After some effort and researching I was able to get the Xiaomi to work.. But setup process and software in general is a garbage experience. Yes, Mainland China as region, and when searching for device be sure to type "wi-fi" WITH THE HYPHIN or else it will never appear as an option. Also must go into
Tello app to create a wifi password in the settings menu in order to connect using Xiaomi. Unfortunately mine stopped working completely on the second day of use (didn't expect much for $12). However it did start intermittently working again on day 4 and was able to be used again with success. But who knows what will happen next time.
Got a refund on the Xiaomi (thanks amazon) and ordered the $5-more Meross next, everything went fine for the first setup following the very simple and thankfully english directions. But things started going wrong when trying to connect to the new network. It tried connecting indefinitely and never really succeeded, and things kind of came to a standstill. Reset the device using the button, started over and realized my mistake. Once you connect to the drone wifi, the interface now allows you to edit the name of the new, Meross network. The default is the same as the drone wifi name, and unfortunately this looks nearly identical to the screen where you just connected, so hitting continue will create two wifi networks with identical names. iOS was inevitably unable to handle something like that. Once I renamed the network on the second setup everything worked like a charm.
@Pogy The red light only indicates there is no
internet connection. The wifi signal is still connected and that's all that is needed between your phone and the
Tello.
TL;DR Xiaomi takes research to set up, but works for many people (until it doesn't). Meross has a major setup flaw at this time but is easy to address.
I haven't pushed the Meross to it's limit yet as far as range but I don't see why it wouldn't be at least as good as the Xiaomi.