preface

Many years ago, when Ma Yun shouted "Let the world have no business difficult to do", he positioned Ali's business to serve small and medium-sized enterprises and hundreds of millions of ordinary people. Years later, on the basis of numerous small and medium-sized enterprises and the countless transactions of "hand chopping party", Ali has achieved remarkable success, which is a typical case of success by addressing the needs of most ordinary people. A few months ago, Xie Jun, CEO of Haier Wise Water, announced that Haier Wise Water is committed to solving the more core demand of ordinary people - drinking water safety by saying that "Haier Wise Water means that everyone can afford clean water, and everyone can drink clean water". And what bears such an important task is an intelligent water purifying faucet. If you use Ma Yun's words to express Xie Jun's goal, it is to "let the world have no hard to drink tap water" 。

Water pollution is not a new topic. Since the reform and opening up, the economy has been developing rapidly for many years. With the appearance of increasingly prosperous society, drinking water pollution has become increasingly serious. According to statistics, so far the proportion of cities with seriously polluted drinking water in China has reached about 64%. 80% of human diseases are related to air and water safety. When health is threatened, the market of water purification equipment is naturally born. After the initial rapid expansion, the water purification industry has entered a stable and slow down stage. How to find new growth points in the already stable market? Improving the cost performance ratio, designing differentiated products, and entering into subdivided fields are all faster methods. According to statistics, the dissatisfaction of water purification equipment mainly focuses on complex installation, high initial purchase and later use costs, poor water purification quality, and opaque water purification data. It is precisely for these pain points of water purifier products, Haier Zhishui launched this modular intelligent water purification faucet.

The author participated in Lei Feng.com（ ）During the trial activity, we were lucky to get a set of Haier Zhishui water purification faucet to experience its charm in advance. Here we sincerely thank Lei Feng.com and Haier Zhishui for their rare opportunity. Can this faucet really solve the pain points of the aforementioned water purifier products? The answer may be in the following experience report. After a full experience of installation, use, drinking and other aspects, the author added, deleted and sorted out the use process records, hoping to provide some help to the friends who pay attention to this product.

First sight

The first sight of Wisdom Water (Haier Wisdom Water faucet is referred to as "Wisdom Water" in this article, the same below) is a bleak evening long expected after winning the bid, when the cold rain outside the window is hazy and the cold wind is cold, indicating that the winter that has not seen for many years has already enveloped the south of the Yangtze River. The packaging of Zhishui looks very ordinary under the light. The inconspicuous kraft paper box does not seem to match the beautiful appearance of the press conference. But after opening the box, I realized that the outer layer is only the express box, and the inner layer is the real product packaging. The appearance of the package conforms to the current popular minimalist style, with LOGO and product design printed on the front and the product name pasted on it. There are some simple product information and slogans on both sides. There is nothing else on the white box except for the simple and clean appearance. This artistic conception just echoes the theme of purification.

The packing box is nested, and the internal storage box can be pulled out slowly by gently pulling the handle at the bottom. Filter, converter and other parts are classified and lying quietly in the sponge damping grid, while the manual and a cover plate are placed flat on the sponge grid.

Take out all parts, instructions and other items in turn, and compare them one by one according to the instructions. There is a filter, a switcher, four adapters, a universal connector, a activated carbon filter element, five filter pieces, a button battery, a box of waterproof raw material, a plastic simple wrench, and a manual/certificate of conformity, The filter is equipped with a set of PP cotton filter element. Compared with the electronic equipment evaluated by the author before, Zhishui has a wide range of parts and components. It is Haier Zhishui that has made great efforts to study the simplified parts and components based on the traditional water purifier. It is conceivable how complex the structure of the traditional water purifier will be.

