Smart home technology allows you to monitor and control devices and appliances in your home remotely using your smartphone or other networked devices. Connected products like smart lights, thermostats, security cameras, locks, and more can be programmed to turn on/off automatically or be controlled manually from anywhere.
Smart home devices communicate with each other and with the homeowner through wireless protocols like Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, Zigbee, etc. or through hardwired home automation systems. Cloud services and digital assistants like Alexa also enable voice control.
With home automation, you can save energy, time, and money while adding convenience and security. We cover and review the latest smart home gadgets and whole-home platforms to help you create your connected dream home. See our smart home product guides, news, buying advice, and more.
I reviewed the outdoor Kodak PTZ network camera back in July last year, it was a good camera, but it was let down somewhat with the poorly designed software compared to many popular brands such as Nest, Ring and Arlo. Most recently I have been reviewing their Cherish F685 Home Security Camera which is an indoor PTZ camera…
[Update 28/10/2019] It has come to my attention that Den Automation has almost certainly ceased trading. It has been reported that they have switched the severs off so all the smart functionality of the switches will no longer work properly. You should therefore no buy the products. I have covered the issue in more detail…
Back in November, I reviewed the JBL Link View, at first, I was not sure about it, the high cost and awkward shape were not ideal, but I grew to love it and often chose to use it over my Sonos 1 when in the kitchen. The Lenovo Smart Display is slightly different, the 8-inch…
The Smart Home Expo, the UK’s ultimate event for the smart technologies revolutionising the way we live, will be coming to the NEC Birmingham on the 26th & 27th of March 2019, and here’s what you can expect to find. We are delighted to be partnered with the show this year. It is completely free…
As a huge Philips Hue fan, I am always keen to try out new smart lighting technology. One of the issues I do have with Hue is that the individual bulbs are not very bright, and in our master bedroom with a pendant lamp, a single bulb barely lights up the room at night time….
I think smart controlled heating is one of the best smart home investments you can make. It is one of the solutions that can save you money in the long term, while also improving your home environment keeping rooms warm when they need to be, and saving money when not. Most of the smart heating…
For a while Ring smart doorbells were the only decent option on the market, but, quite likely due to their success, several other brands entered last year including Arlo Audio Doorbell and Nest Hello. Not to be left out Netatmo have just announced their own smart video doorbell at CES 2019. With the Netatmo Smart Video…
I have previously reviewed the Lightwave Generation 2, but Lightwave has been kind enough to send me one of the radiator valves to review so I thought it would be worth redoing the review of the system and see how it has improved since its first launch. For UK users Lightwave is one of the…
I have had a traditional Yale alarm fitted in my home for years but I never use it as I generally found burglar alarms annoying. I am not sure of anyone that actually responds to one going off we all just assume it is a false alarm. The new Yale Sync Smart Home Alarm brings…
During the Black Friday sales, it was clear that both Amazon and Google are determined to get consumers to adopt their voice assistant technologies. Both companies offered deep discounts on their own products with Amazon selling the Echo Dot for less than half price at £19.99, or the newly launched Echo 2nd generation with £30…
SmartThings launched all the way back in 2012 following a successful Kickstarter campaign where they raised $1.2 million with products becoming commercially available in 2013. In late 2014 it was acquired by Samsung for $200-million and at the time it looked like this would be the first home automation product to go mainstream. While the…
With the success of the Amazon Echo Show, it was inevitable that Google and others follow suit with their versions. With Google, this came via third parties initially in the form of the LG Smart Display and the JBL Link. This has now been complemented by Googles own Home Hub and the newly announced LG…
End of content
End of content