Mi Portable Electric Air Compressor Review: Introduction

Gallery Introduction What’s in the box?What about the product?Product Details

Introduction

On the face of it, this is exactly what every motorcyclist needs. An air compressor that runs on battery power; has the ability to get tyres up to 145psi pressure; and is only as big as one’s palm. Well almost. This, the Mi Portable Electric Air Compressor, comes from the house of Xiaomi. Yes, the same guys that make affordable but feature-rich smartphones, and compact but high-performance powerbanks.

What’s in the box?

There’s the palm sized air compressor, of course. It’s heavy for a palm-sized device, but pretty much in the ballpark when it comes to other similarly sized powered air compressors. And it’s well made. Be it the digital display, the air hose, the old ipod-like jog dial, and even the venting on the sides, all exude a sense of quality in the way these look, feel and operate. Also in the box, there’s a micro USB charging wire, a small and unnecessary user’s manual booklet, and a decent quality cloth bag to keep the compressor safe from scratches when storing it.

What about the product?

Firstly, it functions only on battery power. That means you can’t plug it into your bike or a car to power it like most other portable air compressors. But then, the latter don’t have the convenience of working on battery power either. The battery in question though is a 2000mAh unit. Not great, we agree, but Mi claims it’s more than useful. Plus, the electric air compressor, claims the company, can inflate a tyre upto 145psi.

Furthermore, the Air Compressor (yes, that’s the official name for it; quite original), comes with four preset modes. Interestingly, these modes use different units of pressure. Our guess here is that Mi has gone in for units that are most popular in that category to make it more relevant. First, there’s the bicycle mode with the pressure preset at 45psi. Then there’s the scooter mode that’s set at 2.4 bar pressure. A car mode with the preset reading at 2.5 bar. And finally, there’s one for balls that’s set at 8psi.

You can reset these to your needs, of course, but within limit. Then there’s the general mode with 0psi reading that can be set to any number of your liking. There’s also a short but sturdy air hose, which also doubles up as the on/off trigger for the device. And it gets an in-built torch too… for when you find yourself stranded on those rainy, dark nights.

And yes, like Henry Ford said, you can have it in any colour you want, so long as it is black.

What’s next? The only question that remains to be answered now is – is the Air Compressor worth its asking price of Rs 2,299? And what better way to answer that, than to put it to good use. In our next report then, it’s the electric air compressor against a weighing machine, a clock, and some deflated tyres.

The Air Compressor can only be ordered across e-commerce platforms starting 25 August 2020.