I just stubled across some thrilling news - my cheap Xiaomi BLE sensors got a firmware update for using them with zigbee!
I did the update and now all 5 sensors are connecting via zigbee. The process required some patience, as bluetooth connection was lost often, but is really easy.
One tip is to use the webflasher on the smartphone and use new batteries during the flash.
Update:
I just did an over the air fimware update via zigbee2mqtt ota, working flawlessly.
I am still happy with these little devices, got 2 more cheap from aliexpress and flashed them from my phone, no problem.
I use the display of the hygrometer as clock and to show values from HA (esphome pvvx display).
Essentially it cycles to show the local temp/humidity โ clock โ HA values (depends of the location, e.g. water temperature or outdoor temp/humidity for example)
for me moving from ble to zigbee is a big advance. less fragmented network infrastructure as i can ditch bluetooth (ble scanners running on tasmota).
all sensors are integrated in my zigbee mesh, even giving me the advantage to do ota updates or change settings on the fly.
i didnt use the sensor to display a clock or additional info, so im not missing any functionality. might be added in future firmwares, but i think its not the best use for this sensor / lcd anyway. i got other displays for that. but thanks pointing that out, as i wasnt aware of this possibility.