Xiaomi Mi Smart Home Kit 4-in1 starter pack (first look)

The Xiaomi Mi Smart Home Kit 4-in1 starter pack comprises a Zigbee/Bluetooth Hub and three smart sensors – temperature/humidity, Window/Door sensor and a wireless switch to control other smart devices.

It is a first look at the Xiaomi Mi Smart Home Kit 4-in1 starter pack simply because Joe and Jane Average are not quite ready for IoT devices. Adding a Zigbee hub to fill out the smart home ecosystem needs to understand what it can do and some planning. Take this more like a tutorial and what you may be able to do with it.

Xiaomi Mi Smart Home Kit 4-in1 starter pack

  • Xiaomi Mi Home app from Google Play or Apple Store
  • Mi Control Hub (Zigbee 2.0 and 3.0, 2.4GHz Wi-Fi, BT and BT Mesh and Apple Home Kit)
  • Temperature and Humidity sensor
  • Window, Door (or cupboard or draw) sensor
  • Wireless switch to control other devices
  • Website here
  • Price: Normally $99.95 now $59.95 plus freight
  • Warranty: 12 months ACL
Xiaomi Mi Smart Home

Let’s explore use cases Xiaomi Mi Smart Home Kit 4-in1 starter pack

A smart home comprises smart IoT devices like lights, cameras, sensors, home appliances and more. IoT generally communicates using Zigbee, which is perfect for its low data and power needs. It also keeps the devices off the ever-crowded Wi-Fi network. These can communicate with each other via a hub and issue instructions based on rules. This is like IFTTT – if this, then that. The ‘smarts’ come from the Mi Home app and Mi Home cloud.

As an example, the door sensor could arm the alarm. Or the wireless switch starts the robovac. Or you can get techy and nest instructions. If the door sensor activates while you are out, sound the alarm, flash the lights and send a notification to a friend.

Xiaomi Mi Smart Home

The Mi Smart Home Hub

The 90 (round) x 25 (high) mm Hub can manage about 60 IoT devices within an indoor distance of about 10-15 metres. The Hub communicates via Wi-Fi 2.4Ghz to the router and needs to be within six metres of that. Via the internet, it accesses the intelligence of the Mi Home Cloud. The Hub requires 5V/1 or 2A power and comes with a 1-metre micro-USB to USB-A cable – no wall charger. It is very simple – a reset/pairing button, a LED and an internal ‘beeper’.

Hub

Can you connect any Zigbee device?

No – they must be Xiaomi devices, and regrettably, there is no huge variety in Australia. There are GitHub hacks here that may allow you to connect with other brands. If you go to this trouble, then buy a brand agnostic Zigbee hub instead. It can connect to Xiaomi Bluetooth Mesh devices as well.

Alarm

It has a basic ‘Guard’ functionality (Basic, Home, Away, and Sleep) where at least one connected device can trigger an action.

Mi Temperature and Humidity Sensor

It does exactly that – Monitor’s temperature and humidity in real-time. It uses a CR2032 battery (good for about 2-years) and can trigger events.

Temperature and Humidity

Mi Window and Door sensor

Uses a simple magnetic block to determine a door (window, cupboard or draw) opening. It uses a CR1362 battery and can trigger events.

Door sensor

Mi Wireless Switch

It has three press types – single, dual, and triple- that can activate other Mi Home Ecosystem devices. It uses a CR2032 battery. But more than that, it can also initiate actions like an SOS or emergency button and send notifications to a smartphone.

switch

Mi Motion Sensor

Not reviewed but is a full PIR (Passive Infrared) motion sensor.

GadgetGuy’s take

While Panmi is importing a wider range of sensors from Xiaomi, we are such a small market. After you buy the 4-in-1 starter pack, you will likely look to Chinese online retailers to get niche devices. And there are many from fire/smoke alarms, LED lights, robovacs, mossie killers, and so much more.

Now at this time, we would normally warn you about privacy. Each IoT device collects just what it needs to do the job. The app uses AI to set up events and actions. Xiaomi will issue security updates if any patches if vulnerabilities emerge. In general, perhaps apart from security cameras, this presents a low privacy risk. But we repeat this step is a big one. It is easy to add Google Assistant Wi-Fi devices. Going Zigbee requires greater planning to meet your objectives.

Rating

We tested the four devices, and all work flawlessly. So 10/10, but based on ease of use, they need a more tech-savvy setup. You can rad other Xiaomi news and reviews here.