comes with a Moonlight, or Moon mode, which essentially lets the brightness go really quite low. The light is quite bright, topping out at a whopping 3100lm when using cool white light, so it’s designed for rooms between 15 – 25 sq metres (49 – 82 sq feet). That’s roughly the equivalent of four Hue White Ambience bulbs I guess.

PACKAGE CONTENTS

There’s not a lot in th box, aside from the light, in two parts, along with a multi-language manual (CN, EN, DE, FR, ES, IT, RU, KO, AR, PL, PT),   a warranty booklet, and some screws with matching rail plugs for mounting the light to your ceiling. Whilst the diffuser is light and ‘plasticky’ it doesn’t feel cheap and has a matt texture, rather than shiny, scratch attracting plastic. Similarly, the section with the LEDs looks impressively well made, and solid.

The body is some kind of metal, probably aluminium, with some serious looking LEDs dotted around the fitting, in two rows.

Although it looks impressive and a little intimidating if you’re not used to fitting a ceiling light, it’s actually quite straightforward. The diffuser fits to the main body with the aid of clips, the wires from your previous light fitting pass through a hole to connect to the neutral, live and earth connectors in the switch, and the whole light is held to your ceiling with the two screws that pass through holes either side of the main body.

MI HOME, APPLE HOME, YEELIGHT

Being HomeKit compatible, via the HomeKit code, but also a Mi product, and made by Yeelight, this can be added to all three apps, although I’d recommend adding it to Mi Home first. From there, you’ll be given the opportunity to add it to HomeKit if you want to. Additionally, by signing into the Yeelight app, using the same credentials as your Mi Home account, the light will automatically appear there too.

In the Home app, you only get the option to control the brightness and colour temperature, but in both the Mi Home and Yeelight apps, you also get access to lighting effects and presets, which also includes the Moonlight mode. As both the Yeelight and Mi Home apps are compatible with Siri Shortcuts, you can always trigger the Moonlight mode, or any of the other presets, via Siri, or via the Shortcuts app.

THE MI LED LIGHT

As stated, the Mi LED Smart Light can produce warm to cool whites (2700 – 6000K), and it does so very well, as you can see via the images above. I tend to find that the warm white for most lighting products are a tad too orange for me, but then with this covering larger rooms, it’s less noticeable, generally speaking. At the coolest white setting, you can get as much as 3100lm, which is more than bright enough for most regular, square-shaped rooms, and in my case, I’ve tended to ramp the brightness down on occasion.

As previously mentioned, there’s the option to use Moonlight mode via the Yeelight and Mi Home apps. What you get is super low-level lighting, suitable for late-night use, or maybe even for a youngsters’ bedroom if they’re scared of the dark perhaps. As you can see the levels achievable are well below what you would normally be able to get. This is possible by just using the warm white LEDs, which are outnumbered by the cool white LEDs by a ratio of roughly 2 to 1.

As you can see in the images above, the cool white LEDs outnumber the warm white LEDs which partially helps the cool white setting to achieve higher brightness levels. The mid white setting uses both the warm and cool white LEDs, and the warm white setting uses only the warm white LEDs.

Just to give you an idea of how the manufacturer has been able to achieve the low light levels in Moonlight mode, you can see that at 100% the same warm white LEDs are employed but at the lowest level possible using both the inner single LED for each circle, along with the outer LED ring. To get as low as 1%, the second image shows (and you have to look really hard) that only the single LEDs are employed at their lowest level.

PHYSICAL CONTROL OPTIONS

If you were thinking “why would I need a remote for a smart light??” you would probably be in good company, and it would make sense to ask why. However, as this is designed for ceilings, it’s not the same as a smart bedside lamp, like the Yeelight Staria Pro, where there’s an easily reachable physical button when required, so unless you happened to be about 9ft tall, putting a button on the light itself is a non-starter. This is where the optional remote control by Yeelight comes in. It connects exclusively via Bluetooth to the ceiling light and isn’t smart as such, so when paired with the light, it won’t show up in either the Mi Home or Yeelight apps, let alone be exposed to HomeKit.

All of the functionality available for the light is included in the remote – separate On and Off buttons, a brightness rocker button, and separate buttons to control the colour temperature or turn the Moonlight mode on or off. It uses a CR2032 battery and can – if you want – be mounted to a wall, although it doesn’t come with any adhesive patches, so you’ll have to source your own.

Another option, also by Yeelight, is the Wireless Rotary Dimmer switch. As with the Yeelight remote, this isn’t exactly a smart device in that it doesn’t get added to your smart home. It’s directly connected to the light you pair it with via Bluetooth, and also provides all of the functionality you need, albeit in a different way. Pressing the dial gives you simple on/off control of the light. Double pressing the dial activates Moonlight mode. If you press and hold the dial whilst also turning it, you can adjust the colour temperature of the light. Turning the dial controls the brightness levels regardless of whether you’re in normal or Moonlight mode. The one I have is the wireless model (there’s a wired one too), and as it’s designed to look more like a regular wall switch, it can be stuck to a wall, with included tape. In the case of this switch, however, the rear has velcro strips, which correspond with adhesive strips that stick to the wall. The outward-facing side of the strips that stick to the wall has velcro that connects to the velcro on the rear of the switch. Personally, I would have preferred simple double-sided strips, but the thinking is that whilst you might not be able to place these rotary switches on other walls, you can at least remove them from the wall and have them sat on a coffee table for convenience, whilst also allowing them to be placed back on the wall when required. A magnetic switch holder of the type used with the Opple wireless switches would have been the best solution.

Of course, as these are compatible with Mi Home and HomeKit, it means any wireless button can control the light, so you aren’t restricted to these two offerings from Yeelight, although they do offer all of the functionality, including Moonlight mode.

IN EVERYDAY USE

Although I’ve been getting into the idea of smart light switches controlling dumb LED bulbs, namely with the Aqara US switches, this light has been exceptional. It does use WiFi, which I’ve been trying to reduce my dependency on with smart devices, but it does a great job of lighting a room, and so on that basis, it can’t be faulted. Now, at the start of the article, I mentioned that a Google search for Yeelight ceiling lights will bring up a lot of options, some of which offer colour ambient lighting in the form of colour LEDs that light upwards, thereby providing accent colour lighting on your ceiling. I wished this was one of those lights, but it isn’t. I think I’ll survive without, and in all honesty, it’s probable that these colour accent light options aren’t exposed to HomeKit anyway, like the Moonlight mode, so it’s not so enticing perhaps. Another plus is that it’s also sealed, so there’s no issue with seeing a slowly increasing graveyard of dead bugs (or dust for that matter) collecting in the diffuser. For the price, it really is a steal (assuming it can be bought for around the same price as in Taiwan), and I can’t complain about the design, which is something you see across the board with a lot of the Yeelight products, even if they’re Mi branded.

…WHERE TO BUY?

Whilst I was able to buy this over the counter in Taiwan, due to Xiaomi’s distribution being a bit patchy outside of Asia, it seems it’s not quite as easy to find. However, I’ve put a few links together for places that I was able to find it. None of the links below are affiliate links, just in case that’s an issue for you.

Australia – www.panmi.com.au

Belarus – xiaomi-store.by

Brazil – www.comprasparaguai.com.br

Czechia – eshop.xiaomi-czech.cz

Hungary – xiaomi.hu

Israel – www.mi-il.co.il

Italy – www.miwo.it

Paraguay – www.megaeletronicos.com

Poland – mi-store.pl

Russia – ru-mi.com

Slovakia – mi-store.sk

The post Mi Smart LED Ceiling Light 450 (review) appeared first on Homekit News and Reviews.

PACKAGING

As this is actually quite a small device, the packaging for it is equally diminutive. So much so, that it even comes with a holder at the top so that it can be ‘hung’ on display racks when needed. There’s nothing that stands out from previous Mi or Aqara products when it comes to the aesthetics, so you simply get the device pictured ‘front-on’ on the front of the box, with the Mijia logo, an ambient light icon with text (in Simplified Chinese) that says ‘perceived ambient light intensity’. There’s also more text at the bottom that translates to ‘Xiaomi Mijia Light Sensor’ along with three features – Adaptive Range, Intelligent Linkage, and IPX3. We’ll come back to ‘IPX3′ in a bit, but take it to mean there’s some level of protection from water.

The rear of the box, has, as standard, some basic specs, along with legal jargon. It also carries both the ‘works with Mijia’ logo and for the first time for a Mi or Aqara smart ‘child device’, the Zigbee Certified Product badge. The packaging for Mi smart Gateway also came with this, which as we mentioned in the review for the gateway, seems to indicate that this device is officially able to work with other Zigbee 3.0 devices, besides the gateway it accompanies. This is, in fact, a Zigbee 3.0 device, which discerns itself from the current batch of sensors currently available by Aqara or Mijia. There is also some small print at the bottom, that translates to “This product needs to be used with Zigbee 3.0 gateway-capable devices”, which is interesting in that it doesn’t specify the Mi smart Gateway in particular.

