Review Xiaomi Mi 2 air purifier – a good cheap and effective air purifier?
Ever since I coughed through a Beijing airpocalypse, I’ve been saying clean air doesn’t need to cost an arm and a leg. I even set up Smart Air to provide low-cost purifiers to people around the world based on that data.
So when the Xiaomi 2 air purifier came out for under $150 (10,000INR / 1,000RMB), I assumed it works just fine. But I had never gotten around to testing it—until now. And what I found testing the Xiaomi Mi 2 shocked me.
Xiaomi Mi 2 Air Purifier: Put To the Test
Smart Air co-founder Anna ran a brand new Xiaomi Mi 2 air purifier in the 15m2 Smart Air test bedroom where we’ve tested the DIYs, IQ Air, Blue Air, and Philips. Anna ran six tests on auto mode and six tests on the highest setting (which the Xiaomi 2 air purifier oddly calls “Favorite mode”).
Anna turned the purifier on in the morning when she left home, and turned it off when she returned home. That means there was no one in the home during the tests. The doors and windows were closed during the tests. (More details on the test method and all original data are here.)
A Dylos Pro tracked ≥ 0.5 micron and ≥ 2.5 micron particle counts during the test. Test data shows these 0.5 micron readings correlate highly with the US Embassy’s PM2.5 readings (r = .90).
As in my earlier tests, I calculated effectiveness as (the number of particles before turning the purifier on) versus (the average number of particles over the last four hours).
Xiaomi 2 Air Purifier Test Results
The Xiaomi purifier scored as one of the worst purifiers I’ve ever reviewed. On average, it removed only about 60% of 0.5 micron particles over the last 4 hours of the test.
And oddly enough, the auto mode and the high mode results of the Mi 2 purifier were nearly identical. That’s a mystery.
Here’s how the Xiaomi results compare to earlier results from other purifiers using the same method, same particle counter, in the same room.
The data shows the Xiaomi air purifier performed worse than the $30 DIY purifier I’ve been showing people how to make for years!
Below is a normal test day. I put a dashed red line representing the World Health Organization’s 24-hour PM2.5 limit (25 micrograms).
The Xiaomi Mi Air Purifier Really Wants To Be in Auto Mode
What’s wrong? The key is that—even on the highest setting—the Xiaomi reverts back to auto mode after 3 hours..
WATCH: Xiaomi Reverts to Auto Mode After 3 Hours
Subscribe to Smart Air on YouTube
To be sure this is what the machine was doing, we put the Xiaomi on the highest setting and tracked noise levels overnight from the Smart Air Lab.
You can see the noise remaining high for three hours, then it returns to the ups and downs of auto mode:
Here is the same graph with particle counts (measured by the Dylos). The particle counts rise sharply every time the machine turns off.
The data shows that Xiaomi has a loose standard for “safe.” The Xiaomi is turning off when PM2.5 reaches 40 micrograms, which is far higher than even the WHO’s 24 hour limit. And it’s far higher than levels where we know PM2.5 has serious health effects from empirical research. Then it turns on again when PM2.5 gets up to 70 micrograms—almost three times the limit.
Really? The Xiaomi air purifier won’t stay on high?
The fact that the Xiaomi air purifier can’t be kept on continuously all night is so strange that Anna asked Xiaomi customer service over at mi.com. She asked twice to make sure we’re not making a mistake. They confirmed that, no matter what, the machine will go back to auto mode after three hours. (full transcript available in the supplemental materials).
How often is the air unsafe with a Mi Air Purifier?
I calculated the percent of hours that the air was unsafe for the Mi air purifier during the tests using this rule:
After the purifier was on for at least 1 hour, for any hour where outdoor air pollution was unsafe (> 25 micrograms – the WHO 24-hour limit), how many hours was indoor air also unsafe (>25 micrograms)?
The Xiaomi Mi air purifier left air unsafe for a shocking 86% of the time. The other similarly sized machines in my earlier tests left air unsafe only 7-16% of the time.
Read more: Is Xiaomi Mi Air Purifier 3H Auto Mode Effective? [Review]
Maybe the Xiaomi Mi2’s auto mode is using the looser Chinese standard for clean air of 35 micrograms. Yet even with that high number, it was still above the limit 77% of the hours the Xiaomi Mi2 was running.
Wait, are you sure?
I wanted to be really careful about this review. I’ve seen other tests showing that the Xiaomi 1 air purifier works just fine, including these tests from Dr. Saint Cyr (although I’ve seen people write about flaws too, such as this guy who kept the filters wrapped in plastic, turned it on turbo mode, and the app told him his air got miraculously cleaner). So I double and tripled checked the data:
- We tested with a different particle counter in a different room.
- I re-analyzed the data throwing out any days with large fluctuations in outdoor air.
- I analyzed days when outdoor pollution was low to average (< 150 micrograms).
- I compared it to other tests done just two weeks before in the exact same room with the exact same particle counter.
None of these analyses changed the result (see details here).
From this data, my conclusion is that the fan and the filter are fine, but the Xiaomi air purifier has a programming flaw. Even if I use it on the highest setting, I’ll be breathing air far above the safe limit for most of the night. That’s a problem. Bottom Line: Performances of Xiaomi Mi2
Is it just a Xiaomi Purifier Problem?
To be fair, I cannot recommend any auto mode I’ve tested. I’ve tested the Philips AC4072 on auto mode, and it averaged 59% reductions in 0.5 micron particles, which is pretty close to the Xiaomi results. So I think this is more of a problem with auto modes rather than the Xiaomi specifically.
Yet I can still recommend the Philips. Why? It can stay in medium or high as long as you want, and test data shows it works fine all night as long as it’s not on auto mode.
I’m confident that Xiaomi can fix this flaw by simply allowing people to run it on high without reverting back to auto mode. But until that happens, I cannot recommend using the Mi2.
Open Data
As always, I’m publishing more details on the test method and the original data for fellow nerds.
Some users have reported that they are able to get their Xiaomi air purifier to remain in ‘high’ mode using the ‘automation’ feature of the app. For more information, check out this comment by Ryan, and this image showing how to set up auto mode. Breathe safe!
There’s a hack you can put together to circumvent the 3-hour into auto mode issue with these units.
I have several (4) of the Xiao Mi Purifier 2’s. I’ve been irritated/pissed about that auto-mode for a couple of years. Anywho – to the meat of the matter – if you set up a custom scene via the Mi Home app you can create a scene that activates manual mode every 2hr 59min.
For example in my bedroom I like the unit to run in manual mode (it doubles as a white noise machine) all night long so I set up a scene that at the following times:
20:30 / 23:29 / 02:28 / 05:27 / 08:26
will set the assigned device (the xiaomi 2 in my bedroom) – to manual mode.
Testing now – if I wake up and it’s in auto mode again I’ll come and post a reply!
*I’d also make sure you go into each unit on the app and turn off the notification sound if you’re using this hack at night (unless you like hearing a loud beep every 3 hours that is)
Fantastic article – love all your in-depth reviews!!
