PACKAGING | CONTENTS

Like many companies for the last 15 years or so, Switchbot take the Apple packaging route, with just the remote on the front of the box, leaving the rear to host the details. The side is equally minimal, with just the name of the product. The box is pretty sturdy, in an ‘Apple’ way too, so less chance of damage to the contents, thankfully.

The back spells out the features pretty well, so it works with devices that typically use an infrared (IR) remote control, thus replacing said remotes. It also works with SwitchBot’s own devices, using Bluetooth, which is the communication method of choice for SwitchBot. It does state the remote is Matter compatible, although this is only the case once it’s connected to one of SwitchBot’s own Matter enabled bridges/hubs, of which there are two – the Hub 2, and the Hub Mini Matter. The fourth point stating ‘Start Quick Scenes’ also requires that the remote be connected one of their hubs, to both trigger scenes in the SwitchBot app, and other Matter platforms. The remote comes with a built-in lithium-on battery that offers up to 5 months of average use between charges.

Aside from the admittedly lovely looking remote, you’re provided with a USB-A to USB-C cable for recharging the battery inside, a couple of warranty and social media cards, the instruction booklet, and a sim pin for resetting, as required.

Given that SwitchBot all are still clinging to Bluetooth, it comes as no real surprise that this remote would use that, even in the face of Thread’s increasing prominence. Ordinarily I’d deride such a choice, but given SwitchBot’s sizeable customer base, it doesn’t make sense to potentially abandon them for the sake of one device, so reluctantly, I can see why they opted to go down this route.

THE UNIVERSAL REMOTE

As a remote control, I personally like that it’s unencumbered with a ton of buttons, which is almost always the case with remotes for TVs, ACs, Blu-Ray players and the like. Of course, that could lead to some confusion for some, due to buttons taking on different functions depending on the device connected, but I found it generally intuitive. I’m not a pensioner (yet) though, so maybe my experience is a tad skewed. Still, the concept of a remote control is familiar to almost everyone I’d argue, and this should ‘slot in’ for most people.

with almost half of the body being taken up with a screen, you’re left with a relatively small set of controls, but as already stated, the functionality of some of these change depending on what you’re controlling. When it comes to controlling a TV for example, you get the standard volume controls and mute button, as well as a channel button. There’s a ‘back’ button and a Home button, both of which have become more common on remotes. The one button that sticks out – literally – is the red button with a SwitchBot logo. This is for the remote only, and basically takes you back to the top menu of the remote, where all devices will be listed.

What’s less common for standard remotes is the jog wheel, which you’ll be more familiar with if you own an Apple TV, perhaps. This serves in the way you’d expect, but in certain circumstances, it also makes use of the typical up/down/left/right controls if you’re selecting something within a list or menu. There’s a ‘confirm’ or ‘select’ button in the centre, and above that are on and off buttons, that for a TV or AC, work as expected.

Above the array of standard buttons, but below the display, are four ‘shortcut’ buttons. These change what they offer based on what you’re controlling, which I’ll touch on in more details later.

As the remote uses IR, you get the same transmitter window at the top/front of the device, so nothing different there. What is different to many other remotes, is the built-in lithium-ion battery, so you don’t use AA or AAA batteries like you would a normal remote. With this, you have a USB-C port for recharging the internal battery. Next to that is a pinhole to reset the device if necessary.

THE DISPLAY

I’ve already added a few devices to the remote; my Xiaomi TV, an Apple TV4K, a Tower fan, and my bedroom AC. In addition, I’ve also added the remote to a SwitchBot hub Mini with Matter, and from there, exposed the remote to Apple Home, which then gives me the option to program four buttons, which I’ll go into later. Focusing on the AC control for now, and as you can see, there’s a large ‘OFF’ on the display, along with an AC icon. Below that, three of the four shortcut buttons have options assigned to them with the relevant icons. Pressing the main On or Off buttons on the remote will turn the AC on or off, so that’s pretty straightforward for most people to understand.

• The first of the three shortcut button (the one with a snowflake icon) gives you access to the different AC modes – more in fact than you’d typically get in Apple Home. Home; Cool, Heat, Dry, Auto, Fan Rate.
• The second button gives you access to the different fan speeds; Auto, Fan Speed 1, Fan Speed 2, Fan Speed 3.
• The third button allows control of the louver (not the famed Paris museum…), the blades that allow control of the directional flow of the cool/warm air from the AC.

It should be noted that the controls and options within each of these separate sections may well be different, depending on what type and model AC you have. Additionally, the sections assigned to the shortcut buttons are automatically set, and can’t be changed.

One rather important final note, and one that I’ve approached SwitchBot regarding, is that when you change any settings on the AC via the remote, they aren’t synced with the AC in either the SwitchBot app or Apple Home. This appears not to be an oversight, as SwitchBot told me AC control via the remote is entirely independent of any instance of the AC in other apps or ecosystems, and essentially works as intended. To me this is a major fail, as the one reason many people have smart AC controllers, ditching the existing remotes is for this very point – changes in the AC need to be reflected in your smart home when the changes are coming from a smart remote, or your smart home. I hope they reconsider this, as you may as well not use the remote for your AC if your smart home isn’t aware of the actual status of the AC.

Quickly onto the TV control, and in my case things were a bit tricky for my Xiaomi TV, as the main remote it comes with actually uses Bluetooth. This meant that I couldn’t program the SwitchBot remote with the Xiaomi remote. However, the TV does receive IR controls, and so I was able to program some basic instructions, but in a really circuitous way, as I’ll describe on the off chance that someone else might have a similar issue.

I have many Aqara hubs, one of which is the P3 AC companion. For whatever reason, I was able to create a remote within the Aqara app using the P3 as the remote for my Xiaomi TV. I then had to teach the remote’s basic instructions to the SwitchBot Hub Mini with Matter. This involved having the Hub Mini receive IR signals from my P3 in order to learn them. I then transferred the set of Xiaomi remote controls from the Hub Mini to the Switchbot remote, which thankfully was easy enough, and done all via the Switchbot app.

Incidentally, the screen is capable of colour, but it’s used quite sparingly for some reason.

Regarding Apple TV control, you simply have to go into the settings for your Apple TV, and add the Switchbot remote as a third-party remote control, which is something Apple TV has offered for a while now, so in this respect it’s nothing new. Having said that, controlling your Apple TV from the remote is via Bluetooth, not IR, so there are some differences at play here. What you’re missing that exists on the standard Apple TV remote is the option to invoke Siri. That option isn’t going to be coming to this remote any time soon, even if it had a built-in mic, which it does not.

All the controls work in much the same way they do on the original Apple TV remote, so it should immediately be familiar, even if the buttons are in slightly different places.

