Review of speakers Station Midi (new!) from Yandex. They made the previous version cheaper, and this is what happened

It’s hard to imagine that since the release Stations 2 A year and a half has passed since Yandex. Feels like it was yesterday.

Then I had different questions for her. For example, the placement of the indicators seemed controversial. The absence of a look that had already appeared in the other two Stations was surprising. Well, and other little things, too.

However, the second Station fits so well in my kitchen that I finally confessed, built an equalizer for myself and use it daily. And today she made a friend – Midi station.

Her appearance may leave the impression that she is like Station 2, just a little simpler. But it won’t be true. Station Midi is in many ways better than Station 2, it is not a downgrade at all. And with all this, she will be better.

I spent a couple of weeks with her and share my impressions.

Midi Station Design. How to create Station 2 cut in half

I loved the look of Station 2, and I’m not alone. It fits perfectly into interiors, looks decent and does not attract much attention.

Yandex took it as a basis, but reduced it together, maintaining support. The result was a fabric cube. On top it has the same plastic matte panel as on Station 2, cutouts for microphones and touch-sensitive volume buttons.

The multi-color LED panel on top is gone. Instead, only the illuminated Alice logo remained. But the color indication did not disappear, but only moved to the area between the panel and the edge of the acoustic fabric. It turned out like a “ring” around the speakers.

If this seems like a minus to someone, I will hasten not to improve it. One of my complaints about the “older” Station was that the LED animation on the speaker is not visible when it is at eye level of the owner or somewhere in the distance. Changing the location of LEDs at Midi stations. This problem is completely solved: no matter where the new speaker is placed, its lighting effects always take place.

Also in Midi Station there is front display. It’s simple, like the Mini Station with a clock, but even that’s good. There is a clock on the sofa, the weather according to the corresponding request and, what is especially curious, the eyes.

Yes, Midi Station now has “eyes”. As soon as you enter conversation mode with Alice (“Alice, let’s talk”) or simply say something pleasant to her, she reacts to it not only with her voice, but also visually. Cute! And it’s long overdue. I wonder if they will do the same at the current Max Stations, or if they will leave it for some Station Ultra.

Otherwise, everything visually remains the same. There is a USB-C port on the back, as well as a microphone mute button. Like Station 2, the Midi Station cannot be connected to an audio source via a 3.5mm audio jack. Moreover, there is no HDMI port. This train has clearly left for the Yandex TV set-top box and, relatively recently, their TVs.

What’s new that Midi Station can do, the main thing

Progress does not stand still; in two years, expectations from smart speakers have grown. Alice also developed, including the capabilities of the Yandex smart home system. Therefore, from a technical point of view, Station Midi has become better than Station 2. I already mentioned the front lamp above, but this is far from the only “upgrade”.

▪ A neural processor has appeared. This is the first Station with such hardware. The goal of the neural processor, according to Yandex, is to increase the accuracy of speech detection, more sensitively identify different voices and improve the integrity of the user experience of the device owner.

In my impression, the Midi Station stopped working for the first time when it hears words acoustically close to the phrase activator (Alice or Yandex). In the end, in two weeks this never happened, while at least Station 2 is activated at least once a day not to the cash register.

▪ The Midi station understands commands 3 times faster. This is also the merit of the neuroprocessor. It was noticeable instantly and regularly. In the room with one new product, there is now Station 2. But Midi not only responds to the first procedure, but also responds earlier than before. It’s even funny: both columns react to the word “Alice,” but the second Station never received a single request. While she was just listening, Midi had already checked my team.

▪ The Midi station recognizes smart home commands WITHOUT THE INTERNET. I’ll be honest – this is a killer feature. Today only Apple speakers could do this. The rest send your command first to the remote server, wait for a response, receive it, and only then execute it. Now you can use familiar commands without a network, situationally or on purpose.

The devices accessed by these same commands must support Zigbee. In fact, this is absolutely the majority of light bulbs, sockets, switches, and so on popular in Russia. The list is here. So now the following and other queries can be executed entirely locally:

– Alice, turn on the light.
– Alice, turn off the fan.
– Alice, make the light warmer.

…and so on.

▪ A new type of trigger has appeared – voice. It’s not something you cared about. Everyone knows that any automation of a smart home requires the preliminary fulfillment of certain conditions. So, Midi Station introduces a new condition: speech.

As soon as the Midi Station hears any voice, it carries out the command or automation you have attached to the device from Yandex smart home, or to the functionality of the column. For example, in the morning she will be able to launch the “Morning Show” in this way (a summary of news, weather and interesting facts, broken up by music tracks from Yandex Music). Or turn on the lights in the apartment when you come home, even if you don’t have any motion sensors and you haven’t contacted Alice personally.

This is a very cool trigger that will take the smartness and controllability of your home to the next level if configured correctly. You can turn off the power-on function in two steps by setting up the speakers in the application. Smart home with Alice.

How are things going with sound and microphones?

“Sawing” Station 2, to my surprise, did not greatly affect the sound quality of Station Midi. In some places it’s even the opposite.

Like Station 2, Midi is able to adjust the sound depending on the care and location of other objects near her. There are two high-frequency speakers and one low-frequency speaker, directed downward. Either it seems to me, or last minute precautions. For some reason I had the words “bass from Midi” in all my tracks and tests morethan from Station 2.

Total power decreased by only 6 W – from 30 to 24 W. Beyond the upper level of discovery, all of this, including the reduction of the body, was said at high frequencies. There are a little fewer of them here than on Station 2. And then I found an option for adjusting the equalizer, with which I like the sound of the Midi Station much more than on Station 2. You will find it here in the screenshots.

When designing, Yandex placed the acoustic chamber at the main angle of inclination. Even the main board was placed inside. It’s good that in the end the purpose of the device was not forgotten. A smart speaker has to sound great, otherwise it’s not needed.

Considering the size of the Midi Station, I have nothing to complain about. I would call it a worthy rival to some HomePod mini, and this is serious praise.

Who should come and see Midi Stations?

Station Midi is not just a “middle” model between Station 2 and Station Mini. As for me, this is a real competitor to the “older” version. The technical innovation is significantly superior to the previous model in almost everything.

It’s also truly a competitor to the HomePod mini musically. I won’t even talk about the usefulness of the assistant; anyone who has used Siri at least once already understands everything…

If today I were choosing any speaker among the Yandex assortment, then with a budget of up to 15 thousand it would definitely be Station Midi, and in another case – Station Max. Well, Station Light has the right to exist simply because it is an inexpensive way to turn on music without pretensions to quality and use most of Alice’s capabilities.

The device is already on sale. From November 16, Station Midi is available on Yandex Market at a price of 14,990 rubles. For the first time, only two colors went on sale: black and emerald. Others appear, including a gray model. True, their lid will still be black.

📸 All photos in the article: