How to teach a robot vacuum cleaner Xiaomi Mi to talk: 5 working ways

Xiaomi Mi robot vacuum cleaners are no longer just silent cleaners. Modern models support voice alerts that tell you when you start cleaning, low battery power or finish work. But what if your vacuum cleaner is stubbornly silent? Or do you want to replace standard sounds with voice commands with customized phrases?

In this article, we’ll look at all the ways you can “teach how to talk” the Xiaomi Mi robot vacuum cleaner, from the official settings in the Mi Home app to alternative methods using firmware and third-party services. You’ll learn which models support voice functions out of the box, how to turn on voice voice through Mi Home, and even how to record your own voice for alerts. And if your vacuum cleaner can’t talk by default, we’ll show you workarounds.

Important: not all methods are universal. For example, Xiaomi Mi Robot Vacuum-Mop 2 Lite does not support voice alerts at the firmware level, while Xiaomi Mi Robot Vacuum-Mop 2 Pro has built-in voice packets. So check your device model before setting up - this will save time.

1.What Xiaomi Mi models support voice alerts?

Not all Xiaomi robot vacuum cleaners are able to talk. Voice alerts function depends on the firmware version and hardware platform. Here is the current list of models with voice notification support:

• 🔹 Xiaomi Mi Robot Vacuum-Mop 2 Pro – built-in voice packs (Chinese/English)
• 🔹 Xiaomi Mi Robot Vacuum-Mop 2 Ultra – Advanced Alerts + Possibility of uploading custom voices
• 🔹 Xiaomi Mi Robot Vacuum-Mop P – support via Mi Home (requires firmware update)
• 🔹 Xiaomi Mi Robot Vacuum-Mop E10 — limited voice commands (system events only)
• 🔹 Roborock S7/S7 MaxV – Full support for voice packs (compatible with Mi Home)

Lite series models (such as Mi Robot Vacuum-Mop 2 Lite) and older versions (Mi Robot Vacuum 1S) usually lack this feature, but even for them there are workarounds, as we will discuss in the section on custom firmware.

⚠️ Note: On Chinese versions of vacuum cleaners (CN-Firmware) voice packets can only be available in Chinese; changing the language will require a global flashing.

He can say "out of the box"|He is supportive but silent (not configured)|Not supportive.|I don't know, I haven't.-->

2.Official method: setup via Mi Home

If your model supports voice alerts, the easiest way to enable them is through the Mi Home app, which is relevant for versions 6.0.100 and later.

Open Mi Home, select your vacuum cleaner, and go to Settings → Voice Alerts. Here you will see the options available:

• 📢 Standard Alerts – Integrated phrases in English/Chinese.
• 🎤 Custom voices – download custom audio files (not available on all models).
• 🔕 Turn off the sounds – completely disable all alerts.

For activation:

1. Select the voice alerts item.
2. Activate the switch to Turn on voice.
3. Choose a language (if available).
4. Click Save and wait for synchronization with the vacuum cleaner.

⚠️ Note: On some models (e.g. Mi Robot Vacuum-Mop 2 Pro) the vacuum cleaner can automatically restart after the voice alerts are turned on.

Update the Mi Home app to the latest version|Connect the vacuum cleaner to the Wi-Fi|Battery charge > 20%|Check the compatibility of the model-->

If your app does not have Voice Alerts, it means one of two things:

• 🔸 Your model doesn’t support your function.
• 🔸 Installed outdated firmware version (update via Settings) → Update of the PO).

3. Alternative methods: custom firmware and modifications

What if your vacuum cleaner doesn't support voice alerts officially? There are several ways to get around the restrictions:

1. Install custom firmware (for example, Valetudo or Dustcloud).
2. Connect via Home Assistant with Xiaomi Miio integration.
3. Use of external TTS-Services (e.g. Google Text-to-Speech).

Let’s look at each method in more detail.

3.1 Valetudo firmware for full control

Valetudo is an open firmware for Xiaomi/Roborock robot vacuum cleaners that allows you to control the device without the Mi Home cloud, and among its functions is downloading custom voice packets.