IN APPLE HOME

If you want to use the four shortcut buttons on the remote to control scenes or devices in Apple Home, you will need to connect the hub to one their Matter bridges. Once that’s done, you’ll be presented with a single tile (shown as a button). Tapping on it reveals four programmable buttons, much like any smart button in HomeKit. However, unlike most smart buttons, you’re only getting a single press action out of each one. Regardless of this, as I mentioned in my video for this product, as for the Apple Home/Matter integration, it makes the remote a glorified smart button, to an extent. That could be seen as a little unfair, as smart buttons can’t do the things the remote can do, all in one package, but if you were purely looking at this to control scenes in Apple Home, that’s pretty much what it is. For buttons #2, #3, and #4, I’ve simply used previously created scenes, but for button #1, I decided to try something slightly more useful.

I wanted to be able to control my blinds with the one button, and so I used the ‘Convert to Shortcut’ option that allowed me to press button #1 to close or open the blinds. It’s very simple, so all I’m doing is when the button on the remote is pressed, it checks to see if the target position is 0% (or closed), and if so, it’ll set the blinds to be fully open, otherwise set the blinds to fully closed. Of course programming the button for different open/closed percentages isn’t possible without a lot more trickery, but it does what I need, all within one button press.

THE SWITCHBOT APP

In the SwitchBot app, you can see I have two remotes, although only one is really in use at present. Tapping on the tile for ‘Remote B’ brings up individual panels, each representing a device the remote is able to control. If I tap on one of these, it’ll open up a screen that’s essentially a replication of the remote itself. This allows you to tap on any of the buttons, and see what options are tied to those buttons. In most cases these can’t be changed, however, but it does give you an idea of how these buttons and the controls their assigned to actually work.

When it comes to Apple TV, you don’t get a lot of options, and in fact, volume control isn’t available here. This is usually because the original Apple remote takes on the role of controlling the volume on your TV whilst setting it up. In my case, I have a soundbar that is both capable of AirPlay, but is also directly connected to my TV, so I’d have to separately set up the soundbar in the remote, which is less than ideal.

Device management has changed a bit since I did my video review for this product. In fact, it has changed twice! Originally, the ‘How to Add’ section had three options – Import Existing Appliances, Manually Add, and Third-party Control. Now as you can see, that’s currently down to two for some reason, so currently, you can only add a device that has first been set up via one of their hubs. This is not good, as originally the missing option allowed you to add a device without the need for a hub (although you wouldn’t get Matter integration). Between the first update that I featured in the video, and the current update, they did expand on the amount of categories you could add directly to the remote, although I can no longer show you that, until they presumably add it in a future update.

One final feature to mention is ‘Find Universal Remote’, which once pressed, gets the remote to play a beep sound for a couple of seconds, allowing you to dig it up from the back of your sofa, for example. The buttons and display also flash briefly. You can achieve something similar with the Apple TV remote, but it would require the use of an Apple AirTag, and a specially designed case to hold both the remote and the AirTag, so not quite as good I guess.

IN DAY-TO-DAY USE

I was initially quite excited about this, and it probably shows that in the video. Having since lived with it for a couple of months, it hasn’t lost any of its sheen in many ways, but the limitations have slowly surfaced, meaning there is a lot of room for improvement. I think the design and simplicity of the remote is great, and it really does well with the minimal amount of buttons compared to a standard remote in most cases too. Where it falls down is with the previously mentioned lack of syncing the AC state with the app and/or Apple Home. I like the idea of the four shortcut buttons that are exposed to Apple Home, and even though they’re single press, I’m not sure what else could be achieved in this sense. It’s also fair to say that whilst you can compare it to 4-button smart control device, those devices can’t also control your TV, fan, AC and more, so it is a bit more than that.

I just wish SwitchBot would bite the bullet and move to Thread. It’s well overdue in my opinion, and if this were to use Matter over Thread (if that’s actually possible), this could be a real killer device. As it stands at the time of writing, the latest update has fixed some issues I encountered early on; no Apple TV control at launch, with the second update, introducing several bugs, one of which was the inability to rename the shortcut buttons. Now with the latest update – V2.6 – there seems to be no option to add devices directly to the remote, which is insane really. Hopefully that will be fixed soon, but I do see some people being less than happy with some of the limitations. For me, being a constantly curious smart home enthusiast, I just muddle on and make the best of it!

The post SwitchBot Universal Remote (review) appeared first on Homekit News and Reviews.

The SwitchBot Universal Remote can control various household appliances that use IR (Infrared), including TVs, ACs, lights, fans, BluRay/DVD players, and projectors. It supports up to 83,934 remote control models with its updated infrared code library. It can also integrate with SwitchBot devices like the Bot, Plug Mini, Curtain, and Ceiling Light, as well as Apple TV and Amazon’s Fire TV (these last two options are apparently coming in a later update). This allows users to manage multiple devices without needing a to reach for their smartphone, smart assistant, or an internet connection. For specific compatibility details, visit the SwitchBot Help Centre.

When used with either the SwitchBot Hub 2 or the Hub Mini with Matter, the SwitchBot Universal Remote supports Matter, enabling control of both SwitchBot products and other Matter-compatible devices for a unified smart home experience.

• Extensive Device Control: Manage a wide range of infrared products, including Apple TV and Fire TV.
• Customisable Scenes: Create one-click scenes to control multiple devices simultaneously with SwitchBot Hub 2 or Hub Mini w/Matter.
• Matter Support: Offers integration with Matter-compatible devices.
• User-Friendly Design: Features a 2.4-inch LCD screen, Touch Wheel dial, and large buttons.
• Long-Lasting Battery: A 2000mAh battery provides up to 150 days of use on a single charge.
• Offline Control: Operate infrared appliances and SwitchBot Bluetooth devices without internet access.

One feature that many will definitely appreciate is a feature to find your lost remote. You simply open the Switchbot app to get the remote to play a sound in order for you to find it. As the Switchbot app is Siri Shortcuts compatible, you could simply create a Siri Shortcut to enable this action, thus negating the need to even open the app.

Size-wise, it’s much like a standard remote, at 50 × 27 × 190 mm (2 × 1.1 × 7.5 in.), and weighing a mere 133g (4.7oz). It also comes with a USB-C charging cable. Aside from IR, the remote also uses Bluetooth LE to communicate with Switchbot devices directly and to the company’s own hubs.

The SwitchBot Universal Remote is available for US$59.99 / £59.99 / €69.99 on SwitchBot’s US Amazon stores, and via their official website for Europe and the UK. Bundled options with SwitchBot Hub 2 and Hub Mini w/Matter are also available.

The post Switchbot Unveils Universal Remote With Matter Support appeared first on Homekit News and Reviews.

PACKAGING | CONTENTS

I ordered the Remo Nano from Amazon Japan, which thankfully is able to ship this product internationally. You might not be able to tell from the pics above, but this thing is tiny. The box is a mere 75 x 75 x 15 mm / 2.95 x 2.95 x 0.59 inches (WHD), and if you look at the design on the front of the box, you can make out a simple embossed shape; this is the actual size of the Remo Nano, so you can see it lives up to its name.

