Introduction of Bestune T77 & Xiaomi Version
3th April 2019, FAW Bestune announced that its Bestune T77 launched Xiaomi version, the new car has two sub-model according to the configuration difference, price of Bestune T77 Xiaomi Version starts from 124,800 to 135,800 yuan (~USD18,500 – USD20,200). The Xiaomi version is a customized model by Bestune and Xiaomi, with more customized infotainment in the smart configuration of technology.
Editor’s Picks:
FAW Bestune T77 Review – Appearance, Interior and Room
FAW Bestune T77 Review – Front & Rear Crash Beam Teardown
Bestune is a brand under First Auto Works, previously known as Besturn. The Chinese name is unchanged (奔腾, Benteng). The logo and the font were modernized as well.
The T77 is the first new car under the Bestune name, and it probably is the best looking Bestune/Besturn ever. A very stylish car with a somewhat daring design inside and out.
In terms of appearance and interior, the Bestune T77 Xiaomi Version has no special changes compared to the current models. T77 has a hexagonal large-sized air intake grille with a dot matrix type medium mesh, the center is inlaid with new LOGO. The LED light source layout of headlight group also shows a certain sense of technology, the entire front face is fashionable and recognizable.
The interior is impressive with a Mercedes-style double-screen, but even with those there are still quite some classic buttons around. The two large screens that run through the center console and the instrument panel are very popular designs at the moment. In terms of configuration, ‘3D’ graphics look great. In addition to the 3D holographic intelligent control system, the Xiaomi customized version can also activate the Mi Home system through the intelligent wake-up word “Xiao Ai Tong Xue” to help you control Mi TV on/off in your home remotely; control the sweeping robot and air purification, turn on the home air conditioner in advance.
Size: 4525/1845/1615mm, and wheelbase is 2700mm. Power comes from new 1.2 turbo four-cylinder petrol engine with 143 hp and 204 Nm, sending horses to the front wheels via a 5-speed manual or 7-speed DCT. There are no other engines available.
What is Xiaomi and “Xiao Ai Tong Xue”？
Xiaomi Corporation (Chinese say ”小米”) is a Chinese electronics company headquartered in Beijing. Xiaomi makes and invests in smartphones, mobile apps, laptops, and related consumer electronics.
Xiaomi released its first smartphone in August 2011 and rapidly gained market share in China to become the country’s largest smartphone company in 2014. At the start of second quarter of 2018, Xiaomi was the world’s fourth-largest smartphone manufacturer, leading in both the largest market, China, and the second-largest market, India. Xiaomi later developed a wider range of consumer electronics, including a smart home (IoT) device ecosystem.
“Xiao Ai Tong Xue” (Chinese say “小爱同学”) is the wake-up word and cartoon character of the artificial intelligence (AI) speaker released by Xiaomi Corporation on July 26, 2017.
As a wake-up word, “Xiao Ai Tong Xue has become synonym with Xiaomi AI speaker. As long as the user speaks the words ” Xiao Ai Tong Xue ” to the speaker, he can wake up the speaker and communicate with him to complete a variety of preset skills.
As of the end of July 2018, Xiao Ai’s monthly active equipment has exceeded 30 million, and it has awakened more than 1 billion times a month, it has awakened more than 5 billion times totally.
The second word in that phrase, 爱, means love, and I personally don’t think that this word actually adds any meaning to the phrase, its just used as a phonetic replacement “AI” (as in artificial intelligence) because the romanization of the word 爱 is spelled “ai” which is the exact same as AI (artificial intelligence).
Explained by Gizchina.com:
Anyway, tangent aside, the commands you can use are very similar to Google’s and Amazon’s implementations:
“小爱同学“ please tell me the weather.
“小爱同学“, what’s the traffic like to work? (Note this doesn’t work outside China because they don’t use Google Maps but their own Chinese mapping apps).
What sets this AI speaker apart is the ability to train the speaker to respond to certain phrases, both useful and insignificant. For example, you could pre-program the speaker to respond to the question “Who is the smartest man in the world?” with “Donald Trump”.
Where this training ability comes in useful is the ability to activate your Xiaomi household appliances with a phrase. You could train the speaker to listen for “小爱同学, I’m home!” and upon receipt of that phrase, turn on the rice cooker, turn off the air purifier, and turn all the lights in your house. Or you could say “Good night” and all your lights would turn off.
https://www.gizchina.com/2017/12/27/xiaomi-ai-speaker-review-speak-chinese/
Does Xiaomi AI really work on T77, is it really necessary?
This is the first time Xiaomi AI system to be carried on vehicle. T77 Xiaomi Customized Version simply put the Xiaomi AI into the car, consumers can control many functions in the car through voice. In addition, you can also realize the interconnection control of smart appliances through Xiaomi AI remotely.
But does it really work out?
- From the perspective of voice technology, the voice recognition rate of Xiaomi Ai is not 100%. A function is supposed to be carried out by simply click a single button or knob, but getting more complicate if voice recognition goes wrong.
- You need to buy new home appliances to realize the interconnection of home appliances. 🙂
So for consumers, buying a car is not enough, you need to buy electricity again. If you do not buy electricity, you will not be able to implement the interconnection function. Therefore, the T77 Xiaomi Version is very tasteless.
We don’t think anyone will buy this model because of this feature. The revolutionary changes that the Internet can bring to automobiles are the future of autonomous driving technology and the improvement of automotive safety technology. These are much more meaningful than simply implementing a few voice functions and controlling the home appliances in the car.
