Simplified Mi Flora sensor: Sothing Flora

Product code: Sothing WN1803

Specifications

• Battery and power consumption: CR2032 / 3V 10uA
• Accuracy: ± 5%
• Light indicator: Red/Green/Blue
• Weight: 20g
• Size: 131x25.1x10.9

It seems that there is a sort of new Mi Flora sensor. It is produced by a different company, but also licensed by Xiaomi. It looks pretty much the same as the Mi Flora bluetooth enabled sensor, but that is only at the outside. This version is very much simplified compared to the original and is not really a smart sensor. It does not measure fertility or temperature, the sensor only measures humidity and reports it's result with a RGB led:

• Red: not enough water
• Green: enough water
• Blue: too much water

The humidity sensor is a capacitive sensor which means that it will not deteriorate over time like the shiny sensors. There is no app, so it only reports by pressing a (physical) button on the device. The led lights up and gives an indication about the soil humidity. Given that it requires you to press a button to see the status you might as well stick your finger in the soil to check the plant's humidity.
There is no indication that the sensor is adjustable, which is a shame because not all plants require the same humidity.

Conclusion

I guess every product has it's place, but this one is questionable. Because it looks almost the same as a Mi Flora you might assume that it also has the same function. I wonder how many people will order this in stead of the Mi Flora sensor just thinking it is a bit cheaper.
Pressing a button and getting a non adjustable 3-scale is not very useful. It can have more value if it has a e-ink display which gives you a percentage which is updated periodically, but then the price would be the same as the Mi Flora sensor.

I ordered one on Banggood