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.
Over the past year, I have reviewed quite a few excellent Philips Hue products, and I am currently in the middle of reviewing the new Philips Hue Surimu rectangle panel light and the wall switch module. I have always used the Philips Hue Bridge as I started using Hue before they rolled out the Bluetooth functionality…
The Sonoff NSPanel Pro is an innovative smart home control panel that integrates all your smart home devices and scenes for control. It acts as a Zigbee hub with support for Sonoff Zigbee devices giving you control of smart lights, switches, heaters, coolers, curtains, and much more, all from the panel itself. The inclusion of…
Aqara have launched its latest door and window contact sensor, the P2. This new Door and Window Sensor P2 incorporates all the advanced automation and security features that the original Aqara Door and Window Sensor has been known for, but you now get the improved smart home interoperability that the Matter standard provides. I have…
This is a quick review of the new SwitchBot Meter Plus, which is an upgraded version of the smaller SwitchBot Meter. If you are familiar with the other SwitchBot sensors, there is nothing particularly new here. I am very fond of these little sensors, I think they are superb value for money, and I like…
The SwitchBot Indoor/Outdoor Thermo-Hygrometer was announced at the start of June and joins the growing number of sensors that SwitchBot have to offer. This one is particularly appealing as it is IP65 rated and can be used outdoors. Priced at less than £15, it is an absolute bargain. Discount Codes Specification / Features Set Up…
I have recently covered a few products that support Apple Homekit. The Aqara Smart Video Doorbell G4 would be the highlight of my recent reviews as it is the best doorbell you can buy that supports Homekit and it supports HomeKit Secure Video. I don’t personally use any Apple devices, but my partner does. From…
SwitchBot has recently launched a new Wireless Hygrometer Thermometer. Unlike the existing SwitchBot Meter, this new device has no display but has an IP65 waterproof design with a more rugged plastic shell that also has a lanyard for convenient placement. This allows the Thermo-Hygrometer to be used outdoors or in wet environments such as the…
The Aqara Presence Sensor FP2 was launched globally a couple of weeks ago. It replaces the FP1 which launched last year, this wasn’t launched globally, but many people imported it from China due to its unique feature set. Millimeter-wave vs PIR Sensors The FP2 uses a 60GHz mmWave radar as the sensor in comparison to…
Aqara teased the launch of the new FP2 presence sensor earlier in the year, and this is quite an exciting product for smart home enthusiasts. The FP2 presence sensor uses mmWave radar instead of a traditional passive infrared (PIR) presence sensor. With PIR, they are not very good if you are in the room but…
I reviewed the Netatmo smart smoke alarm back in 2019 and Netatmo has continued to update this useful piece of smart technology as well as the carbon monoxide alarm they have. The latest update adds compatibility of its Smart Smoke and Carbon Monoxide Alarms with the Google voice assistant. Both are now compatible with two…
I previously wrote an article comparing Zigbee vs Z-Wave and the pros and cons of each smart home technology. Thread is a new smart home communication protocol that builds upon the Zigbee specification and is available at no cost; however, this requires agreement and continued adherence to an End-User License Agreement (EULA). Albeit, you have…
I have recently covered several smart home products, and many of these use the Zigbee communication protocol. There is also the Z-Wave which I have covered extensively in the past, and then you have Thread which is an up-and-coming protocol. It can get confusing what the difference is between these technologies and which is best,…
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