Communication is the key to express your feelings to others. In this world, everyone is looking for things in free. And we always try to communicate with other in free of cost. Yeah if someone is very far away from us, then we have to do communication spending some money. The spending money may be on data package or voice call. If someone is little far away, let’s say 100 m 0r 200 m away, it is worthless to spend money on communication. So to have better communication at near distance, you need an intercom connection. But if you want it in wireless communication, then you need to have a walkie-talkie. You can even use it in moving vehicles if you and the other persons are staying within its range.
In this article, I have described Xiaomi MI home walkie-talkie 1S. I have compared the product with other walkie-talkie. Read the article mindfully to have in-depth knowledge on this product.
Unboxing of Xiaomi MI Home Walkie-Talkie 1S
So for the first time, I have purchased a Xiaomi device from its official store. Xiaomi has sent me the pair of intercoms within a brown color box as shown in the image.
So let me assure you that the walkie-talkies are very light in weight. One set just weights 114 grams.
You can get the required information such as date of manufacture, price and other parameters on the back of the boxes.
From the back, you can get the output power of the new Xiaomi Walkie-Talkie is 0.5 W to 3 W.
You can also mark that the new 1S walkie-talkie also supports FM radio. For it, Xiaomi has provided 2190 mAh battery.
Now let me unbox the intercoms from their packages. Although the walkie-talkie is very light in weight, still it took a little long time to unpack. The product is very tightly packed with the foam inside it.
The box also not so thick. You will get the walkie-talkie, the power adaptor and user manual inside the box. So that the box is also very light in weight. 
I heard after unpacking many customers are rushing to Xiaomi service center in the hope of missing some accessories inside the box. But in reality, you will only get an adaptor as an accessory with this new Xiaomi walkie-talkie.
Physical Overview of Xiaomi MI Home Walkie-Talkie 1S
When you look at the front interface of the new 1S walkie-talkie, you can easily identify the difference with its previous version. In this new version, Xiaomi has reduced one up and down button. There is a very slight change in the screen of this new version. You shouldn’t neglect these two changes. As these two small changes have changed the overall position in the interface of this new Xiaomi walkie-talkie.
On the back of the walkie-talkie, you can see a clip. The clip is very well placed on the top. You can easily hook it with your belt. At the bottom, you can see the brand logo.
From the image, you can see the back clip is flat in nature. You cannot hold it horizontally from the table. The only way you can hold it by suspension method.
At the bottom of the front, you can also mark some holes in a grid manner. Here you can have the speaker as well as a microphone. I don’t like the same position for both components. You can get some noise as there will be sound interference. This feature is a big disappointment for me in this version.
At the right side of the walkie-talkie, you can have a micro USB port. Though this port you can charge your intercom. Just below it, you can find out the 3.5 mm audio jack. 
And both the ports are well protected by a dust cover. Below these ports, you can see a round button. It a multi-function button where you can do three types of operation.
Operational features of Xiaomi MI Home Walkie-Talkie 1S
When you make a short press on the middle button, you can get the battery status on the display screen. Have a look at the above image.
If you press the button twice, then you can get access to the FM radio.
When you make a long press on the button, you can access the Bluetooth mode.
On the left side of the walkie-talkie, you can see a long switch with four circles on it. The switch is of rubber fabric and provides non-slippery grooves. While using it, you can check your finger can reach the middle two button easily. But you will find a little bit hard while you want to trigger both the top and bottom buttons. Just below the long switch, you can find a tiny slider button. The size of the switch might be good in some cases. Due to its tiny size, there won’t be any accidental touch on it. But if you want to use it with gloves, you will find difficulties to trigger this switch.
On the above image, you can see the adaptor as well as the USB cable.
See the manual; here the adaptor is affixed with the clip and remain stable.
If you want to detach the adaptor from the walkie-talkie, you need to open the curved part first manually; then you need to pull the adapter in the opposite direction of the installation. Before doing such operation, please read the use manual carefully.
