Hi there, in the last few months I have bought and installed various Mi Home connected devices in my house...
Most of them work flawlessly, but with some of them I have encountered a few issues... I will try to write about them here.
First of all here are the devices I have now:
Air quality monitor (PM2,5 measure)
IR remote blaster
Rice cooker
Mi hub Gateway (new version)
Door and window sensors
Human body motion sensors (both versions)
Temperature and humidity sensor
Yeelight color lamps
IMI home security camera
Hualai Xiaofang camera
Aqara gateway camera
Water leak sensor
Smoke sensor
A couple of simple switches
Round switch (more functions than the simple ones)
Vima smart lock
And I am waiting for the new motion sensor (not IR body sensor, the one you place on an object you want to monitor its movement, such as a door or window), it is on back order for the moment.
All of the above is connected to the MiHome app, which is of course set with location Mainland China because some of the devices would not work otherwise (like the PM2,5 monitor or the IR blaster)
I cannot enter into details about every one of the above devices, it would take ages...
But the idea was to build a nice home automation and security package at a relatively low cost
And it seems that it is working (toghether with a set of Philips Hue lams, a Netatmo thermostat and weather station and three WiFi routers)!!
The idea behind the Mi products was to use them as a security system (the body sensors, the door and window sensors, the gateway, the lock etc), monitoring and security (the cameras) and lighting scheduling and automation (the Yeelights).
I have sucessfully connected and programed all the above and created automation scenarios that notify me in case movement is detected by the cameras or the sensors when I am away. I also can operate me A/C units remotely using the 2 IR remotes, monitor air quality, get notified if there is smoke in the kitchen, a water leak beneath the sink (where the dish washer also lies) and get readings of the temperature and humidity in a room where I haven't installed a Netatmo module (I have three of those in the other rooms). I use the gateway as an intrusion alarm, in combination with some of the sensors.
The good thing with the Mi devices is that you can create several kinds of automation scenarios by combining readings from different devices (the temperature sensor, the air quality sensor, the door and window ones etc) and create commands for the other devices (such as the A/C units or the lamps) or send notifications to your phone.
I am using the switches to arm the gateway alarm, to turn on and off the Yeelight bulbs and as a doorbell (rings the gateway bell and sends notification to my phone). I can also program them to record a short video clip from the cameras when pushed if I want (this can be useful in combination with the doorbell function if you have a camera installed in front of the house entrance, which I will do in the future).
Here are some problems that I have encountered:
The fact that the region is set at Mainland China means that some of the devices set the time automatically at Shanghai time zone. The rice cooker for instance works and displays Shanghai time and when I have to program it to prepare the rice for a specific time, I have to calculate the time difference and set it accordingly. Some other ones are more confused, like the Yeelight bulbs that I have programmed a schedule using local time and it worked, but later I found out that the times had changed and the ones displayed now are Shanghai ones. I think that the schedule works fine, though...
Some of the devices that are meant to be sold only in China have some of the menus in the app only in Chinese. The biggest problems came with the IR blaster, where all the commands available for the A/C units are in Chinese, so I have to guess which button is for cooling, which is for heating etc. Forunately, for some of them there are symbols, too...
Although one of the human body sensors I have has also an ambient light sensor (lux meter), it cannot be used to create an automation to set a device (a lamp, usually) to operate when it gets dark. I just wanted the lamps to turn on when the sun sets and turn off again when it rises in the morning, but it is not possible using the sensor. It is only possible to use preset times for sunset and sunrise, which would be fine if the range of available locations to choose from were not only Chinese cities. If I chose a different region in the MiHome app this would probably change, but then a big part of the devices I have would stop working too, so I choose to rather not do this...
The door lock, a new product if I am not mistaken is pretty cool. It protects the lock from being picked and alerts you if an unauthorised key is inserted. You can allow any ones of the 5 keys provided to unlock the lock at a given moment. You can create automation scenarios in case an unautorised key is inserted, or if you just forget to take the key out of the lock after opening the door. You can also see which authorised key is used to open the door and when, all day long... Nice. Negatives? Yes, some of the menus are still in Chinese (the automation menu, for example) and it seems that there is no way to disable the warning signal when you leave a key on the lock, in case you need to do that.
The Aqara gateway camera is nice, too. And there is a way to make it send push notifications to your phone when it senses movement, by creating an appropriate automation scenario.
The Hualai Xiaofang camera is good because it gives you a totally spherical view of everything around it ! The image quality is not that great, though. This is probably because the image is anamorphic and this is done using software...
The rice cooker rocks ! I haven't tasted better cooked rice !! And it can make yoghurt and several other things, too. Steamed vegetables are super easy and well cooked.
I still have to get the Robot vacuum, but it is quite expensive, will do it in the future (with a furry dog and two cats in the house it will be quite useful)
There you are, please don't hesitate to ask questons about all the above if you feel the urge...
