PACKAGING | CONTENTS

Considering the package sent to me came from China, the box survived pretty well, as did the contents, thankfully. There’s not a lot to see, but everything required was included. I was also sent a SwitchBot Hub 2 for the purpose of testing the K10+ Pro out, which you won’t get, but is also not a requirement unless you plan to add it to Apple Home. That may not be worth it at the time of writing, but may make all the difference with iOS18.

The main piece is the robot vac itself, which only comes in white. Visually, it’s pretty much the same as the previous model, except for the larger front docking sensor. Similarly, the docking station is fairly similar to the previous iteration, with just a different fascia, now grey instead of black. You get two side brushes (one of which is a spare), a main manual and a quick setup/reference card, a Hepa filter (one is already installed in the vacuum), 30 disposable mopping pads for wet floor cleaning, and a pair of disposable dust bags. That’s pretty much it.

THE VACUUM

In many ways the K10+ Pro looks much like any other robot vac out there, with a LiDAR unit on top,  front ‘bumper’, sensors around the edges, and a corner brush. Where it differs to most other models is down to its size. I have been using a Roborock S6 for a while and it has served me well, but it’s slightly too large to reach certain places, most notably when it fails to get between the legs for our dining chairs. It’s just slightly too large. The K10+ series (both models) are 34% smaller, and so getting into these narrower gaps is not an issue. Now I no longer have to put the chairs on top of the table when I need to get a robovac to do its thing, and that’s a big deal for me.

There are two main buttons on the top, much like other vacs, with a Power and Home button, but actually the housing around the LiDAR sensor is also a button which can be pressed down, although typically this is usually only when you’re setting or resetting the device.

There are vents either side of the unit, although one is home to a small speaker for the robot to communicate the actions it’s taking, like cleaning, returning to the dock, or for alerts if it gets stuck.

The rear is home to the dust box. This also has a shutter that only opens when it’s connected to the base station, which is also when the internal battery is being recharged. This is achieved via two metal connectors either side of the aforementioned shutter. Whilst the dust box is set up to be emptied automatically via the docking station, you can actually empty the contents of the box yourself, and forego the cost of further disposable dust bags, although considering you shouldn’t need to replace these bags for 90 days, I think it’s worth the ongoing costs versus the potential issues you might encounter emptying the contents yourself, as I’ve had to do with the Roborock S6. At the top of the dust box is another docking sensor, as the K10+ Pro has to reverse into the dock.

The top of the robot has a removable plate that reveals an on/off toggle switch as well as a way to access the dust box, which is lifted out via a fold away handle. The underside is home to a pair of powered wheels, a directional wheel, and three edge or ‘cliff’ sensor – one set either side, and one at the front. This is designed to prevent the robovac from falling down a flight of stairs, if you’re using it on an upper floor, for example.

IMPROVEMENTS OVER THE K10+

If I’m honest, whilst I’ve never tried the original K10+, if I were to have one, I don’t think the improvements afforded the K10+ Pro are worth the upgrade. If you don’t own the K10+, then going for the Pro model makes total sense of course. Visually, they’re much the same apart from the differences already mentioned, but they have beefed up the suction power, going from 2,500Pa to 3,000Pa. That doesn’t seem a lot but it’s a 20% increase overall. SwitchBot claim its ability to clean further into corners has been improved, although given the brush attachment looks the same, I’m not sure how that has been achieved, unless it’s to do with the improved suction.

They have changed the sweeper from a combined rubber blade and coarse brush, to an all rubber design, which appears to work better with hairs apparently. Whilst the LiDAR sensor hasn’t changed in and of itself, the robot does now also use PSD (not the Photoshop file format…), which stands for Position Sensitive Dectector. This is charged with better avoidance of objects, and knowing where it is, if it has been moved to a different location. I personally haven’t noticed it being any better than my S6 in this regard, although it’s definitely faster at getting around, and with the S6 only capable of 2,000Pa, the K10+ Pro is 50% more powerful.

THE DOCKING STATION

My Roborock has a docking station, but it’s merely there to recharge the internal battery for the S6. With the K10+ Pro, you get a bit more, as is clear from the size of it. It has the connectors for recharging, as standard, but in between these two connectors is a large port. This connects to the port on the robovac, to suck out all the dust, dirt and hairs collected, and store them in a disposable bag in the top section. Above this port is also what I guess is a sort of transmitter to guide the robovac back for recharging.