In terms of the specifications, they’re fairly standard for a Mijia or Aqara child device;

• Model: GZCGQ01LM
• Battery: CR2450
• working temperature: -10 ~ 50ºC / 14 ~122ºF
• Wireless connection: Zigbee 3.0
• Dimensions: 40 x 40 x 12mm / 1.57 x 1.57 x 0.47in

Out of the box, the sensor has a reasonable amount of protection, being held in place by a cardboard holder. Aside from the senor, you get a small manual (in Chinese), and a circular, double-sided adhesive sticker.

THE SENSOR

The front of the device is all translucent plastic, which hides the ambient light sensor. It also covers up a small blue LED that you only really see when initially pairing the device. If you’re familiar with either the Mijia or Aqara versions of the motion sensor, you’ll have noticed the translucent plastic protecting the sensor is rather pliant. The front of the light sensor is rather rigid and is therefore a lot more durable. The rear of the device features a turnable back cover that holds the CR2450 battery in place. With the cover removed, you get access to the battery compartment, which also reveals two small magnets. As this has magnets, you can mount it to any suitably magnetic surface, like the door of your refrigerator, for example. If you don’t have a magnetic surface where you want to place it, you can still use the provided double-sided circular sticker. The magnets aren’t that strong, to be honest, and if you’ve experienced the strong magnets of either the Hue Dimmer Switch or better still the incredibly powerful magnet used for the Hue Motion Sensor, this is going to be somewhat of a surprise. Still, it has enough to keep it from falling, although I feel it could easily be knocked to the floor inadvertently, which is why it’s just as well that the front of the device is all the more durable. Alternatively, as it has a flat base, you can simply leave it sitting on any horizontal surface. The only other functional part of the device is the reset/pairing button at the top.

In the specifications listed earlier, it mentions an IPX3 rating. If you’re not at all familiar with IP ratings, they relate to how well a device is resistant to both water and dust, amongst other things, with IP being an acronym for Ingress Protection. An IP code usually has IP, followed by two digits, of which the first digit refers to a level of ingress protection against solid particles, which can include dust. The second digit refers to the ingress protection against liquids. As this sensor has a rating of IPX3, the X, in this case, means there’s no specific data relating to protection against solid particles. the ‘3’ protects against ‘spraying water’, defined as;

“Water falling as a spray at any angle up to 60° from the vertical shall have no harmful effect, utilizing either: a) an oscillating fixture, or b) A spray nozzle with a counterbalanced shield. Test a) is conducted for 5 minutes, then repeated with the specimen rotated horizontally by 90° for the second 5-minute test. Test b) is conducted (with shield in place) for 5 minutes minimum.”

From this, you can take it that this isn’t fully waterproof but can withstand some level of ‘spray’ for at least five minutes. Whilst the battery cover may be tight enough to resist water for a certain amount of time, the weak spot would most likely be the button at the top of the device. This being the case, if you do choose to place this somewhere where at least some water can get to the device, it might be best to place it with the pairing button on the base.

ADDING TO MI HOME | AQARA HOME | HOMEKIT

* Whilst this is compatible with HomeKit via the Mi Smart Gateway, many readers here will be using the Aqara hub, so the focus will be on adding this to the Aqara hub only.

Some, if not all, of the resellers for this device state that it will only work with the Mi Smart Gateway (and HomeKit) via the Mi Home app. Whilst it’s true that it does work with both the gateway and the app, it can, in fact, work with the current Aqara hub. Additionally, because the Mi Smart Gateway can only be added to the Mi Home app when set to the Chinese Mainland server, if you don’t use this particular server in your app, you’re going to be a bit stuck. Even with your Aqara hub set to the Chinese server, this device isn’t listed in the Mi Home app as being compatible with the Aqara hub. Thankfully there is a simple way to add it to the Aqara hub, even if you have it in the Mi Home or Aqara apps, with a couple of provisos.

Mi Home

• If you have the Mi Smart Gateway you can add the sensor and it will appear in both the Mi Home app and also be exposed to HomeKit, appearing in the Apple Home app. The process is as with adding any other device to the Mi Home app.
• If you have the Aqara hub in Mi Home, you can’t officially add it, as it’s not included in the list of devices that are compatible, and if you add it from the main menu, it will show that neither the Aqara hub or the Aqara G2 Hub Camera are compatible (see images above)
• You can unofficially add the device to your Aqara hub in Mi Home, by clicking on the hub’s button three times, where it will state “ready to connect to Child Devices”.
• This will add the Sensor to the Aqara hub, and it will be exposed to HomeKit and the Home app. However, it will not appear in the list of child devices connected to your hub in the Mi Home app, nor will it appear as a device in your list of devices. It will also not be available when creating automations, which used to be the case with supposedly incompatible devices in Mi Home. This all means that you won’t be able to update the firmware if and when it’s issued, so this is not a solution I’d advise, even if you only intend to use it with HomeKit.

Aqara Home

• If, like me, you use the Aqara Home app (instead of, or as well as, the Mi Home app), then using the Aqara app is a much better proposition, even though this device isn’t a listed device in the Aqara Home app.
• Adding it to the Aqara Hub simply requires the same manual way of adding the sensor;
  • Press the button on the hub three times
  • Wait for the voice prompt from the hub – “ready to connect to Child Devices”.
  • Press and hold the pairing button on the sensor until the blue LED blinks three times, then let go
  • Aqara hub will confirm successful connection

Regardless of whether you’re signed into the Aqara app or not (HomeKit Mode), you can still add this device, and it will also appear as a device in the Aqara Home app once added. It will also be exposed to HomeKit and the Home app as normal. To access light reading data, or to create automations in the Aqara app, you will need to be signed into the app though. Once signed in, you can simply tap on the icon for the sensor, and a window will drop down halfway showing a chart for light readings in daily or weekly format. this window can be fully dragged down to make it fill the screen.

In terms of automations within the Aqara app, you have four basic options;

• Illuminance reaches up to…
• Illuminance drops to…
• Illuminance above…
• Illuminance below…

You can set the level in lux at which the relevant automation should be triggered. As an example;

• IF Illuminance below 50Lx, THEN turn Aqara hub night light ON

Apple Home

As already stated, this device is HomeKit compatible, so whichever way you decide to add this, it will show up in the Home app, as well as third-party apps, like Eve for HomeKit, for example. In the Home app, the device is represented with just the one tile and one service, as expected. The tile will show the current Lux reading, and this reading is also shown in the first splash screen after you long press on the tile to access the settings. In terms of settings themselves, you’ll notice there’s no option to add it to a scene as such, and you can’t use it in any automations in Home, as light readings are still not supported in this app. They are supported in third-party apps, however, and as you can see above, I’m able to use the light readings from the sensor as a trigger for an automation in the Eve app.

AUTOMATIONS
It should be noted, that as this only works from light readings, when it comes to automations, it can be seen as a bit limiting. Indeed, the sensor readings only update every few seconds, which whilst great, aren’t ideal if you’re looking for the type of quick reactions associated with a motion sensor for example. It’s also a fact that the Aqara motion sensor also has a light sensor built-in, so you might think there’s little point in this light sensor. Whilst the light sensor inside the Aqara motion sensor can be used in automations, you’re severely limited to just one option in the Mi Home app – ‘motion detected and indoor brightness is weak’ so not exactly very customisable. If you’re using the Aqara motion sensor in the Aqara app, you do have more options, including, ‘Motion is detected and brightness is above…’, or ‘Motion is detected and brightness is below…’, where you can set the Lux level reading to trigger an automation. Of course, the light sensor inside the Aqara motion sensor is not exposed to HomeKit. In my brief tests, I found that the light sensor in the Aqara Motion sensor was less accurate when compared to the Mi Light Sensor and the Hue Motion’s light sensor. Combining the light sensor with a motion sensor is a much better proposition, as not only is there more scope for automation involving light readings, but the Mi Light sensor is far more accurate, being able to seemingly report on different readings just 2Lx apart. The light sensor can also examine light from 0-83000 lux. Impressive.

OTHER LIGHT SENSORS
This isn’t the first device to use a light sensor by any means, and there are plenty of quite capable devices that include a light sensor, but none of these is dedicated to the sole task of measuring light. In terms of the competition, I’ve put this up against a mainstay device in my home – the Philips Hue Motion Sensor. The Hue is around three times the cost of the Mi Sensor, but then it has three times the services – light, motion, temperature – each of which are exposed to HomeKit. It’s also part of the Hue family and so uses Zigbee just like the Mi light Sensor, which means it’s fast. That said, the light readings only change every five minutes, unless motion is detected, so if you’re looking for regularly updated light readings that don’t rely on motion, then the Mi light sensor is a better option. Indeed, if you really have no need for motion and temperature sensors, then it really does fit the bill quite well. I did find light readings from both sensors to be impressively close, within 1 or 2 lux of each other when they did differ. With either device, you’re reliant on the relevant hub, so it does depend on which you have (if you’ve got both, so much the better).