Confirming this workaround has been working for the past week+.
Interestingly I have one unit that mysteriously stays in manual mode all day if I don’t manually adjust the mode…. odd.
The Mi purifier v3 is out now. Also, Sharp (with the mosquito catcher) has been missing from all your benchmarks. Sharp uses H14 filters. I know there is an article on higher grade not being better, but I would love to see another round of review taking all these new developments into consideration. (Including Mi’s update)
Your wish has been heard, Ray! We hope to run another round of tests with perhaps the Mi v3 and the Sharp soon! What’s the Sharp model number you’re referring to?
Wow, you guys are awesome! Anyway, I was referring to FP-GM30E-B, which I consider to be around the same price bracket as the Sqair, but it may well be any other HEPA-14 model. It may not be apple-to-apple but why I am curious is that they like to market their HEPA filters to last for years! (2 for this small one)
I was wondering if my first purchase should be this Sharp one, just so I can test and post my results somewhere.
P.S: There are perhaps one or two reviews from Singapore about the mosquito catcher, which I couldn’t be bothered about but would be cool to test.
Dear Sir, thank you for the excellent work and for providing us these qualified information. I do have a Xiaomi air purifier and, according with your findings, I should set it to its maximum speed. Unfortunately, in such conditions, the emitted noise is terrible (it is quite hard to keep it at its maximum speed during daily smart working; really impossibile during the night). Is it normal? Should I tolerate such a big amount of noise to have safe air?
You’re right Alessia. The noise of the Xiaomi on high is pretty unbearable. What you could do is set it to high for 30-60 minutes, to ensure the air in your space is cleaned, then change it down to a ‘medium’ level. This, hopefully, will be enough to keep the air in your room clean. But without an air quality monitor it will be hard to know for sure.
Are the activated carbon filters for these Xiaomi air purifiers the granular type or is it just the spongy foam? Or does it depend on which filter you choose?
The exact structure depends on the filter you choose, but the Xiaomi mostly uses the ‘foamy’ type/sprayed activated carbon. This blog post is in Chinese, but it has some great close-up pictures of the material: https://post.smzdm.com/p/a78e5x0g/
So can you recommend me a good purifier, bang for a buck, i was thinking of buying the xiami purifier 3, but i’m not sure now? :/
I got the 3H because Xiaomi is the only brand that reliably carries replacement filters where I live. It stays on high as long as you want and you can customise it with manual mode (highest setting on manual is actually stronger than the high setting?). I bought it for my pollen allergies because I couldn’t even sleep, and it absolutely worked for me, my allergies are gone and I tested the sensor a few times and it seems to work well. Seems like they fixed most of their issues with this model. Still, I always use it on manual and have not used auto mode, because I find it’s not strong enough.
I’m looking at the Xiaomi 3H and every you tuber has given a good report. Do we know if they have improved their air purifiers a lot?
The 3h and 2s are the same, just the touch screen which you will likely never use. I bought the 2s a couple days back, allergies improved, I don’t wake up due to congestion anymore and the air doesn’t taste like dust anymore. I’m not too anal about anything else the device isn’t it is doing, other than, I’m happier and can sleep better
I bought it a few days ago. They seem to have fixed most of the issues described here for the 3H, except auto mode not being reliable. I keep using it on manual mode to customise the strength and it works perfectly. I got it for my allergies and they’re completely gone. I also connected it to Google Home so it turns on automatically when I come back.
I tried to donate but I need to have Facebook. Maybe you should get on Patreon?
Hi Elizabeth. Song here. We really appreciate your support and attention. If you’d still like to donate to the Smart Air cause and help support free, science-backed information then please consider sending us a donation to paypal.me/smartairfilters. Best regards.
Nice test! Do you plan to test the Rowenta/Tefal PU6080F0 ? It will be nice 🙂
Can you try testing the latest Levoit air purifier (Core 300, AHAM Verified)? Would love to see that review using your method, since I have fine myself and I want to know if I should recommend it to others.
We’d love to test it, although our team is short on resources and it’s tough for us to test lots of purifier types. What is the model number of the Levoit so we can take a look and see whether it’s possible for us to test!?
Hi there! So basically, if you want to run the mashine on night mode which is silent so you can sleep it doesn’t do much for your air quantity?
Exactly, night mode or silent mode are typically only very quiet because they are moving very small amounts of air, so not good at filtering out pollution in a whole room
Thank you
Hello to everyone
I am wondering : if the Mi filters are made of PET and PP as their internet site claims,is it safe to breathe the air that is cleaned through these plastic materials??Are those materials offgasing?Is there an air condamination from the air filter itself?
Hi, very interesting question…is there anyone qualified to answer?
Just another data point here:
I’ve been using a couple of Mi 2 units for a couple years. Using the smartphone app, I have been able to manually set fan speed. Weirdly though, every couple of months I need to reset the fan speed as going into the app will set manual mode to full speed, which is far too noisy.
Other than this, the units have been fine for the small rooms they’re in. I’ve tested them with particle counters. I would use them for room sizes at a max of 90 sq ft though- anything bigger and you need to turn the fan speed too high and the units get noisy. They haven’t been designed for acoustics as higher fan speeds are also very high pitched and quite piecing.
u r right.
jknana.com
I just bought a Xioami filter to look at and test. The model is the antibacterial filter. OMG shocking. The internal charcoal component of the filer has very little charcoal and I can see light through perhaps 30% of the unit. e.g. maybe 30% or more has zero contact with the charcoal. This won’t treat the majority of gasses passing through it. I am very disappointed.
I wouldn’t personally worry about this too much. I’ve seen the charcoal filters of several brands (Sharp, Phillips, Tefal?) and the charcoal filters are about the same with very skimpy fillings.
I think that cost cutting is commonplace with most purifiers. The only units I’ve seen which are different are with a very old but good Sharp which had about a kilo of activated carbon in it, and the IQAir V5 cartridges which are packed with a couple kilos of activated carbon and potassium permanganate.
Hello – Xiaomi has just released the brand new Air Purifier 2H (designed for the European market).
Will you test that new model?
Thanks for the heads up John, we’d not heard of this! We’ll see if we can get our hands on it, so that we can test!
Im waiting for this to arrive, would be great to have it tested.
This article is over 2 yrs old. Did Xiaomi improve anything in this period?
Xiaomi has released the 2S, and we’re actually in the process of testing this as we speak. We’ve heard reports they’ve fixed the ‘revert to auto mode after 3 hours’ bug, but we’re yet to verify it ourselves. Either way, the auto mode may still have issues due to the inaccuracy of the monitor, and its proximity to the air purifier itself.
Great. I look forward to that review as have been considering purchasing a couple of these. I noticed that there is an MI air purifier 3 now too. Live in Hong Kong and pollution seriously bad and need to buy either these or the phillips soon.