The top section has a lid, and once opened you can see the rather cavernous space granted for the disposable dust bags. The bottom of this section has a fan to draw the dust into the bag from the vacuum’s dust box, via the evacuation tube. Fitted inside the lid is a mopping pad clip plate, although I’ll be honest and say if you’re looking for a robovac that can also do a deep clean via the mop, this isn’t the type of model that’ll work for you.

The bags that work with this base station can collect up to 90 days of dust and hair, although that really depends on a variety of factors. It’s pretty easy to fit, and once installed you don’t even think about it, although I’ve found myself checking how full it is on occasion (OCD much?).

the inside of the dust bag holder is a mopping pad clip plate. If you want to give your floors a cursory wipe, you can remove this plate, wrap a mopping pad around it, and clip it to the base of the robovac. It’s positioned to fit over the rubber brush, so effectively you can mop or vacuum, but not both at the same time. As stated, I’m not convinced this is worth using, and even though my Roborock S6 has a similar set up, the application of disposable pads is a lot more well thought out, as the S6 has a clip on module that also contains a small water reservoir that slowly leaks water onto the mopping pad. So as it stands, in the absence of a dedicated robovac with fully dedicated mopping functionality, the K10+ Pro does the vacuuming, whilst the S6 is now designated with wiping the floors when required.

When it comes to the base station doing what it’s meant to do, it’s actually a lot more pleasant of an experience than I’d anticipated. Prior to this device being sent, I would dutifully empty the dust box for the Roborock S6 after each clean. This would first involve wrapping a disposable plastic bag around the box, shaking the contents of the box loose, so they’d end up in the bag, then dispose of the bag, once sealed. This would often result in some dust getting out, and going up my nose, and boy do I have sensitive sinuses! As you can imagine, it wasn’t great, but it was the best way to deal with the collected dust. Now with the K10+ Pro able to do it for me without any intervention, it’s one less hassle, for which I’m grateful.

Wrapping up the features of the base station, the box also contains a small blade/brush combo to cut tangled hairs from the rubber cleaning brush. The rear of the unit has a fitted power cable. I was sent the UK version with a Type G plug, but it works fine with an adaptor, so I’m ok with it.

IN APPLE HOME

At the time of writing this review, I’m still on iOS17, so if the next iteration of iOS comes with better integration, I’ll update this section of the review to reflect any changes – good or bad. I guess Apple Home integration can’t get any more basic though, so I have high hopes that things will improve. As it stands, to get the K10+ Pro into Apple Home, you have to associate the K10+ Pro with one of SwitchBot’s own Matter hubs. This is also where it can get a bit confusing; most SwitchBot devices use Bluetooth,  and so they need these hubs for both their own ecosystem, and for third-party Matter ecosystems. The hubs are Matter enabled, allowing the devices connected to them to be exposed to Apple Home, which is much the same as Aqara Zigbee devices, and how they interact with their own Zigbee hubs. However, the K10+ Pro uses WiFi, so it actually doesn’t need a hub, or so you would think. For SwitchBot’s own ecosystem, it doesn’t – unless you want it to work with other SwitchBot devices – in which case you’ll almost certainly have a hub anyway. To expose the robovac to Matter platforms like Apple Home, you need the hub, so even if the vac isn’t connected to the hub via Bluetooth, in the app it’s part of their ecosystem, and is therefore able to associate with the hub for the purposes of getting it exposed to Apple Home.

What you do get is minimal, however. You get a tile, which can be displayed as a power outlet, a light, or a fan, so not exactly representative. To be clear, this is not the fault of SwitchBot, it’s simply due to Apple Home not being ready for robot vacuums in iOS17. Beyond that, there’s a toggle switch that does the same as the tile, a settings page that allows you to include the device in scenes and automations, and a tab to show that it’s connected to a SwitchBot hub.

Pressing the icon on the tile, or toggling the switch, simply activates the vac to clean the whole home (once you’ve actually set it all up of course). There are no options to clean specific rooms as such, so you only get the option to get it to start cleaning, or stop cleaning and return to the docking station. Luckily, as the SwitchBot app offers the chance to use Siri Shortcuts, so there is more that can be done, which I’ll touch on next.

