(Photo credit: Saurabh Singh/Financial Express) These are surrounded by a “coloured” light strip/ring that changes based on command – orange for when the microphone is on mute, blue when it is listening, white in configuration mode, and yellow during a factory reset. The top is matte and has a row of four touch sensitive buttons for volume up and down, play/pause and one for muting the microphone(s) – the speaker has two of those, also at the top. Size, weight and styling are more in line with the Google Home which seems fair because that’s the smart speaker that Xiaomi is positioning this against. The mesh is briefly interrupted on the back by way of a vertical strip housing the power socket – there is no audio jack on the Mi Smart Speaker which is a curious omission but one that’s totally fine considering the price.

The Mi Smart speaker is a flattened-out cylindrical structure that’s made of metal with 10,531 “precise” sound holes. The Mi Smart speaker looks like a conventional Bluetooth speaker with an Echo-y – think, first-generation Echo Plus – twist. That’s a lot to ask and yet, the Mi Smart speaker somehow manages to surprise by getting eerily close to its goal. The Mi Smart speaker has been designed to address the gap that exists in the sub-Rs 5,000 price segment when it comes to the need for good sounding smart speakers – or smart speakers that sound good and are also affordable. Spoiler alert: it is better! Mi Smart speaker is a flattened-out cylindrical structure. The Mi Smart Speaker is unlike any of these devices (not counting the new Echo Dot here since I am yet to get my hands on it) in terms of feature set. That’s in the same ball park as the Google Nest Mini and the older Echo Dot – while the recently announced fourth-generation Echo Dot costs higher (Rs 4,499). The Mi Smart speaker costs Rs 3,999 – for a limited period, you can get it for Rs 3,499. Why is Xiaomi doing this? To understand that, you’ll first have to take its pricing strategy into account.

The smart aspect, though it is important, comes later. Like Apple, Xiaomi has designed the Mi Smart speaker to be a speaker first. Beware of WhatsApp Pink! Link claiming to change Whatsapp in Pink is a virus, can hack mobile phone: Cyber experts Mi Smart speaker is a speaker first.

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