Firefly, Nio Inc.‘s entry-level brand, began rolling out its Aster 2.1.0 software update in China on Wednesday, adding karaoke with an external microphone, an upgraded Lumo GPT voice assistant and a warning when there is not enough room to open the tailgate.
“Aster 2.1.0 is now gradually being pushed,” the brand said on its Weibo account, describing the release as a broad upgrade across the cabin, the Lumo assistant and the vehicle experience.
The update, which contains 19 new or improved features, comes two months after Aster 2.0.0 began reaching Chinese owners, marking the brand’s first full version change since the operating system launched with the car in April 2025.
Firefly unveiled Aster 2.0.0 to owners outside China in late September, and it has not said whether Aster 2.1.0 will reach overseas markets.
The brand released Aster 1.3.0 in China and Europe at the same time in November 2025, while Aster 2.0.0 was unveiled abroad 41 days after its Chinese rollout began.
Lumo and the Cabin
Lumo is Firefly’s in-car voice assistant, similar to what the main Nio brand has in its vehicles since 2020 with NOMI.
Lumo GPT gains upgraded encyclopedia and chat skills, with more accurate answers, clearer explanations and more natural conversation that “better understands your expressions and emotions.”
The brand’s animated Glow Squad characters gain a new member, a raccoon called “Ami,” which reacts to the vehicle’s status, responds to voice summons and stays on screen after an interaction ends.
Vehicles already running Aster 2.0.0 or later will receive the image-generator upgrade automatically through the cloud, the notes said. The central screen will now show the decals and themes of each special edition the car belongs to, after Firefly released seven special editions in its first year.
Karaoke Gets a Microphone
The headline addition is karaoke with a handheld microphone, which Firefly calls one of two karaoke modes now available in the car.
It requires the “Master Tuning Smart In-Car Microphone,” which owners buy through Firefly’s own Yingxuan online store or the NIO Life app, according to the release notes.
Firefly did not give a price for the microphone.
The brand said it had also improved the function’s entry point, microphone controls and sound effects.
When a driver asks Lumo to start karaoke, the assistant now detects whether a handheld microphone is connected and adjusts the experience to match.
Aster 2.0.0 had added karaoke without a microphone, using the car’s 14-speaker system and the WeSing app with more than 10 million licensed backing tracks.
The updated Camping Mode adds sound-effect controls for that microphone-free version, along with a shortcut to media apps and a reworked page layout.
Greetings and Safety Prompts
A new Surprise Greeting function shows a card and plays a Lumo voice message when the driver gets in or out, under two modes called “Firefly Sets Out” and “Firefly Returns to the Nest.”
The new tailgate clearance reminder warns the driver before parking when an obstacle behind the car or insufficient space would stop the tailgate from opening, to help avoid collisions when it opens.
The instrument cluster now displays the selected regenerative braking level, and range warnings appear even when no navigation route is active.
In Guard Mode, opening the front trunk no longer sets off the alarm, but the alarm rearms if the trunk stays open for more than five minutes.
The vehicle’s Wi-Fi hotspot now supports both 2.4GHz and 5GHz bands.
Parking assistance at battery swap stations gives clearer prompts in strong light, rain and snow, reminds drivers on the central screen to keep the car still while it is located, and shortens the positioning wait.
Firefly vehicles gained access to battery swap stations in China in early August, when Nio opened the first fifth-generation stations.
The Brand
Firefly delivered a record 7,327 vehicles in September, beating its target of 6,000 to 6,500 a month.
The brand’s monthly figures add up to 87,536 deliveries since April 2025, leaving it 12,464 short of Brand President Daniel Jin’s goal of 100,000 by the end of 2026.
Firefly has said a 60 kWh battery will launch this year, and Nio Founder and Chief Executive Officer William Li has said the brand will remain a single-model brand in 2027, relying on special editions and technology upgrades.
Outside China, Firefly owners don’t have access to the battery swap stations. Nio has yet to open a newer Firefly-compatible station outside its home market.
