- Joined
- Jul 22, 2020
- Messages
- 2,594
- Reaction score
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- Review score
- +0 /0 /-0
- Location
- United Kingdom
Hi,
I just thought I share my first thought of my latest purchase of Jebao MLW Smart Wave Maker with LCD Display Controller.
For the record I am not in any way related to Jebao or they not supported me in any way. ( please feel free in the future though )
I have chosen the MLW-20 thinking that is the right size for my tank length based on the little information available online.
For reference I have found a video review for you if you are interested this will give you some visuals.
I run other older and cheaper version of Jebao wave makers (SW series) and have a mixed relationship with them but I guess I will have to put up with them for a while as I am refusing to pay premium for other higher end brands while I am not connected the price difference with give that much advantage.
I save you from the boring unboxing pictures so let’s jus go with the facts what is included; Head, controller, power supply, users manual and it is all in a box you have to open.
The Head; nothing really new here. Jebao has the same head for the SLW series for a while. My experience it is quite powerful and quiet. I haven’t had to clean it so I don’t know how painful it will be to disassemble the head. I guess it will turn just as pink from coralline as the all the others. I have ended up tuning it down to 50% flow for my LPS.
Controller; I am a visual person and find it useful to see in a glance what the pump is doing so this is a plus for people like me who appreciate the colourful display. Setting up the pump modes from the controller is not so intuitive though so the app came handy to understand the settings better.
There are no buttons everything is touch.
The controller was also used to connect the device to the WiFi which is relatively painless as long as you have separated SSID for 2.4GHz and 5GHz networks. This is something I would recommend to everyone as an IT anyway.
Limitation to 2.4GHz is actually industry standard for most smart devices driven by chip prices mainly. There are practical reasons too but don’t go technical this time.
Power supply; standard 24v not much to say about it.
The App; this is the part where smart would come in but it is… well how to put it? Not so smart by today’s standards.
So look at what is good first.
Documentation; at least it is not written in really bad English. I have seen worse but it is still bad.
Chinese companies (please don’t take it in the wrong way) have to hire a person who can write documentation. It is really not that hard.
so what is the take away. This product has great potential but improvements still required especially in the software level. I would give 6 out of 10 as a rating mainly due to software and documentation.
I just thought I share my first thought of my latest purchase of Jebao MLW Smart Wave Maker with LCD Display Controller.
For the record I am not in any way related to Jebao or they not supported me in any way. ( please feel free in the future though )
I have chosen the MLW-20 thinking that is the right size for my tank length based on the little information available online.
For reference I have found a video review for you if you are interested this will give you some visuals.
I run other older and cheaper version of Jebao wave makers (SW series) and have a mixed relationship with them but I guess I will have to put up with them for a while as I am refusing to pay premium for other higher end brands while I am not connected the price difference with give that much advantage.
I save you from the boring unboxing pictures so let’s jus go with the facts what is included; Head, controller, power supply, users manual and it is all in a box you have to open.
The Head; nothing really new here. Jebao has the same head for the SLW series for a while. My experience it is quite powerful and quiet. I haven’t had to clean it so I don’t know how painful it will be to disassemble the head. I guess it will turn just as pink from coralline as the all the others. I have ended up tuning it down to 50% flow for my LPS.
Controller; I am a visual person and find it useful to see in a glance what the pump is doing so this is a plus for people like me who appreciate the colourful display. Setting up the pump modes from the controller is not so intuitive though so the app came handy to understand the settings better.
There are no buttons everything is touch.
The controller was also used to connect the device to the WiFi which is relatively painless as long as you have separated SSID for 2.4GHz and 5GHz networks. This is something I would recommend to everyone as an IT anyway.
Limitation to 2.4GHz is actually industry standard for most smart devices driven by chip prices mainly. There are practical reasons too but don’t go technical this time.
Power supply; standard 24v not much to say about it.
The App; this is the part where smart would come in but it is… well how to put it? Not so smart by today’s standards.
So look at what is good first.
- The settings of the wave maker is easy(ish) as soon you put your head around it.
- If you have several of this type of devices you can set up unique programs and I guess tide like water movements too.
- The interface allows you to set your device as a master and it links up older models. This is important but not documented.
- Well for a start lack of connection to any smart hubs like google home/Alexa / Apple home.
- Lacks connection to any aquarium controllers. Even the existing 10v control is removed.
- Once you set your device as master you loose several features like timers. Don’t ask why this makes no sense at all.
- If you group you devices forget about individual settings. Come on guys why?
- The interface is fare from intuitive and most of it is undocumented.
Documentation; at least it is not written in really bad English. I have seen worse but it is still bad.
- No table of contents. I know save the planet. But if you really want to do that you need online documentation which doesn’t exist let alone listing of this product on your website.
- no explanation of the features only how to set it. You can scratch your head figure out why would you choose a particular feather.
- no compatibility chart of hardware or features. Now this is really a mistake as most of my frustration came from this.
Chinese companies (please don’t take it in the wrong way) have to hire a person who can write documentation. It is really not that hard.
so what is the take away. This product has great potential but improvements still required especially in the software level. I would give 6 out of 10 as a rating mainly due to software and documentation.