The back of the box outlines the specs for the unit, stating that it uses Bluetooth LE (for initial connection and pairing) and 2.4GHz WiFi for its network connection.

Given the size of the box, it should be fairly telling that the device does not come with a USB power supply. In fact, it doesn’t even come with a USB cable, but then most of us have an abundance of both of these required parts, so I don’t think there’ll be any complaints as such.

With the unfolding packaging (so Japanese…) you get a small line drawing showing some use cases for the Nano; TV and AC control in this case. You also get a QR code to download the required Nature app, although as you’ll see later, this is a part that makes things more complicated. Finally, the Nano itself is nestled in the middle – as I said, it’s tiny.

THE REMO NANO

The Nano comes in at an eye-wateringly small 47 x 47 x 12.5 mm / 1.85 x 1.85 x 0.49 inches (WHD), whilst weighing just 13g or less than half an ounce. The front features a faint circle imprint and nothing else, whilst the back has some basic model details along with an 11-digit Matter code. This last point surprised me, as the Nano has been on sale for a while prior to getting the Matter update, so either I was lucky enough to get one fresh out of the factory, or the company had Matter integration planned well in advance, providing a Matter code long before it was needed. As this code is only digits, you can’t scan it like you would a QR code or the older 8-digit HomeKit codes, so when adding this to your smart home platform, you’ll need to manually enter the code.

The top of the unit has nothing of note, and the underside has a cutaway for a USB cable to be fed through to the USB-C port for powering the device. As previously stated, you’ll need to provide both your own USB-C (to USB-A) cable and power adaptor, but any typical USB power supply will be adequate.

The last image above compares the Nano to my Aqara Temperature and Humidity Sensor, and for good reason; The Nano doesn’t contain anything besides the IR transceiver. This might seem obvious, but as you’ll see later, this is an important thing to note for one particular use case.

NATURE APP

Before you can use the Nano, you do need to initially add it to the Nature app, which provides the all-important Matter update. This is the part that’ll almost certainly be an issue for most people outside of Japan or the US, although there are workarounds. The aforementioned issue is that the Nature app seems to only be available on the Japanese and US App Stores, so if you have an iCloud account tied to your own country, chances are this app will not be listed. There are two options available to get around this I’m aware of;

1. Set up a new iCloud account set to Japan or the US, sign out of the app store, and sign back in, using the Japanese/US iCloud account. You might enter further barriers to getting the app to download, including asking for a Japanese/US credit card or possibly registering a Japanese/US address, but in the case of the former, I wasn’t asked for a card. The app is free to download anyway, so I’m not sure why they would want this information.
2. If you have a spare Android phone, you can download the Nature app from the Google Play store, regardless of location. This would allow you to add the Nano to the app, update it, and assign devices it would control using IR. From there you can add the device directly to Apple Home using the Matter code.

This second option is only of any use if (a) you have access to an Android phone, and (b) don’t mind using it whenever you want to change any settings to the Nano – like adding or changing a controlled device, or updating the firmware. Assuming you set up your devices and aren’t going to change them, you should be ok.

Assuming you’ve overcome these obstacles, the Nature app is quite clean and simple to use. The main page shows the devices you set up as tiles, with each tile expanding to a different set of options or user interfaces. The app is also capable of automations, although they are a little limited, based on location and day/date.

If you’ve used an IR blaster before, regardless of what platform it works with, you’ll probably know the procedure for setting up a device, and the Nature app is really no different. You choose the appliance category – in this case, I’ll add a Split AC control – and you point the AC unit’s original remote at the Nano so it can discern the make and model of the device in question.

In some cases, you need a remote, but with ACs, you can forego using the remote and opt for selecting a make and mode from a long list. Many of the brands listed are Japanese, understandably, but you can still get it to work with your AC by teaching it the remote. In this instance, I chose the Daikin brand and selected a particular model based on the remote model. It then asks you to test whether the AC responds when you test the simple on/off control. If it works, you can select ‘working’ and continue. If it’s not working, the Nano will try additional signals to find the one that works with your AC, which is usually successful eventually.

With that all done, you simply need to name the device and it’ll appear alongside your other devices, which in my case is an LG TV and a set-top box that I’ve named AV receiver.

If you were solely to use the Nature app, you get pretty much all the controls you need via the different user interfaces. For AC control, you get all the options that would work with your AC. In fact, you get more than HomeKit usually offers, with additional modes (Dry, Fan) and blade control.

The same goes for the TV, although in this case, it’s replicating the remote control, not the TV as such. You can also add more buttons if necessary.

As for controlling the Set Top Box, as these types of devices are very non-standard, you only get on/off, although once again you can add more control if required.

Wrapping up the Nature app, the settings page is quite extensive, with a variety of options I won’t go into now. From here you can connect to both Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant in the traditional, cloud-based way, but with Apple Siri, you get the option to use Matter and/or Siri Shortcuts. Tapping on Matter goes to a page that shows you a video tutorial on how to set it all up, although long story short, you simply connect the Nano to your platform of choice using the included Matter code, and devices added to the Nature app (that are connected to the Nano) will then be exposed to that platform.

REMO NANO IN APPLE HOME

As you can see, the device I have set up in the Nature app through the Nano now shows up in Apple Home. Before I go into more detail on these, there is somewhat of a device limit with IR blasters in Matter. Currently, a maximum of three devices will be exposed to your smart home platform, although you can control more devices if you only use the Nature app. Similarly, you can add three devices and have them exposed to Apple Home etc, and in the case of iOS, you can control any additional devices using Siri Shortcuts. This seems to be a Matter limitation, so it could be upgraded in a future Matter update – or not.

Regardless, when it comes to these exposed devices, be prepared for another disappointment; with the exception of AC control, all other devices will be exposed as simple on/off devices, with the option to have them show up as a light, a fan, or an outlet. So for the TV, you won’t be getting the UI you saw in the Nature app. This has always been true for Apple HomeKit, and I don’t see that changing any time soon.

As regards AC control, you do get roughly the same range of options as you’d find on a standard HomeKit-compatible AC controller from the likes of Tado, Sensibo, Aqara and others, so in that sense, it offers a lot for a little. However, as the Nano doesn’t come with a temperature sensor, you’ll notice that the main display shows 0.0º. Most other AC controllers will come with both temperature and humidity sensors built in, which would be displayed on the tile (at least in the case of Apple Home). In a sense, this doesn’t really matter, as most of us will have plenty of temperature sensors dotted around the house, so using those to trigger automations for your AC controlled by the Nano is going to be easy enough.