The filter is about 11cm high, and its two ends are slightly thin in cylindrical shape. It is composed of three parts from top to bottom: control sensor, filter element container, and water outlet. The filter element can be replaced after the control sensor is unscrewed. The top of the control sensor is a battery box. The button battery can be replaced by unscrewing the cover. The Bluetooth switch button and the Bluetooth status indicator are symmetrically located on the edge of the battery box. The switcher is in an irregular flat columnar shape, about 5cm high, and consists of connecting nuts, switcher with raw water/purified water change-over switch, and raw water outlet. Due to the variety of household tap shapes, in order to improve compatibility, Zhishui provides one universal connector with a movable diameter and four special adapter connectors with internal and external screws.

The appearance and internal structure of Zhishui are designed ingeniously, and the switcher and filter have typical modular style. The universal joint and adapter can be compatible with various styles of tap to the greatest extent. All parts can be quickly disassembled and assembled, which is convenient for users to install by themselves and saves costs. At the same time, some tools and consumables for installation are provided, such as raw material belt, plastic wrench, battery, etc. However, the clamping surface of the plastic wrench is too thick to be used for the nut clamping groove of the universal joint elastic ring, I hope the product team can avoid this small mistake in the later stage.

The instructions of Zhishui are standard, not too detailed but not too simple, except for some basic installation operations In addition to the instructions for the use of the APP, the shape and size of the tap that the product can't fit and other precautions are also specifically pointed out. This part is very meaningful, but the author believes that if the online/offline product sales copy explains these information in advance, it will be more meaningful, otherwise, when the user opens the package after receiving the goods, they will know that they can't use it, which may increase the user's aversion and dissatisfaction.

install

It is the author's habit of evaluating or using the product for many years to read through the instructions before installation. Although it is common sense, it is often ignored. When there is an operation error or an accident, the instructions will be turned over in a hurry, which may result in the loss outweighing the gain.

According to the instructions, first check whether the tap at home meets the requirements of smart water installation. First, there is no problem with the size of the faucet, and then look at the situation of the bubbler. Although it seems that the faucet is equipped with an internal thread bubbler on the surface, the author tried to use an open-end wrench and pliers to remove the suspected bubbler, so he could only put the faucet directly into the universal joint, but before that, the universal joint needs to be connected with the switch through an adapter, The operation is very convenient. Just unscrew the connecting nut of the switch, put an adapter into the base of the switch, screw the lower end of the universal connector into the screw port of the adapter, and then retighten the connecting nut of the switch.

Next, compare the caliber of the universal joint with that of the tap. It is found that the joint without the seal ring is too loose, but if the seal ring is put on the tap, the universal joint cannot be put in. Therefore, in order to connect normally and prevent water leakage, it is necessary to repeatedly wind the tap outlet with raw tape until the tap is enough to support the universal joint, and then use a slotted screwdriver to tighten the fixing screws. Slowly open the faucet. If water leakage is found, remove the universal joint and continue to wind the raw material tape on the faucet. Repeat this until the water leakage is no longer found, it is regarded as completing the connection of the switch, universal joint and faucet.

After the above steps are completed, unscrew the control sensor of the filter, put the attached filter element into the filter element container, and reinstall the control sensor. Next, put the battery into the battery slot and tighten the top cover, and then long press the power button next to the top cover for about 3 seconds. If the status light flashes red and blue alternately, it means that the power supply is normal.

The Bluetooth connection part will be experienced later. At this time, the connection between the filter and the switch will be completed first. This step is also very convenient. According to the instructions in the manual, snap the filter bayonet into the slot of the switch according to the specified orientation, and then turn it counterclockwise for half a turn to complete the connection between the filter and the switch.

