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.
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…
15/12/2018 – I have updated this review to reflect both a price drop and Alexa integration, both of which make Anki Vector much more appealing. Anki was formed in 2010 and specialises in AI-based entertainment robots. They have two types of product, the first being a modernised Scalextric that allows you to control toy cars…
The Nest E has been available in the US for over a year now and is both cheaper than the Nest Learning Thermostat and claims to be easier to install. With its relatively simplistic, subtle design making it appear perhaps less prominent in your living space than other smart thermostats. You can tweak the temperature using…
To complement the release of the new Echo audio options, and weird kitchen gadgets, Amazon have also upgraded the Echo Show and Echo Dot. Echo Show Getting in there before Google releases the rumoured Home Hub, Amazon has updated the Echo Show, upgrading its looks considerably in favour of a minimalist design. The new Echo…
The Amazon Alexa speakers have been immensely popular, but they really offered high-end audio. Computing companies have taken advantage of this, Google Home Max, Apple Homepod and multiple Sonos speakers all offer superior audio. Along with some of the unusual releases, today Amazon has logically released a new range of Echo products to fill in the…
Amazon has launched a bevvy of new products, expanding their smart hardware set up considerably. It appears Amazon maybe throwing spaghetti at the wall and seeing what sticks because 2 of the products are a little left field. While they are not the first company to get into the smart appliance game it appears to…
I have reviewed some smart kitchen appliances in the past including a kettle and coffee machine, but the smart home trend seems to have been slow to spread into the kitchen. At IFA 2018 this changed somewhat and there were many connected devices including fridges, ovens and washing machines. Philips also has two exciting gadgets…
For smart homes to uphold their intelligence, it is necessary that its smart devices are responsive and perfectly interconnected. Without this, it ceases to be a smart home and becomes a pain. In the contemporary household where convenience is the number one thought, we find that it is possible to interconnect most devices and gadgets….
Following IFA 2018 the world of the smart home finally appears to be coming commonplace within the kitchen. Whether you are getting a completely new kitchen or just looking for some new tech to get to make things a little easier when cooking we have compiled a list of our top things to buy for…
It may come as no surprise that Huawei has developed their own smart speaker, named the AI Cube, however they have at least added some unique features not found on any other device in this niche. The new AI Cube has a 4G LTE Cat 6 300Mbps router built into it meaning that it can…