SUMMING UP
It’s difficult to grasp whether this would be of use to many people, as we all have such varied needs, but if you really dig deep and work on automations that do need to utilise the brightness of the ambient light around them or in a given room, then I think this is ideal for that purpose. If I wanted the extra functionality of a temperature and motion sensor thrown into the bargain, then I may well suggest the Hue Motion sensor (assuming you’ve already got the Hue Bridge), although a combination of the Aqara temperature and humidity sensor, Aqara Motion sensor and the Mi Light sensor would still probably be only a tad more expensive than the Hue, but with the addition of the humidity sensor thrown into the mix (as well as air pressure – which is unfortunately not exposed to HomeKit). On balance, I think I’d probably go with the Hue, as it does combine three sensors into one package, thus reducing both the number of devices you need to maintain, as well as having the option to make the light and motion sensors work in tandem in the Hue app if you so wish. It is a good device though, and being so small, with different mounting options, hasn’t gone unnoticed. Bottom line – if you simply need a light sensor, go for it. It’s so cheap that it really doesn’t matter a lot if you can’t immediately find a use case for it, as I know you will eventually…

The post Mi Light Sensor (review) appeared first on Homekit News and Reviews.

With these sombre thoughts in mind, today I’m turning my attention to a small and relatively cheap smoke detector/alarm, made as a collaboration between Mijia and Honeywell.

• Now before I go headlong into the review itself, it should be noted that this is certified for use in Mainland China and Hong Kong only. This doesn’t mean you can’t use it (although that also depends on the laws in your particular country), but if you did have a fire, and wanted to claim on your insurance, whilst relying on this device as your only form of smoke detection, chances are you wouldn’t be covered, as it wouldn’t be considered admissable as a certified device (unless you live in China or Hong Kong, obviously). So, it’s probably best to view this as a backup as opposed to the main sensor/alarm/detector, or better still, simply treat it as a notification device, with a regular ‘dumb’ smoke alarm as the main detector for the purposes of insurance, as well as an extra layer of safety. More is better I would suggest.

UNBOXING

The Mi/Honeywell Smoke Detector has been around for a few years now, and in that time the packaging hasn’t really changed since I bought my first unit in early 2018. The front shows the device itself, or at least what you’ll see of the device once it’s in place, with some Simplified Chinese text at the bottom that basically translates to ‘Smoke detector’ or ‘smoke alarm’.

The sides of the box are equally barren of much detail, with only the Mijia and Honeywell logos on one side, and a smoke icon with the same Simplified Chinese text as is found on the front.

Once opened, the smoke alarm is the first thing you’ll see. Underneath that is the provided CR123A battery, also known as a half-AA battery (not to be confused with the less common ER14250 battery). To complete the list of contents, you’ll find two rawl plugs and corresponding screws, two small booklets in Simplified Chinese, and two double-sided curved strips if you don’t want to mount the alarm with the screws.

THE SMOKE ALARM

The device is relatively small, although probably no smaller or larger than a standard ‘dumb’ smoke alarm. It’s circular, coming in at 90mm/3.54in in diameter, and 36mm/1.42in in depth. It weighs approximately 100g/3.52oz, so is light enough to be suspended from a ceiling without the worry that it’ll fall under its own weight. The front has a series of holes for the alarm, with an inner, elevated circle that exposes the smoke detecting sensor array. Imagine a typical flying saucer with windows atop the disc…There’s a button to set up the device, that can also be used for testing and muting the alarm when necessary.

The rear of the detector houses the battery compartment and is held in place with the backplate the slots into position with a slight turn. The two curved adhesive strips sit in the recessed areas of the backplate perfectly. You also have two screw holes if you go with the more permanent fitting option.

The alarm part of the device has an 80dB built-in siren, which might not be the loudest on the market, but in my tests, it is plenty loud.

IN MI HOME | AQARA HOME | APPLE HOME

The smoke detector can work as a standard device without the app, so if you don’t want to use the smart parts, then it still functions as required, which is great, as you wouldn’t want the device to only function if it’s connected to a network. Of course, if you want notifications, or use it in automations, you’re going to need to add it to either the Mi Home or Aqara Home apps, and as it uses the Zigbee protocol for wireless communication, you’re going to need a Zigbee hub. As this is an older device, it will work with the older Mi hub, as well as the newer Aqara hub. You’ll need the Aqara hub if you want it exposed to HomeKit, with the hub on at least 1.5.0 firmware.

If you use the Mi Home app for this device set to the Chinese Mainland server, along with the Aqara hub, it will, in turn, be exposed to Homekit and appear in the Apple Home app. In the Mi Home app, you have a few options for the device; You can automatically link the smoke detector to the alarm part of the hub without the need to create an automation. You can, of course, create separate automations, although you may want to create your automations in the Home app to control other HomeKit devices, like lights or smart bulbs, for example. There’s an option for the app to remind you to test the alarm monthly, although I’ll be honest and say I can’t ever recall getting a notification as such, so I’m not sure if it actually works, and I’ve just not noticed. The self-check function simply asks you to start the procedure and confirm if you’ve heard a loud beep from the device, to confirm both the battery is in working order, and the device is connected. In terms of where the device is situated, you can adjust it to one of three detection tolerance levels;

• Smoke-Free Zone
• Zone for a small amount of smoke (eg a living room where someone may smoke a cigarette)
• Zone for a moderate amount of smoke (eg kitchens)

As I’ve got my Smoke alarm added to the Mi Home set to the Chinese Mainland server, this setup is the most convenient setting, where regional blocks with the Mi Home app and Xiaomi smart home products can be an issue. As far as I’m aware, you can’t add this device to any hub other than the Chinese one if you’re using the Mi Home app, but you can add it to any hub via the Aqara Home app. To add it this way, you need to be signed out of the app, which sets the app to HomeKit Mode. Once in this mode, any device listed in the Aqara app can be added to the hub, including the smoke detector. In the Aqara app, it doesn’t appear you get the same options that you see in the Mi Home app, so no smoke level settings, or monthly test reminders.

Setup via the Mi Home or Aqara home apps is as easy as it gets, and is pretty much in line with other devices in respect of adding them to the system.

IN DAY TO DAY USE / SUMMING UP

With something like a smoke alarm, it’s not easy to truly know whether it will work when the time comes, and how reliable it is until you have a fire! You can do the monthly tests of course, but in order to really know if it can detect smoke, you’re going to have to create some…err…smoke. I’m not suggesting you set your sofa on fire of course, but something like an incense stick or a slow-burning piece of card, held near the smoke sensor should soon tell you if it works. These are the kinds of tests I’ve performed periodically, just to make sure it’s fit for purpose, and so far so good. There’s always the possibility that it could let me down just when I need it, but then that’s true of any smoke alarm in theory.

I’ve had this early 2018, and so far I’m glad to say it hasn’t had to be triggered as part of a real emergency, but all the tests I’ve done, have triggered the alarm each and every time. In the time that I’ve had it, I’ve moved home once, and setting it up anew was as easy as I’d hoped, although keeping it paired to the same hub, which in turn, whilst connected to a new wifi network, still had the same SSID and password, definitely helped. Since having had this smoke detector for almost exactly two years, the battery is still showing as 100%, which is a bit suspect, although I’ve seen this with other Zigbee-based devices, like the Hue Dimmer Switch, for example, so maybe not so unusual. Some online stores claim the replaceable battery has a 5-year lifespan, so in theory, you’d only have to replace the battery once for the average lifespan of the device – it’s recommended that smoke detectors are replaced every ten years.

This is considerably cheaper than many of the other smart HomeKit compatible models available, and it’s worth noting that with the Honeywell connection, it can be taken seriously. I can’t imagine a company like that putting their name to something if it’s not any good. Indeed, First Alert’s OneLink series of smoke and carbon monoxide alarms have had some terrible reviews on Amazon and considering the company’s years of expertise in the field, you’d expect better performance, which according to quite a few less than happy consumers, isn’t exactly the case. I only have a couple of Onelink Multi-sensor devices, and they’ve been very solid, so I don’t have a bad experience with their products, albeit limited to one device type.

Since the introduction of the Aqara hub, with it being the first HomeKit compatible device that also supported child devices that in turn got exposed to HomeKit, many people still ask if this is compatible, and as is evident from the review, it emphatically is. As already stated, you do need to have your hub running firmware 1.5.0 or higher, but it’s unlikely you’re running anything lower than this on your Aqara hub at this point.

So, would I recommend it? Yes, I would, with the explicit provision that it be treated as complementary to a standard ‘dumb’ smoke alarm, and as such, treated as a backup, albeit with smart connectivity. If you live in the US and want just the one device to be smart and not rely on a ‘dumb’ backup, then it would seem that First Alert/OneLink is your only option for HomeKit. If you live in the EU, you have offerings by both Eve and Netatmo, while both expensive, do look good, although they also look suspiciously alike. Both Eve and Netatmo are generally considered as reliable companies, with good products.

It should also be pointed out that as this is an older product in Mija’s arsenal of smart devices, there’s currently no replacement for this product that we’re aware of that’s also HomeKit compatible, with the only other product that works with the Xiaomi smart home system being the Aqara smoke alarm. However, apart from not being compatible with HomeKit, it’s really only designed to work in China, as it comes with a SIM card to dial out in case of an emergency, but is only compatible with Chinese telecoms systems.

Whatever you choose to do, it’s wise to get a smoke alarm regardless of whether it’s a smart or dumb one, as you never know what might happen.

The post Mi/Honeywell Smoke Detector (review) appeared first on Homekit News and Reviews.