Hello Paddy,Thank you for the extensive tests and data.I was hoping to know if you got around testing Xiomi mi air 2s.Is it worth getting one
We are in the process of testing the Xiaomi Mi Air 2S, Encee! We’ll post the article in our knowledge-base once it’s up!
Hi Paddy,
Your are doing a great job with these reviews.
Just want to say if possible, please accelerate the review for 2s as pollution in cities like Delhi is at peak at the moment.
Thanks for your work.
Indeed . Mi has come up with air purifier 3 which claims uses a hepa class 13 filter . Any thoughts on this ? Could you put it to test too rather than the effort on 2S ?
Hi Paddy, May I know if you used the HEPA filter for your xiaomi in this test or is it the normal filter? If you’ve used the HEPA filter, will it have a better result?
Hey Anna, we used the standard filter that comes with the Xiaomi for this test. The filter included in the Xiaomi is a H11 filter, that capture >95% of particles down to 0.03µm. Using a higher grade filter (e.g. H12 or H13) wouldn’t necessarily give a better result. This is because they have a higher air resistance and reduce airflow!
How is this lengthy article relevant/applicable since you only did the test with xiaomi ?
It only makes sense if you had all the other brands/units tested under the same condition.
Hey John! If you check the graphs above, you’ll see we compare the Xiaomi with 5 other purifiers! Here’s the image:
Im looking for the articlesaand photos of tests conducted for the rest of the purifiers. The ratings appear questionable. Please share all the links here.
Hello, I am from Mumbai. Last evening I went to Xiaomi Store to have a look at 2S. I found a lot of dust stuck on the air outlet grill of the purifier. The store is air conditioned. This means the purifier is leaking ‘dirty’ air from perhaps the filter seats or the filter itself is not completely effective. A reviewer somewhere also mentioned this about his 2S
Hi,
thank you for your work!
I was thinking of buying Xiaomi Air Purifier 2S, but before I decide to buy it I would like to measure air quality in our flat.
Just checked ebay offer and found couple of devices, but I am not sure are they ok or just a waste of money and would like to hear your opinion. Professional devices are just to expensive for me.
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Air-Quality-Monitor-PM2-5-PM10-Formaldehyde-HCHO-TVOC-LCD-Digital-Detector-8In1/123783741639
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/LED-Display-Air-Quality-Tester-Monitor-Detector-PM1-0-PM2-5-PM10-TVOC-HCHO-Test/273738083034
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/8In1-Air-Quality-Monitor-PM2-5-PM10-Formaldehyde-HCHO-TVOC-LCD-Digital-Detector/382825587642
I hope I didn’t break any rule by posting ebay links.
Do you have any advice regarding Air Quality Tester?
Thanks!
Hi Alex- would be great if you could test the dyson TP04 and see what results an independent test gives
Thanks for the very informative article! Was thinking of buying a Xiaomi, but I guess I’ll have a look at other brands with different specs.
The old problem of reverting to auto mode was solved in newer firmware, so the purifier can keep running 24/7 at the level you set it to. So this whole conclusion that it doesnt clean is not valid anymore. The new versions run well, very good bang for buck. I bought 4 meanwhile, one for each room, after being very satisfied with the results, I also always double check with two different PM2.5 meters, which confirm the speed of cleaning the air.
That seams true. However the auto mode seems to treat the sensor number as AQI, while it is in fact ug/m3. A huge bug. Also the app seems ‘region locked’. I had to choose location China to be able to even seen my air purifier. Also more favorites would be very useful. Not just for simple button control, but also for more useful automation. I want to set the fan speed easily. Now that’s not possible: only options are sleep, auto and favorite…
Hey Alex! Your comment got me thinking about this, so we checked out the Xiaomi 2 we have in the Smart Air testing lab for a firmware upgrade. Sure enough, there was an upgrade available (see this pic!):
However, after upgrading the firmware we found that the Xiaomi 2 still reverted to auto-mode after 3 ours. We made a video about this here
Perhaps you’ve got the newer Xiaomi 2S, which Xiaomi may well have updated. However it looks like the Xiaomi 2 is still exhibiting this problem. We’ll have to get ourselves a 2S to check it out!
One more interesting thing what I found while using the 2s, which no one seems to have mentioned:
Using it together with a (ultrasonic in my case) humidifier in the same room, the pm2.5 readings jump up to 100-120 almost instantly with the humidity increasing – it’s around 120 when the humidity reaches 50-52%.
This is very misleading and makes the auto mode useless (if it’s not useless already with the problems mentioned earlier). Or is it really possible that my ultrasonic humidifier emits that much of “particles” which count as pm2.5? It doesn’t look to be dirty, I tried to clean it and use filtered water just to test whather that’s the problem but no luck, same jump in pm2.5.
How can it affect the particle counter this much? Is this normal or something to do with specifically the Xiaomi 2x counter?
Thanks for the answer!
It is the humidifier adding particles to the air and that will make the air purifier work even harder, therefore, rest assured you have excellent air when the humidifier is on as you have tricked the air purifier to work harder.
Great point Paul! We’ve tested laser particle counters, and we’ve seen that in more humid environments the pollution levels measured are higher than the real pollution levels. This could be the case for your Xiaomi!
I’m not as convicnced as I once would have been with this assessment. I also have a Xiaomi 2 air purifer in my home, and thought the same until I connected it to the Mi Home mobile app and realised that inside the app you are able to connect to each of your devices and make settings on the acceptable level of particulate matter so that the device switches on and off.
So in my kids bedroom at night I set a level of PM2.5 at 45 at which point it should switch on, and then when it hits PM2.5 level of 15 it turns back to sleep mode again. Sure the sensor on the machine isn’t as accurate as a normal sensor, but I mean, it’s not that bad that it’s going to be way off. I’ve compared the levels with my Kaiterra laser egg and it’s off by 10 or so. For the price of these machines we can affort to by 3 for the price of a similar sized blue air.
With automation on the app, you can change the thresholds and what they do when when reached.
It is not designed to run at full power mode all the time. It will break your machine. The actual problem is that it has insufficient air cleaning power for your environment. You should make your room more air-tight by adding rubber seals on your windows and doors.
My room is 30m^3 in Bangkok. And it is more than sufficient for me. The PM2.5 value always below 10 μg/m^3. Sometimes it is even as low as 1 μg/m^3.
Hi, I just got my Mi Pro air purifier a few days ago. I found that there is only a Timer condition in the Automation Mode. There is no PM2.5 condition inside as mentioned on the internet. Can anyone help.
Yes, I have the same problem. Bought 3 units of the Pro models, all has no automation capability, only schedule to on/off. My 2S has the automation capability, and it works.
the model 2 Has poor particle measure sensor. Could you please test again with xiaomi pm2.5 Air detector and use this detector to control the mi air purifier 2 In automatiom mode. Is it will be better or not?
So which air cleaner out there has a functioning auto mode?
