Xiaodu’s smart speaker video review at home, the smart speaker with screen is really amazing

Original title: Xiaodu at home smart speaker video review, smart speaker with screen is really amazing

foreword

I have been paying more attention to the smart speaker category, and now smart speakers have been fully integrated into my life.

About a year ago, Amazon released a smart speaker with a screen Echo Show, and domestic smart speaker pioneer JD.com – Ding Dong also released a smart speaker with a screen at CES earlier this year, Ding Dong PLAY, but it actually became a product and officially launched in China. It is the "Xiaodu at home" that you want to experience today.

Smart speakers should not have a screen, which used to be a very popular discussion after Amazon released the Echo Show. Many technology media came out to post articles, with praise and criticism, and it seemed that the criticism was greater than the praise. But whether the experience of having a screen is good or not, please follow me.

unpacking

The packaging of "Xiaodu is at home" is quite simple, and the pure white hard carton is printed with hot silver. The product name on the front is marked as jointly produced by Baidu and Xiaoyu at home.

On the back of the box is some necessary information for product packaging, and there is no excess.

Open the heaven and earth cover, and what you see directly inside is the main body of the fuselage embedded in the blister packaging.

Take out the main unit, and there is a small box below to put the transformer.

Transformer output power 12V 2A.

exterior display

Xiaodu has four body colors to choose from at home, and I chose a bright "Rock Red".

From the front, Xiaodu’s appearance at home is quite similar to that of the Echo Show, except that the position outside the screen is completely wrapped in fabric material, which is more visually gentle

The side and back are quite different from the Echo Show. It feels a bit like a traditional cylindrical speaker with a screen on the front. There is a power switch on the top. Since the screen is a touchscreen, there is no need to add too many buttons, and most operations can be performed directly on the touchscreen.

There are silicone foot pads at the bottom, and there are Micro USB ports and power ports in the semi-circular hollow position.

The weight of the whole machine is not heavy, 0.834 kilograms, about one and a half catties.

Town Building Map

After unpacking, even if you enter the real experience evaluation process, put a map of the town building before that. This picture is not to brag about how many smart speakers I have, but to show that I have indeed experienced and tried most of the smart speakers on the market. After a long time of use and experience, I have learned about the current mainstream technical level of the smart speaker category, and can objectively evaluate the quality of a product. The following review and experience are based on my experience of using the vast majority of smart speakers on the market.

boot configuration

Press and hold the top power supply for three seconds to turn it on, and the boot screen shows the product name, "Xiaodu Smart Video Speaker at Home", jointly produced by Baidu and Xiaoyu at Home.

Due to the screen, it is much easier to connect to Wi-Fi. You don’t need to open the APP anymore. You can directly connect to the Wi-Fi network like operating a Pad.

After the device is successfully connected to the network, the APP will be installed and the device will be activated by scanning the code through the APP.

When you open the APP for the first time, there will be some introductions to the selling points of this product.

Xiaodu used Xiaoyu’s user system at home, because I have used Xiaoyu at home before, so I can log in directly.

After logging in to Xiaodu Home, you need to bind your Baidu account again to get Baidu-related services. After the binding process is completed, there will be a short introduction video to watch.

After the APP logs in and scans the code, the binding process is completed. The first user to bind is the administrator of the device. After the device is activated, there is also a short demonstration video and asks if one call is turned on. To turn on this function, the mobile phone can also see the screen shot by the device without the need to answer the device, similar to the function of remote monitoring.

I forgot to take a comparison of the size of the reference object before, so I added it here. I think the volume is more suitable.

practical experience

Several icons on the main screen represent skills introduction, calls and messages, Wi-Fi connection, time, air quality, family member avatars, etc.

Xiaodu used "Xiaodu Xiaodu" as the wake-up word at home. After waking up, all the content Xiaodu heard at home would be converted into text and displayed at the bottom of the screen. Through this information bar, users could intuitively see whether Xiaodu accurately recognized the user’s voice content at home.