By way of an introduction to the Mi Smart Gateway, it’s really just an evolution of the original Mi hub, which, like the current Aqara hub, is a pill-shaped gateway with the plug built right into the device itself. This new hub differs on many levels, first of which is that it is HomeKit compatible out of the box. It also no longer has the built-in plug and doesn’t come with either a speaker or a night light. So, is this a step forward or a step back? Let’s find out…

PACKAGING

The packaging for the Mi Smart Gateway follows the same theme as previous recent products, with a white box, featuring the product on the front, icons to the side that tout certain features, and the specifications on the back. Of note, is that the HomeKit logo appears on the front, which is reassuring for anyone who’s unsure which devices are or aren’t compatible; This is. It also features the ‘Works with Mijia’ logo, so this will work in the Mi Home app exclusively, and will not work with the Aqara app, in case you were wondering. The rear of the box is also notable in that it’s the first time (that I’m aware of) that the official Zigbee logo has been used. Indeed, it also says below the logo that this is a certified product, which I’m taking to mean they’ve jumped through all the right hoops in order to get to this state. Below that is a Bluetooth logo. The reason for this is that whilst this is ostensibly a Zigbee hub, it also acts as a Bluetooth hub and a Bluetooth mesh hub, which I’ll go into later.

The sides of the box point out these latter two capabilities, stating that this hub is both a Bluetooth Mesh Gateway as well as a Zigbee 3.0 gateway. The other side of the box simply states that you can use the app to control your devices, including the hub, as well as create automations.

Inside the box, you first get to see the gateway itself, along with a manual (in Chinese), which includes the first of three instances of the HomeKit code. The gateway has a bit of protection by way of an extra lid inside the box, made of strong card. The lid also contains the second of three HomeKit codes. Underneath the hub is the section that holds a USB to micro USB cable and a type A (non-polarised) 2-pin USB plug charger.

THE HUB

The gateway itself is a very understated, being just pill-shaped piece of plastic, at 25mm/0.98in in height, and 90mm/3.54in in diameter. The top features the Mijia ‘shield’ logo and a very small LED, whilst the base has the third of the three HomeKit codes.

the rear and front of the gateway are similarly minimalist, with only one button on the front, which you can use for manually pairing a device, or for resetting the gateway. The rear features a micro-USB port for the included USB cable, in order to power the device. This is one of the areas where the new gateway differs from all previous models. As already mentioned, the previous Mi gateways, including the current Aqara gateway, had a built-in plug. This is problematic in that not only does the hub take up two wall sockets due to the placement of the pins and the size of the device, if you owned a hub that has a different plug to the ones in your country, then an adaptor would also be required.

As the new gateway uses a typical USB power supply, you’re able to replace the provided power supply with one better suited to your region, and as it uses a micro-USB cable, both parts are easy to replace when needed. The USB cable isn’t particularly long, at roughly 850mm/33.4in in length, but as already stated, you can replace this with a longer, or shorter one if you wish.

When I first opened the box and held the hub in my hand, I briefly thought I’d been sent a fake empty case, as it was so light (94g/3.32oz), it felt like there could be hardly anything inside. Luckily my paranoia was misplaced once I plugged it in and got it set up. The plastic used for the device is the same matt type plastic you find on a lot of recent Xiaomi ecosystem products, that are slightly silky to the touch, and resistant to fingerprints, not that you’d have much cause to handle the device. The base has a circular rubber ring to keep it from sliding around if placed on any smooth surface. All in all, it’s a really nice and understated piece of design.

What the gateway doesn’t have, which all previous iterations did, is a speaker and night light. Xiaomi has stated that due to feedback they’ve collected over a period of time, many of their users didn’t feel the need for the night light or the speaker, and so cut those out in order to concentrate on the hub aspect of this device. In many ways, I would agree with this, but I do still find uses for both the night light and the speaker, despite the crappy sounds the older hubs ship with, so I’m not entirely sure this was a good move. Bravo to the company for replacing the built-in plug with a cable though.

Whilst the new gateway doesn’t have a speaker as such, it does have a sort of ‘bleeper’ unit inside, which in itself is fairly loud. You only tend to hear this sound when you’re adding a device or you’ve set the gateway to play the sound via a notification.

SETUP – MI HOME

Update: Since this review was written, the Mi smart Gateway is now able to be added to any region/server in the Mi Home app, even if you originally purchased the hub from one of the online Chinese stores.

Whilst the hub comes with a HomeKit code, you’re still advised to add this to Mi Home first, which if you haven’t done so already, will require you to set up an account in the respective app. Assuming you’ve done all this already, as this is designed for the Chinese market, at present you’re going to need to set the server to Chinese Mainland in order to add this device to Mi Home. Once that’s done, simply add the gateway by clicking on the ‘plus’ icon in the top left corner of the home screen. which will take you to an enormous grid of devices broken down into categories.

• Click on Household security and select Mi Smart Home Hub from the list
• Follow the onscreen instructions, which includes pressing and holding the pairing button down until the LED blinks rapidly in yellow
• Click Next and add your wifi details – network name and password – Click Next

• The hub will use Bluetooth to initially retrieve network information from your phone, so you need to be within a reasonable distance of the hub
• The device will go through a series of steps, which are indicated as a list…
• …Before finally adding the device. Click Done or wait for it to go to the next page

• The next page allows you to rename the hub as you see fit
• Once named, you get the option to add the hub to your HomeKit ‘Home’
• Once you’ve selected your ‘Home’, you will need to scan the included HomeKit code

• The last page will state that ‘Additional Setup (is) Required’, although in this case, it doesn’t seem to need anything else, other than renaming the device in Home and ensuring the hub is in the correct room, as this info isn’t carried over from the Mi Home app to HomeKit
• You’ll then see the hub added to your list of devices in Mi Home

APPLE HOME APP

If you head over to the Home app, you might be surprised to see (or rather not see) that the new gateway is nowhere to be seen. It’s there, but unlike the Aqara hub you may already own, as this is purely a hub, and not a night light and alarm, it really only belongs in the hub section of the app.

• To access this area to make sure the hub has been added, click on the ‘house’ icon in the top right corner of the home screen of the Home app, and select ‘Home Settings…’ to get the settings page.
• Select the Home (you most likely only have one option), then scroll down to ‘Hubs and Bridges’ and select it.
• Hubs and bridges will be listed separately, with you hubs being an Apple TV, HomePod or iPad.
• Below that is your list of bridges. In my case, in the image above, you can see the third item is the Mi Smart Home Hub, located in the Bedroom.

HUB COMPATIBLE DEVICES

So you have your hub in Mi Home and Apple Home app, but what next? Well, as with the Aqara hub, you’re eventually going to want to start adding some devices. Above are three screenshots to show which ZigBee devices are currently supported (at the time of writing), but I’ll list them here too;

Switches/buttons

• Mi Wireless Switch
• Aqara Wall switch (with/without neutral, double rocker)
• Aqara Wall switch (with/without neutral, single rocker)
• Aqara/Opple Scene Switch (2, 4, 6 button)
• Aqara Wireless remote switch (double rocker)
• Aqara Wireless remote switch (single rocker)
• Aqara Wireless remote switch D1 (single rocker)
• Aqara Wireless remote switch D1 (double rocker)
• Aqara Wall switch D1 (with/without neutral, double rocker)
• Aqara Wall switch D1 (with/without neutral, single rocker)
• Aqara Wall switch D1 (with/without neutral, triple rocker)

Sensors

• Mi Motion Sensor
• Mi Door and Window Sensor
• Mi Temperature and Humidity Sensor
• Mi Light Detection Sensor
• Aqara Motion Sensor
• Aqara Door and Window Sensor
• Aqara Temperature and Humidity Sensor
• Mi Smart Smoke Detector
• Aqara Water Leak Sensor
• Mi smart Natural Gas Detector

Smart plugs and outlets

• Mi Smart Plug (CN)
• Aqara Wall Outlet (CN)

Lighting

• Ikea E14 White Spectrum
• Ikea GU10 White Spectrum
• Ikea E27 White Spectrum Opal
• Ikea E27 White Spectrum Clear
• Ikea E27 Warm White
• Ikea E14 Warm White
• Ikea GU10 Warm White
• Aqara/Opple MX960 Ceiling light
• Aqara/Opple MX650 Ceiling light
• Aqara/Opple MX480 Ceiling light

Miscellaneous

• Mi Cube
• Aqara Curtain Controller

There are a couple of placeholders for devices that when pressed, appear to be the forthcoming Aqara light detection sensor, and the Aqara US Light switches, but they fail to add after a few seconds, so there seems to be some work to do. If you were to compare this list to what can be added to the Aqara hub via the Mi Home app, there are a few omissions – once again, this is at the time of writing. By the time you read this review, these devices may well be added to the list;

• Aqara Mini Switch
• Aqara Vibration Sensor
• Aqara Cube
• Aqara Tunable White Bulb
• Aqara Wireless Relay Controller
• Aqara Curtain Controller B1
• Aqara Roller Shade Controller
• Aqara Door Lock S2
• Aqara Door Lock S2 Pro

It would seem whilst the current list of devices compatible with the Mi Smart Gateway isn’t as complete as it is for the Aqara gateway (at the time of writing this review), many of these devices are in fact supported, just not officially at this time, hence their omission. I’m fairly confident that the list of devices will continue to grow, and have since been informed that some devices previously not listed are now visible in the latest list to appear in Mi Home, which is updated from the cloud and doesn’t require an update as such.

