The Mi LED Wi-Fi Smart Bulb appears to be yet another value offering from Xiaomi, but is it the best option in its segment.
The numbers clearly suggest that Xiaomi is winning the smartphone game in the Indian market. However, there’s much more to the company than just the mobile devices. Xiaomi has a huge portfolio in the homegrown market which consumers in India are not much aware of. Mi Air Purifiers, Mi TVs, Mi Shoes, Bagpacks, etc. are just the tip of the iceberg of the big product portfolio that the company is known for in the homegrown market.
Lighting is not just about improving visibility in the darkness but it defines ambience and even has the power to lift your mood. Xiaomi’s Mi LED WiFi Smart bulb with 16 million colours, 800 lumens brightness, close to 11 years of run time (claimed by Xiaomi) does all this and is a step ahead. Just plug it in, and it seamlessly fits into your smart home setup.
While you have the luxury of controlling Mi LED bulb using the Mi Home app from the comfort of your bed, what’s even better is the bulb responding to voice commands. Compatible with both Google Home and Amazon Alexa, I tested the Mi LED bulb with the latter. To enable pairing, I had to use the Alexa app. ‘Mi Home’ skill was already activated on my Alexa account, but a new user will have to do so by looking for the skill, hitting the ‘activate’ button and logging in using the same account used for the ‘Mi Home’ app. Tapping on the ‘+’ initiates Alexa to search for compatible devices available and the LED bulb will be added to the list.
Controls, modes and more: I could turn on/off the bulbs right from the switchboard but then what’s the point of these smart features? Instead, I preferred using it with the Mi Home app and voice commands.
The app is intuitive to use. There are five different icons at the bottom, offering a world of controls. First is the power icon, using which I was able to turn it on and off with a touch. The rest four – ‘white’, ‘color’, ‘flow’ and ‘favourites’ – can be used for changing colours, control brightness and more. Using the ‘white’ mode, I was able to choose between the white and yellow colour palette. I used the ‘color’ icon to switch between blue, yellow, green, pink, red and so many more shades. In ‘flow’ mode, the colour of LED would change automatically after every few seconds. Just like many other smart bulb apps, even this has some predefined modes under ‘favorites’ – candle, romantic, movie, sunset and more. I was able to add my personal favourites too and even schedule the timings when the bulb will turn on and switch off. All these features are available on the Mi Home app available for iOS and Android both. But Android users also get to choose the colour from an image and the bulb replicates the same.
SPECIFICATION
- Power requirement- 10 W
- Rated Input- 220-240V~50/60Hz
- Brightness: 80 to 800 lumens Adjustable Color Temperature: 1,700- 6,500K
- Lifespan- About 25,000 hours
- Support for 16M colors
- Voice control support via Google Assistant & AmazoN Alexa
- In-built Wi-Fi module
- Various Preset Lighting styles
Priced at ₹ 1,299 (Mi Store)