During the whole installation process, no matter the connection between smart water components, the installation and replacement of filter elements and batteries, or the connection with the tap, there are typical modular features. This ingenious structure makes each step of combination and disassembly operation appear fast and convenient, greatly reducing the complexity compared with traditional water purifiers, thus effectively saving users' installation time. However, the sealing ring attached to the universal joint is too thick to be used, resulting in the use of nearly two boxes of raw tape and about half a meter of waterproof tape. Therefore, the author suggests that the number of sealing rings attached to the universal joint should be more than the thickness, so as to reduce the time spent on wrapping the raw tape and save materials.

use

In addition to modular installation, smart water has another feature compared with traditional water purifiers, which is "smart" in its name. The so-called intelligence means that Wise Water is equipped with a water quality analysis sensor and a Bluetooth module, which can cooperate with the APP to view the current tap water quality, net water quantity, filter element status and other information in real time. After receiving the goods, in order to clarify the APP information corresponding to the water purifier, the following three different APP descriptions were obtained from two product sales pages and product manuals on the official website

The author first uses the iPhone to open the official website "APP Download "page and try to scan the code and click the download link respectively, all of which prompt that the IOS version of the app has not been approved, so we have to temporarily purchase an Android phone, but the search for" Shuizhi "and" Shuizhihui "in the major app stores has no results. Finally, we still install the app through the link, and the name of the app displayed after the installation is" Haier Zhishui ". It can be seen from these situations that the relevant descriptions of the APP in different official channels are quite disordered. If the description information and name are inconsistent, it will not be said. For example, the IOS version is written in the product sales copy and instructions according to the released status before it is launched, which the author thinks is inappropriate.

To use the APP, you need to register an account first. After entering the APP, you can see that the main interface consists of five bottom menus, namely "Equipment", "List", "Check in", "Map", and "Settings", and the "Equipment Management" menu at the upper left corner. The common core functions are "Equipment" related operations, such as adding or unbinding equipment, viewing the net water quantity, water quality, filter element status, and other functions. The first time you enter the main interface, you will be prompted "Add Haier purification equipment". Click this button or click the "Add Equipment" submenu of the "Equipment Management" menu to enter the equipment scanning step. Before adding a device, first long press the Bluetooth connection button on the top of the filter. When the status light flashes red and blue alternately, let the APP start scanning the device. After the device is found by the APP, operate step by step according to the prompt until the device is added. The step of "selecting the filter cartridge package" is strange, and not selecting it will cause the device to fail to add, However, we did not find out what kind of filter elements were included in the filter element received this time when we searched through the instructions and the packaging box. Since there was a filter element without any description information attached to the package box when we received the goods, we chose "customized filter element combination package" for the time being, and the selection of filter elements in the following part was also based on our feelings in comparison with the official website product sales document.

After the equipment is added, turn on the tap to switch to the water purification state, and the status light on the top of the filter flashes blue once every 3 seconds or so. On the premise of turning on the tap to drain water, after the equipment is added, it will automatically synchronize the data with the intelligent water equipment, including water quality status, optimization suggestions, purified water volume and filter element status, and display these information on the main interface. Click the corresponding link to enter the corresponding detailed information viewing interface. If you need to view the current purified water data in real time, Pull down and refresh in the main interface. However, the author found a problem here. Although there is no problem with Bluetooth connection, the above functions cannot be operated if the mobile phone where the APP is located is not connected to the Internet. Theoretically, adding devices and Bluetooth synchronization water status can be completely separated from the Internet. I don't know what the purpose of the product team's design of such a barrier is. It is recommended that this part can be operated alone, otherwise it is clear that the device is nearby because of network problems, which will extend the entire operation process and affect the user experience.

The app provides a light social attribute through the "list" function, which adds some PK fun to the use of devices. The "map" function allows users to view the water quality in the vicinity. However, due to network problems, this function has not been successful. The "Device" sharing function in "Settings" can share the device information bound to your APP account with up to 10 family members, so that the whole family can know the current operation of smart water devices without everyone binding devices, which is very convenient. Through the "Device Management" in the upper left corner, you can view the status of the currently bound devices, or upgrade the firmware of the devices.

