Say hi to Xiaomi’s new air fryer

Recently I visited my physician for a review. Just as we were about to conclude the meeting he cleared his through in a way that suggested he had something more to add to before we concluded our meeting. He looked at me from the top of his glasses, pointed at my sizeable belly and told me in a rather disgusted voice that it was time for it to go. I think the Xiaomi air fryer will be key to that.

Mi Smart Air Fryer 3.5L: Cook Healthy! | #SmartLivingForEveryone

Xiaomi’s air fryer is coming to Zimbabwe soon

My doctor told me to stay away from fried food for a while and as part of my research, I landed upon the Xiaomi air fryer. You all know my love for Xiaomi products. I have a Xiaomi phone, Xiaomi Mi Box S, Xiaomi Mi Stick, Xiaomi soundbar, my wife has a Xiaomi tablet, I had the Mi Band 2, soon I will have the Xiaomi smart speaker and am saving up for the Mi electric jug.

As part of frying alternatives, I landed upon air frying as an alternative to using cooking oil. Naturally, I was curious to learn if Xiaomi had an air fryer. It turns out they just recently released one. Now there was the hard part of bringing this to Zimbabwe. Unlike things like phones, this one was a bit heavy and was going to cost me a fortune.

A fortune I didn’t have so I was about to give up when I just happened to view the WhatsApp status of the local MiStore. It turns out they are bringing this air fryer and a whole series of new Xiaomi products to Zimbabwe. These products include the new Xiaomi hairdryer, hair curler, steam iron, vacuum cleaner and of course the air fryer.

This means these products will be available locally soon. You will be able to walk into a shop and buy one of these products. And walk out with it in your hands without having to wait for it to be shipped to Zimbabwe. Anyone who has bought a product from China will tell you the wait can be nerve-wracking. There is also the little matter of duty. Buying locally means no duty. ZIMRA can be very inconsistent when it comes to duty calculations and so if you were to buy this online you will only learn how much duty you will have to pay when you get hit with the bill.

What’s air frying and how much will the air fryer cost you?

The Xiaomi air fryer is basically a 1500 Watts glorified fancy oven that uses a fan to pass hot air over your food. The idea is to imitate the results of deep-frying but using hot air instead of cooking oil. Traditionally frying results in tasty food but it uses a lot of cooking oil which can be a bit too much for the health-conscious.

So how much is the Xiaomi air fryer going to cost when it lands? The truth is no one knows. But in European countries where it’s now available for sale, it is going for around 99 Euro which is rather affordable for a kitchen appliance. Expect to pay around US$180 to US$250 for it in Zimbabwe.

That might seem like a lot of money but this is a useful home device that comes with a twist. It does air frying but it comes with an app too. You can also control it using your Google smart speaker or Alexa speaker.