The Nano acts as a bridge or hub, and so to see the Nano rather than the devices connected to it, you need to go into your Home’s settings and ‘Home Hubs & Bridges’ where it’ll be listed alongside other hubs. You get the now more common option of turning on Pairing Mode to add the Matter device to other additional platforms. As you can see from the third screenshot, I’ve currently only got it connected to Apple and Google at present, although as it uses WiFi it should work with Samsung SmartThings and Amazon Alexa too.

IN DAY-TO-DAY USE

As stated at the beginning of this review, you may find it harder to choose a device to control these days compared to maybe ten, or even five years ago, with AC control being one ongoing option. It’s still nice to be able to turn a TV or set-top box off within a scene or automation however, and even though many of these devices only offer simple on/off control, to be able to do so within Apple Home is still quite useful. Siri Shortcuts was probably my go-to option for things like this, but you had to have your iPhone etc connected to the network in order for it to work, and unless someone else in the home also had the same set of Siri Shortcuts on their iPhone, it wouldn’t work for them if you went out of the house. This is why I think this still has its uses.

Has it performed as expected? Yes, it has, although placement is key when it comes to an IR blaster, so if you’re controlling three devices, they all need to be not only in the same room/living area, but they all need to be within range of the outgoing IR signal. In my case, having the Nano high up, but effectively looking down at the TV and the set-top box has worked very well. The only issue you would encounter, which is still also an issue for IR AC controllers is that the on/off state of a device can be out of sync if someone uses the original remotes to turn a device on or off. As IR devices aren’t able to send info back to the Nano to confirm their state, there’s no way for the Nano to know what state the device is in. Just hide all your remotes maybe…

All of that said, this has still been very useful in my situation, or rather my wife’s. Prior to this, I set up an automation with the Aqara G3 that turned on the TV using its built-in IR blaster, but due to the position of the G3, the relevant signal couldn’t reach the set-top box, so this had to be performed manually. Now, with a single tap of a wireless button (an Aqara one ironically), my wife can turn the TV and the set-top box on, as well as set certain lights all together, in HomeKit.

For the relatively cheap price paid – ¥3,980 (roughly US$28), that’s very good value, and even more so when you compare it to the price of a dedicated AC controller that can cost anywhere from US$50 – 150. We’re probably not going to see remotes for some devices vanish any time soon, even if we have smart TVs, but for those older appliances with IR remotes still in our possession, this is a decent (very) little device.

The post Nature Remo Nano IR Controller w/ Matter (review) appeared first on Homekit News and Reviews.

the product in question is the new Aqara G3 Camera Hub, which you could consider a ‘Pro’ version of the G2H, due to the many additions we’ll delve into later, although that would be a bit unfair to the G2H, which I consider to be one of the better HomeKit cameras out there.

Note: It’s only fair to point out that at the time of writing, the G3 was only released in Mainland China, and was not available in other territories, although as with many of their other products, like the Aqara M2 and M1S that were recently released in the US, the G3 has now been released ‘internationally’ – currently The US, Canada, and France.

When it comes to either news or reviews, the goal has always been to be straightforward with what I like and don’t like, and this review will be no exception. That being said, I’ve found it hard to find any major flaws, only minor ones that can probably be ironed out with firmware updates. so, if you want to see what all the fuss is about, read on…

PACKAGING AND CONTENTS

The packaging for the G3 is sturdy enough, and shows off many of the main features of the camera, albeit in Chinese, although I’ll warn you, there are many more features than can be listed on a box even of this size. On one side is the very welcome sight of the HomeKit logo, and I’ve heard that the G3 will also work with Google Assistant and Amazon Alexa once it’s released internationally – not that I care about that too much, to be honest!

The box states that it has a 360º Field of View thanks to its pan and tilt functionality, has a built-in Zigbee 3.0 hub, which has become the standard for Aqara hubs now, and has built-in AI functionality, courtesy of a special chip. Like the Aqara Hub M2 and the Aqara P3, the G3 also features an IR transceiver, for controlling devices that come with an infrared remote (not too many these days though). It has night vision, because why wouldn’t it (?), and can record in 2K (2304 x 1296px) to an SD Card via an SD card slot. If you’re familiar with HomeKit and HomeKit Secure Video (HSV), you’ll know that it’s currently restricted to 1080p, so if you want 2K recordings, having an Aqara account for use with the G3 is the way to go.

There’s not a lot in the box – a USB-A to USB-C power cable, with accompanying power supply (Type A, non-polarised in this case), the G3 itself, and the sparse manual. The manual doesn’t come with a HomeKit code, so the only instance of this will be found permanently printed on the base of the G3.

Speaking of the base, you may notice that there’s no mounting plate like the one found with the G2H. It’s an odd omission in some ways, but unlike the G2H, the G3 can only be placed stood upright or suspended upside down, and given that the G3 is heavier than the G2H, a magnetic plate is probably not strong enough to hold it in place. Instead of a plate, the G3 comes with a standard quarter-inch thread, much like you would find on cameras and tripods. I still think they should have included a mounting plate, but I guess this gives the consumer more scope to use a mount of their own choice.

THE CAMERA

Onto the G3 itself, and I have to say it’s an odd-looking shape, but one that I’ve quickly come to get used to. Where the G2H was compared to a Minion from the animated film series ‘Despicable Me’, the G3 is probably more akin to Eve from the ‘Wall-E’ animated film, but only slightly. the top half (or the ‘head’) is all camera and sensors, whilst the lower section (the ‘body’) is just home to a status ring – which we’ll touch on more later – and the Aqara logo, rather subtly printed at the bottom. The sides offer nothing at all, and the rear is home to the speaker grille, and the power port, which is yet another example of the USB-C power supply finally being deployed, following on from the Onvis C3, and the Vocolinc Opto. I really hope I don’t see any further products with a Micro USB port…

Back to the main section, and unlike many cameras, the lens for the G3 is off-centre. The other side makes space for a light sensor to control night vision. On the extreme right and left are microphones, that alongside being used in 2-way audio scenarios, are also deployed to detect abnormal sound. In my cursory tests, it would seem that two mics are indeed better than one, with playback of recordings really picking up audio very well, with playback equally as clear.

The G3 has a sleep mode, which when activated, rolls the camera back into the recess of the camera’s shell (like an eyeball I guess). This reveals the SD card slot that allows you to have on-device recordings. The SD card slot can accept SD cards up to 128GB, which is four times the official memory size permitted for the G2H, at only 32GB. When in sleep mode, the company have gone and added some ‘sleeping eyes’ to the camera. It’s sort of cute, and ends up making the SD card slot appear as an open mouth – hopefully, it won’t dribble when it’s asleep…

It should be noted that for the camera to retract this way, the G3 has to be off in both the Home app and the Aqara app. Whilst turning the camera off in the Home app stops the live stream, the live stream and G3-based recordings will continue in the Aqara app, and vice versa.

