Welcome to our Smart Home and Automation category page—the hub for all things smart and convenient that can revolutionise your daily living. Here, you’ll find comprehensive guides, reviews, and the latest news on devices and ecosystems that promise to make your home safer, more efficient, and undeniably more enjoyable.
Smart Home and Automation refers to the network of intelligent devices and systems that connect to the internet and to each other, offering remote control, monitoring, and data collection. From voice-activated lighting to intelligent cooking appliances, this category spans a wide array of products designed to bring ease and automation into your home life.
Whether you’re a tech-savvy early adopter or a homeowner seeking practical solutions for everyday tasks, smart home tech offers a wide range of applications that can genuinely improve your living standards.
Whether you’re just starting your smart home journey or looking to expand your existing setup, our Smart Home and Automation category is rich with expert advice, detailed reviews, and the latest updates to help you make informed decisions. Dive in and discover how smart your home can truly be!
The Yale Linus Smart Lock has been my favourite smart lock I reviewed so far, and it is the first lock I have committed to on my main front door (though I use the Ultion Smart Lock on the back door). While all the smart locks I have reviewed have been good (including the Connexis…
The Netatmo Smart Outdoor Camera (formerly Presence) was one of the first floodlight cameras to enter the market and it is still one of the best. While Netatmo haven’t flooded the market with new devices each year (currently just 7 options in their security range) they have continued to improve things over the years. The…
Following on from the review of the flagship Reolink Argus 3 Pro, I have also been testing the most affordable option in the range, the Reolink Argus 2E. Priced at around £65 with no need for a home base, this is one of the cheapest brand name options on the market. Specification Video Resolution: 1080p…
Most of us think that having a smart home means a newly constructed house with very complicated systems. It’s a myth! The idea of a smart home is simple yet beneficial. It simply means that your place has smart home technology that connects with your appliances. It automates common tasks and can program almost every…
The Annke C800 Zoom is a slight departure from my regular POE camera reviews as I would regard it as a more business orientated camera ideal for providing surveillance for SMBs. Annke C800 Zoom Specification & Features Image Sensor:1/2.5″ Sony STARVIS IMX274 Image Sensor Video Resolution: 8MP (3840 X 2160@12.5/15 fps) Video Compression: H.265+/H.265/H.264+/H.264 Lens:…
The new Argus 3 Pro sits at the top of the range for the wireless cameras from Reolink. Compared to the Argus 3, you now get 2K video, and this is the first wireless camera from the brand to offer person/vehicle detection. Specification Image Sensor: 1/3″ CMOS Sensor Video Resolution: 2560 x 1440 (4.0 Megapixels)…
Energy efficiency is an important aspect of home budgeting. Not only that – keeping your electricity costs low adds to your ecological awareness. In line with the above, installing remote-controlled lights is a clever way of increasing the energy efficiency of your home. They will increase the comfort and convenience of living in your home…
This is a quick short post to highlight the specs of the new Ring Video Doorbell 4 and how it is different to the existing Video Doorbell 3. Key differences This post can be condensed down to 4 lines of differences: Plus model dropped Standard model now includes pre-roll Pre-roll is now colour Video Doorbell…
Ring has been on one with product launches recently; with pressure increasing from competing brands, they will likely want to establish their dominance (in the doorbell market at least). Ring Video Doorbell 4 with colour pre-roll for £179 – No Plus model? I was provided with an embargoed announcement to write this up, which is…
Following on from my Reolink RLC-511WA review, I have been using the RLC-811A, which is the 4K POE model. It follows the same pattern as the previous model; this has a 5X optical zoom lens (not PTZ) with a built-in spotlight which will enable night-time colour video. It also includes the AI object detection we…
I have been a big fan of the Yale Linus Smart Lock, it is the best smart lock I have reviewed to date, and I still use it on my main front door. Yale has now expanded their collaboration with Philips Hue to deliver some smart home convenience when using Hue and Linus together. Once…
The Safely DIY home alarm system by SafelyTeam is the latest smart home alarm system to enter the market. This is a new company hoping to compete with big players like Ring and SimpliSafe. The Safely alarm system is more advanced than many off the shelf solutions from the likes of Ring and Eufy, offering…
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