There are also a few devices listed in the Aqara app that aren’t listed as officially being able to be added to the Mi Smart Gateway;

• Aqara Motion Sensor T1
• Aqara Door and Window Sensor T1
• Aqara Temperature and Humidity Sensor T1
• Aqara Water Leak Sensor T1
• Aqara Light Detection Sensor T1
• Aqara Smart Plug (US)
• Aqara Smart Plug (EU)
• Aqara Smart Plug T1 (CN)
• Wireless Mini Switch T1
• Aqara Spot Light (tunable white)
• Aqara Spot Light
• Aqara Down Light (tunable white)
• Aqara Door Lock HL
• Aqara Constant Current Driver T1-1
• Aqara Constant Current Driver T1-2

That’s quite a long list of devices that can’t be added, at least not officially, but as already stated, pretty much nearly every device that can be added to the Aqara hub right now will be supported by the Mi Smart Gateway at some point. As to whether this device is actually worth buying over the Aqara hub or even the forthcoming Aqara M2, is a pertinent question. We’ll address that a bit later, but at this point, it would appear that the Aqara hub still has an edge over this device;

Points in favour of the Aqara Hub compared to the Mi Smart Gateway;

• If you’re looking for a system that includes an alarm with a speaker and/or night light.
• If you can get the model of Aqara hub for your country, so there’s no need for an adaptor, and you’re ok with two outlets being blocked.
• If you live in a place where all of your child devices’ Zigbee signals are within reach of the hub.

Points in favour of the Mi Smart Gateway compared to the Aqara Hub;

• You’re looking for a hub that can be used with any USB cable and be used with a USB plug for your particular region.
• You prefer not to have both outlets blocked.

In the original version of this review, we reported on this device only supporting up to 32 devices. Later, from information we were supplied with soon after the review was published, in terms of the number of devices it can handle, it seems that the device can support up to 64 devices (various online stores, including Xiaomi’s official 3rd party store – Xiaomi Youpin – are reporting the number to be 32 devices), which is double the official number of devices the current Aqara Hub can handle. The mi.com online store for Mainland China states it can support up to 64 devices, so it seems it’s a case of who to believe. Given that the Mi smart Gateway is a brand new model, and therefore an upgrade, it’s logical to presume they would have doubled the amount of supported Zigbee devices from the original number. Additionally, Sebastian G, our source for all things Xiaomi, was previously able to dig into the backend of the Mi Home app to get information on the number of devices the gateway supported, which at that time was also listed as 64. So, it’s 32 or 64, depending on where you read it and who you believe!

Both the Aqara Hub and the Mi Smart Gateway are compatible with many of the Xiaomi Smart Home ecosystem ZigBee devices, although as previously mentioned, the Mi Smart Gateway is the first ZigBee device to attain ‘certified status’ from ZigBee, so in theory, the hub should be more compatible with 3rd party ZigBee devices, which looks promising when you see a few Ikea bulbs listed. If you currently try adding an Ikea bulb to either the previous-gen Mi Gateway, the Aqara G2 Camera hub or the current Aqara hub, you’ll get nowhere. This does not mean that the Mi Smart Gateway will necessarily expose the Ikea bulbs, or any other ZigBee device to HomeKit however, so unless you’re only invested in the Mi Home side of things, it may be of less interest to you.

BLUETOOTH DEVICES

Besides the hub using Zigbee, it can act as a hub for Bluetooth devices as well. Ordinarily, if you have any Xiaomi ecosystem devices, you would connect directly to them with your phone, but with this gateway, you can connect to them via wifi (via the hub). Although it’s a welcome addition, there are actually quite a few Xiaomi smart devices that already contain Bluetooth gateways, like the older Mi Security Camera and the Mi Multi-Sensor for example. Where Bluetooth connectivity does possibly become more important is with the Bluetooth Mesh gateway functionality, which essentially works in the same way that Zigbee does, in creating a network amongst devices, with devices in that network able relay information from one device to another as long as one device is within range of another, thus spreading the network device by device.

Adding Bluetooth devices doesn’t happen via the hub itself, instead, the Mi Home app allows you to discover Bluetooth devices, rather than select them from a list. The Bluetooth gateway part of the hub will then pick up these devices so that you can connect to them through the hub, rather than have to directly connect to them, which would require you to be within Bluetooth range of the device in questions.

As of yet, there aren’t too many Bluetooth Mesh products available in order to test the Bluetooth Mesh side of things. Currently, Yeelight has four Bluetooth mesh bulbs that are designed to work with their forthcoming HomeKit compatible Bluetooth Mesh Hub; an E27 bulb, an E14 bulb, along with a Downlight and a Spot Light. These should also be compatible with the Bluetooth Mesh gateway inside the Mi Smart Gateway, although we’ve yet to test any of these products.

ADDING DEVICES TO THE HUB

Adding devices to the hub has to be done via the Mi Home app, but thankfully it’s very easy.

• Click on the Hub tile in Mi Home
• on the next screen, click on ‘Child Device’
• Click on the ‘+’ button at the bottom of the screen

• The list of compatible devices will appear. Select the desired device
• On the next screen, you need to make the device enter Pairing Mode, which usually requires pressing and holding a button down
• The small LED on the hub will begin flashing red.
• Once paired, the device will be shown as added.
• The hub will then make a ‘beeping’ sound – two long, and one short, with the LED briefly flashing in amber then green, before returning to blue.
• If you delete a device, the hub will beep three times to let you know it has been deleted.

• Select the room the device will be located in, or create a new one if needed
• Rename the device as you see fit
• You can also share the device with other Mi Home users if required. If not, simply press ‘Let’s get started’

Your device is now in the Mi Home app and will be automatically be exposed to HomeKit

• Clicking on the tile for the newly added device in Mi Home brings up the UI, which in this particular case simply shows the Lux reading along with an Automation button
• In the Home app, the device will automatically be added. You will have to change the room to the correct location, as this info is not carried over from the Mi Home app (unless the device and the hub happen to be in the same room)
• You can check various aspects of the device. In the case of the light sensor, I can check the light level, battery status and do more in the settings page for the device.

ALARM FUNCTIONALITY

You’re probably wondering why, if the gateway has no speaker, would there be an alarm function. Well, although it doesn’t have a speaker as such, there is a sort of beeper/buzzer built in, which is the same one you hear ‘beeping’ when installing or removing a device for example. This is nowhere near as loud as the alarm on the Aqara hub, but it is loud enough to be annoying after a couple of seconds.

In the alarm (Guard) section, you have the four modes we’re starting to see appear more regularly in HomeKit, with the introduction of Abode to HomeKit, along with the recently released Onvis Security Alarm Contact sensor (read our review HERE). These modes; Basic, Home, Away, and Sleep, are designed for different scenarios, which allows for different sensors to be chosen for the different modes if you wish. For example, you might just want the door sensor as a trigger device if you’re at home, whilst you may want motion sensors in the daytime areas as triggers for when you’re asleep (sleep mode), and maybe all the sensors as triggers when you’re away (Away Mode).

The Guard screen shows a ‘radar’ type of graphic, that when turned on has a rotating line much as you’d see on a radar screen. Below that are buttons for three modes, which when pressed, activate that specific alarm type. You don’t see the ‘basic’ alarm here, as that’s always active. This can be used for devices that always have to be ‘on’, like water leak sensors, gas or smoke sensors etc. Below the mode buttons are panels for adding an alarm trigger device, the alert log, and adding a child device.

You also have access to other settings for the alarms by clicking on the three dots in the top left corner of the screen. You can customise the settings for each alarm mode, with the alert tone volume, the alert duration, and a countdown before an alarm is triggered. So, if you want an alarm to sound 10 seconds after a door sensor is triggered, then that can be done here.

In order to use the modes, you obviously need some kind of triggering device, whether that’s a door sensor, or a motion sensor etc. You’re not able to use the same sensor for the Basic mode and the other modes at the same time, due to the Basic mode being on permanently. Whilst the gateway doesn’t have a speaker, only the beeper I previously mentioned, the alarms work as expected. In ‘Home mode’, if a sensor is triggered, the beep sound is high pitched and not as piercing, whilst the beep used in Sleep, Basic and Away modes is of a lower pitch, but louder. If I were to compare the sound to something else, I’d say it’s somewhat akin to the sound you might have on a basic electronic alarm clock. So, enough to wake you up, but not suitable as a real alarm that would be heard by either an intruder or neighbours. As this hub isn’t an alarm in the sense that the Aqara hub is, this doesn’t get exposed to HomeKit as such, which in turn means you don’t get access to either the basic arm/disarm feature in the Home app, let alone the full four modes.

