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!
Following on from the announcement of the Aqara Hub M3, which is one of the most advanced smart home hubs on the market with Matter, Thread, and Zigbee support, Aqara has also announced two additional smart home devices at CES 2024. Border Router Plug First to Add Thread Support The headline product launch was Aqara’s…
Consumer electronics company Aqara has announced the upcoming launch of its latest smart home hub, the Hub M3, at CES 2024. The new hub builds on the capabilities of the previous Hub M2 model, which was their first Matetr-enabled hub, and adds support for multiple new connectivity standards, enabling integration with an expanded range of…
At CES 2024, MediaTek, a leading fabless semiconductor company, has announced a new collaboration with Google to develop a multi-radio chipset solution supporting Thread, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and Matter for smart home devices. The chipset aims to enable faster and more reliable connections between devices from different manufacturers and ecosystems. Related Content New Filogic Chipset Combines…
I have previously reviewed the excellent Paulmann Velora Zigbee Smart LED Panel, which is an excellent alternative to the Philips Hue light panels. More recently, I have been checking out the range of Paulmann Zigbee bulbs, which can be integrated into a Philips Hue system just as easily as a normal Hue bulb. I have…
In the increasingly crowded marketplace of robot vacuums, the technologies that power these nifty devices have become more advanced and varied. When it comes to navigation and mapping—key features that differentiate a sophisticated robot vacuum from a glorified dustpan—two technologies seem to stand out: Camera vSLAM and LiDAR Mapping. As someone who has dived deep…
The Twinkly C9 Bulbs were announced at the start of November and pad out the growing range of outdoor smart festive lighting that Twinkly has become famous for. I am posting this review a bit too close to Christmas than I originally planned. Unfortunately, due to problems on my end, the lights were returned to…
If you are looking for some last-minute gift or decoration ideas, then smart lighting is a fantastic way to brighten up your home with some festive colours. Over the past few years, I have reviewed some amazing products from Philips Hue, Wiz and Twinkly and each brand has some fantastic products that are ideal for…
The Aqara Camera E1 was launched globally last month and claims to offer premium capabilities found in more expensive security cameras. These premium features include 2K video resolution with a wide-angle f/2.0 lens, local person and sound detection, 360-degree pan and tilt, local recordings, NAS recording and App HomeKit compatibility. Specification / Features HomeKit Secure…
Following on from my critical posts covering Tapo vs Kasa and my review of the Kasa KE100 KIT, this post is much more positive. I have previously reviewed the TP-Link Tapo P110, and I think it is/was the best smart plug on the market. You can regularly pick it up for around £10, and you…
Aqara has announced several major firmware updates for their Presence Sensor FP2 which I reviewed back in May, adding new functionalities for sleep monitoring, person detection, and people counting. Sleep Monitoring Mode The key update in the new firmware (v1.2.3_0002.0059) is the addition of a Sleep Monitoring mode for the FP2 sensor. This allows the…
I will preface this by saying I love TP-Link networking and smart home products. I personally use a large number of the Kasa and Tapo smart plugs. The Tapo P110 (and now the P110M) are the best smart plugs on the market due to their affordable nature and energy monitoring. I have also recently invested…
As I have written a few reviews of devices that support Matter I thought it would be beneficial to write an article covering what Matter actually is. Matter is an open-source, IP-based networking protocol that enables smart home devices to communicate locally without relying on the cloud or proprietary ecosystems like Amazon Alexa, Google Home/Nest,…
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