THE SWITCHBOT APP

Things are different in the SwitchBot app, which is to be expected. You get a single tile on the home page, which allows you to launch the robot to do a full clean (by pressing the circular button), without having to go deeper into the app. Tapping anywhere on the tile other than the circular button launches a pop up that gives you three options – Clean, Finish, and Recharge. Pretty self explanatory. Tapping on ‘More’ launches the full range of options.

Assuming you’ve set up the robovac and have mapped your home, you’ll get the floor plan on the home page. The app will automatically break up the plan into rooms, although you can edit it yourself too. Beneath that are metrics to tell how much floor has been covered on its last clean, how long it took, and the estimated area based on the whole plan.

At the very bottom are four buttons; Charge, Clean, Max, and More. The first two allow you to send the vac back for recharging its battery, and begin cleaning, respectively. Max is actually the option to choose from four different cleaning strengths; Quiet, Standard, Strong, and Max. The More button opens up additional options.

You get buttons either side for cleaning modes (vacuum or mop), empty the dust box, how many times the cleaning task is to be performed in one session – with a maximum of two. My Roborock is capable of three cleaning passes, but it does have a much larger battery. You can save the current map, as well as set no-go zones, which is useful for areas where you might want to keep the vac away from.

once selected, the previously mentioned ‘More’ button opens up additional features that allow you to edit your current map, choose from other stored maps, create schedules, or show a cleaning report. You can choose from a selection of voices in different languages, which includes English (US accent), three Japanese voices, Korean, Hokkien (a Chinese dialect), Taiwanese Mandarin, German, Spanish, French, Italian, and Dutch.

The page also allows you to directly control the robovac with a three button controller that allows you to steer it. Finally, you can choose between a whole house clean, clean individual rooms, and select what order they’ll be cleaned in, and even clean a specific area.

Having been used to the UI of the Roborock app, at first I felt it was better than the one presented by SwitchBot, although I’ve come to appreciate the options to quickly access certain functions, that in the Roborock app require a big more digging. All that said, the one area Roborock’s app is arguably better is with Siri Shortcuts. With SwitchBot, you can start, pause or resume cleaning, return it to the dock, pause docking, locate the robot, change the suction power, or change the cleaning mode. What you can’t do is create a Siri Shortcut that allows you to ask the robot to clean specific rooms. Roborock does offer this, and so I can tell my Roborock S6 to clean the main bedroom. For SwitchBot it’ll only offer to clean the whole apartment. Hopefully SwitchBot can update the options to include specific rooms at some point.

There are further options to tweak the way it cleans and empties, which as a summary, include;

• Do Not Disturb (no voice announcements or noises between certain times)
• Sound volume
• Dust collection settings
  • Dust collection time – how long the docking station collects dust from the robovac once docked
  • Dust collection frequency – how often it will empty the dust box (after 90, 75, or 60 mins of cleaning time)
• Child lock
• Button lights

PERFORMANCE IN DAY TO DAY USE

At first I wasn’t sure I’d like it, after coming from a very happy experience with the Roborock S6. That eventually changed, for a couple of reasons, but mostly due to its smaller size doing a better job of getting into areas I’d previously have to adjust every time I wanted to clean said area. Now it’s much easier to clean without having to temporarily hoist dining room chairs onto the dining table due to the space between the chair legs being a tad too small for the Roborock to contend with. I’m also really happy to let it clean the dust by itself, which is one less job, and one less messy one at that.

I wish the Siri Shortcuts options were better, as already stated, but with iOS18 it may not be neccessary (fingers crossed). I would say that whilst the object detect seems to be no worse than my S6, I thought it would be better, but it doesn’t appear to be an improvement. It will still bump into things that are clearly in its path, so the PSD option doesn’t seem to make any real improvements.

One area of frustration, which thankfully I no longer need to deal with is the vac not being able to find the docking station sometimes. This all happened early on in the process, and as such I eventually got to the bottom of the issue that causes it to happen. So when you’ve mapped out your home, you can set it off to go cleaning, but if you happen to try to make any adjustments to the floor plan whilst it’s doing so, it appears this screws things up for the vac in relation to the map and how to find the base station. In some cases this can be (relatively) easily remedied by deleting any maps currently in use, and remapping your home. If that doesn’t fix the issue, deleting the robovac, and re-adding it to the SwitchBot app is the remaining option. Since stumbling on this discovery, I’ve ensured that I don’t try to fiddle with the floor plan until its back at the the docking station, and so far I’ve not encountered the issue again, so feel confident that this was the issue, with a remedy to go with it.