So, if it doesn’t have a decently loud enough speaker, what’s the point of the alarm? Well, not a lot at this time it seems! I can only imagine they are either planning on introducing a standalone alarm at some point, as we did discover evidence of Aqara working on something like this in the Summer of last year, which would be great – if it were HomeKit compatible of course. There is the option to create an automation that will trigger the alarm in another hub, like the Aqara or other Mi Gateways, so if you’re in need of an extra hub to complement an existing hub, then this works, but if you’re replacing an existing Mi hub, you’re gaining homekit functionality, but losing the alarm and night light function. If it’s your first hub, then it would really make sense to get the Aqara hub at this point, or wait for the Aqara M2.

IN USE / SUMMING UP

I’ve been using Aqara hubs since they were released back in August 2018, and despite a few issues here and there, they’ve been generally very reliable. The sensors that work with the hubs have also been among the best sensors and switches in my HomeKit setup, so did I need this hub to begin with? Not really. Obviously, getting something like this, with it being so cheap, allows me to review it for you, our readers, and that is the basis on which I bought it. If at some point on of my Aqara hubs decides to give up, then it’s a more than adequate replacement, minus the speaker and light, but also without the potential issue of having to use an adaptor (if I’m using the Chinese variant) and blocking two outlets with one device. This means there’s also the option for placing or mounting this elsewhere, other than directly in the wall socket if I so wish, with the help of a longer USB cable.

When it comes to how well it works, it’s a bit hard to say generally, as it doesn’t really do a lot. It’s merely a conduit for child devices to get exposed to HomeKit. On this basis, it does the job quite well, although at present it would seem that not all devices are exposed to HomeKit right now; I tried adding an Aqara double rocker switch and a four-button Aqara/Opple Switch, both of which are on the list of compatible devices. However, when I added them, neither were exposed to HomeKit, which they are if they are added to the Aqara hub. This may simply be due to the child devices needing separate certification from Apple due to them going through a new hub, despite them being certified to work with HomeKit via the Aqara hub, so I’m almost certain this is a temporary thing. Indeed, after adding the Aqara Temperature and Humidity sensor, this was immediately exposed to HomeKit, so it’s not as though all Aqara products are blocked as such. Other devices I added for test purposes, were the Mi Wireless switch, the Mi Light Sensor (which I’ll be reviewing soon) and the Mi Motion Sensor, all of which appeared in the Apple Home app soon after adding them to the Mi Smart Gateway.

There seems to be one bug, which I’ve seen at least one other person report, which originates from the hub itself. For a reason I’m not entirely sure of, the Gateway will emit two long beeps, sometimes twice in a row. I initially thought this might be as the result of a connected sensor, but this has happened at seemingly random times, even when there are no devices connected to the hub, so I’m at a loss as to why this is happening. In fact, even though this is only a beep, it’s quite annoying when it happens unexpectedly, so I’d consider this to be a simple, but a potentially big issue, if you have it in a bedroom for example.

Besides that, the device itself is easy on the eyes, and very budget-friendly coming in at between US$25-30 depending on where you buy it from and does what it sets out to do. Would I recommend it if the M2 were available? Probably not, based on the M2 having an ethernet port and a larger child device capacity, but if the M2 doesn’t deliver when it comes to Bluetooth Mesh, then it makes the playing field between the M2 and this hub a bit more level. Compared to the current Aqara hub, I’d still probably recommend sticking with the Aqara hub right now, unless the price is a major issue, as the US hub is currently more than double the price on Amazon.

For me personally, this isn’t needed, and will be placed back in its box, and await further deployment in case of emergency. This is not to say it’s no good, but as a review unit, it has served its purpose for now and can wait its turn, if I decide to try out some Bluetooth mesh lighting in the future.

The post Mi Smart Gateway (review) appeared first on Homekit News and Reviews.

The sensor can measure as much as 83,000 lux or as little as 2 lux. The sensor is ZigBee 3.0 and uses a CR2450 coin battery for power. It can be used outdoor and is waterproof (no details on IP rating yet).

Currently compatible with the new Mi Smart Gateway and the Aqara hub.

The post Mijia Light Sensor appeared first on Homekit News and Reviews.

Specifications:

• Connects to your network via wifi
• Uses Zigbee 3.0 to connect to your Mijia Smart Home ecosystem Zigbee devices
• Uses Bluetooth to connect your Mijia Smart Home Bluetooth devices, like Mi and Aqara Smart Locks
• Uses Bluetooth Mesh to connect suitable devices, like Yeelight Bluetooth Mesh bulbs

Works with Mi and Aqara motion sensors, contact sensors, temperature/humidity sensors, Smart Plugs/sockets, Cube Controller, Mijia/Honeywell Smoke and Gas detectors and many more devices in the Xiaomi ecosystem, many of which are HomeKit compatible.

The post Mijia Smart Gateway appeared first on Homekit News and Reviews.

There are many areas in which HomeKit needs more devices (video doorbells being a perennial ‘favourite’), with some product categories simply totally lacking. One category that currently has just one option that I’m aware of, is standing fans, with the only known HomeKit compatible fan being the Airmate SA35195R Smart Fan, which, if you can actually it, is very expensive.

With that in mind, and with Siri Shortcuts and the Shortcuts app expanding its capabilities in iOS13, one obvious solution is with devices that are part of the Xiaomi ecosystem. The Xiaomi Home app (also referred to as Mi Home) works very well with Siri Shortcuts and has many smart standing fans as part of its smart system. These fans are available in many parts of the EU as well as Asia and international stores like AliExpress, GearBest and Banggood. Although there are a few variations of the basic same model out there, with slightly different names, depending on where you are, many of them look the same and have the basic functions. Some come with a built-in battery but essentially do the same job and in many instances have the same app interface. The one we’re reviewing today is simply known in Taiwan as the Mi Standing Fan and can be bought here for only NT$1995 (UK£53.00/US$65.00), although you can expect to pay a fair bit more from the aforementioned international stores. So, how does it work with Siri Shortcuts and more importantly, is it any good? Read on to find out.

As this is quite a large device, even when unassembled, the packaging is rather plain, so there’s nothing to talk about in terms of this aspect, although you’ll be happy to note that the fan is really well packed and should easily withstand overseas shipping without any issues.

THE FAN AND COMPONENT PARTS

When you open the box there are quite a few different parts, but a quick glance at the manual and it all begins to look a lot easier to put together. The parts for the fan itself consist of the seven-blade fan, a screw fitting to hold the rear half of the fan cage in place when connected to the stem of the standing fan, and a cap to hold the fan itself in place so that it doesn’t fly off when in motion.

The fan and the fan cage, which comes in two halves, connect to the fan motor, which is attached to the stem of the fan. The stem also connects to the base of the standing fan.

The stem of the fan is secured to the base with a large bolt, so it really is quite straightforward to put together.

The base of the stand contains a cutout for a port to connect a C7 type power cable, with the cable also having a non-polarised type A plug on the other end (in the case of my version).

The base has a connector with which the stem of the fan connects to the base. The underside of the base has a hole for where the bolt can be inserted, in order to keep the fan stem and the base securely in place. The base of the fan has nothing to distinguish itself, other than a small indented marker to show where the front of the fan should be pointing. The front of the fan cage also has nothing, save for a simple Mijia logo on the front, so the whole product is actually quite minimalist.

Although the fan can be controlled via the app, or via voice control (which we’ll get to later), you can also control the fan with the four included buttons located at the top of the fan motor housing. There are also five small green LEDs to indicate various states;

• The single LED at the top will be solid green if the fan is on and connected to your wifi network. If the LED is flashing, it means it is attempting to connect to your network or is offline.

The four LEDs in a row have three main functions, but by way of a quick explanation regarding functions I’ll be mentioning, the fan has a ‘normal’ fan mode which is capable of four different standard speeds, and a ‘natural wind’ mode, which attempts to replicate a gentle breeze, with an ebbing and flowing speed applied to the fan;

• the LEDs will slowly glow to indicate that the ‘natural wind’ mode is active. If in the normal fan mode you had the speed set to the highest, then in the ‘natural wind’ mode, the four LEDs would glow, with only one of the LEDs glowing at the lowest speed, and so on.
• The LEDs will each turn on, in turn, to indicate the fan speed, so if one LED is on, then it’s at its slowest speed, with four LEDs on indicating the top speed.
• As in the previous point, the LEDs will each turn on, in turn, to indicate the oscillation angle at which the fan has been set to when you press on the oscillation button. So, if one LED is on, then the fan is set to a 30º oscillation angle, with four LEDs on indicating 120º oscillation angle.

After the LEDs there are four buttons;

1. The first button turns the fan on or off when you press and hold it. A simple short press will alternate between ‘normal’ fan mode and ‘natural wind’ fan mode.
2. The second button allows the fan to rotate in the horizontal plane, with options for oscillating angles of 30º, 60º, 90º, 120º or off. Each subsequent press cycles to the next option sequentially, before returning to off.
3. The third button is for turning the timer function on or off. Timers are set in the app.
4. The fourth button controls the speed of the fan in ‘normal’ fan mode. Pressing the button cycles through the four different speed steps in sequence.

Whilst the fan’s rotation can be controlled in the horizontal plane remotely from the app, the fan motor can also be physically adjusted with a 100º field of movement in the vertical plane, although this can’t be done remotely.