To give you the basics when it comes to the G3, here are some features and specs;

• Compatible with HomeKit & HomeKit Secure video
• Zigbee 3.0 hub built-in (also exposed to HomeKit)
• HomeKit security system with all four modes exposed (Off, Away, Home, Night)
• Micro SD card slot for on-device recording (accessible via Aqara app when signed in)
• Infrared night vision
• USB-C power supply
• 2K recording quality (SD card)
• Built-in Infrared transceiver (acts as an IR remote)
• Privacy mode (camera recesses into body of the camera)
• A.I. Chip for Facial recognition, gesture recognition, human and pet detection
• Motion and abnormal noise detection
• Separate Human and Pet tracking
• Associated Events tags
• Preset and consumer-defined camera positions
• Dimensions: 123 x 85 x 67mm (H, W, D)
• Connection: 2.4 & 5.0GHz WiFi bands IEEE 802.11 b/g/n/a/ac
• Field of View: 360º (H) via Pan & tilt functionality and 45º (V) (static FoV – 110º – horizontal plane)
• Weight: 251g
• Camera: 3mp sensor
• Audio: Dual microphones
• Power consumption: 10W (max) – 5v/2A
• Functional temperature range: -10ºC ~ +40ºC

STATUS LIGHT

As with practically all HomeKit cameras that are HSV compatible, the G3 comes with a front-facing LED in the form of a ring, and as standard will appear blue in normal operation, changing to red when the live stream is being viewed and/or recording is occurring, via either the Apple Home or Aqara Home apps. However, this ring also serves as a multi-function button;

• Three quick presses sends the hub within the G3 into Pairing mode, allowing you to manually add compatible ‘Child Devices’ (switches, buttons sensors etc), whereupon the LED ring will flash purple
• A five-second long-press activates video calling mode, which essentially sends a push notification from the Aqara app to all account holders for this camera.

If you have Gesture Identification active (more on this later), the LED ring will turn green for approximately one second to acknowledge the gesture has been recognised. Pressing the button results in a physical click sensation (and click sound), so it’s not a touch-capacitive button. You can also disable the LED ring if you prefer, although it may still light up in Pairing mode or when gestures are recognised.

THE CAMERA

Note: The images above are screengrabs from the Home app

Whether it’s just having a new camera or having experienced cameras with older technology, I’m not sure, but when I first saw the live-stream images from the G3, I was mightily impressed. The tone seems balanced, and there wasn’t too much ‘blow out’ from bright lighting, although I wasn’t expecting an HDR-like image. You can see from the images above taken in the daytime, with and without indoor lighting, the image look fairly good.

It’s much the same with the images above, taken in the evening – one with inside lighting on, with the other using night vision. What I’ve found over time with night vision for most cameras, is to get the best results, make sure there’s nothing too large close up to the camera itself, if possible, otherwise that article will get blown out, resulting in the background receiving less light. The image above has a desk lamp in the bottom right corner, which has affected the night vision a little, but I’ve included it here, to show you a typical night vision image, as opposed to an image under totally perfect conditions. The darkest areas suffer from grainy image quality, but I’ve seen this on almost all of my other cameras, so to get the best out of the night vision image, ensure nothing gets too close to the lens if possible.

I also took screenshots from the G3 using both the Apple Home app and the Aqara Home app. They’re pretty close, although the Aqara app does produce a slightly sharper image. This could be the result of software applying a filter to sharpen edges, but there’s not a lot in it, especially when you’re viewing the image on your iPhone. The Aqara app has three modes in which to view the live stream – Auto, HD, and Full HD. These options are also available with the G2H, which are 720p for HD, and 1080p for Full HD. For the G3, as it’s capable of 2K, HD equates to 720p (1280 x 720), and Full HD equates to 2K (2304 x 1296). Auto mode on the G3 is adaptive but has a minimum resolution of 640 x 360).

The G3 has a 110º FoV at any one time, with the camera rotating a total of 340º in the horizontal, and 45º in the vertical (30º up and 15º down), but as the camera already has a 110º FoV, the full 360º is more than covered in the horizontal plane, with some overlap.

CAMERA CONTROLS IN THE AQARA APP

As pan and tilt control is still not available in HomeKit (neither the Home app nor third-party apps), for the G3, this type of control is confined to the Aqara app. On the main page of the G3, you have a central controller to pan and tilt the G3, which is straightforward enough. To the right of this, is a button for infrared control, which we’ll look at later, and to the left is a button marked ‘Concerned Position’ which we’ll go into in the next paragraph. If you click on the Playback button on the bottom, you can access recorded events via the timeline. If you activate an option called ‘Associated Event Labels’, you’ll also see different lines of colour that represent different types of events – pet detection, human detection, facial recognition, and so on. The little ‘pin’ icon above the timeline allows you to filter these event labels, so if you only want to look for ‘pet detection’ events, it’s much easier to sift through them. More on Associated Events later.

As with the G2H, you can record events to the SD card – if installed – independently of any use of HSV in the Home app.  You can record either based only on motion events, record continuously, or not record at all of course.

In the advanced tab, amongst other things, you get a ‘Cruise’ option. This simply allows the camera to automatically scan its field of view using the pan controls. There’s more to this than you’d think, however…

In the preceding paragraph, I mentioned the ‘concerned Positions’ option. This allows you to direct the camera at standard preset points – leftmost, rightmost, topmost, bottommost, and centremost (yes, these are all real words…). As these labels would imply, selecting them allows the camera to look at the topmost view it’s capable of. Leftmost and Rightmost, simply go to the furthest point the pan motor will take the camera, which would basically have you looking at roughly the same location, so I’m not sure these are of that much help. Bottommost is the lowest the camera can go in the vertical field, and centremost, sets the camera to the central position.

Still, in addition to these preset locations, you can add your own – simply move the camera to the desired point, and click the ‘concerned Position’ button, followed by the plus icon. You can then name this particular position. As you can see above, I can name my custom position. In the second image, I created a ‘position’ called ‘Sofa’.

This is already a great feature that is leaps and bounds ahead of the functionality of the Eufy Pan & tilt camera (now rebranded as the Eufy SoloCam P24), but Aqara takes this a couple of stages further still; These specific locations – whether preset or custom – can be used in automations and scenes (in the Aqara app). Imagine your Aqara door sensor is triggered – you can then turn the camera towards the door, and if you want, add further actions, like turn on Facial recognition, for example…

As if that wasn’t enough, these positions can be used with the ‘cruise’ option, so your ‘custom’ Cruise automation can go to specific positions of your choosing. Better still, within the Cruise option, you can even choose the length of time the camera pauses at each position – astounding!!

RECOGNITION, DETECTION AND TRACKING

On the main screen for the G3, as we’ve already seen, there are some basic controls for the pan & tilt feature, but if you click on the ‘Advanced’ tab, you get into the area where some options for both identification and tracking can be enabled or disabled. What is a bit odd, is that basic motion detection, which is an available option, is buried in a sub-menu via the ‘More’ button. This is a bit strange, but there are other functions that are a bit hard to find, so I won’t dwell on it now. The options available directly are Human Tracking, Dog & Cat Tracking, Cruise (which we’ve already touched upon), Face Identification, and Gesture Identification.