Right now, none that we’ve tested. We wrote a follow up article to this one explaining why a purifier’s auto mode isn’t reliable. In recent years sole purifiers have been released that case work with standalone particle counters. These might be more reliable, but we don’t have any data on it yet.
So it’s either run full time with all the noise, or buy a separate particle monitor and manually turn it on and off?
My problem is that I can clean the air in the room, and then the air conditioner/heater just pulls in more dirty air from outside. What we really need is a filter in the AC vent. Anything like this out there?
We’ve tested some of the 3M filter paper you can put over air conditioners. We’ve found it works fairly well (but it’s no replacement for an air purifier). You could look into getting that.
Having said that, we’ve tested whether Aircon actually brings in dirty air and it doesn’t. Although it sounds like you have a central air system which could well be bringing in dirty air
Huh, really? I thought it pulled in dirty air from outside. It doesn’t? Well that’s good news. Can you send a link or more details for the AC filter paper?
I’ve just got a Xiaomi 2S secondhand for ¥500, I’m testing it out right now. The sensor appears as if it has a connection with reality, although too low. My meter says PM 007, it says 001. My meter says PM 042, it says 025.
I’ve just set a program on it to turn on above PM 010 and off at PM 003, so we’ll see how it goes.
Here’s a link to the 3M AC filter we’ve tested, although the page is only in Chinese. If you search for ‘3M Air Conditioning filter’ you should be able to find some more results!
Your observations of the Xiaomi sensor seems to be in line with what we found. We wrote up a separate article on how well the Xiaomi’s sensor performs
That writeup is for the sensor for the Xiaomi 2. This is the Xiaomi 2S, which has a different sensor.
Thanks for the link, I bought the filter paper.
The Xiaomi 2S appears to be doing okay. You can’t use the auto mode as the onboard sensor records values much too low and the auto mode’s thresholds are too high. What you can do is go to ‘automation’ and set your own thresholds. I set it to go to ‘favorites’ i.e. high when PM25 reaches 10, and turn back to ‘auto’ at 3. This appears to work.
Does the automation work with an iphone or only android?
Does this trick work? At what speed do you have it turn on when pm2.5 gets to 10? And it stays at that speed or goes into auto?
Hi Thomas,
It was a really thorough and detail test. It’s really insightful. I couldn’t agree more that auto-mode in Xiaomi really does not make any sense at all. It only turns to high speed mode once the it detects high PM 2.5 based on Chinese Air Quality Index (AQI).
I just recently bought Xiaomi Air Purifier 2S and turns out I can set the fan to highest settings in the apps. There is a manual mode there and I can set the fan to the max (which is incredibly noisy) for more a night (approx. 7 hours). I don’t know about how accurate the PM 2.5 reader in the purifier, since I don’t have professional standalone PM2.5 particle readers. I really appreciate if you or someone could compare the readings on the machines with standalone PM 2.5 reader (beside Xiaomi PM 2.5 standalone reader).
I think you could do testing with the Xiaomi Air Purifier 2S, and leave the fan to highest settings for night. I really looking forward for the result. I think Xiaomi aware of the feedback (it will revert back to low fan after several hours in high settings) and fix the program issue in the latest product.
Ray
Hi Ray, great feedback and thoughts! We have tested the 2S built in particle counter, you can read about the Xiaomi Mi 2 air quality monitor tests we did here. What we haven’t tested is the Mi 2S particle counter. We want to get round to testing that soon, so stay tuned!
Hi all. I currently have a Cannon, a DIY , a Xiaomi 2S , and I just got a Xiaomi Pro. I never had any problem with the 2S switching itself to auto mode (which is why I felt confident getting another Xiaomi). The Pro, however, immediately started doing so about every hour or so. I read through many of the comments here but I didn’t see much info on the PRO or many recent updates on the 2S. Has Xioami completely fixed this problem in the 2S or am I just really lucky somehow? And more importantly, what about the PRO? If it is going to do this constantly, I will return it.
I know that it can be worked around to some degree via automation, but I shouldn’t have to write code for my own product and I have found the automation implementation to be hit and miss on the 2S. Thanks in advance for any help
Only the 2S does not switch back to auto. The PRO always switches back to auto. Don’t get the PRO, get the 2S.
I just bought a pro. No issues with it switching back to auto mode, maybe they’ve fixed this issue as the first thing it did was update itself over my WiFi. My test: I set it at about 60% of Max using the app 3 days ago and it has stayed there. This also sets the ‘my favourites’ button on the machine to the same power.
I chose 60% as it’s not too loud. Max is very loud. In terms of performance the 60% setting gets my 60m2 room down to 1-2 ppm (according to my Sndway sensor) – which is better than the Filtrete sheets I fitted to my AC (3-4ppm). The Xiaomi built-in sensor is always pretty close to the Sndway but I don’t trust it as it is close to the source of clean air. I place my Sndway at the far end of the room.
The only problem I had with the Xiaomi Pro is I bought it online from China (I’m based in Bangkok)… The App kept saying “Failed to initialize device” until I set my location to mainland China. So if you have more than one Xiaomi product you must buy them in the same country/region!
Xiaomi air purifier works well at a low cost. The new ones 2S and Pro do not have issue with automatically jumping back to auto mode. It is one of the best low cost air purifier on the market.
I own a Blueair 205, Coway AP1512, Xiao mi 2s and Pro version. After reading a couple of reviews on the Xiao Mi by two folks online testing with PM2.5 detectors. They both conclude the readings on the Xiao Mi are accurate and works as described. Like Smart Airs data, the key to good air is having constant air purification. Pro version cost twice that of 2s, so if you want the best air, it means buying more 2s.
You can read the reviews on the websites by “myhealthbeijing” and “Is It Worth to Buy | Xiaomi Air Purifier Pro Review” from stiwe website.
Pros are low cost, relative cheap filters, works just as well as expensive units with, packed with features
Con louder than competitors on medium and high settings
Great writeup Joe, you’ve hit a lot of the main points! The biggest concerns we (Smart Air) had with the Xiaomi when we were testing it is the fact that the auto mode was giving dirty air most of the time. If they’ve fixed this in recent models – as we suggested in this post – that’s great news, and we’ll need to go out and test it! If they’ve upgraded the particle counter inside the Xiaomi, that’s also good news, although that doesn’t necessarily mean the Xiaomi will be work more effectively to clean the air. More data is needed!
The Xiaomi has definitely done a great job in lowering the price of clean air, the one concern is that it might not be providing clean air in a reliable and trustworthy way as we expect. Unfortunately most people won’t read blogs like this, so won’t know what they need to do to make the Xiaomi work well. That’s what concerns us the most! You’re spot on that the noise levels of the Xiaomi can be considerably higher than other machines, this is another problem in itself. If the purifier is too noisy, we won’t turn it on! Or we’ll turn it on to ‘sleep’ mode, which we’ve found to be very ineffective. Once again, people will be expecting to breathe clean air whilst they might not be.
