Xiaomi’s latest XiaoAI Speaker has a simple white
mesh design, very similar to their previous smart speakers. It even retains the
same rectangular prism design. On the top are the controls which include the play/pause
button, volume control buttons and the microphone mute button. Aesthetically,
it’s almost identical to the previous speaker.
It comes with a Hi-Fi audio processing chips, as
well as a 360-degree sound field and professional DTS tuning. The smart
speaker’s main function is its ability to control several smart home products.
Xiaomi says it can control up to 5000 different smart home products. It is able
to connect to these products via Xiaomi Bluetooth Mesh Gateway.
For example, it can connect to the Mijia Bluetooth
Temperature and Humidity sensor and you can ask the speaker what the
temperature or humidity is and it will get the readings from the sensor. That
way, you don’t have to get up to check the readings on the sensor or open the
Mijia app to view the readings.
So, what exactly sets the Pro apart from the
standard XiaoAI Speaker? First off, the Pro features a black colour scheme over
the standard’s white. On top of that, the Pro also has support for Xiaomi’s IR
remote, allowing for easier control over Xiaomi’s large variety of household
products. The normal XiaoAI Speaker will set you back at 269 yuan (US$ 38), while
the Pro costs a slightly higher 299 yuan (US$ 42).
