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 SwitchBot Bot has been around for about 3 years on Amazon, originally funded on Kickstarter. The Bot is a simple and relatively affordable way to add smart home controls to your old none smart devices. The device itself is battery operated and sticks onto whatever device you plan to automate. When activated, a little…
Amazon Prime day for 2021 will run from the 21st of June until the 22nd. It is a great time to pick up certain products. Amazon regularly discounts all the tech from companies they own, including Ring security products and Echo devices. Many other companies get in on the action too. Reolink will have at…
As part of the Realme GT 5G launch, Realme announced the launch of three new AIoT products – the Realme watch 2 & 2 Pro and the Realme TechLife Robot Vacuum – as part of an accelerated AIoT product strategy for the next five years. The TechLife robot vacuum sounds particularily interesting, a LiDAR equipped…
I love video doorbells; they are one of my favourite pieces of smart tech. However, they can be quite expensive; the latest Ring Video Doorbell 4 and the Arlo Essential Wireless Video Doorbell are both £179. The SpotCam Video Doorbell 2 comes in at a much more wallet-friendly £89 with the added bonus of including…
Netatmo is an unusual company in the world of tech; they don’t seem to have a big yearly launch cycle introducing dozens of new products with refreshes of old. For example, I am now on the Ring Video Doorbell 4. Instead, they seem regularly roll out upgrades for existing hardware. The latest upgrade is for…
I don’t typically cover white goods, but I have previously expressed my frustration at how slow smart home tech has taken to enter the kitchen appliance market. I reviewed the Samsung WW9000 washing machine back in 2014, which was one of the first Wi-Fi-equipped smart appliances. In recent years, smart home kitchen appliances have slowly…
The Ring Video Doorbell 4 was announced last month and is now available to buy. On paper, it only offers incremental changes from last year, so existing users won’t feel the need to upgrade. The headline change is the rollout of colour pre-roll from the black and white on the Ring Video Doorbell 3 Plus….
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:…