Cheers
George
Most of them work flawlessly, but with some of them I have encountered a few issues... I will try to write about them here.
First of all here are the devices I have now:
Air quality monitor (PM2,5 measure)
IR remote blaster
Rice cooker
Mi hub Gateway (new version)
Door and window sensors
Human body motion sensors (both versions)
Temperature and humidity sensor
Yeelight color lamps
IMI home security camera
Hualai Xiaofang camera
Aqara gateway camera
Water leak sensor
Smoke sensor
A couple of simple switches
Round switch (more functions than the simple ones)
Vima smart lock
And I am waiting for the new motion sensor (not IR body sensor, the one you place on an object you want to monitor its movement, such as a door or window), it is on back order for the moment.
All of the above is connected to the MiHome app, which is of course set with location Mainland China because some of the devices would not work otherwise (like the PM2,5 monitor or the IR blaster)
I cannot enter into details about every one of the above devices, it would take ages...
But the idea was to build a nice home automation and security package at a relatively low cost
And it seems that it is working (toghether with a set of Philips Hue lams, a Netatmo thermostat and weather station and three WiFi routers)!!
The idea behind the Mi products was to use them as a security system (the body sensors, the door and window sensors, the gateway, the lock etc), monitoring and security (the cameras) and lighting scheduling and automation (the Yeelights).
I have sucessfully connected and programed all the above and created automation scenarios that notify me in case movement is detected by the cameras or the sensors when I am away. I also can operate me A/C units remotely using the 2 IR remotes, monitor air quality, get notified if there is smoke in the kitchen, a water leak beneath the sink (where the dish washer also lies) and get readings of the temperature and humidity in a room where I haven't installed a Netatmo module (I have three of those in the other rooms). I use the gateway as an intrusion alarm, in combination with some of the sensors.
The good thing with the Mi devices is that you can create several kinds of automation scenarios by combining readings from different devices (the temperature sensor, the air quality sensor, the door and window ones etc) and create commands for the other devices (such as the A/C units or the lamps) or send notifications to your phone.
I am using the switches to arm the gateway alarm, to turn on and off the Yeelight bulbs and as a doorbell (rings the gateway bell and sends notification to my phone). I can also program them to record a short video clip from the cameras when pushed if I want (this can be useful in combination with the doorbell function if you have a camera installed in front of the house entrance, which I will do in the future).
Here are some problems that I have encountered:
The fact that the region is set at Mainland China means that some of the devices set the time automatically at Shanghai time zone. The rice cooker for instance works and displays Shanghai time and when I have to program it to prepare the rice for a specific time, I have to calculate the time difference and set it accordingly. Some other ones are more confused, like the Yeelight bulbs that I have programmed a schedule using local time and it worked, but later I found out that the times had changed and the ones displayed now are Shanghai ones. I think that the schedule works fine, though...
Some of the devices that are meant to be sold only in China have some of the menus in the app only in Chinese. The biggest problems came with the IR blaster, where all the commands available for the A/C units are in Chinese, so I have to guess which button is for cooling, which is for heating etc. Forunately, for some of them there are symbols, too...
Although one of the human body sensors I have has also an ambient light sensor (lux meter), it cannot be used to create an automation to set a device (a lamp, usually) to operate when it gets dark. I just wanted the lamps to turn on when the sun sets and turn off again when it rises in the morning, but it is not possible using the sensor. It is only possible to use preset times for sunset and sunrise, which would be fine if the range of available locations to choose from were not only Chinese cities. If I chose a different region in the MiHome app this would probably change, but then a big part of the devices I have would stop working too, so I choose to rather not do this...
The door lock, a new product if I am not mistaken is pretty cool. It protects the lock from being picked and alerts you if an unauthorised key is inserted. You can allow any ones of the 5 keys provided to unlock the lock at a given moment. You can create automation scenarios in case an unautorised key is inserted, or if you just forget to take the key out of the lock after opening the door. You can also see which authorised key is used to open the door and when, all day long... Nice. Negatives? Yes, some of the menus are still in Chinese (the automation menu, for example) and it seems that there is no way to disable the warning signal when you leave a key on the lock, in case you need to do that.
The Aqara gateway camera is nice, too. And there is a way to make it send push notifications to your phone when it senses movement, by creating an appropriate automation scenario.
The Hualai Xiaofang camera is good because it gives you a totally spherical view of everything around it ! The image quality is not that great, though. This is probably because the image is anamorphic and this is done using software...
The rice cooker rocks ! I haven't tasted better cooked rice !! And it can make yoghurt and several other things, too. Steamed vegetables are super easy and well cooked.
I still have to get the Robot vacuum, but it is quite expensive, will do it in the future (with a furry dog and two cats in the house it will be quite useful)
There you are, please don't hesitate to ask questons about all the above if you feel the urge...
Cheers
George