BASIC SPECIFICATIONS

The fan is mostly ABS plastic, with a metal tube for the stem. The fan is 900mm/35in from the base to the top of the fan cage. The base is 330mm/13in wide, with the fan/cage 340mm/13.4in wide. The model I have needs 110v @ 50/60Hz, but other models would also cover 220-240v, which I suspect this model also does.

IN THE MI HOME APP

In order to control the fan from your iPhone initially, you will need to add it to the Mi Home app. If you don’t already use it, it’s free but you need to register an account with Xiaomi in order to do so. On the main screen on the Mi Home app, you can turn the fan on or off without having to go into the control panel, but within the settings for the Mi Home app, you can also enable a feature called ‘Shortcut Card’ – which is totally separate from the Shortcuts app and functions. All the shortcuts cards do is give you access to additional functions for the relevant device. So in the case of the fan, you can control the speed of the fan, turn the oscillation on or off, as well as turn the fan on or off.

In the control panel for the fan, you get full access to all the settings. At the top is a nice (but probably unnecessary) little circle animation. Below this you have four buttons;

• Turn on/off
• standard fan mode
• natural wind fan mode
• Fan speed

The colour scheme will change from blue to green if you select the ‘Natural wind’ option. Below these four buttons is a slider bar that allows you to steplessly control the speed of the fan (from off to 100). Then below that, you have five individual buttons for the oscillation angle – off, 30º, 60º, 90º and 120º. One nice touch is a couple of rectangular buttons that allow you to move the fan left or right in single steps, should you want to move the fan in a slightly different direction, as opposed to setting the oscillation option on, and trying to stop it when it reaches the desired position. After this you get some basic preference controls, so you have a timer slider, which allows you to set a time for the fan to count down to before it turns off. 8hrs is the maximum it will count down from which is more than enough for most situations. You can both disable notification sounds (or confirmation sounds), which can be a little loud late at night, as well as adjust the brightness of the LEDs. The final two options are for an alert in case of a malfunction, and a parental control lock, which locks the physical buttons on the device, leaving the app as the only way of controlling the fan.

CONTROL USING SIRI SHORTCUTS

In terms of integration with Siri Shortcuts, I’v already covered this topic in a previous ‘How to…’ tutorial, however, I’ll go through the basics of how it works, as things have slightly changed in iOS 13 in this regard.

• Starting off in the Mi Home app you start by creating an automation – so click on the Automation tab at the bottom of the home screen and click on the ‘+’ icon in the top corner
• in the ‘IF’ section, select ‘Complete manually’ – you need to do this with any automation that you plan to use with a Shortcut
• In the ‘THEN’ section, scroll down until you find the Mi Standing Fan and select it.
• Select the automation you want to ultimately control via with Siri Shortcuts

• Once you have done this, the completed automation will be displayed.
• You then just click ‘Save’ and name the automation.
• The new automation will appear at the top of the list of automations you’ve created, with an ‘Add to Siri’ button at the top.

• When you click on the ‘Add to Siri’ button, a list of previously created automations will appear, with the most recently created one at the bottom, with another ‘Add to Siri’ button.
• Once you click on this ‘Add to Siri’ button, the ‘Add to Siri’ screen will appear, asking you to create a phrase in order to trigger the automation.
• once you’ve added your unique phrase, click on the blue ‘Add to Siri’ box to complete the Shortcut and you’re done.
• If you look in the Shortcuts app, a tile relating to the automation you just created will be generated, which in iOS 12 didn’t happen.

You can now trigger your automation via Siri or by pressing the newly created tile in the Shortcuts app. With the expanded abilities for Siri Shortcuts, there are a lot more possibilities, but I’ll leave that for another article for now.

AUTOMATIONS VIA HOMEKIT…?

This is sort of a trick question in a way, but with two distinct answers – first of all, if you’re familiar with HomeBridge or HomeAssistant, then the fan can be added to HomeKit and is fully functional as if it were a standard HomeKit device.

Now the other alternative isn’t, strictly speaking, HomeKit, although the fan itself can be controlled with a HomeKit compatible device. If you’re lucky enough to own the Aqara hub and have either Mijia or Aqara temperature or motion sensors, then you’ll know that these are HomeKit compatible. If you’re also using the Mi Home app (not the Aqara app, unfortunately) and have the fan installed along with these sensors, then you can create automations with them to trigger the fan. Admittedly, the automation isn’t created in the Home app as such, but if for example, an Aqara temperature sensor is the main sensor in a given room of your house, then essentially the temperature sensor is both able to monitor and report back on the conditions in your home from within HomeKit, but also control the fan when it’s relevant to do so, via Mi Home – if the temperature in the living room got a bit high for example. Maybe one day we’ll be able to create automations via the Shortcuts app that will allow any HomeKit enabled sensor to trigger the Mi Fan, but as it stands, that’s either quite complicated or simply not possible right now, although I’m told IFTTT may possibly be able to achieve this kind of thing with the use of Webhooks, depending on the app and company.

IN DAY-TO-DAY USE
I’d love a fan that’s compatible with HomeKit, but for the price of these, I can live without such a thing for now. Aside from that, is the fan any good? The answer is a short “Absolutely!”. There are some products that are part of the Xiaomi ecosystem that really stand out in many ways, either for their design, their list of functions, or not forgetting the value for money you tend to get. The Mi Standing fan is one such device, along with a recently purchased Roborock S6 automated vacuum cleaner, which we’ll be reviewing soon.

The fan is actually quite quiet for the amount of air it pushes out, which whilst not as powerful as some fans we have here (all Taiwan households seem to have a selection of fans) the ‘noise to power’ ratio is good enough for me. The Mi Standing fan uses Wifi to connect to your network, and until recently was very reliable in this respect – the Fan itself is reliable, but for some reason, a couple of Xiaomi ecosystem devices seem to be reporting poor wifi connectivity, despite being close to the router. This has been reported by other people too, so I know it’s not an issue particular to my home, and will hopefully be fixed with an update to the Mi Home app, which I feel is the culprit in this instance. Regardless of this, it doesn’t in any way affect the fan, and either via the app, automations, or via Siri shortcuts, the fan has excelled every time. It also looks good too, and regular cleaning of the fan isn’t an issue, as taking it apart to clean the relevant pieces is actually quite easy (as can be seen in the video earlier in this review).

In all honesty, I don’t have a bad word to say about it. If only it could get official HomeKit support, I think Xiaomi could do really well, as there really isn’t any meaningful competition out there in the HomeKit arena. Now I’ve already stated that there are a few different versions of this fan, with one particular model even including a battery for cordless power, but in general, the differences, including the different names (like SmartMi instead of Mi for example) are mostly cosmetic.

I’m fairly sure that there will be some that would argue that a cheap smart plug, along with a cheap and powerful fan would be just as good, but a setup of that type is going to give you on and off, and nothing more. A smart plug isn’t going to be able to change the speed of the fan, or enable or disable an oscillation option – if the fan even has one – so, this alternative doesn’t come close to what can be achieved with this fan and the associated app – and Siri Shortcuts of course. If you’re in the market fora fan, and are happy with Siri Shortcuts for your voice control, this is easily one of the best options around right now, at least until someone makes a HomeKit compatible model.

The post Mi Smart Standing Fan (review) appeared first on Homekit News and Reviews.

• Multiple Possibilities: Choose from 16 million colours to match your mood & environment. You can now personalize your lighting to meet your personal needs. Multi lighting scenes (movie, romantic, etc), always a scenario is what you need now
• Healthy Lighting Experience: Use a professional optical structure and high-quality LED elements. These ensure a stable light source and constant eye protection while preventing flickering. Adjustable brightness means you can configure just the right amount of lighting only for you
• Remote Control: You can control your smart light bulb with the free Mi Home APP anywhere, anytime
• Long Service Life: Up to 11 years of service life. With an extremely low wattage of 10 watts providing 800 lumens, comparable to 60W incandescent bulbs, you can find cool while saving money
• Voice Control: Google Assistant, Alexa compatible and Apple HomeKit compatible, no hub required. Whether individual or group Mi smart light bulb supports voice control

• Model No. – MJDP02YL
• Lamp Holder – E27
• Luminous Flux – 800lm
• Colour Temperature – 1700K-6500K
• Life Expectancy Approx. – 25,000 hours
• Connectivity – Wi-Fi IEEE 802.11 b/g/n 2.4GHz
• Rated Input – 100V-240V~50/60Hz
• Rated Power – 10W

The post Mi LED Smart Bulb appeared first on Homekit News and Reviews.

Putting that all to one side, there have been quite a few accessories sitting in plain view for a while, that since late last year have been HomeKit compatible, albeit via the Aqara hub. In fact, even though Aqara has been the most notable presence, many of the equivalent products with the Mi/Mijia branding were already working with the Aqara hub from the beginning, with it being made official a little while later through updates to the Aqara hub. One such device is the Mi Wireless Switch. A fairly simple and unassuming button, but one that you may still find interesting.