The installation will require:

• 🔧 Root access to the vacuum cleaner (via exploit dustbuilder).
• 💻 Computer with Python 3.8+ and adb-tools.
• 📡 Stable connection to the local network.

Instructions:

1. Download the dustbuilder utility from GitHub:


git clone https://github.com/dgiese/dustbuilder




2 Connect the vacuum cleaner to the same network as the computer.




3. Launch exploit:




python3 dustbuilder.py <IP_ vacuum cleaner> full




4. After receiving root, install Valetudo via the web interface.

In Valetudo, go to Settings → Voice Packs and download the package you want. Supports.mp3 and.wav formats with a bitrate of up to 128 kbps.

⚠️ Attention: Installing custom firmware will void the warranty and may cause the vacuum cleaner to operate unstable!

3.2 Integration with Home Assistant

If you use the Home Assistant smart home system, you can set up voice alerts through Xiaomi Miio integration.

1. Add the vacuum cleaner to configuration.yaml: vacuum: - platform: xiaomi_miio host: 192.168.1.100 token: YOUR_TOKEN_HERE
2. Install the TTS (Text-to-Speech) component.
3. Create automation that will voice events: automation: - alias: "Vacicular cleaner starts" trigger: platform: state entity_id: vacuum.xiaomi_vacuum to: "cleaning" action: service: tts.google_say data: message: "Cleaning has begun. Please remove small objects from the floor."

The voice will be played through Home Assistant speakers (like Google Nest or Amazon Echo) rather than the vacuum cleaner itself, but this solution is suitable for models without a built-in speaker.

💡

Before setting up Home Assistant, get your vacuum cleaner's Miio Token through the Mi Home Token Extractor app (available on GitHub).

4. Recording your own voice for alerts

Some models (such as the Xiaomi Mi Robot Vacuum-Mop 2 Ultra) allow you to download custom voice packets, which means you can write down your phrases and make the vacuum cleaner speak with your voice!

Algorithm of action:

1. Prepare audio files in.wav format with parameters: 🔊 Bitreit: 16 kHz, 16-bit, monotonous. 🕒 Duration: no more 5 second-to-phrase. 📁 File names: start_cleaning.wav, low_battery.wav etc. (see the list in the documentation).

.zip

Mi Home

Voice packets → Download custom

Example of archive structure:

custom_voice_pack.zip


├── start_cleaning.wav # "I'm starting cleaning up"




├── end_cleaning.wav # "Cleaning complete"




├── error.wav # "Error: Check the wheels"




└── low_battery.wav # "Charge on the run, returning to base"

⚠️ Warning: Vacuum cleaner supports a limited set of events for custom voices.For the full list, see MiHome documentation API.

💡

To record voice, use programs like Audacity with settings: Sample Rate: 16000 Hz, Channels: Mono, Format: WAV (PCM) to ensure compatibility with the vacuum cleaner.

5.System-free solution: external columns

If your vacuum cleaner is not equipped with a speaker (like the Mi Robot Vacuum 1S), but you still want voice alerts, you can use an external speaker with integration through:

• 🎵 Bluetooth adapter (e.g. Xiaomi Bluetooth Audio Receiver).
• 🔌 ESP8266/ESP32 soundproof.
• 🖥️ Computer/server with Home Assistant or Node-RED.

Example of a diagram with ESP8266:

1. Sweat the module with the firmware ESP32-AudioKit.
2. Connect the column to the I2S output.
3. Set up a script in Python that will send audio to ESP In case of events from vacuum cleaner: import requests from gtts import gTTS import os def play_voice(text): tts = gTTS(text=text, lang='ru') tts.save("alert.mp3") os.system("ffmpeg -i alert.mp3 -f wav - | nc -w 1 192.168.1.150 8000")

The downside of this is that it's dependent on external devices, but it works with even the oldest models of vacuum cleaners.

Frequent problems and their solutions

When setting up voice alerts, users encounter common errors.

If after all the manipulations the vacuum cleaner is still silent:

1. Check the volume in the device settings (sometimes it is reset by 0%).
2. Make sure the speaker is not clogged with dust (relevant for models with a lower speaker arrangement).
3. Reset the vacuum cleaner settings to factory (Settings → Reset).

FAQ: Answers to popular questions