Hi guys,
Does anyone have information if Xiaomi have plans to change the Chinese standard for clean air to European standard? Changing the location to Europe in the Mi Home app did not affect the criteria when the fan speed should be increased. I am aware that I can automate the process by setting “Switch to My Favorite mode” when the PM2.5 quantity is >25mg/m3 but I was wondering if this is going to be somehow automated by the purifier itself.
Maybe not until these units will be officially sold in Europe… Now they are sold only in China, so they are settled to their standard…
what blue air models were used in these tests?
Hi Dale, good question! The Blue Air we used in our tests was the Blue Air 203/270E. You can find more details specific to the efficiency tests we did on the Blue Air and the other models in this post.
Can I turn off the wifi somehow?
Not that I know of, I think the WiFi on the Xiaomi is programmed ‘on’. In fact, it’s impossible to control the purifier fully without the WiFi turned on and the app installed. Without WiFi you’d only be able to toggle between the three modes: ‘favorite mode’, ‘auto mode’ and ‘sleep mode’.
After testing the mi2 purifiers (2 of them) this is the conclusion.
The device will work all night long as long as you set the speed no higher than (22).
If you increase speed above 22, then the 3 hour cut off kicks in, but 22 or lower seems to be working all night.
You can test it out and share the results.
also this is running on the current firmware, maybe that makes a difference.
What about decibel levels, can one sleep on 22 speed setting?
My last post wasn’t published, maybe because it was too long. I will try to write it more briefly.
So far particle meter in my Xiaomi Air Purifier 2s seem to work wery well. Unlike other Xiaomi meters that You have tested here it goes below 10 without problems and displayed numbers (at least in the range 1 – 40) are close to the data from the nearest metering stations.
Also – when I turn it on it showed 38, then after one hour on “high” it dropped to c.a. 10. When I opened the window and put my purifier close to opened window display went back to 35-40. Back into room – 10 again.
No offense to this site, but I am starting to feel that “some” but “not all” of this site is propaganda to SELL MORE of YOUR air purifiers. Why is a non-professional doing these tests? How is that credible? Also, who is Patty and why don’t we ever get to meet this person? Sorry, but so far Xiaomi has been making some solid products, so unless a TRUE PROFESSIONAL?
Hey John, Paddy here (not Patty!). I run Smart Air from Beijing. Here I am testing masks in London, if you want to put a face to my words:
You make some good points, and I totally agree with you. When I first started researching air purifiers, I couldn’t find any professional test data, or any results that I found didn’t have data to back up the claims. That’s why at Smart Air we started doing our own tests to verify the claims we found. More importantly, we decided to make all the test data we publish free and open source for anybody to read (check out the data to the Xiaomi tests here).
The question that always bugged us was: if larger companies with fancy marketing appear more professional, why aren’t any of them publishing their test data? Just like you’ve said, we shouldn’t believe everything we read on the internet, but if companies or individuals back up their claims with data, then we can look through that to verify their claims. We set out to right this ‘wrong’ and publish test data for free to help more people breath clean air. If after reading this article people still buy a Xiaomi, but with this info they can fix the auto-mode issue, then our Smart Air mission has been accomplished.
Thank You for the great review. I have just bought 2s version (unfortunately just two days before I have read this article, I am not waiting for it). I’d love to see test of this version here… BTW – I have seen readings lower than 9 on this version, so maybe particle counter is upgraded / has better calibration?
Glad the review was useful Michal! We have done separate tests on just the Xiaomi Air Purifier particle counter, and in the comments people have discussed the Xiaomi 2s, saying it’s also not very accurate. We haven’t tested it yet, but will try and do so then get a report out soon!
A cleverly worded review that wants to show how “unsafe” is the Mi Air Purifier.
Paddy here from Smart Air. I ran some of the tests we did with the Xiaomi! I’m glad you’ve found the information useful, we wrote this article ultimately to show people that the automode of the Xiaomi is dangerously unsafe, and to provide ways for those who’ve already bought a Xiaomi to help them breath clean air. Smart Air’s concern is that thousands of people have bought the Xiaomi air purifier, thinking that after turning it on they’re breathing clean air. We want to make sure those who’ve already bought can breath clean air!
As some others have said, my Xiaomi 2S stays on whatever setting i choose indefinitely.
It also retains the chosen setting after power loss although it doesnt switch the unit back on which would be nice.
My question for you is if the auto mode bug you found the only issue with the unit?
If i leave it on a higher setting is it doing a good job or should i get something else?
I would get one of your blast filter bu I am in the UAE so its not available.
Thanks
That’s interesting about the Xiaomi 2S Ben, thanks for the valuable info! We’ll have to test that version of the machine and post an update to the article.
As to whether that’s the only issue with the Xiaomi: as we’ve shown, purifiers are just fans and filters, so when the Xiaomi is running on high mode it actually does a good job of cleaning the air (CADR of around 300cbm/hr, good for a room of around 40sqm). You can see that from the first three hours of data in the graphs above.
One thing to watch out for though is that the Xiaomi is one very noisy machine when on high. It’s much much noisier than other purifiers for the same amount of clean air it delivers. And on its ‘quiet’ mode its CADR (cleaning efficiency is pretty low). Here’s a graph from our test data showing the Xiaomi on sleep mode is really ineffective, and on high it’s really very noise (and still not that effective, when you compare it to say the Blast Mini).
What I’ve heard most people do is turn their Xiaomi on low, since they can’t handle the high noise levels. This has the danger of not giving you enough clean air for your space. If you’re not sensitive to noise, and can cope with the Xiaomi on mid or high mode, then the Xiaomi is a perfectly decent air purifier!
Also, that’s cool you’re writing in from UAE. Seems pollution there is also pretty bad, we’ve had a few people write in and enquire about getting the Blasts into UAE! We’re working on trying to do this right now, so we’ll be sure to keep you in the loop. Send us an email to [email protected] if you want to learn more.
The purifier 2S has an improved sensor… can you test this unit? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qUxp1doFSSQ
You’re right, the 2S uses a different sensor, as can be seen in this blog post (in Chinese)
. The Xiaomi 1 and 2 air purifiers used a Shinyei PPD42 sensor, which was found to be fairly inaccurate by various groups. We’ll definitely try and get our hands on a Mi 2S to test the sensor in this! However, there are still two issues we need to watch out for even if the sensor is improved:
1) whether or not the auto-mode software has been fixed to change the threshold at which the purifier turns on/off
2) the sensor is still right next to the purifier, where air is going to be cleanest. Even if the sensor is more accurate, there is the risk that the air near the purifier is clean whereas the air on the other side of your room isn’t.
I recently purchased the vax pure air 300 and I’m shocked at how unresponsive the sensor is. I haven’t had the sensor register once, not when cooking (when there was visible smoke) or cleaning (when I can see dust particles flying around). The only time I’ve seen a hint of life from the sensor is when I directly sprayed hairspray at it. I’m not sure if I’ve got a dud machine or whether these mid range purifiers all have really inaccurate sensors. I would be really interested in seeing some Xiaomi 2s tests, surely there is a purifier out there with a sensor that is at least somewhat accurate. Currently all of these auto modes seem entirely useless.