I also previously mentioned Associated Events labels or tags, and in the section above, you can activate any or all of these and apply specific colours to them, which is reflected in the recordings and detection timeline.

It should be noted that there’s a limit to what types of identification and tracking can occur at the same time. So you can’t have Face and Gesture Identification at the same time, and you can’t have Human and Pet Tracking at the same time, which sort of makes sense, but you can have Face Identification, Human Detection, Pet Detection, Motion Detection, and Abnormal Sound detection all running at the same time.

So as you may gather by now, the options available with the G3 can get a little overwhelming, some of which are located in more than one place, and some that can be at times misunderstood. Just remember that Human Detection and Pet detection are not the same as Human Tracking and Pet Tracking!

So, going back to G3 and options for Identification and Tracking, which applies to humans and pets; as stated in the previous paragraph, the G3 is capable of identifying between people and pets, and tracking them separately (usually just cats and dogs, so apologies if you have a pet tortoise…). Additionally, there’s Face identification, which can be put to use in automations where a certain face can activate further certain scenes or automations.

Going back to basic Motion detection, and you can see from the images above that you have the ability to set regions where motion is or isn’t detected, although this may work against its efficient functionality if the camera is pointing in an area different to where these regions are set. You can set the detection sensitivity to one of three levels (low, medium or high), and you can also set the time periods for when motion detection is active, as well as the detection period – 15 seconds, 30 seconds, or 1 minute. You can also activate push notifications if you wish, which can be applied to any or all of the types of detection, with the exception of Gesture detection.

Gesture Detection needs a section all by itself in some ways, but we’ll start off with a simple explanation, and the options available for when it’s activated. Gesture recognition allows the user to use their hands to trigger various scenes or automations. There are currently only five separate gestures that the G3 can recognise, but it may be that more can be added as time goes on.

Aside from the options you also get with the other types of detection, Gesture recognition gives you the choice of either having just gestures recognised, or have gestures recognised on the condition that a face is detected too.

When it is activated, you’ll get a warning that turning it on, will disable other forms of identification – Face recognition, Human detection, and pet detection, but not tracking options. With Gesture Identification, to clarify, although Face Identification is disabled, when Gesture recognition is activated, in order for the Gesture recognition option to work only when there’s also a face present, this works because it’s identifying a ‘face’ not a specific person’s face, which is a small but important distinction.

Having tested both Facial and Gesture recognition for a few weeks now, although I can say they both definitely work, and there are some adjustments to be made, which I’m sure there will be. I found that there are many factors that can render these options less than reliable, like a face in a bit of shadow, or in some cases, if someone happens to reach for something with their hand outstretched, the G3 can see that as a gesture. This is where things like gestures being active based on the time of day, or only when a face is detected, can help to limit unwanted triggers, so more testing is required. Still, it’s something new and exciting that can work ‘hand in hand’ (pun intended) with voice control and sensor-based automations.

FACIAL RECOGNITION

In this day and age, privacy is paramount, and it’s no surprise that any company coming from Mainland China is subject to suspicion by some in one form or another. I’m not here to defend any company, including Aqara, on the merits of privacy, so it’s really down to the individual as to how they deal with the issue, if it is an issue in the first place for them. With the G3 having facial recognition abilities, you do have to decide if this kind of thing is a good fit for you and your stand on privacy. If you’re ok with it, then the Aqara app makes it clear how it works and how to add a face so that you can make use of such functionality.

You can either add a face from your photo library or take a photo there and then, which then gets ‘uploaded’ – which, during this process, is less than clear as to where the pictures are uploaded to, so I reiterate, if this is not something you want to use based on your privacy settings, then don’t use it. I’ve spoken to a representative from Aqara on this, and have been told that, at present, when faces are used for facial recognition on the Chinese version (currently the only version) of the G3, the images are first uploaded to Aqara’s cloud servers, so that they can then sent to multiple G3s (assuming you have more than one), which in essence, allows all cameras to be synced with regards to the faces stored. The advantage is that uploading an image only needs to be done only once, regardless of how many cameras you have. If you are concerned about your images being uploaded, you do have the option to remove the images from the cloud server, once they’ve been populated to all relevant cameras. The G3 can store up to 20 individual faces. If you wish to remove faces directly from the G3 itself, you need to do a factory reset, which will remove all images. When the G3 is released in the US and EU, Aqara have said that the servers that will store any images for forwarding onto the G3 camera, will be GDPR compliant, with servers for other territories following the relevant privacy rules. In the case of this review, bear in mind the camera I’m using is from Mainland China, so it’s a fair assumption that there will be additional T&Cs to approve before you’re able to upload faces to wherever they’re stored.

INFRARED CAPABILITIES

If you already own the Aqara Hub M2 or the Aqara P3 AC Companion, you will be familiar with the IR capabilities found in the G3, as they’re basically the same. The main difference, if it’s of any use, is that due to the G3 being able to aim itself in all manner of directions via the pan/tilt option, it can reach places that previously might be less accessible. In my case (which is demonstrated in the video for the G3) the G3 is placed on the same wall as the living room TV, and facing the same direction, so because of that, the IR signal reaching the TV could be a bit ‘hit and miss’. With the G3 being able to pivot to face the TV (you could describe it as a sideways look), the success rate for the signal from the G3 to the TV becomes 100%.

For those without an M2 or P3, the IR functionality allows the G3 to control devices that usually come with an IR remote, so the G3 not only replaces said remotes but essentially allows these remotes and the devices they control, to become smart to an extent. The specific controls of a particular device can be added to scenes and automations too (in the Aqara app), and although these devices are not recognised by HomeKit as such, you can still use Siri Shortcuts to control these scenes and automations. You could even string a whole series of automations and scenes together, that would involve face and gesture recognition, IR control and more. One simple example;

• I walk into the living room, the camera recognises my face and enables gesture recognition
• I show a gesture to the G3 that tells it to turn the Aqara light strip to Blue at 50%
• It then turns to the TV and turns it on using IR control
• A second scene selects the HBO channel, once again using IR control
• The G3 then disables gesture recognition so I don’t accidentally trigger another scene or automation

This can all be done based on the time of day too, so if you only want it to do any or certain portions of this automation between the hours of 7 – 10pm, that’s easy to achieve.

ALARM MODES

Since the original introduction of the M2 and M1S in Mainland China, the four separate alarm modes have been available in HomeKit, with the original Aqara hub (M1) only affording ‘Away’ and ‘Off’ modes. The G3 also features all four alarm modes – Off, Night, Away, Home. The good news is that if you happen to own an M2, M1S, P3, or even the new E1 USB Stick hub, these alarm modes will sync across all of them. The G2H will also sync with these, although as the alarm part of the G2H is not exposed to HomeKit, you won’t see it in the Home app.