PACKAGING
As with other Mi/Mijia products I own or have reviewed, the packaging is simple and understated, with the product on the front, with no other adornments at all. The rear of the box has the basic details listed, in Chinese, although these can easily be understood. The box itself is actually just a sleeve that slides over the top of the inner holder, itself keeping the switch in place. Here are the basic specs for the Mi Wireless Switch;

• Connection: Zigbee
• Battery: CR2032
• Operating temperature: -10ºC to +50ºC / 14ºF to +122ºF
• Dimensions: 50 x 50 x 13mm / 2 x 2 x 0.51″

Inside the box, you get the switch itself, along with a manual in Chinese (or other languages, depending on where you buy it), and a spare double-sided sticker. The switch comes with an adhesive patch already in place on the back, so should you need to relocate the switch after you’d already placed it somewhere, you can use the spare. I bought this from a physical store in Taipei, Taiwan, and so everything is in Traditional Chinese, as you would expect, although you really shouldn’t need to read the manual for the most part.

THE SWITCH
The switch itself is ‘all button’ on the front. By that I mean the whole front surface is the switch, so the button isn’t housed in a surrounding casing as such, unlike the equivalent Aqara Mini Wireless Switch. Whilst the base of the switch is necessarily flat, the button part is convex, raising the surface slightly. The travel of the button is not dissimilar to the feel you get with the individual buttons Philips Hue Dimmer switch, in that there’s a bit of ‘play’. If you press the button towards the edge, then you can feel it not pressing down equally, but more to the side, but only slightly. The comparison to the Hue Dimmer switch is a little unfair, as the Hue does feel quite ‘loose’ even when not pressed, whereas the Mi Wireless Switch feels solid, wherever you press it, almost to the point that you may not always notice at all. The body of the switch is made of the same matt finish plastic that many of the other Xiaomi products are made, and that’s no bad thing at all, which makes it fingerprint resistant, although it may be more inclined to pick up grease/dirt from your fingers over time. The front of the switch features an indented Mijia logo.

The rear of the switch comes with an included adhesive sticker already in place. In the centre of the rear of the switch, you have two small holes, only one of which you can use. The larger of the two, which also has a small ‘button’ icon, is for when you wish to pair or reset the switch. The other hole, which has a ‘light’ icon, displays a very small blue LED which only presents itself when in pairing or reset modes, so other than these occasions, you’re not going to see anything here, especially if the switch is stuck to a wall. Removing the rear case will reveal the same two holes again, with ‘LINK’ and ‘LED’ next to the respective holes. There’s a recess for a CR2032 battery. The battery should last up to 2 years depending on usage.

When it comes to getting into the battery compartment, this is probably the only, and in some ways, major design flaw. If the switch has yet to be stuck to any kind of surface, you may find it a thankless task getting into the compartment without a lot of effort. There’s a small tab that you need to lift up (with a small screwdriver, sim pin or similar) as you rotate the switch and the rear casing in opposite directions. This might seem simple enough in principle, but as the button ‘presses in’ whenever you’re trying to hold it, along with the fact there’s nothing to grip onto on the underside of the switch, it makes it almost impossible. However, if you do stick the device to a surface, and subsequently remove the switch from the battery compartment lid, then it’s very easy – as the lid is stuck to the surface, you’re free to use a small pin to lift the small tab and rotate the button in order to get to the battery. In fairness, the Aqara switch isn’t much better; Whilst the Aqara switches battery compartment lid has a groove with which you can use a coin to rotate it open, the plastic used is a bit soft, and so the groove can easily be worn to the point where you can’t use anything to open it, although again, this problem can be negated if you choose to stick it to a surface, in which case a simple turn of the body of the switch is all that’s needed to get access to the battery compartment.

INSTALLATION
When it comes to using this with Apple’s Home app, you will need the Aqara Hub as the gateway to get it exposed to HomeKit. Thankfully this is a painless process. As with all Mi/Aqara Zigbee devices, this needs to go through the hub.

1. Open the Mi Home app and click on the ‘+’ sign in the top corner
2. Select the Household Security tab, then the Mi Wireless Switch
3. Choose your hub – it needs to be the Aqara hub to be exposed to HomeKit
4. Reset the device by pressing a sim pin into the reset hole and follow the voice instructions from the hub and visual instructions in the app
5. once added, choose the room it’ll be located in and name the switch as necessary
6. It will then automatically appear in Apple’s Home app, although you will once again have to assign it to a room, as this data is not carried over from the Mi Home app

USING THE SWITCH IN MI HOME AND APPLE HOME
The Switch itself has three basic functions just like most other HomeKit enabled switches – single press, double press and long press. This applies to both the Mi Home and Apple Home apps. Now, if you look at the simple automation I’ve created in the Mi Home app, you should note that both the switch and the Mi plug that it’s operating are exposed to HomeKit, so there’s no reason why I can’t create an automation in the Home app, but in this case I’ve chosen to create an automation in the Mi Home app, as I’ll explain shortly. The automation is very simple;

• A single press on the Mi Wireless Switch turns the Mi smart plug on/off
• The Mi smart plug has a fan plugged into it
• When I press the Mi Wireless switch, the smart plug turns on (or off)
• When the smart plug turns on, the fan comes on
• If I press the switch again, the plug turns off, and the fan turns off

Now I can create this kind of automation in a 3rd party HomeKit app, but it’s a bit more involved and doesn’t always work too well. The Mi Home offers a simple on/off toggle automation without the need for clever programming, so the one button press alternately turns the plug on and off perfectly well, and the automation is very simple as you can see. As with any switches from either Aqara or Mi, the great thing is that you can assign functions to both HomeKit and non-Homekit (Mi Home) devices, which in my case means I can control some LiFX (HomeKit) and Yeelight bulbs (Mi Home), all with the one switch.

WRAPPING UP
All things considered, this is a cheap and cheerful bit of kit. it’s not the kind of things you’d generally use as a replacement for an in-wall light switch, as it’s a little small and insubstantial, but for specific lights in cupboards, or for turning a fan on, or perhaps placed on a coffee table, or better still, for use in arming your Aqara alarm set up, it could prove very useful, while being unobtrusive. At NT$195.00 in Taiwan, it works out at less than UK£5.00 or just over US$6.00, which is ridiculously cheap. Assuming you’re able to buy this from a local Mi Store, then you can expect a similar price, although buying from online stores like GearBest will be a bit more expensive, but still much cheaper than much of the competition – if you already have the Aqara hub of course. So, other than the issue with getting into the battery compartment, there’s nothing bad to say about this device.

The post Mi Wireless Switch (review) appeared first on Homekit News and Reviews.

English Version available HERE.

这次米家台灯 1S 在包装上完全没有米家台灯 1代用心，只皮箱明显薄了许多，顶部增加了手提带，方便线下实体店销售。但是本次产品是在官网购买（小米上海仓库直发上海），纤薄的纸皮箱在没有外包运输箱的情况下，快递运输已经将外箱压的变形，好在内部产品并没有损坏。

包装内部均包含台灯本身，小米台灯 1S 底部和台灯附带的快速使用指南里多包含了一个 Apple HomeKit 的配对二维码。

小米台灯 1S配备了和 Pro 版本相同的 DSA-12PF05-12 LED控制装置，体稍微要大于1代，拥有100-240V 50/60Hz 宽频输入电压，强劲的 12V1A 的输出功率，保证台灯在峰值输出的时候，控制装置仍然可以供给匹配的电流。接头位置也和 Pro 版本一样升级为 90度 的连接器，方便在桌面上摆放。

将产品接通电源，产品设置过程十分简单，如果你在 iOS 平台上设置，只需打开家庭 app，扫描二维码，就可以快速添加到 Apple 家庭 app 里，稍后打开米家 app，就会弹出一个米家配对窗口，点击配对就可以快速完成配对。

或者你也可以先打开米家 app，扫描周围的蓝牙设备，来快速设置设备的 Wi-Fi，在设置完成的最后，如果是 Apple HomeKit 平台，还可以将台灯添加到 Apple 家庭 app。

科学合理的散热结构，成就25000小时的合理使用寿命。光通量从上一代的300lm 提升到了 520lm ，显色指数从 Ra83 提升到了 Ra90。

小米台灯 1S 的控制与初代相同，按下旋钮来开关台灯，旋转旋钮调节台灯亮度，按住并旋转按钮来调节色温。

对比 Pro 灵活多变的调节姿势，米家台灯 1S 仅支持一字转轴处调节，当仰角过高时，灯光容易刺眼。由于调节角度相对比较简单，底盘的配重也要比 Pro 版本轻上许多，但是不管你如何调节灯光角度，台灯依旧摆放稳定。

全新的 90度转角电源接口，保证桌面摆放的时候线缆依旧整洁。

同时支持 Apple HomeKit 和米家 app，让智能家居拥有更多玩法，更强大的兼容性，配合小爱同学，Siri，让开动动嘴就能关灯，也是生活的乐事。

小米台灯 1S 这次的更新，很好的解决了1代产品无法支持 HomeKit 的不足，升级 700lm 的通光亮也可以满足电脑屏幕补光的需求。继承了1代台灯金奖设计的外观，179元的官方零售价只比1代高了10元，拥有了 Apple HomeKit 与米家两个国际，国内较大的智能家居平台支持。同时支持召唤 Siri 和小爱同学，玩法更多，更加实用。这些实用的升级是否能够打动你，欢迎在评论留下你的意见。

The post 小米台灯 1S 测评。 appeared first on Homekit News and Reviews.