Let’s take a long journey, not everyone can do it. However, it is obviously not very difficult to go hiking and cycling in the suburbs with family or friends on weekends. At this time, it is necessary to keep in touch with the other party anytime and anywhere without wasting the phone bill. The walkie-talkie may be a better choice.
Recently, the newly upgraded Xiaomi Mijia Walkie Talkie 1S has been on sale. The price is the same as the previous generation of Xiaomi walkie-talkies. So the question is, whether the price has not changed, has the performance improved? Tookfun recently received a pair of Xiaomi Mijia walkie-talkies 1S, so let’s try it.
Appearance details
For many people, the appearance of the walkie-talkie is still that kind of thick, and it makes noises from time to time. However, when I saw the Xiaomi Mijia Walkie-Talkie 1S, its small, thin and simple appearance completely subverted the previous image of the walkie-talkie.
The appearance of 1S continues the simple design style of the previous generation of Mijia walkie-talkies. Refreshing and mellow, the surface spraying process makes the hand feel smooth. This model is available in blue and white, and the one I got is blue. The body weight is 114g and the thickness is 14mm. Compared with the 200g body of the previous generation Mijia walkie-talkie, the weight is about 43% lighter; compared to the thickness of the 24mm body (without the back clip), it is about 41% thinner. No matter it is held in the hand or clipped on the backpack strap, it doesn’t feel much, and it doesn’t cause any burden at all.
The front of Mijia Walkie-Talkie 1S is a display + three physical buttons. The display uses an LED dot matrix screen, a pure black screen with an active luminous dot matrix. It can be seen clearly even in the sun, and it is more convenient to use outdoors. And three physical keys. In the standby mode, click the left/right button to adjust the volume; click the middle circle button, and the channel starts to flash. At this time, you can use the left and right buttons to switch channels, and then press the middle circle button to confirm, or wait for a few minutes. It will also automatically confirm after seconds.
The bottom of the front of the 1S fuselage is a newly designed speaker. It is said that in order to achieve a clearer and louder sound effect, the 1S uses a speaker with a 65% larger effective radiation area than the previous generation, and the maximum volume is increased by 162%. It can still maintain a good call effect in a noisy environment. Of course, how the actual effect is, we will actually experience it later.
Compared with the previous generation, Mijia walkie-talkie 1S comes with a back clip, which makes up for the shortcomings of the previous generation that have been complaining about. In addition, the lanyard hole is also cleverly placed above the back clip.
On the left side of the fuselage, there is a button with 4 non-slip grooves. After you press it down, you can hear a beep and you can talk. Although there are 4 grooves, when I use it, I found that pressing the middle two dots can trigger the call more easily, while the first and fourth buttons require hard work to trigger the call.
The power switch key is made smaller, and a slider design is made. This can better avoid accidental touches. Of course, it may be a bit difficult to dial this key when wearing gloves.
On the right side of the fuselage, there is a Micro USB charging port with a dust plug and a headphone port. The circular button at the bottom has multiple function keys. For example, short press can display power; long press to enter Bluetooth connection mode; double tap can switch to FM radio mode.
In terms of accessories, Mijia walkie-talkie 1S can be said to be very “thrifty”. An adapter that can be adapted to Gopro and a USB cable for charging. It should be noted that the adapter is easy to press on, just push down against the top of the back clip. But if you want to separate, you need to break the protruding part out with your hands, and then push it up, instead of just pulling it hard.
Use operation
Of course, the quality of the intercom is the most important, and the premise is that the frequency must be consistent. After turning on the Xiaomi Mijia walkie-talkie 1S, we see that the default channel it gives is L01, which is the low-power channel No. 1. 1S has a total of 20 low-power L01-L20 channels and 20 high-power H01-H20 channels by default. High-power channels must be activated and certified before they can be used.
We have already talked about the function of the three buttons at the bottom of the screen. As long as the channels of the two walkie-talkies are tuned to the same channel, it can be used. But the problem with using public channels is that it’s really easy to receive signals from others in the city, and even hear others speak. We encountered this problem when we actually used it, and suddenly received a conversation from someone else from the walkie-talkie. It was dumbfounding.
In addition, we can not only control through several buttons on the walkie-talkie, but also set it through the Mijia Walkie-Talkie APP. Like most smart devices, the Mijia Walkie-Talkie 1S can be connected to a mobile phone via Bluetooth.
After registering the connection and activating a series of operations, the channel can be set. We can see the specific frequency of each preset channel in the APP.
In addition, 1S also supports custom channel selection. Regarding custom channels, this is too professional for me, and I don’t have the relevant qualifications, so I don’t dare to fool around. Therefore, only the function introduction is made, and the actual test is not done.
When using a Bluetooth headset, you need to connect here in the Bluetooth connection assistant in the App; at the same time, set the walkie-talkie to the Bluetooth connection mode (long press the multi-function button on the right side of the fuselage), and then operate as required to see your own Bluetooth device, and then click connect. Mijia walkie-talkie 1S supports push-free calls, and the required volume trigger level can be set in the App. However, in actual use, even if the level is adjusted to a low trigger volume, the hands-free call experience is still not ideal. The Mijia Walkie-Talkie APP can also record our actions and share them with other friends.
In addition, 1S also supports power saving mode. After turning it on, the communication distance may be shortened, but the battery life has been improved. When using the public channel, in order to prevent the phenomenon of inter-channel, you can turn on the “busy prohibition” function (if the selected channel is set as busy prohibition. When the channel is being used by other users, press Talk button, the walkie-talkie does not transmit and emits a “beep” tone. To stop the “beep” tone, release the call button. When the channel is free, press the call button again to transmit). When the channel is used by other people, then No voice transmission will take place. Of course, you can also change the channel, the purpose is the same, to prevent cross-channel.