On the whole, the UI design of "Haier Smart Water" is relatively friendly. It not only has basic equipment management, water quality inspection, water purification and other practical functions, but also has a certain light social attribute. When using Bluetooth, the process of binding the device is relatively fast, but the part of adding the filter kit in the middle is not user-friendly, and it is entirely up to the user to judge. The product does not provide enough information for the user to refer to, even if the user randomly selects an option, APP also does not know whether the selected filter element is the same as the filter element actually used. In this case, the accuracy of the filter element life displayed on the interface is greatly reduced. In addition, when adding devices, they must be connected to the Internet to operate normally. At the same time, the product has been released and the IOS version of APP has not yet been provided. These situations may affect the user experience.

texture

After the above process experience, focus on the ease of operation of Smart Water itself and the core performance - water purification effect.

The raw water/purified water switch on the switch is very convenient to use. Press it to switch to the corresponding water outlet immediately. It is very sensitive and feels good. Although the raw water also passes through a layer of filter in the switcher, it seems intuitively that the water output of raw water is sufficient, not less than that of the faucet without intelligent water equipment. After switching to the purified water outlet, the water flow out of the filter is less than the raw water outlet, but it is completely within the acceptable range, after all, it is blocked by the multi-layer filter element.

In principle, it is most accurate to judge the water purification effect with the analysis results of professional water quality analysis instruments, but the author does not have such instruments at hand, and can only judge by the taste. As the community is a new one, the tap water has just been opened for about 2 months, and the water flowing directly from the tap has a slight odor when drinking. Generally, it is acceptable to drink tea after boiling. The author respectively connected a glass of water to the faucet with and without smart water equipment. After about 10 minutes, it was difficult to find the difference by visual observation.

After tasting two cups of water respectively, there was no obvious difference in taste. Considering that the filter element provided in this evaluation is a lower level of PPcotton+activated carbon, the purification effect was expected. In view of this reason, the core purification capability that is the most concerned in this evaluation is not completely clear. The author has purchased a set of "carbon fiber+activated carbon+ultrafiltration" three-stage filter cartridge, so the core purification capability can only be experienced after the arrival of the new enhanced filter cartridge.

Postscript

At the end of the whole experience process, the author sorted out some advantages and areas to be improved according to the records of the experience for your reference. We welcome criticism and correction, and hope that the product team will continue to work harder.

advantage:

1.   Beautiful appearance, cylindrical streamline modeling, natural transition at the connection of parts; Excellent structure, modular design, easy to replace filter element.

2.   Compared with the water purifier with the same purification effect, it is small in size, and can be directly installed on a variety of household water taps, without a pile of pipes, power plugs, or a large water purification pot on the table to occupy space, so it is convenient to install.

3. The power supply of Haier Smart Water equipment comes from the button battery on the top of the filter, so there is no need to worry about leakage, and it is safe and reliable; The universal joint and adapter can be compatible with a variety of taps. At the same time, since the equipment is directly installed on the tap, it is clear whether there is water leakage at a glance, and there is no need to worry about water leakage; The raw water and purified water can be quickly switched through the switch, which is convenient to use.

4. Adopt a variety of modular filter design, and provide modular filter elements of various levels from PPcotton, activated carbon, carbon fiber, ultrafiltration, etc. (the filter elements in this evaluation cannot reflect the core purification ability).

5. It has many functions. In addition to the water purification function, you can also view tap water quality, purified water quantity, filter life and other information through the APP. Family members can also easily share the equipment water purification data.

Suggestions for improvement:

1. The caliber of the universal interface should be as large as possible, and some thin sealing rubber rings should be equipped at the same time, which can reduce the use of raw material belt and save the time of installation on the tap.

2. The APP needs to continue to optimize and provide the IOS version as soon as possible. It is recommended that the APP can be completed when the Bluetooth connection device or data synchronization is not connected.

3. In the process of adding filter element package to APP, it is better to check the filter element status in the filter in real time through linkage, or clearly mark the details of the filter element in the current package on the package and instructions accompanying the equipment.