Xiaomi creates its own lower-cost Pressy alternative, dubbed MiKey

Back in August of last year we first reported on Pressy, a unique add-on button accessory designed to plug into your phone jack for those situations where you need an extra physical button such as for taking pictures.

During its original Kickstarter campaign Pressy not only managed to blow past its original $40,000 funding goal, it actually ended at $695,138. If you didn’t pledge for a Pressy back when you had the chance, the add-on button can now be pre-ordered for a rather pricey $27. What if there was a cheaper route? There’s about to be, thanks to Xiaomi.

The popular Chinese handset maker has decided to take a page out of the Pressy team’s book and is offering their own alternative, dubbed MiKey.

Like Pressy, MiKey has several different color choices for the plug’s portable carrying case, though the button itself is simply stainless steel in color. As for the functionality? MiKey is said to work in basically the same way as Pressy, by allowing you to click it a number of times for certain functions like taking a picture, loading up select apps and more. In total, MiKey will support and recognize up to 10 different click combos (short/long, etc).

The real interesting part about MiKey, however, is the price tag. Xiaomi plans to sale the accessory starting on April 8th for 4.9 Yuan (about $.80). The catch is that the accessory likely requires software exclusive to Xiaomi and probably won’t officially be sold outside of China. On the bright side, we wouldn’t be surprised if the MiKey ends up arriving to all the major Chinese importers in due course. While this means the price will be higher than $.80, we imagine it will still significantly undercut the Pressy.

Of course, the MiKey really won’t do you any good if there is no software for it, but perhaps it won’t be long before someone creates a third party app that will play nicely with the accessory.

What do you think, would you be interested in picking up the MiKey if there is a way to use it with a non-Xiaomi device? Are you interested in Pressy but feel the price tag is just too much? Let us know what you think in the comments.