Other than that, for the price, it’s pretty reasonable. Robot vacuums are fast becoming the most expensive item for your smart home, and prices for some are astronomical, even if the cost is justified. Still, we’re at a point now where SwitchBot now have a K10+ Pro Combo, which was just announced at IFA 2024. This ‘Combo’ includes the K10+ Pro that I’m reviewing here, but it comes with a modified base station that allows the also included handheld robot vac to connect to, and empty it. You can read more about it HERE. If like me you already have a handheld vacuum (we have a top line Dyson that it pretty darn amazing all by itself), then the combo may not be of much appeal, but if you’re not a fan of having to empty a vacuum of any type on a regular basis, and you’re in the market for a handheld too, this may be the perfect option.

Either way, the K10+ Pro has converted me, and so the Roborock is currently on standby only, with the option to do some mopping as required. Recommended.

The post SwitchBot Mini Robot Vac K10+ Pro (Review) appeared first on Homekit News and Reviews.

However, evaporative humidifiers also tend to be less effective at bringing humidity up to required levels, especially in larger areas. This model can produce a humidification output of up to 750mL/h, via a 4.5 litre water tank, although that would also depend on the size of the room or rooms its designated. The unit is designed to work at its best with rooms between 20~30 sq m / 215~322 sq ft.

The bad news for HomeKit News readers, however, is that the device is currently not exposed to Apple HomeKit, even if you were to pass it through one of the company’s Matter hubs. A hub isn’t required thankfully, as the humidifier uses WiFi to connect to your smart home. Despite it not being HomeKit compatible, due to the SwitchBot app, it can at least be controlled via Siri Shortcuts.

It also doesn’t appear to have built-in humidity or temperature sensors, with the company’s specs stating that to automate the device based on either measurements,  it should be “…Paired with SwitchBot Meter series to get temperature and humidity data”. Given this device comes in at around US$200 / UK£180 / EU€200, one would assume such sensors would be included. I guess not…

What does make SwitchBot’s Humidifier sort of unique is its ability to work with the company’s own S10+ robot vacuum; When the humidifier’s tank is close to empty, the S10+ is alerted to this via the SwitchBot ecosystem, whereupon the S10+ will fill its own tank with water (from the mains water supply its base station is plumbed into), and then connect to the humidifier via special connectors at the side, and proceed to transfer the water to the humidifier’s tank. Of course, if you don’t have an S10+, you can get alerts and still fill the water tank yourself.

The SwitchBot Humidifier should be available shortly, if not already on Amazon and the company’s own storefront, although currently it’s listed as ‘out of stock’ on Amazon.co.uk, Amazon.com, and Amazon.de.

The post SwitchBot Announces New Humidifier – No Apple Home Integration… appeared first on Homekit News and Reviews.

We tested this device, and compare it to our existing (but now ageing) Roborock S6. Watch the video to see how they compare.

You can purchase the K10+ Pro from Amazon stores in your region using the (affiliate) links below, which cost you nothing extra but help us buy more products for review, to keep you informed on how products perform.

• Amazon US
• Amazon DE
• Amazon UK

The post The SwitchBot K10+ Pro Mini Smart Vacuum (video) appeared first on Homekit News and Reviews.

The visual differences are a large front docking sensor, and instead of a shiny black frontage where the robot vacuum couples with the docking station, the Pro model opts for a matte grey finish.

Inside, it’s a different story, with the company claiming the K10+ Pro reaches hard to reach areas better than its predecessor. The main rubber and bristle brush on the underside has now been replaced with an all rubber version, which should make tangled hairs a thing of the past. The battery remains the same, at 3,200mAh, but the motor has had a 20% bump, so you now get 3,000Pa instead of 2,500Pa in the original model.

And finally, whilst both models use LiDar SLAM technology for mappings and object avoidance, the new model comes with a position Sensitive Dectector, which aims to improve the robot from bumping into things, but also improve the mapping of your home.