With a screen, the information that can be conveyed has an extra dimension. In addition to voice broadcasts, most of the information will also be converted into images and displayed on the screen.

When listening to music, not only can the album cover be displayed, but also the lyrics can be scrolled to display, which is very cool.

Now that he had a screen, he could play videos. Xiaodu was at home and fully connected to the iQIYI platform. All content on iQIYI could be retrieved and played directly on Xiaodu’s home. If he was not an iQIYI member, he would normally watch a 60-second advertisement.

Xiaodu is equipped with a seven-inch screen at home with a resolution of 1024 × 600. The picture quality is relatively average, which is enough for video calls, but it is not recommended to use this device for a long time to watch video content. However, in some scenes, it is quite convenient to have this small screen to watch the content. For example, watch the explanation when cooking, and watch the tutorial when accompanying the child to do crafts. In addition, Xiaodu supports DLNA video output at home, and can voice-demand content and complete the screen projection.

The way to log in to iQIYI is to click Member in the upper right corner to skip the advertisement when an advertisement appears. At this time, the QR code will appear on the screen. Use the iQIYI APP and scan the code to associate the account relationship.

You can make video or voice calls directly at home through Xiaodu. If the other party is already a family member, you can directly initiate a video call or voice call over the Internet without a separate charge. If you just dial a normal phone number, you will need to pay the call fee. Each device comes with 60 minutes of free phone calls, which can be paid later.

actual experience video

Let’s play a practical video. It can be seen that Xiaodu’s recognition accuracy and reaction speed at home are both excellent.

APP

In terms of the APP, users who have used Xiaoyu at home can see that this is basically Xiaoyu’s APP at home, with slight modifications in some small places. But that’s fine, after all, Xiaoyu has been on the market for a long time, and the App has been polished for a long time.

The app is divided into three tabs, namely Voice Skills, Family Interaction, and Discover More.

Language skills are mainly used to explain the functions of this device and related voice commands. Just look at the long picture below.

Before Xiaoyu was at home, his main focus was family care and company, so the function of this family circle was also simultaneously translated to Xiaodu at home.

Family interaction includes audio & video calls, family member management, smart capture, and family albums. For relevant settings, you can see the screenshot below, and the following video will also show you the actual use effect.

Discover more about some settings for devices and permissions. Among them, the child protection function is very intimate. You can set which users can be on-demand, and force a break after 30 minutes of video playback.

Smart speakers need some smart home linkage functions, and Xiaodu’s smart home functions at home can only be regarded as a little bit of water. Devices that can be connected are on the right side of the picture below. There are some devices connected through Broadlink in my home that can be bound to an account and controlled, but the control is limited to basic functions, and there are no customization and scene-related settings.

A summary of Xiaodu’s experience at home

Advantages:

1. With the screen, the content that can be displayed has expanded a lot. In addition to seeing iQIYI videos, you can see lyrics when listening to songs, spelling when asking English, and corresponding pictures or even small videos when checking the content.

2. In addition to being more informative, it also reduces distrust of voice devices. (Here I want to explain what distrust there is with devices that did not have a screen before. For example, if I ask a long mathematical calculation, I believe that as long as the speaker can understand it, it will be correct. But I am not sure if a long mathematical calculation speaker really heard it correctly, and the result reported to me in the end is really what I want to calculate. And with the screen, you can intuitively see the complete calculation formula I said on the screen.)

3. The APP has been relatively mature and has stable functions after being polished by Xiaoyu at home before.

4. Focus on building relationships in the family circle, share photo albums and videos, and bring family members closer together.

The price of 599 does have a significant impact on the market for congeneric products.

Deficiency:

1. As a smart speaker, sound quality is a weakness.

2. I didn’t find the function to disable the microphone. I don’t know if it’s really not there or if it’s hidden too deeply.

3. Smart home is a touch of the water.

The author of this article, Jiguo Trainee Experience Master: Regeneration Fairy

This article is originally written by Jiguo Trainee Experience Master Regeneration Fairy