Software integration of Xiaomi Mi Home Walkie-Talkie 1S
On this new Xiaomi 1S walkie-talkie you will get two types of channel. Those are low power channels and high power channels. On this intercom, you will get 20 low power channels from L01 to L20. Similarly, you will get 20 high power channels from H01 to H02. 
While you boot the walkie-talkie, you will get default mode as L01. But you can adjust your channel according to your requirements.
On standby, if you click the left and right button of the walkie-talkie, then you will get the settings for the volume. Then if you click on the middle button, the channel will be shown on the display. You need to hold the circle key to confirm the channel. Besides that, after switching the channel, you can wait for a little time to automatically confirm the channel. You can also use a public channel. But the problem with the public channel is you can also hear other’s voice, which may create disturbances on your communication.
On this version as there is a reduction on body bottom, the screen size also reduced. Hence the screen resolution also gets reduced. So you cannot have good display performance with it. So here you can use the Xiaomi MI walkie-talkie app on your smartphone. You can connect your walkie-talkie via Bluetooth to your smartphone.
First of all, you need to do registration on the app. After set up you can get the standard mode of operation. You can set the channel on your smartphone, and with it, you can also see the pre-set frequencies with each channel.
You can also add a custom channel to use. The operation is too easy so that anyone can catch it very easily.
You can also operate the radio with this app and set the frequency also. With this app, you can set the device as per your wish. You can even share the location of the device with this app through your smartphone. You can also have hands free operation with this app. But you can trigger this feature above certain volume limit. Sadly, there is no dual-band mode operation on this new Xiaomi 1S walkie-talkie.
One this app you can also get a Bluetooth assistant. With it, you can connect your walkie-talkie to other Bluetooth devices. You can connect the intercom to Bluetooth headsets, car output audio, etc.
If you look at its app operation, you can see the 1S walkie-talkie is not only the upgraded version of the 1st generation by looks and design, but it also has developed in ease of operation. Here the walkie-talkie is lighter than the previous one, and also it has got a very simplified operation.
Outdoor experience of Xiaomi MI Home Walkie-Talkie 1S
Now let me tell you the actual user experience of the new Xiaomi MI Home Walkie-Talkie 1S. The good thing is that on this version the maximum power has been increased from 2 W to 3 W.
To test its effect I have gone to a densely populated area, where there are very heavy traffics, and tall buildings are situated.
When the other set is away by 1 KM on low power channel, the call quality is downgraded. When the distance is 1.8 KMs, the voice is not audible.
In case of high power channel, the voice is not audible at 2.5 KMs.
In low power the distance of 1.8 KMs is good. Let me confirm you that the road here is not so straight and there are too many tall buildings as obstacles. So definitely there are so many blocks for communication. So you can use this walkie-talkie in low mode. If yo use it on high mode then you can get better audio output. But if you compare this new Xiaomi walkie-talkie with other brands, then the distance is not that appreciable.
Pros and Cons of Xiaomi MI Home Walkie-Talkie 1S
Pros
- Those who want to do intercom communication then it is one of the best options at a very low price.
- It comes with a very light wight and has an attractive thinner body.
- Here the operation of the walkie-talkie is very simple and optimized.
- You can have a decent distance range to make a call.
Cons
- Here the antenna is not removable.
- The display of the new 1S walkie-talkie is not good. You will get the dot matrix display here. So you cannot get too many information with this type of display.
Verdict
I do not recommend this walkie-talkie those who are a professional user. It may disappoint you with its display and distance range. But who wants to use this new Xiaomi MI Home walkie-talkie 1S casually, then it is one of the best options in the market. You can get it at a very low price.
Moreover, the walkie-talkie is very light in weight. This is also very thin. The operation of the intercom is also very simple and well optimized than its previous version. The output power is also improved. But if you look at the overall performance, then I can say it is average.
I hope you must have got enough knowledge on this new 1S walkie-talkie. You can make it as a purchase if it suits your requirement.
