Mi Air Purifier Review

The Mi Air Purifier is a China made air purifier made by Xiaomi Inc who is known more for their affordable Android smartphones. Their designs are clean and simple and appeal to the current generation of consumers. You can say they blatantly copy Apple's design philosophy. Look at this 2013 launch video and 2016 launch video for their smart phones. Currently, they make a wide range of consumer products (including this Ninebot Mini Segway type of device) and there seems to be no stopping this behemoth in churning out all kinds of gadgets. I've owned a couple of their phones and powerbanks and find them very user friendly and easy to use. Really value for money. My main phone is still the iPhone 6 Plus, however.

Ok, so recently, Xiaomi decided to sell their Mi Air Purifier through our local supermarket chain, NTUC. NTUC sells these for S$279 which is $20 cheaper than Xiaomi's RRP of S$299. I decided to get it as it covers quite a good volume and is networked enabled. So here is a review of the Mi Air Purifier.

Unboxing

The Mi Air Purifier is sold in a plain cardboard box, much like their smartphones. There were no handles or cut-out holes to grab, which is a shame because it was quite heavy and the sides hard to grab. I balanced them on my shoulder for the most part.

Upon opening the box, you are presented with a pictogram showing the location of the various contents. Flipping up the internal cover, you are presented with the instruction manual in a embossed section of the Styrofoam. The manual says, "Always believe that something wonderful is about to happen", which would normally put a smile on anyone's face. I was not exactly in the mood for this as I had just had an unpleasant encounter with a dear friend of mine. But nevertheless, let's press on.

Removing the top Styrofoam, we see the Mi Air Purifier itself, covered with a synthetic cloth cover. This cloth cover fits the air purifier snugly and covers it from top to bottom. I am using as a dust cover when I am not using the air purifier over a period of time. So do not discard it yet.

Here is the Mi Air Purifier from different sides. The air intake is from the bottom front and two sides. The back portion is the panel opening to access the air filter. The back also contains a WIFI reset button and the air quality detection unit (from what I read, it is from Sharp).

Opening the back panel, we see that the power cord is stored there for transportation. Remove the power cord and we can access the sealed air filter. The air filter is locked into position via a lever at the bottom.

Usage

I installed the Mi Air Purifier where my old Honeywell Air Purifier was located. This was an air-conditioned room with closed windows and doors. The footprint is smaller but this is a taller air purifier. The unit lights up in green when the air quality is good.

The unit can sync over WIFI to a smartphone running the Mi Home app. Here I have it installed on a Xiaomi smartphone. The phone passes the WIFI setting to the Mi Air Purifier and then when the air purifier is connected via the internet, the smartphone syncs to it. The Mi Air Purifier reported PM2.5 count to be 14 (I assume the unit of measure to be the common μg/m³). I had a particle counter which measured air around the output of the Mi Air Purifier. It indicated the PM2.5 to be 8μg/m³.

This was lesser than the measurement I made in the living room with open windows. That reading for PM2.5 was 38μg/m³. About 3 times higher. I guess this shows that the air purifier was indeed cleaning up the air in the enclosed room.

After running the unit for about 20 minutes, the PM2.5 reading for the room reading with the air purifier dropped to 5μg/m³.

I initially tried using Mi Home on iOS on my iPhone 6 Plus with no luck. However, with the Xiaomi connected, I just logged onto the same account on my iPhone the next day and the Mi Air Purifier showed up. In practice, I notice that the app would sometimes loose synchronisation with the Mi Air Purifier (true for both the Android and the iOS app). This was probably the only thing I found annoying about the air purifier.

Size

Compared to the Honeywell Air Purifier it was replacing (due to the difficulty in getting replacement filters over here), the Mi Air Purifier takes up less footprint but is taller. In terms of design, I prefer the Mi Air Purifier, as it looks clean and simple.

Conclusion

I really like the design of the Mi Air Purifier. The form is clean and simple. It is a straightforward and basic air purifier without ion generators. It is relatively cheap at S$279 and is able to cover quite a volume. The replacement filter is also cheap at RRP S$39.90. The app (when synced) is a good add-on feature to have an idea of the air quality.

Revell's Star Wars™ The Force Awakens Millennium Falcon

I bought the Revell Star Wars: The Force Awakens Millennium Falcon from Amazon a couple of weeks ago while online shopping. This is cheaper and slightly smaller than the Bandai's 1/144 scale Millennium Falcon. From what I gather online, this Revell kit is around 1/160 something scale.

The kit comes in a nicely printed cardboard box with a picture of the Millennium Falcon with the new rectangular radar sensor, indicating that it is the new Millennium Falcon from The Force Awakens movie. It says that it is suitable for Ages 6+ (yes, I qualify!), Skill Level 1, and takes 30 minutes to built (verified to be about right). It also indicates that it has action, sound and lights! You don't get that on the Bandai kit.

The back of the box shows what Skill Level 1 means, the parts list and the features of the completed kit. No glue, no paint and no tools are deemed necessary to complete this kit! It also shows some other kits of the series that you can collect.

Here are the parts out of the box. The pieces are all nicely cut out by Revell - there are no sprues/runners to cut these parts from, like most model kits. The 2 main halves of the ship are nicely held in place within the box with 2 clear plastic inserts (seen on the left side of the picture). These prevent the painted halves from moving about and getting scratches on the paintjob. The plastic insert also holds the blue tinted transparent Hyper Drive of the Falcon (blue strip on the right). A single sheet of instruction is included. The smaller pieces of kit are wrapped in a plastic bag. The electronic piece responsible for the light and sound is separate from these parts.