Hello, just bought this, looking for installation on google and find this site.
Test it for all night, mode “favorite” or “manual” displayed on app : no change.
Got a new Xiaomi 2S yesterday and then read this! Gutted. I have a couple of Cannons but I wanted something that was safe to put in a toddler’s bedroom (worried said toddler would remove the HEPA and stick fingers in the fan so I wanted a FFU). I didn’t think the XiaoMi could really be doing anything on auto mode when it was *that* quiet and your article confirmed this. However, I put it on the “most loved” mode (high I guess?) and left it on to check if it would revert to auto mode after three hours and it didn’t. It is really noisy though. Maybe XiaoMi fixed the three hour thing with the 2S? Any report on this or is my XiaoMi just a happy fluke?
That’s good information Liuliu! It’s quite possible Xiaomi fixed the auto mode issue with the Mi 2S. Let’s hope so! We haven’t tested the 2S so cannot confirm. Paddy here, (the resident engineer at Smart Air!) so I’ll look into trying to get hold of a Xiaomi 2S and confirming if it’s been fixed. Be sure not to run it on sleep mode whatever you do though!
You’ve highlighted one of the main problems with the Cannons: the fact they’re not toddler friendly. We fixed this with the DIY1.1 by putting a safety grill on the front. And of course the Blast FFUs we have now also don’t have that problem, and pack way more bang for the buck. We’re on a slow and steady path to creating more user-friendly, cost-effective purifiers that don’t have crazy high profit margins!
Thank you for providing such a detailed report on the xiaomi 2. I was almost going to impulse buy it because it is so cheap. But it looks like it is worse than nothing as it is so noisy in high and completely ineffective on auto.
I’ll save up for a better quality machine.
I’m quite keen to buy the Xiaomi’s AP but for this auto mode problem. It seems unclear to me from above posts whether the app limitation had been fixed.
Another workaround I can think of (which does not rely on the app) is to use a separate timer module that plugs into your power source, and then plug Xiaomi into this timer module. U can then set up 3hr power on/off cycles on your own timer module. But this assumes that the AP will revert back to its last-on mode when powered back on again. Anyone can confirm this point?
Great idea Jay, we thought of this as well. Unfortunately since the Xiaomi operates like other digital devices so if you disconnect then reconnect the power it does not revert back to its last-on mode. So far the most reliable way I’ve seen (if someone insists on getting Xiaomi) is still to set up the app to turn on/off the purifier every three hours.
It seems that the problem of the auto mode was related to the sensor’s accuracy in Mi Air Purifier 2. The auto mode depends on the sensor’s information to adjust the speed of the fan.
I saw some laser PM2.5 modules on Taobao for Mi Air Purifier 1 and 2. The feedbacks are quite positive and take the auto mode back. Even the modules can allows us to choose the CN or US standard of PM2.5 value and the high-performance mod which will send back the US AQI back to the controller.
Here is the Taobao link for one of the modules(in Chinese), you can check it out: https://item.taobao.com/item.htm?id=549613853520
Right on! Our tests of the accuracy of the particle counter in the Mi1, Mi2, and Mi2 Pro all found it was wildly inaccurate, missing by as much as 200 micrograms: https://smartairfilters.com/en/blog/xiaomi-particle-counter-inaccurate-not-control-purifier/
Do you know what level of micrograms the machine uses to turn on high mode? Are you saying that can be changed by the user?
For me, particle counter in Xiaomi Air Purifier Pro is accurate (tested for 33µg/m³ and 93µg/m³ of PM2.5 particles) and it goes down to 1 when air is clean. It starts to work faster definitely sooner than 70.
Downside is that I can’t set automation based on the reads of Xiaomi, maybe it’s because of some bug, or because of EU version.
I’m thinking of buying the Xiaomi air purifier. Anyone have one? How’s your experience? Does it reduce dust in your home? I clean everything in my home but after a few hours I see a fine dust again on all my furnitures.
What about xiaomi S2 or Pro? They have laser sensor…
Can you manually set the speed to say 2/3rds of the way? Just above medium?
Also what is the decibel reading for say medium speed? Too loud to sleep with it on? And has anyone compared this to some of the sharp purifiers (with the plasma cluster in Off)?
Yes u can.
First of all, excellent post. I just bought 6 of these in Pakistan, and i opened just one. Will be returning the balance 5 after reading all of this.
My question is, if we agree that the xiaomi performs only marginally well, but at at acceptable level at the highest setting, how does the noise/decibel level at this setting compare to its peers?
This is a very good question. Since the Xiaomi has only one small fan inside it, it needs to rotate at a very high speed to pull a lot of air through. This means it’s also very noisy (66dB in our tests) on its highest setting. On the other hand the Blasts we’ve created are 50dB on their highest setting, and they provide as much clean air as 2-3 Xiaomis. You can see more tests on noise in the Blast post I’ve linked to here
lol if you think the xiaomi fan is small. go look at dyson. Dyson air purifier also have paper thin cheap hepa filters.
the xiaomi filters are larger, thicker and made of several layers, hepa and charcoal.
I’ve have both xiaomi air 2 and the dyson air purifier. i sold my dyson on ebay and purchase 2 more xiaomi air purfier 2s for the other rooms.
They work flawlessly at removing dust and order.
this site seems to be biased.
Thanks for the concerns Andrew! You’re right, the HEPA filters on the Xiaomi are definitely bigger than those of other purifiers! I was referring to the *fan*: this is the fan blade on the top of the machine. The Xiaomi fan has a diameter of approximately 230mm, whereas most other purifiers have fan sizes much larger. You can read about why smaller fan blades lead to more noise in this post
Ok – so i did NOT return my xiaomi’s. The reason is that
a) after learning from smart air that the xiaomi’s are okay EXCEPT for that they revert to auto, i expected to be disappointed. However, it seems like xiaomi has issue’d some software update (the benefit of having a smart app) because i am able to set the xiaomi using the favorite feature to a “medium” setting coverage of 17-20m2 and this setting (and any other i set using favorite) retains itself throughout the night!
b) yes, if there’s a power outage (which happens in pakistan) the xiaomi doesnt turn back on automatically. this is quite annoying
c) however, considering the xiaomi’s amazing design, granular control via the app, REMOTE ACCESS (i can turn my daughters purifier at home on and off from the office) and PM2.5 level indication on my phone via the app, combined with its price, its actually a great product. (yes, the sensor sucks, but it does give an indication.)
I REALLY think you should update this post now considering the whole basis of the post has been fixed by xiaomi.
secondly, after reading this post, i reached out to Smart Air for some Blasts. They dont deliver the Blasts to Pakistan! Go figure.
