Mi LED Smart Bulbs to Also Get HomeKit Compatibility

Just last week we reported on the Yeelight Light Strip Plus and the 2nd Gen Yeelight bulbs, showing up as HomeKit compatible accessories in the Mi Home app, when you went through the process of adding them, although at this time they don’t appear to be exposed to HomeKit unfortunately. Well, after a little more digging, it seems that there is another (admittedly similar) light that is showing up as HomeKit compatible – in this instance, the Mi LED Colour Bulb.

Now the only reason for mentioning this after last week’s article, is that whilst the Yeelight Strips and bulbs are available, they’re usually only accessible via some of the Chinese online stores, like AliExpress, GearBest etc. which to some isn’t so convenient. The Mi LED Bulbs, on the other hand, are already available in Xiaomi Stores across Europe and further afield (Like Taiwan…), which makes it a lot easier to get your hands on them.

If you’ve already dipped your toes into the ‘Xiaomi eco-pool’, you’ll notice that some products look identical but branded differently, and in the case of the Mi LED bulb, it’s really no different, as the Mi LED Bulb can appear with any one of three logos, even though, in actual fact, the Mi and Mijia branded ones are they’re the same product, whilst the Yeelight branded bulb is essentially an older model, and will not get HomeKit support. It’s also good to note that there are currently 2nd gen bulbs from Yeelight that look quite similar, with the main difference being the diagonal pattern pressed into the body of the bulb of these 2nd gen lights.

I do have to stress, that these do NOT currently work with HomeKit, but all the markers for some form of firmware or app software upgrade are there, as you can see in the screenshots I took earlier when adding a Mi LED bulb to the Mi Home app I purchased here in Taiwan. Having tested these bulbs, and as you’ll see from a forthcoming review, these are great value products, and it may just be worth stocking up on these before the price (almost) inevitably goes up when HomeKit (hopefully) does actually get added.