Building the kit was pretty straightforward - add parts to bottom half, add the 2 side hatches, add light and sound module, add parts to top half and finally put the 2 halves together.

The side hatches both have some holes on one side. From what I gather, these help to transmit sound from the electronic module. However, the instructions did not indicate should these 2 holes oriented to the top or bottom of the craft. I decided to place them at the top.

After about 30 minutes (or less actually), the kit is done. It is pre-painted and it does look good! Panel lines are detailed and if you want, a nice weathering wash would bring out more details. As it is, it already looks good.

The cockpit is painted black so there isn't any details at all. The gun turrets rotate but do not pivot up/down. The rectangular radar sensor rotates. The landing gears can retract and extend.

The light and sound module is activated by one of the exhaust vents at the back (centre bottom one). The light effect is a nice blue glow simulating the Hyper Drive! You get the movie effect sound too.

The landing gears extend and retract with a nice click. There are 5 landing gears to hold the Falcon up. You can see the nicely detailed bottom of the Falcon in these shots.

Overall, I had great fun putting this kit together. There is very little you can go wrong with this kit. Perhaps some care should be taken when pushing in the landing gears in case you break them. The parts are sturdy and seem to be able to hold up to a bit of play. I think it is great value compared to the Bandai kit (I may still get it to try out and if I do, will compare it to this kit). The finished kit looks nice and is already painted so it is really hassle free to build. Hope you enjoy this little write up on this kit. I am a Star Wars fan and this is really one of the easiest kit I have completed.

Shure 215K Sound Isolating Earphones

I've had the Shure SE215-K Sound Isolating Earphones with Single Dynamic MicroDriver for over a year now and it has been quite an impressive performer. Here's a short review of this interesting product that has provided me with some peace and quiet at my workplace.

What's in the box?

The SE215-K comes in a sturdy white and cyan colored box with a window showing the translucent blue earphones.

Included in the box is a pouch; a small plastic bag containing - extra foam tips in different sizes and a cleaning tool; and the Shure SE215-K earphones.

The SE215-K earphones

The SE215-K comes with translucent blue housings. You can see the drivers and circuits under good lighting. I found them very pleasing to the eye. 

 

The cleaning tool is used to dig out any ear wax that may have accumulated on the inside of the foam tips after some use.

In my usage for over a year, I have not had the chance to use the cleaning tool as my ear does not really have a lot of wax.

The cable swivels and is removable - just carefully pull it out. The connectors appear to be gold plated.

To reconnect just firmly push it back in until it clicks.

The Fit

These earphones hook onto your ears in an unconventional way. There is a stiff wire that curls around the top of your ears while the foam tips expand into your ear, sealing out any outside sound. Compared to an active noise cancelling earphones, these actually do quite a good job of blocking out any sound. I use these in the office and it does block out a fair amount of office chatter, especially with some music playing. These are very comfortable once you get them on. They do take a little time to put on because of the way it hooks around your ears. So if you need to take them off often while using them, you will find it quite frustrating. 

The Sound

These have a fair amount of bass in them. I found the bass tight and not overwhelming. Instrument separation was ok for an earphone. Sound stage was surprising good for an earphone. I find myself using these more then my Creative Aurvana In-Ear3 (which I still keep at my workplace) despite the more elaborate way of putting them on.

Conclusion

The SE215-K is quite worth the price I paid in terms of comfort and sound. I did find putting them on and taking them off to be quite a hassle. They sound good connected to my iPhone 6 Plus without any external amplification which means I don't have to bring about an extra bit of gear. The included pouch is quite handy for keeping the oddly shaped SE215-K with the stiff wire/hooks. It has replaced the Aurvana In-Ear3 which I had been using previously.

Software Development in the 21st Century

Attended a talk - Software Development in the 21st Century, by Martin Fowler yesterday evening. It was great to catch up on some of the new practices and innovations that are being adopted in the area of IT. One interesting point is the differences in strategic versus utility projects. Typically, packaged software are good for utility projects but does not give an organization a competitive edge. It's basically what "the other guys" have. Custom systems and software are usually more suited to strategic goal and tend to be higher risks but would give an organization a competitive edge. This also reminded me if the blue ocean red ocean strategies. This, the status quo or what "the other guys" are doing is usually not gonna reaping benefits.

New iPad (2012 version) - What's cooking Tim?

When the new iPad was launched earlier this month, I immediately got one. I was in the market for another iPad. The new graphic processors and retina display swayed me to get this over the iPad 2.

The iPad performed wonderfully for a few days and then suddenly it decided to flicker its bright LED backlight intermittently.

iPad broadway LED lights

This became a constant problem as the screen became too bright to work on. It almost looks like a broadway stage if you turn it on its side. The set was deemed unusable and I returned it.

Soon after, I started reading about the excessive heat from the new iPad. There is even a picture of an iPad frying an egg. While I had my iPad, I did notice that it was warmer than the old iPad 2 but it was not so obvious if you have installed a back cover. There was also a case of dropped synchronization from my colleague when he tried to sync with a PC.

So while I am a heavy Mac user and am rather committed to the Apple ecosystem; I will be waiting for production of the new iPad to stabilize and for any other issues to surface before I get another iPad. So, if you have a new iPad, please test it fully to ensure that it is in good working condition. I am currently back on the old iPad 2.