an honorable connected fryer, but still imperfect

Xiaomi strengthens its kitchen offering with the Xiaomi Smart Air Fryer Pro 4L. It offers frying without oil, cooking a wide variety of foods, roasting them and all this helped by connectivity. An attractive product, but which nevertheless displays some weaknesses. Here is our full test.

Xiaomi is investing a lot in the connected home, which includes the kitchen. After a first version of its connected fryer in 2022, we are entitled to its improved version, the Xiaomi Smart Air Fryer Pro 4 L. On the menu, a larger capacity going from 3.5 L to 4L, a window on the front to keep an eye on cooking and an improved hot air frying system. What to enjoy while saving space in your kitchen? We spent hours cooking to verify this.

This test was carried out using a product loaned by the manufacturer.

Design and features: compact, elegant and connected

The Xiaomi Smart Air Fryer Pro 4L takes the design of the Xiaomi Smart Air Fryer 3.5 L released last year. We therefore find its minimalist design, a beautiful white lacquered dress and the control panel in the form of a rotary button with OLED screen in its center. If the handle is still the same, we now have a new window on the front which allows us to monitor the progress of the cooking.

Xiaomi announces a heating power of 1,600 W compared to 1,500 for the previous version. The product is in reality a mini-oven whose air flows are optimized to allow hot air frying almost without oil, on the model of the Seb ActiFry and especially the Philips Airfryer. Unlike the French manufacturer which integrates a paddle into its cooking tank that mixes the food, the Smart Air Fryer Pro 4L only offers a simple tank. This means that you will have to stir the food regularly by shaking it.

In theory, you can therefore fry frozen or fresh fries, donuts, nuggets. In addition, it allows cooking with, in theory, little fat for dishes based on meat, fish and even allows you to roast vegetables. Sold at 149 euros, it is in the low average for this type of product, while offering connectivity at an additional cost. The latter allows remote control, alerts of cooking steps and access to a small library of recipes.

Installation and configuration: simplicity from start to hunger

One of the advantages of this product is its small footprint with dimensions of 25.1 x 33.5 x 30.4 mm for 3.9 kg. It will not take up much space on a work surface and remains light enough to fit on a shelf for example. Be careful, when you position it, be aware that a flow of hot air comes out from the back. A priorino risk of burns, but why tempt the devil?

The dial with OLED screen (monochrome) allows you to start cooking directly. It allows you to select one of 10 pre-programmed cooking modes and cooking times. The screen isn’t big enough to display more than a few characters and cooking times, but it’s more than enough. For more precision, you must switch to the Mi Home application.

Installation is a very simple process. In our case, the automatic detection did not work, so we selected the product from the list offered by the application.

You will then be asked to reset the device and all you have to do is add your Wi-Fi code, the network must be 2.4 GHz.

After having defined the room in which the fryer will be placed, you can start cooking. By entering the page dedicated to the fryer, you will first find a section “Device mode» which combines 10 pre-programmed cooking modes, such as cooking fries, chicken wings, shrimp, fish and both white and red meat. It even offers defrosting, dehydration and yogurt fermentation functions. A Manual mode allows you to select your own settings.

The second section gives access to a library of around fifty recipes, which remains a little light. In addition, their presentation is not very rich in photos and there are no videos. Everything remains clear to read and apart from certain recipe names, we did not notice any major translation problems.

Once you have selected a recipe, follow the preparation instructions. Then you can start cooking via the app. In theory, a notification warns you that you need to stir the food and another at the end of cooking.

Connectivity is therefore used intelligently and allows you to cook with a fairly free mind. Finally on paper…

In use: effective and practical

We are faced with a compact product that is well thought out. The cooking bowl is easy to handle and the surface of the appliance is not too hot. With a power of 1,600 Watts, it has a range of use of 40° to 200°. On the other hand, the desire to feed a family of five people remains illusory: it is more designed for singles, couples and possibly an extra child. At most, we can cook 600 g of fries or even twelve chicken wings for example.

The Xiaomi Smart Air Fryer Pro 4L is pleasant to use. Certainly the screen is a little small, but it is still usable. The wheel is precise and you have access to all the controls via the app. The latter allows you to start cooking remotely, so that your fries are ready when you get home. But this implies having prepared the food in advance and leaving it in the tank during your absence. Which leaves us perplexed on a daily basis and will not reassure cooks, even on Sundays. In our tests, notifications to warn us to stir food were not always effective.

So we used the app’s recipes to make frozen and fresh fries, fresh squid fritters, fresh chicken nuggets, turmeric roasted chickpeas and roasted broccoli. Let’s start with frozen fries. Following the application we have a cooking time of 15 minutes. This gives us fries that are barely cooked inside and out. By adding 5 more minutes of cooking, it remains just right, and with 10 more minutes, we get fries that are more golden brown, but not crispy. In addition, cooking is not very even if you only stir the food once. Better to do it two to three times at least. Note that frozen products do not require adding oil.

With fresh fries we added 50ml of oil and no more than 500g of hand cut potato. The cooking time recommended by Xiaomi is 20 minutes and we tell you right away that it is better to add 10 to 15 minutes at least. The result is quite golden, but very uneven, and the interior cooking is just OK. Certainly, this type of product never succeeds in reproducing real frying, but many competitors do better for the same price (without connectivity).

We then cooked squid fritters and chicken nuggets and added 50 cl of oil as recommended by the application. Unlike fries, we have a nice cooking, very golden, almost too much. So, remember to monitor the cooking carefully when you stir the food. Here we have a result identical to what a fan oven can provide.

Let’s move on to roasted vegetables, and while chickpeas do quite well, this is less the case with broccoli. We have good cooking, a slightly roasted appearance, but not enough for our taste. It is possible to increase the cooking time or the quantity of oil (50 ml recommended), but then you risk cooking a little too much and losing the crunch.

We also cooked chicken and red meat for a result close to that of a classic oven. However, you must be very careful when cooking. Add a minimum of 5 minutes on average and check regularly. You will sometimes obtain a slightly caramelized appearance if you allow time to seize each surface well. A rack is provided for cooking food on two levels.

The window on the front is practical, but does not really allow you to monitor the cooking well. Therefore, you have to regularly open the fryer to check directly, which pauses the device and lets the heat escape during this check. This manipulation results in a slightly longer cooking time. The quantity of oil required for recipes or for fresh fries is on average 50 ml, whereas an Actifry only requires 14 ml and shorter cooking times. The dietary aspect is therefore more limited, but it is still better than foods bathed in oil.

Price and availability of the Xiaomi Smart Air Fryer Pro 4L

The Xiaomi Smart Air Fryer Pro 4L is available at the price of 149.99 euros on the Xiaomi website and partner resellers.