Which version to purchase

[Doinkydoink]

Hi,

Will this integration work with any of the current xiaozhi offerings in Aliexpress? seems that there may be up to V3 already and even with touch screen options. Just want to find out before I take the plunge to purchase one.

[Doinkydoink]

Seems like is probably easier to use this integration vs the RealDeco (ESphome) option.
Could anyone point out the difference?

[kiwipaulrob]

With TealDeco you convert your device to an ESPHome endpoint and then set up using Home Assistant. Probably more tailored to Home Assistant but more set up required.

[Doinkydoink]

Thank you. I thi k I will get 2 and try both and see how it goes 😁

[snooopy3652]

The main difference between the xiaozhi Firmware and MCP Server vs. ESPHome is that Xiaozhi does have a specific charakter, its a fun AI to do smalltalk with.
If it comes to controlling HA, it is pretty weak, it is not "integrated" into Home Assistant, so if you give an command it will either ask HA with the name of the device that you just provided or it will list all devices first and then pick the one you could mean.

This whole process is more or less the same as asking your mom to "turn on the lights" in the Home Assistant app, if she did never use it before.
So in many cases it will ask you again or tell you that it can not do what you ask, because there is no "all lights" in the living room.
Also it can only control one device at the time.

The ESP-Home Integration does use the device only for voice recognize and voice output, the AI itself is directly integrated into HA. so it does know all device names before you give it a command. It will not ask you again, it can control more then one device at the time.

So open the blinds with Xiaozhi is an interesting experience taking a 2 minute conversation ... open the blinds with ESP Home/ HA AI is a 10 second Monolog.