Having been at home more often since the pandemic hit, has made people pay more attention to the cleanliness of the house. This trend is then supported by the presence of various smart home equipment, one of which is the Xiaomi Smart Air Purifier 4 Lite air purifier.
When Xiaomi releases its newest air purifier in late 2021, there are two types of fourth-generation Mi Air Purifiers on offer, namely Smart Air Purifier 4 Pro and Smart Air Purifier 4 Lite. Well, what we will review this time is the Smart Air Purifier 4 Lite.
As its name is labeled Lite, this version is touted as a lighter, compact, and affordable version than the Smart Air Purifier 4 Pro. Check out our review of trying this smart device.
Design
The body of the Xiaomi Smart Air Purifier 4 Lite is built from quality and sturdy plastic material. This device comes with a simple design, and the choice of white color with a matte appearance makes it look clean and minimalist.
Measuring 240 x 240 x 533.5 mm and weighing around 4.8 kg, the Smart Air Purifier 4 Lite is quite compact and easy to move around. At the bottom there are rubber feet so that the device is not slippery and stands stably.
The air filter holes are placed around the bottom aesthetically so that it is not only functional, but also enhances the appearance of this device.
Then on the front, we will find a circular OLED screen. This screen displays the device mode status, air quality, air particulate score, humidity, temperature, to WiFi. Oh yes, the screen can be seen clearly and well from various angles.
The screen brightness level can be adjusted via the button with the Sun icon on the back, just above the power cable plug. If you pay attention and feel, on the left and right sides of this device there are two invisible buttons to open the top of the air fan.
We can only find out if we press the box line on both sides at the same time. This design is also worthy of appreciation because it is made a bit hidden so it doesn't interfere with the appearance of the device.
Turning to the top, there is a power button on the left side and device mode controls on the right side. These two buttons are not the type of physical buttons that stand out but are like touch screens. So again, this is also an added value for a sleek design appearance.
How to use
The Xiaomi Smart Air Purifier 4 Lite is ready to use from the moment it is taken out of the box, there is no need to install a filter or other equipment from scratch. You just need to remove the plastic packaging and tape on the screen and around the body.
Then, plug in the power cable that came in the box and plug it into the port on the bottom back and connect it to a power source.
Once connected, the screen of the Xiaomi Smart Air Purifier 4 Lite will sound a sign that it is ready to operate. Press the power button on the top left of the device, and the screen will light up.
Xiaomi Smart Air Purifier 4 Lite. Photo: Rachmatunnisa
In addition to power status, the screen also displays options for switching modes (automatic, sleep, manual), temperature, humidity, and WiFi. This feature will display the air quality through three indicator lights. Green indicates clean air quality, yellow or orange means moderate, and red means very dirty.
Companion App
Xiaomi Smart Air Purifier 4 Lite can be controlled via the Mi Home application which can be downloaded on the Google Play Store or App Store. This air purifier is also quite sophisticated because it can be commanded via voice assistants such as Google and Alexa.
Connecting the Xiaomi Smart Air Purifier 4 Lite to the Mi Home app is quite easy. The trick, open the Mi Home application on the smartphone, add a device (add device), select Xiaomi Smart Air Purifier 4 Lite and the device will be directly connected.
As long as the air purifier is connected to electricity, we can operate it via an application on a smartphone like a remote control, including scheduling the time to turn on and when to turn off. Information about the remaining life of the filter is also provided here, which is about 290 days.
In the application there is also a Parental Control mode which functions to disable the physical button function on the air purifier so that it will be locked if touched by children.
Regarding security, it may still be necessary to pay attention to the gap from the fan hole at the top. On the one hand, this large hole can maximally inhale and clean the air. But on the other hand, the gaps are spacious, prone to objects, such as pencils played by children or other small objects that accidentally fall from above.
Wearing Experience
The Xiaomi Smart Air Purifier 4 Lite is equipped with a Clean Air Delivery Rate (CADR) of particles up to 360 m³/hour. Xiaomi claims this device can clean the air in 15 minutes for a space of 25-43 m².
When tested for a living room with a size of about 40 m², the air purifier was deliberately exposed to smoke and cooking odors in the kitchen. The screen indicator, which was originally green, turns red.
When testing, the air purifier uses manual mode so that the fan sounds loud because it performs maximum air cleaning.
Overall, using this maximum mode it takes about 20 minutes to clear the air from the red indicator with a particulate parameter score of 500, until it turns green again which indicates clean air quality with a particulate parameter score of 20.
Xiaomi Smart Air Purifier 4 Lite. Photo: Rachmatunnisa
For additional information, the Xiaomi Smart Air Purifier 4 Lite has a PM2.5/PM10 dual effect laser sensor. This is a sensor that detects air particles measuring 2.5 micrometers or 10 micrometers.
For example, this PM10 detects coarse particles such as pollen, ash, mold, pet dander, plant skins and more. Meanwhile, PM2.5 detects small pollutants that can be inhaled but cannot be seen, such as cooking smoke, cigarette smoke, or pet odors.
Please note, using manual mode will cause noise. But this mode is the maximum air purification mode. If the air indicator is clean again, or if we use it in a smaller room, just use a quieter sleep or automatic mode so as not to disturb.
Our opinion
Smart Air Purifier 4 Lite is relatively easy to operate even for those who are using an air purifier for the first time. In appearance, the build quality of the device is very good, looks elegant with a simple design but makes it look attractive.
This air purifier is also equipped with quite complete and functional features. Another plus, its compact size makes it easy to move around, and filter changes are easy to do just by opening the top of the device, without the need for additional equipment.
If there is a note, it may be a matter of safety for the fan parts that are vulnerable to foreign objects. Manual mode operation may also be annoying for some people because of the noise. In the future, maybe Xiaomi can make this maximum mode sound smoother, like if you use automatic and sleep modes.
Overall, the Xiaomi Smart Air Purifier 4 Lite is perfect for use in a small living room or bedroom, and the price is relatively affordable for all the features it offers.