It’s still the case that you can only use Aqara sensors and devices to trigger the alarms, which have to be set in the Aqara app, so you only get control of these modes within HomeKit. You can use these modes in HomeKit automations though, so it’s still of massive use.

SPEAKER, AUDIO, VIDEO CALLS

On the subject of alarms, although the speaker on the G3 is decent, it’s still not quite as loud as the M1 or M1S. This is partially due to the fact that the speaker is both larger and upfront on these hubs, compared to the G3 that has its smaller speaker on the rear. It’s still louder than the M2 by a long way though.

What I have found is that the speaker is quite clear when it comes to voices, by which I mean when you might address someone from your phone through the G3. The voice is clear, with no hint of audio breaking up (although this depends on your connection of course), and of a decent volume. you’re never going to get full-spectrum audio quality, with deep bass, but it’s quite clear I’ve found.

The G2H has a function that allows a person in front of the camera to record a short video message, that then gets ‘pushed’ to the account holder(s) to view. The G3 takes a slightly different approach, and instead of leaving a message, the person in front of the camera can simply call the account holder. To do this the person making the ‘call’ presses and holds the LED ring for five seconds, upon which a push notification is sent to the account holder’s phone (as seen above). The recipient of the call just has to tap on the notification and the G3 will open the Aqara app directly to the live stream to see who’s calling. Whilst you can have a two-way call with the person and can see who it is, they can’t see you. I’m not sure if this is of much use, but for someone who doesn’t have their phone handy (however unlikely that would be in this day and age), it’s an extra function that may be of use if you wanted to use it.

THE G3 AND HOMEKIT

Aside from mentioning the alarm functionality earlier, I’ve not really talked about the HomeKit side of things, and whilst the G3 clearly is HomeKit compatible, due to some of the restrictions within the Home app, and HomeKit generally, the G3 really isn’t anything particularly special on the Home/HomeKit side of things. That’s not to say it’s not a good or great camera first and foremost, because I think it really is (!), but it is somewhat neutered by HomeKit, as are any cameras (or indeed other HomeKit compatible devices) that have functionality outside of the realms of the HomeKit framework.

As you can see in the first screenshot, the G3 exposes the Alarm/security system as a separate device, with its own tile. The camera has its own screen too of course. I’ve connected an Aqara mini switch to the G3’s hub, which you can see is the last tile in the first image. Even though the G3 is a hub/gateway/bridge, it doesn’t show up as such in the ‘hubs & bridges’ section of the Home app. The reason for this is that the G3 is a multifunctioning device, unlike the M1S, the M2 and the E1 that you can see amongst the hub listed in the second screenshot, and so for whatever reason, it doesn’t show up as a hub in the normal sense. This is also the case with the G2H, which is also a combined hub and camera. Likewise, I also have the Aqara P3 AC Companion, and because that’s identified as a hub and an AC controller, it’s not purely a hub. You can check the hub status of the G3 though, simply by going into the settings for any child device connected to it. The Aqara mini switch is connected to the G3, and the third screenshot shows the G3 as its hub, although it’s listed/identified as the alarm.

To a large extent, the Home app creates a level playing field for HomeKit cameras (with the exception of the ones that don’t support HSV), and so it’s no surprise that all of the same features you’d see in one camera, are the same as with another, like the G3. The only difference you’d tend to see might be any additional accessories or ‘services’ a particular camera offers, so in the case of the G3, you get the standard pixel-based motion sensor and the previously mentioned security system/alarm. Some cameras might list a separate occupancy sensor for example.

THE G3 AND ZIGBEE 3.0 HUB

I’m going to take a chance and assume that you’re reading this with some knowledge of how Aqara’s Zigbee hubs work, so I won’t go into any great detail, but if you’re new to it all, here the essence of how it works;

Aqara makes Zigbee hubs, and some of their devices in addition to being cameras (G2H, G3) or AC controllers (P3), also contain hubs. These hubs are needed so that Aqaras own products (generally referred to as Child Devices) like switches, sensors and more, are able to function by themselves (e.g. light bulbs) or communicate with other child devices (e.g. smart switches) via automations etc. Think of the hub as a central meeting point where these devices can converse with each other. In addition, these hubs allow you to access your devices when you’re not at home, as the hub is connected to your network, and the internet. The Hubs have one other major role, and that is to expose the devices that are connected to it, to HomeKit. You don’t need to expose them to HomeKit, and you’re quite welcome to have everything run within the Aqara ecosystem, but with exposing these devices to HomeKit, you open up a world where not only can the Aqara child devices talk to each other, but also speak to HomeKit devices by a massive list of other manufacturers, like Eve, Philips Hue, Yeelight, Ikea, Vocolinc, August, Onvis, and many more.

When it comes to Aqara child devices, there is a lot, although some devices are only available in certain regions, like the US Aqara rocker switches, which are only designed to work with US Aqara hubs, for example. The G3 should be able to work with practically all of these devices, with only a handful of these products not actually exposed to HomeKit, due to the HomeKit framework simply not supporting certain device types – like the Aqara Smart Toilet H1, the Smart Bed W1, or the Smart Clothes Drying Rack. These types of devices will still work in the Aqara app though, and to some extent be controlled with Siri using Siri Shortcuts, as the Aqara app is Siri Shortcuts compatible.

WRAP UP

I actually saw initial evidence of this camera almost two years ago now, and at the time it was suggested it was a rejected design for the G2H – how wrong that was! It has taken a while to get to the actual release (In China only at present), but one thing’s for certain that I stated at the start, is that Aqara is not messing around when it comes to churning stuff out at a rapid pace. You might think this would affect quality, and in some cases, it may well do, although I’ve personally not experienced poor build quality at any point so far.

This brings me to the build quality of the G3. Putting it in simple terms, it’s solid. when you hold it in your hand, it doesn’t feel like there are any loose parts, or the seams where it’s put together are barely holding. I also found this with the G2 and G2H, so I was expecting this same high quality, and let’s just say I wasn’t disappointed.

I’ve already stated that I’m quite impressed with the clarity of the image, even if that impression is anecdotal, but what sends this over the top, and not to sound overdramatic, but pretty much trash all other cameras right now, is the sheer amount of functionality the G3 has, allied with the vast amount of customisation that can be achieved – creating automations that tie into the pan/tilt, and IR functionality, for example – opens up a vast amount of opportunities. Add gesture & facial recognition, and pet detection to the mix, and the mind boggles at what complex scenarios you could come up with.

That said, I’m always a bit wary of devices that take on so many roles at once, and with cameras also acting as hubs, there’s the potential for a device becoming practically hobbled when one part of the device’s functionality dies, not to mention all child devices going offline of course. On that basis, I’ve so far avoided using my other camera hubs from being used in this capacity. I have made a slight exception with the G3, as I’ve set up an automation that uses the mini switch to trigger the G3 pan and IR functions in an automation, to turn on a nearby TV, which makes life a bit easier for my elderly mother-in-law.

