Ball v1 uses a standard INMP441, Ball v2 some other I2S mic, if it’s better idk, what really matters with these small omnidirectional mics is the STT, whisper tiny isn’t that great and for small systems like the pi, try using google for text to speech and see the difference 
or run a larger whisper model.
My ball just arrived and it’s marked V3-En.
Does anyone know what the differences are compared to the V2 version?
The link you suggested only goes up to the V2 version.
there’s a picture of both v1 and v2, the sticker you have saying v3 has nothing to do with hardware model, there is only v1 and v2. identiy from the image on that page.
1 Like
Thanks for this! I got it to work (using ver 1)
Flashing it locally really helps.
First time doing this and it was really fun! 
Not on this device but my problem is that the voice recognition is not best I’m not a native english speaker so thats that. 
any suggestions?
Hi, I tried to flash using GitHub guide the V2.
I forgot to change name on the yaml with the name of my xiaozhi and now it connects and disconnects every second when attached to the pc.
How can reset it ?
Thanks
Press both buttons simultaneously and then release one, then the other. If one direction doesn’t work, do it the other way around.
Since both HA and their firmware works on MCP, I wonder if this could be achieved using their firmware and the HA MCP server… Anybody knowing any thoughts about it?
I do not have yet a device could someone test and report?
How did you do this?
yes it works fine (xiaozhi mcp <> HA mcp) 
, advantage is your xiaozhi device don’t need vpn, as long as it has wifi it can work from anywhere. with your Home Assistant 
Hey Home Assistant Community 
I’ve just published xiaozhi-mcp-hacs, a custom HACS integration that lets your Xiaozhi ESP32 AI chatbot talk directly to Home Assistant over the Model Context Protocol (MCP).
[GitHub - mac8005/xiaozhi-mcp-hacs: A Home Assistant Custom Integration (HACS) that connects Xiaozhi ESP32 AI chatbot to Home Assistant via MCP]
Feedback, issues, and PRs are very welcome. Happy automating! 
3 Likes
how does it differ from the one from c1pher?
I got a pair of V2 balls today. I wanted to take a look inside and thought I could unscrew the 3 screws on the bottom to open it, but that just loosened the circuit board in the case - it didn’t provide any way to get into the case. Then I noticed there aren’t any seams. Is the device assembled through the display opening and then the display is taped/glued into place?
Has anyone done a teardown of the device? I might want to see if the battery can be removed - I got the V2 with touch/battery just because I wanted the touch.
The. xiaozhi-mcp-hacs integration works very well. Thank you.
Has anyone compared the performance of the different wake words using the different revisions of the original firmware. I have version 1 of the ball and the firmware responds to - hi esp. It is not very responsive.
Out of interest, why are you guys, using this and not native ESPHome? Benefits?
It takes very little setup and works quickly with excellent voice recognition and speaking voice. I ask what sensors need their batteries changed and and it will go ahead and list them for instance. I can ask questions like how much solar power i made today and it will give me a run down etc. No scripting or yaml required.Only problem is wakeword doesn’t work well but that could be a config thing or bad mike. There is a button to click instead. Also i can always flash esphome if necessary anyway.
1 Like
gently warm the screen, it is held in with double sided tape around the outer edge, you can then gently remove the screen, mobile phone screen suction cup is ideal or you can pry with a thin plastic pry tool. but be careful and don’t blame me if you damage the screen… proceed at your own risk. but it is fairly easy.
1 Like