Both models come with a docking station that also removes debris collected by the vacuum, and stores it in a disposable bag that doesn’t need replacing for up to 90 days. Unlike their flagship model, the S10, the mopping functionality of the K10+ Pro is secondary, with only the use of mopping pads wrapped around a special attachment, for when you want to give your floors a bit of a wipe.

The K10+ Pro is also Matter compatible, although only via one of the company’s own hubs – the SwitchBot Hub 2, or the SwitchBot Hub Mini (w/Matter) – which then allows the vacuum to be exposed to Matter ecosystems. However, despite the Matter standard now supporting robovacs, the platforms themselves, including Apple Home, do have some catching up to do, so at present, the K10+ Pro, once added to Apple Home, only appears as a basic on/off device, much like a smart plug. this allows the vacuum to be activated or sent back to the docking station, but not much else. With iOS18, it is hoped that more granular control of these devices will be accessible from within the Home app, however, although floor plans, and other advanced features will almost certainly be the preserve of the manufacturers’ own apps.

The SwitchBot Mini Robot Vacuum K10+ Pro is available now on Amazon stores in the US (with a US$180 OFF coupon), Canada, Germany, and the UK, for US$599.99 / CA$599.99 / UK£499.99 / €599.99 respectively, in addition to Switchbot’s own online store.

The post SwitchBot Release Updated K10+ Pro Mini RoboVac appeared first on Homekit News and Reviews.

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!

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Just a week after the release of SwitchBot’s new Universal Remote, the company has now pushed an update that allows it to work with your Apple TV. This update was originally slated for mid-July, but as an early surprise to the many who have already purchased this device, it has been released today (June 28th).

This update also includes support for Amazon’s own streaming devices under the Fire TV banner. Whilst the Universal Remote is designed to work with devices that use IR (infrared), it also uses Bluetooth to directly connect to other SwitchBot devices.

The remote that comes with Apple TV is a similar device in that it also uses both IR and Bluetooth for communicating with Apple TV, using Bluetooth to connect to the streamer, but also using IR to control things like the volume on your TV.

This update is reportedly one of a few updates planned for SwitchBot’s Universal Remote, which is touted as working with Matter, although in reality it can only be exposed to Matter platforms – like Apple Home – via one of the company’s own Matter Bridges, which currently includes the Hub 2, and the new Hub Mini (the original hub is not capable of receiving the required Matter update).

One other new feature that has been added that wasn’t previously available is if you have the company’s own Curtain robots paired with the device, which now offers preset opening positions – 10%, 30%, 50%, or 70% – all of which are accessed via the shortcut buttons on the device itself below the main LED display.

You can purchase the Universal Remote from Amazon.com for US$59.99, and the Hub Mini (Matter) for US$39.00

You can check out our overview video of the new SwitchBot Universal Remote below;

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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.

To be fair to our readers, it should be stated that this is not HomeKit compatible, although like SwitchBot’s other devices, this can be used with Siri Shortcuts. It also doesn’t require a hub, so with both Bluetooth and Wi-Fi connectivity, you’ll be able to receive real-time alerts and view records of water leakage incidents when away from home, reminding family members to help prevent floods and protect your property. Wi-Fi coverage is extensive*, and you can install multiple sensors to stay informed about leakage situations around the house via our app.

* When used in an open and unobstructed area, up to a maximum of 120m. Should your Wi-Fi network be disconnected or unstable, your device will automatically switch to Bluetooth connectivity to ensure normal operation.

There are four sensor probes located at the top and bottom, capable of detecting a water level threshold of 0.5mm and triggering alarms when water is detected. This includes water dripping from pipes, floor immersion, and contact with water.

Equipped with a 1m extended probe, it can detect changes in the water level of sewage pumps, bathtubs, and fish tanks, as well as help you monitor harder-to-reach areas at home, such as beneath refrigerators or behind washing machines.

Via the built-in sire, you can get alarm sounds up to 100dB, so you can stay alert for leaks when at home. If you’re concerned about disturbing the neighbours, you can mute the sounds with one click. Additionally, the whole family can receive app push notifications and emails. If you use Alexa, you can also receive voice alerts about water leakages around the home. The Sensor supports Alexa, Google, Siri (Shortcuts), IFTTT, and SmartThings.