With the extremely large amount of possibilities the G3 brings to the table, I’ve found it hard to cover all aspects of the camera’s options within the Aqara Home app, but I feel I’ve covered the main parts, which leaves you, the reader, with the fun of finding the extras.

I think it’s fair to say I’m bowled over by this camera, and even though expectations get higher with each new Aqara release, the G3 hasn’t disappointed at all. That’s not to say it’s perfect, and there are a few bugs that beta testers will be tasked with finding for themselves and reporting back on (…not my job), but even the bugs I did find weren’t really of much consequence if I’m honest. The one area that probably needs a bit more polish, is gesture recognition. It works, and I haven’t really noticed any ‘bugs’, but false detection seems to occur occasionally, rather than gestures not being seen, so I’m hoping that can be improved upon.

The one aspect that may concern most people is the issue with facial images for use in Facial Recognition functionality, and I can understand that. However, if privacy is of the utmost importance to you, then maybe having a camera indoors – regardless of whether it has facial recognition or not – should possibly be something you’d have to address initially, although if you are using facial recognition within Apple’s HSV option, then any HSV camera will suffice. Once Aqara provides the ‘fix’ I mentioned before, it should be less of an issue to most people.

At present, the G3 is selling for around RMB800-900 in China, and US$109.99 in the US, not including any discounts. That does make it more expensive than a lot of other HomeKit cameras out there, especially the Eufy indoor cameras, but seriously, the G3 is in a league of its own right now, and even the top-end price of US$110 is still cheaper than some of the bigger names like the Logitech Circle View, or the very overrated Eve Cam, that offer way less (unless you exclusively use it in HomeKit). I personally think it’s worth every penny.

Now I just need about a month to plot the possible ways I can create automations involving ALL the different functions! I’ll see you later…

The post Aqara G3 Camera Hub (review) appeared first on Homekit News and Reviews.

Includes

• Cygnett Smart Hub + IR Remote Control
• 1.5M Micro-USB to USB-A cable
• Quick start guide

System Requirement

• To control this HomeKit-enabled accessory, the latest version of iOS or iPadOS is recommended. controlling this HomeKit-enabled accessory automatically and away from home requires a HomePod, Apple TV, or iPad set up as a home hub. It is recommended that you update to the latest software and operating system.

The post Cygnett Smart Hub and IR Remote Control appeared first on Homekit News and Reviews.

Precision crafted. Perfectly weighted.
Crestron handheld remotes bring control to a luxurious new level. Ruggedized for durability and wrapped in a satiny smooth, easy-grip housing, they deliver exceptional comfort and ergonomics for hours of use.

The Crestron Performance UI experience
Designed exclusively for the TSR-310, the brand-new Crestron Performance UI delivers a user experience unlike anything seen before in a handheld remote. It transforms and elevates standard UI actions with smooth, stunning transitions, animations, and icons.

The post Crestron TSR-310 Smart Remote appeared first on Homekit News and Reviews.

SPOT gives you total control of your home environment and more ways to simplify your life. In addition to replacing traditional home theatre remote controls with control from your phone or tablet, SPOT also interacts with other LifeSmart Smart Home products when paired with Smart Station to automatically trigger your devices upon entering a room and more. Control air conditioning or heat pumps and any other infrared controlled devices using your own creative ideas. SPOT features 16 million color illuminations to add ambience to your home and can perfectly functions as a night light.

Features

• Unique Exterior Design
• 16 Million Color Night Light
• Convenient USB Charge Port
• Useful Desktop Storage
• Smart Voice Control

Specs

• Working Humidity：5~90%
• Working Temperature：-20~40℃
• Power：≤1.3W
• Input Voltage：5V DC
• IR Frequency：38K

The post LifeSmart ‘Spot’ appeared first on Homekit News and Reviews.

This is easily one of the most useful gadgets I’ve bought for my HomeKit set up, but what is it? It’s a night light, a bedside lamp, something to store the wife’s earrings…and an IR blaster!

Yes, this device can be used to replace the basic aspects of all the different remotes you might have lying around, but with the added twist of being HomeKit compatible. I say ‘compatible’ with a qualification – which is that it’s only HomeKit compatible when used with the LifeSmart Smart Station, which like the Hue Bridge, is essentially a bridge for other LifeSmart devices.

It’s powered via a simple mini USB port at the back, with a mini USB plug at one end and a standard USB plug at the other, which then can plug into any powered USB socket, or depending on where you buy it from, it’ll come with a USB socket of its own. In addition to the power socket, there’s a reset button which also acts to turn the light to different basic colours and ‘off’, and a standard USB port for charging devices. This last port is actually useless in practice, as the power output is so low that it can’t even slow charge any of my phones, so I’m not sure why they even bothered.

So, assuming you’ve got the LifeSmart Smart Station, and you’ve added it to your Homekit setup, this device becomes visible to Homekit appears as a light essentially, with control over the colour, brightness and power. That’s the lighting part of the device covered, so what about the ‘IR Blaster’ part?

Well, you’ll need the free LifeSmart app first of all, which you’d need anyway in order to add the Smart Station to Homekit. With this app, you can then teach it to add a whole host of standard remote controlled devices, like Air Conditioner units, TVs, Humidifiers, Fans etc. by picking from a list of manufacturers, or by teaching it the functions of a specific remote control. With the preset devices, like my Daikin Air Conditioner unit, once it’s identified the model, it will bring up a screen version of the correct remote for you to operate it from the phone. If it’s been taught from another remote, you can then create a sort of on-screen remote with the functions it has learned.

Now this allows you to control stuff from within their app, on the iPhone, but how does it work with Homekit? Well, if you go here, I’ve created a 4 part tutorial on how to achieve this. What I will say is it’s pretty damned good for bringing in non-HomeKit devices into the fold.

The light itself is definitely not as bright as a Hue bulb for example, but it’s easily bright enough for a bedside light and more than bright enough as a night light. I have it set to Red at only 14% as a night light and even that setting is probably a bit too bright for some. It’s capable of the standard 16 million colours, but in this respect the colours are definitely off compared to an official HomeKit colour bulb. It can’t really do a cool white very well either, so I’m guessing inside there are LEDs for Red, Green & Blue but no dedicated White LED. Still, the colours are quite vibrant and the device itself is not too expensive, being available from anything between £25 – £40.

LifeSmart aren’t that well known, but considering what this device is capable of I really do think more people would be buying this if they only knew about it.

The post LifeSmart ‘Spot’ (review) appeared first on Homekit News and Reviews.

The post Triby Smart Speaker appeared first on Homekit News and Reviews.

The post Ikea Trådfri Wireless Dimmer appeared first on Homekit News and Reviews.