Hi Amin! Can you provide some test data demonstrating that the fan remains on that setting continuously? Of course, I’m always open to new data! However, I’m skeptical because a friend of mine claimed that she could keep her Xiaomi on high all night using the geotagging mode. We tested it (as well as the mode that turns the machine on based on outdoor AQI), and it did not remain on high. We also asked Xiaomi customer service, and they said there’s no way to keep it on high.
Bottom line: I’m always open to new data and will happily publish any data on this question, but our newest tests (and Xiaomi customer service) continue to show that it cannot remain on the high setting.
And sorry we can’t deliver Blasts to Pakistan! Obviously we’d love to get clean air to Pakistan, but (1) the units are very heavy, making international shipping prohibitively expensive for a single unit and (2) China Post does not generally allow shipping motors internationally.
Hi Amin. Did you figure out a way to solve the issue with power outages?
I imagine that we could use automation in the mi app (China mainland version) to ensure that the purifier is turned on at regular intervals (say every 4 hours).
Just checked mine came with a blue filter. I live in Abu Dhabi.
Im a bit new to Mi products but I just got a an air purifier 2. Mine stays on high (not turbo) as long as I want.
I have it set to off after I leave and on before i return home. I cant choose which mode it uses during scheduling but it returns yo the last setting…so off on high /favorite turns back on to high.
The meter seems to stay below 20 …usially 10/9 except when cooking then it reads like 90.
So far Im pleased.
If you have an old android. Root. Get tasker, push bullet, and remote touch/press to simulate button presses. DIY remote control anytbing as if you were using the phone yourself.
Hey,
Your measurements show that this purifier works correctly in Auto mode. China AQI (Air quality standards) says: maximum 24-hour average 75uG/m3, Maximum annual average expose: 35uG/m3. This product is setup for this standards not US/EU or WHO which As you mention are 3 time more restricted – simple firmware update should change it easily. The question is if Xiaomi do this?
DK
We did also measure the Xiaomi against the China annual limit of 35µg/m3, and we found the Xiaomi still gave unsafe air 77% of the time! See the paragraph just above “Wait, are you sure sure?“.
What about xiaomi S2 or Pro? They have laser sensor…
You can always have it on high setting. Here is how to do it. Download the app and link it up to your Mi 2 purifier. You can set timers for through this. If you turn on the purifier using your phone it will go on auto mode, change it to high power mode. Then turn it off. Now turn it on and it will automatically go to high mode unless power is cut. Now you can set timers for 2hrs 59 mins. Set timer to start again 1 minute later for another 2hr 59 mins. So if you set 8 timers for 2hr 59 mins you can have clean air 24/7. I have tested with PM2.5 meter and it works.
How high a setting do you usually use? The highest setting is really loud and isn’t suitable for all day/night.
Is this dependent on leaving the phone on all the time, or does the setting persist?
Hi guys,
I think your problem is not a real problem. I do not understand your issue because purifier in the turbo mode is extremely laud. Doesn`t it bother your?
The switching back to auto mode can be disabled by using the Schedule Power On/Off feature in the device settings in app : Simply set the purifier in favorites mode at desired setting and then create 3-hour intervals of power on-off timers like power on at 1200 hrs and power off at 1455 hrs and then another timer of power on at 1500 hrs and power off at 1755 hrs and so on creating a total of 8 timers and setting them to run everyday..Within every 3 hour interval, the purifier will shutdown for 5 minutes and then power on in favorites mode always, thereby preventing the switching back to auto mode which happens after 3 hours of running in manual (favorites) mode. Hope this helps my fellow Indians, especially Delhiites coping with severe pollution.
So the only reason one should not buy this purifier is becuase of it changing to auto mode after 3 hours?
I have one more doubt – the Xiaomi’s website mentions that it uses a high density EPA filter and once it mentions it uses Toray EPA filter. Is that different from HEPA? i have already bought it. Should i return it? I live in Delhi. Can someone recommend me another purifier below Rupees 15k?
I think the automation is now available in india as well. got to the screen where it shows the Pm 2.5 level. click the three dots on top right corner. Automation is available under general settings. My doubt still remains – the Xiaomi’s website mentions that it uses a high density EPA filter and once it mentions it uses Toray EPA filter. Is that different from HEPA? i have already bought it. Should i return it?
I’m not sure on what HEPAs the Xiaomis are shipped with in India, but in China they are 95% effective filters. This is good enough for normal house purifying, so I would not worry about this. You can find information about comparisons of different purifiers on our homepage: smartairfilters.com/in/ We tested multiple purifiers in India, and found that they all perform just as well as each other even the more expensive ones
This is insane. So the air purifying is actually good but the way it deals with auto mode etc is a mess.
What about the new Xiaomi Air Purifier Pro? I want to buy this one because I like to have an OLED display on the thing, so I can disable my wifi and just look at the device to see any problems with the air (I find it funny how people want clean air but want to leave wifi turned on all day to use the Air Purifiers that need wifi).
This one still needs wifi to tweak it as far as I know since I see no buttons but the play is to leave it on auto mode.
I just can’t find any legit tests on this one. It’s 500 bucks so I need to know if this works or it’s a scam. I need to find out if my leaky nose and dry eyes condition improves with clean air. My room is trapped with indoors windows that leads to the laundry so I don’t think it’s very good. Please help me choose the best air purifier.
Anyone knows something more about the Xiaomi Air Purifier Pro? It’s very hard to find anything useful over the internet. Did they improve something there? Does it have same issues in Auto/High modes?
I want to give it a try, but I’m affraid that noone has reviewed it and it seems it’s already on the market for 1 year.
This is really interesting reading. I recently purchased the same purifier, not knowing about this problem. Then I tested it, and setting a custom speed with the iOS app, my machine doesn’t switch back to auto at all. Has Xiaomi updated the firmware since this was published? Can someone else verify I’m not crazy?
I’m also trying to establish which behaviour is currently true of the ‘pro’ model, as I’m looking for something for a larger space.
If it’s above a certain speed I’ve found that the machine does switch back to auto. However, if it’s below a certain speed, then the machine stays on the whole night.
Thanks for that hint.
Looks to me like 22~25m³ runs interrupted, while 24~27m³ stops after a few hours.
Please not with the “2.5ppm detector” you can set up different patterns easily, under condition you can understand Chinese. In combination with the MI Home app and the detector your problem described does not occur, you have excellent results. I could sent you screenshots how to set up. It is not difficult, if you can read Chinese at least.
Aha, you mean with the standalone PM2.5 detector Xiaomi now sells? Linking up the Xiaomi with a reliable working detector is definitely one way to solve the problem. It means people will need to fork out an additional 399RMB for the particle counter (more than half the price of the purifier itself), but if you’ve already invested in a Xiaomi and don’t want to switch to another purifier, this is probably the most reliable way to make sure you’re breathing clean air.
Could you please post a screen shot of how you configured it with the detector? Thanks a lot!
Oh cmon! just use Automation with timer in the setting to force it to be in any mode you like.