The noise reduction level is generally normal by default. The user can also adjust it to high or low, this is up to the user to decide. The bandwidth settings also have default settings. In actual use, I didn’t find any difference between broadband/narrow band, mainly because there is no precision instrument for testing. As an ordinary user, as long as the user experience is good.
Practical testing
Now that the appearance and basic functions of the Xiaomi Mijia Walkie Talkie 1S are clear, what about the actual performance? Let’s test it.
The test is divided into three parts, which test the call conditions between different floors in the building, the call conditions inside and outside the building, and the call conditions in a noisy environment on urban roads (cycling simulation).
Before that, I need to explain that the official said that the talk distance of the walkie-talkie can reach 1~5km. Then we will start testing to see if the official statement is accurate.
Call test between different floors in the building:
The building where the test site is located has 4 floors. The device channel selected is L20. It should be noted that the channel selection of the two walkie-talkies must be the same, otherwise the call cannot be made.
I stood on the first floor with the walkie-talkie 1S in hand and walked back and forth and talked, while the little friend who cooperated with me in the test held another walkie-talkie and kept moving. Data is recorded every time a floor is walked.
The actual test results show that the performance of 1S is still very good. A clear call can be made at any position on the same floor; the next floor, the call quality is not as clear as the same floor, but the smooth call can still be ensured; on the third floor, the call will be intermittent, and finally cannot The situation of the call.
In the long-distance H03 frequency band test, except for the call disconnection at the corner of the stairs, the calls on floors 1-4 are clear.
The actual test shows that the call quality of Mijia Walkie Talkie 1S is good. In the case of severe occlusion in the building, it can ensure smooth communication.
Call test inside and outside the building:
A small partner holds an intercom and stays on the first floor. I held another walkie-talkie and went downstairs to test the calls inside and outside the building in the park. After actual testing, although there is no effective distance in open areas, the call condition is good throughout. In the short-distance frequency band test, the effective straight-line distance is about 590m; in the long-distance channel test, the effective distance is 1.2km, and the maximum distance (that is, normal calls are no longer available) is 1.5km.
Call test in noisy environment on urban roads:
Standing in the open area of the park with the walkie-talkie in hand, my friend walked from the park to the road with another walkie-talkie to test the distance and quality of the walkie-talkie.
In the actual test, it was found that in a noisy environment, the “improved” handset of the Mijia Walkie-Talkie 1S played a very important role. The official said that the effective radiation area of the earpiece has increased by 62%, and the maximum volume has increased by 162%. In fact, the voice of the call is very clear on the road with heavy traffic, and the volume is loud enough to not be affected by the surrounding noise.
Due to the large number of buildings in the urban area and the complex structure, the effective distance of the call (whichever has been able to hear the complete conversation) has not reached the official maximum of 5km. In the actual test, the call was intermittent when it reached 1.5km, and then the normal call could not be carried out.
It can be seen from this test that the actual performance of Mijia Walkie Talkie 1S is much better than in the urban area if it is in the wild. In urban areas, floor occlusion caused the attenuation of radio waves, causing the actual effect to be less than what the official advertised.
In this test, another situation was discovered. In the actual test for almost an hour, the power of 1S is almost not lost (maybe the power is reduced but the power display is not displayed). It seems that the official advertised 16 hours of continuous use and standby time of up to 5 days is really not “wonderful”.
Conclusion
Small, light and simple is the biggest feature of Xiaomi Mijia Walkie-Talkie 1S which is different from ordinary walkie-talkies. Although not comparable to those professional walkie-talkies, for ordinary users, it is enough to bring a portable and compact walkie-talkie with you that can guarantee the quality of the call.
And the excellent battery life guarantees its working time. With a continuous 16-hour battery life, even if someone turns 24 hours a day, the two walkie-talkies fully meet their work requirements.
Combined with the App, you can maximize all the “power” of the walkie-talkie 1S: record track, customize the channel (if you don’t want to string together and have a certificate), connect to Bluetooth devices, etc.
The most important call function also performed well in actual tests. Even when testing on a road with a lot of traffic on the road, the call sound is very clear and the volume is loud enough to not be affected by the surrounding noise.
It can be seen that Xiaomi has worked hard on the new generation of walkie-talkies, with a smaller body and stronger performance, which requires high technology and craftsmanship.
Of course, there is no perfect product. There are a few suggestions in actual use:
- First of all, it is relative to the previous generation of Mijia walkie-talkies. This time the 1S antenna cannot be disassembled. I tried twisting it several times and it didn’t work;
- Secondly, the dot matrix display can only display the channel and volume. This is wasteful for the display. Maybe there are more ways to play, such as frequency display adjustment, dual frequency mode, display position and distance, etc.
Having said that, is the Xiaomi Mijia Walkie-Talkie 1S worth buying?
If you are a small partner who likes outdoor sports, then 1S is definitely the best choice. A single 16-hour battery life, a maximum outdoor call distance of 5km, clear and bright call quality, and ultra-low price. In places where there is no mobile phone signal, this walkie-talkie not only acts as a walkie-talkie, but sometimes it can also call for help. For other scenarios, 1S is also worth starting. When you are free, you can also be a radio operator, which can do two things with one stone.
Where to buy？
Product link: Xiaomi TookFun SportsLife Store
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