The smart speaker market is largely dominated by offerings from Google and Amazon. Sure, there are great alternatives for the Google Assistant and Echo speakers, but these are usually more premium options that focus on better audio capabilities. However, the Xiaomi Mi Smart Speaker is intended as an affordable entry into an intelligent ecosystem. As such, it is designed for budget conscious markets like India.
Will the speaker manage to bring the Google Home experience down to half the price of the alternatives? We find it in the Android Authority Review of the Mi Smart Speaker.
Mi Smart Speaker Review: The Big Picture
Xiaomi's entire ecosystem is based on the premise of value. From smartphones to smart home devices, the idea is to offer options that are in line with the price, and offer most of the features of high-end devices at competitive prices.
Of course, there are some tradeoffs along the way, but often enough they are small enough to be overlooked. The Mi Smart Speaker is the company's first foray into smart assistant-enabled speakers in India.
Xiaomi has previously looked into bluetooth speakers for reasonable success. However, the category is led by giants like Google and Amazon, so Xiaomi has to offer significant advantages over the first-party alternatives in order to be able to leave a mark.
Is the design good?
The Mi Smart Speaker offers much of its design sensitivity over the Sonos One. Even so, the Sonos is a much higher quality device and Xiaomi has made some compromises in order to match the price.
The Mi Smart Speaker channels the Sonos aesthetic for a classic, minimalist design.
The aluminum construction is sturdy, with a perforated grille that runs around the speaker for audio output. However, there is only a small amount of flex when holding the speaker up. This shouldn't be a problem for most users as you'll rarely, if ever, move the speaker.
Elsewhere, the plastics on the top and bottom of the speaker are well made, but don't exactly call out for luxury. The touch controls for volume control, microphone mute and playback, pause respond. In addition, an LED ring runs around the top of the speaker to indicate that the speaker is hearing voice commands.
There is a fairly discreet Mi logo on the front, and a barrel connector for power supply on the back. While a USB port would have been a convenient addition, this is a set-and-forget device and it's not a huge loss.
With a weight of almost 1 kg, the Mi Smart Speaker remains planted on a surface, while the rubber feet further dampen vibrations. Overall, there is little to complain about here about the processing quality.
I wouldn't mind using more premium plastics, but for the price, the quality here is more than satisfactory.
How does the Mi Smart Speaker sound?
The Mi Smart Speaker uses a single 2.5-inch driver that provides 12W audio output. For comparison, Google Home has a single 2-inch driver while the Amazon Echo has a larger 3-inch driver.
When it comes to audio quality, I'm more than happy. The speaker has been tuned for amplified mids to ensure that vocals and acoustic tracks sound exceptionally clear.
The high treble frequencies are controlled very well and the loudspeaker never sounds too shrill. In the meantime, the bass isn't bad for the size, but you'll want to soften your expectations.
The room-filling edition features vocals and acoustic music, although the bass can be muffled a bit at higher volumes.
The Mi Smart Speaker won't start the party, but there's enough low end to keep most listeners happy unless you're listening to a lot of bass-heavy music at high volume.
Overall, the smart speaker from Xiaomi sounds more than satisfactory. I would even say that it sounds even better than the Google Home with its focus on clean mids and a pretty clear sound. However, the updated Nest Audio should make an interesting upgrade option if you have the budget.
Finally, it is possible to create a stereo pair with two Mi Smart speakers that will allow you to get dedicated left and right audio channels. Interestingly, two of these speakers should still be cheaper than a single Nest Audio speaker in a stereo configuration. If you are looking for a budget friendly audio solution in the market this is something you should consider.
Does the Google Assistant work well with the Mi Smart Speaker?
The speaker has two far-field microphones at the top. They take excellent orders from all over the room.
The Mi Smart Speaker can be seamlessly integrated into your smart home setup and has the same Google Assistant as Google's Nest speakers. This means that it supports the full range of Google Assistant queries that you are used to on your phone.
In addition, the speaker can become the center of your smart home ecosystem and enable control of smart lights and other devices. In fact, almost all of the ecosystem products Xiaomi sells in India are Google Assistant enabled. With the introduction of the Mi Smart Speaker, you no longer have to look outside the ecosystem to start your smart home setup. Very smart.
Should You Buy the Mi Smart Speaker?
The Mi Smart Speaker is a perfect example of everything that Xiaomi stands for. The speaker won't blow you away, but it does output quality audio that should be more than satisfactory for most users.
The price for the speaker is movable and the build quality surpasses that of most other smart speakers for the price.
In addition, the Mi Smart Speaker can be much louder than the Nest Mini and the Echo Dot. The only real advantage of the Echo Dot is the ability to line out larger speakers. However, I don't suspect that this will be a major use case if you're looking to buy a smart speaker.
Available at a promotional price of Rs. 3,499 at launch, the Mi Smart Speaker is a breeze. Unless you have a specific reason to invest in the Amazon Alexa ecosystem, the Mi Smart Speaker has all the features you need and offers nearly the same audio quality as products that cost twice as much.