Hi Gin, good idea! When we ran the tests before we didn’t spot this setting. I tried this out and managed to set it up in about 10 minutes, not too bad. Whether or not we can expect the average user to do it (or more importantly know that they need to do this to breath clean air) is another issue though. I’ve attached a screenshot incase anybody else wants to set this up!
Image: https://smartairfilters.com/en/wechatimg132/
If you need the purifier on at other times when you’re home, or if you want to turn it off during these times, it will still require more tweaks to the settings.
Paddy,
I cannot access the screenshot.
Kindly advise on how to keep the device running on Turbo Mode all the time.
I have the Mi Home App installed on my Android phone.
For everybody’s information here, I live in Delhi and on “Auto” mode the PM 2.5 estimate hovers around 60 and on “Turbo” mode it hovers around 40.
This is not healthy. Healthy air should not have a PM 2.5 count higher than 10.
Perhaps I should try the BlueAir Blue?
But, I cannot put my trust in a machine that looks so cheap.
Anyway, I have decided to stick with the Mi 2 for now.
Any help on making it run on Turbo Mode 24*7 would be greatly appreciated.
Regards,
Dhruv Sen.
PS: Have you guys tested the Blue Air Blue (maybe it is only available in India). How does it compare to the Mi Air Purifier 2?
@Dhruv
I’ve fixed the image link now.
We have not tested the Blue Air Blue, so cannot vouch for it. One thing is that any air purifier that’s running during this highly polluted period (over Diwali) will find it hard t keep indoor pollution within safe levels. Especially if your room is badly sealed.
Regarding your tests done in Delhi: we have also just tested the Xiaomi 2 in Delhi, and found that it left air unsafe 76% of the time. We will have the writeup finished soon. The Xiaomi 2 really is a dangerous machine.
With the Blue air priced at Rs.23,000 you could get 3 Cannons for the same price. That will give you the added benefit of distributing your clean air sources around your your room, which should help counter the negative effect of leaky windows or doors.
That is very sad to hear. Thanks for the response.
In reference to the screenshot, I am not able to access the “Automation” feature highlighted. Perhaps it is only available in China or on Apple phones, I don’t know. Your screenshot seems to be from “WeChat”.
On my Android in India, all I have is a “Schedule Power on/off” feature that lets me set when the device shall be switched on or off. It does not allow me to select the “Favourite” or “Turbo” mode as it seems to in your screenshot.
This is not a problem during the daylight hours when I can monitor the device but when I go to sleep the machine shall automatically switch to “Auto” mode after three hours. If I can find a way to keep it running on “Turbo” while I am sleeping, that would be quite useful.
Please ask your testers in Delhi if they have the same features as you seem to in China. You must think of us Indians.
Damn, that’s a shame! I’m on an Android phone, using the ‘Mi Home’ app downloaded from the Xiaomi App Store. Seems like this has its issues as well, so I guess we still can’t recommend the Xiaomi purifier as a reliable way of getting clean air. I hope you can find a solution and keep breathing safe!
Ya, I am just keeping it on “Auto” and hoping for the best. “Favourites” was making too much of a racket.
@Dhruv
You can download Xiaomi Market from the web. You will need to change the permissions on your phone. Your phone will give you prompts to change permissions as you do so so it’s easy.
Delete the Mi Home app you downloaded from Google Play.
Open Xiaomi Market, and search for Mi Home and download.
Change the location setting to “Mainland China” and the language setting to “English”. The automation setting is only available on the Mainland China setting.
Re pair your Air purifier with the app.
Voila! At the bottom of the Mi Home screen (not the Purifier shortcut) you will see an Automation option. Just remember you are working with Mainland China time.
Some of it’s in Chinese. But it’s easy to workout. You can now program your purifier as suggested above.
By the way, apparently Automation settings are only available if you select the Chinese Mainland server. It doesn’t matter that you’re actually located elsewhere.
If you switch to the Chinese Mainland server, you will have to re-add the device.
Not everything will be translated into English, but I think having Automation is worth the inconvenience.
If you have an Android device, you can have the Chinese be automatically translated to your language https://thenextweb.com/google/2016/07/07/googles-now-tap-can-translate-text-android-screen/
Did anyone look whether this can be mitigated by using the API interface to tune the Xiaomi in high mode again after 3 hours when it reverts to auto mode?
Interesting question! You mean getting under the hood and trying to code it differently? I didn’t get that technical. I just looked at the settings it has available.
There is a Homebridge plugin for these purifiers.
https://www.npmjs.com/package/homebridge-xiaomi-air-purifier
Paddy here, the tech nerd at Smart Air! Nice to see that there are some solutions out there, but I think for the average guy who doesn’t know Node.js like we do it might be tough to set up. Gin’s automation solution is simpler for the layman, but still not perfect. The fact that both these ‘solutions’ exist show that this is a very real problem in the first place.
I was interested in to buy one of theses but if they always goes back to auto mode automatically after 3 hours and auto mode works so bad this machines in useless unfortionatly (I like this machine very much until I was reading this).
This they must change, if I do not want to have auto mode is shall not switch over to that automatically!
Yeah, it’s really a shame! The fan and filter are fine. It’s just that they force you to use auto mode.
Which filter did you tested?
Is new filters (green and purple) better?
It was the filter that came with the new machine!
same issue here. the pm sensor doesn’t seem reliable , sometime i see the number jump to 30 and fall back down… it’s always steady at 10 . well xiaomi just released a Xiaomi PM 2.5 Air Detector Portable OLED screen , it might fix things ?
I’ve just ordered a second xiaomi air purifier . i’m going to see on how they compare, I might have a defective one
also I find it strange that the auto on/off doesn’t work at all (schedule option on your phone)
I also would find it very interesting whether combining the purifier with the PM2.5 Detector from Xiaomi would solve the Auto Mode issue or not.
Yeah! I recently tested the Mi1 and Mi2 against four other particle counters. The results weren’t pretty. The Mi particle counter was off by as much as 200 micrograms! That’s shocking, especially when that particle counter is responsible for deciding when you need to clean the air.
It wasn’t just high readings. It also missed on low readings. When the other particle counters were around 1-2 micrograms, the Xiaomi was still reading 9-12.
I don’t think you understood what a couple of commenters suggested. The separate Xiaomi PM2.5 particle counter has the ability to control Xiaomi air purifiers. It also uses a more accurate technology for measurements than what is built into the Xiaomi 2 air purifier. A repeat test using it as the controlling device would be interesting.
Aha, that standalone particle counter we’re yet to test! In the next month we’re actually going to be running a Kickstarter project to test a whole host of particle counters. This one will be in the list for sure. We’ll hopefully have results on how accurate this standalone device is in the next few months
Hi. I am in NCR region with MI Air Purifier 2. I am willing to do a test for you but I do not have a particle counter. In case you are willing to lend a counter to me, i can do a test as per your methodology.
PS: I am an engineer and have varied tests back in my days.