The Water Leak Detector can handle high humidity environments due to its fully sealed casing. Even when submerged in water, it can still send notifications and can be reused after drying. It includes 2 x AAA batteries that need replacing only once every 18 months. You can check the remaining battery level using our app, and receive low battery notifications to ensure your device is always powered.*

*Supports up to 10 email addresses, with notifications sent when the battery level is below 20%.

You can purchase this new water leak sensor (with the external sensor cable) from Amazon stores in your region, including – Amazon.com, Amazon.ca, Amazon.co.uk, Amazon.de, Amazon.fr, Amazon.it, and Amazon.es for US$19.99, UK£19.99, or €23,99, or without the sensor cable, at US$17.99, UK£17.99, or €21,99.

The post SwitchBot Extend Sensor Lineup With WiFi Leak Detector appeared first on Homekit News and Reviews.

Now the company has announced a new firmware update for this hub that exposes virtually all of their products to Matter (and therefore HomeKit) via the hub, which excitingly, also exposes their own range of robot vacuums, although in only a limited way for now, according to reports. This includes the SwitchBot K10+ and S10, the latter of which are available for preorder at US$1,199.99, whilst the smaller K10+ can be purchased on Amazon.com for a much more budget-friendly US$399.99. The Matter update to achieve this was made available on April 8th, so if you already have a Hub 2, you should update now, even if you don’t have one of their vacuums.

This news follows developments with Roborock, who announced the launch of a new G series of robot vacuums, two of which are Matter enabled out of the box. The G20S comes in two variants, but at present is only available for preorder, and only currently in China. However, their previous announcement for the S8 Series has now launched in Europe that its claimed will also have Matter compatibility.

The post Update For Switchbot Hub 2 Brings More Devices into Matter appeared first on Homekit News and Reviews.

Designed to be compatible with various locks available, the SwitchBot Lock Pro offers retrofit solutions tailored for both EU/UK and US households. Due to support for various lock types commonly found in these diverse regions, it’ll allows users worldwide to upgrade their old door locks swiftly, without the need for drilling or damaging their existing door or lock. The installation process also preserves the original key functionality, ensuring that you can still use it when necessary.

The SwitchBot Lock Pro is compatible with the following types of locks:

• Euro Profiles
• Knob Cylinders

For EU type locks, support will arrive shortly after the release of the locks to the market,

• UK Oval Cylinders (Anticipated support by late April)
• Swiss Round Cylinders (Anticipated support by late April)
• Night Latch Locks
• Multi-Point Lock (Without Auto-Lock Functionality)

The lock will come with an optional separate keypad that includes a biometric fingerprint sensor, and although it includes NFC, it won’t feature Apple HomeKey at this time. It’s important to note that the lock itself is not compatible with Apple Home by itself even though it has Bluetooth, so in order to expose it to any platform, a Switchbot hub will be required. If you already have the company’s Hub 2, you should be able to add this lock to the hub and also expose it to Matter.

The built in fingerprint sensor can store up to 100 separate prints, with a 98% recognition accuracy.

Speaking of unlock methods, the company claim there are a total of 15 methods available, although to be more accurate, some of those could easily be combined into one distinct option (NFC tags and Cards are pretty much the same method, basically). However, the Pro does offer enough options for almost all use cases, including your original keys of course.

The lock can also work with their newly available Switchbot Hub Mini 2, which saw a release in Japan in January of this year. It should be noted that currently the company will only be selling the hub with the Lock Pro as part of a package, with the hub itself not actually available for purchase separately. The company will offer the Lock Pro, Lock Pro + Keypad, and Lock Pro, Keypad + Hub Mini 2, as three optional packages. The new hub is Matter enabled, thus allowing the lock to be exposed to your Matter platform, but also another reason why there is currently no Apple HomeKey support.

When it comes to powering the lock, there are two methods both based around batteries; You can run the Pro on four standard AA batteries, where a claimed 270 days (around 9 months) of standard use,or you can use the company’s own rechargeable battery packs, which offers a maximum of 12 months between charges, with the design allowing for one of the two packs to be removed for recharging, whilst the lock continues to function with the remaining battery pack, for uninterrupted use.

Although the Lock Pro is listed on the company’s website, stock is unavailable at present, although it should be available there by March 31st, with product sold via Amazon available around April 10th. You can check out the prices of the different packages for your region via the special preorder page – US, EU, or UK.

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