SMART HOME REPORT New tech offerings, including a transparent TV, a fitness studio and an innovative dog bowl
The latest appliances and technology to know
1 SURROUND SOUND
The latest addition to Sonos’ audio collection is a Dolby Atmos-enabled soundbar that will completely transform how your TV sounds, offering room-filling, surround sound without the need for dozens of separate speakers. Measuring 8.7x114.2x11.6cm it’s surprisingly slim, especially as it contains eight separate woofers and three tweeters all angled to fire sound forward, left/right and also up to the ceiling, to create an all-encompassing effect, especially when watching fast-paced films.
Sonos Arc, £799, sonos.com
2 MADE TO MEASURE
A stylish bowl – choose from a range of subtle colours and wood veneer – with a hugely practical secret; it has a built-in weigh scale and small LCD display that makes it easy to measure out your pet’s food. The stainless-steel bowl is removable and dishwasher safe, and there’s also a partner app that helps you keep track of your pet’s feeding routines and calorie intake.
Petkit Smart Bowl, £40, petkit.co.uk
3 FUNCTION & FORM
The best-looking video doorbell on the market, Netatmo’s fully waterproof wired design will alert you to any visitors, offering up full HD video quality and surprisingly good night vision direct to your smartphone. You can talk to visitors if you’re not there and clever ‘people detection’ differentiates between someone and the nosy neighbourhood cat, keeping false alarms to a minimum. Netatmo Smart Video Doorbell, £269.99, netatmo.com
4
FULL CONTROL
Thanks to the inclusion of a Wi-fi module and fullyfeatured smartphone app, Roca’s latest shower can be controlled wirelessly throughout the home. Use the pre-heat option from under your duvet to warm the water automatically – and you can also personalise settings for different family members, with favourite flow rates and temperatures. Plus you can even set a duration if someone’s guilty of spending hours in the shower.
Roca Smart Shower, from £2,751, uk.roca.com →
5 CLEAR WINNER
An astonishing piece of design, this 55-inch transparent OLED TV conceals all the ports and processors neatly in the base stand, leaving the screen completely clear when turned off, helping it to blend neatly into the background. Aside from its clever disappearing trick, the Mi TV can display 1.07 billion colours with 150,000:1 contrast ratio, super-fast 120Hz refresh rate for incredible motion, plus Dolby Atmos support for the best in surround sound. Xiaomi Mi TV LUX, £5,500, mi.com
6 IN AN INSTANT
Clad in textured stainless steel, LG’S flagship fridge freezer (A++, 569ltr, 91cm wide) brings professional cooling and intelligent design features to your kitchen. Its door-in-door design with ingenious Instaview reveals what’s inside – just knock twice on the frosted glass panel – and you can grab items from the door storage without letting the cold air out. Plus if you don’t have a spare hand, just step on the ‘Door Open’ light projection on the floor and it gently swings wide open. LG Signature LSR100, £5,999, lg.com/uk
7 ROBOT STYLE
The most stylish robot vacuum on the market, and also the best by far at navigating around your home, the Roomba S9+ picks up a huge amount of dust and pet hair. It automatically adjusts across hard floors and carpets, can be controlled using Alexa, Siri or Google Assistant voice control and best of all, when the 0.4ltr bin is full, it docks, recharges and empties its contents into a vacuum bag that has enough room for 30 full bins of dirt. irobot Roomba S9+, £1,500, irobot.co.uk
8 THE FULL PACKAGE
This interactive fitness studio combines dance classes, Pilates, weight training, cardio workouts and yoga in a single wall-mounted unit. Based around a mirrored 43-inch 4K UHD display with voice control, touchscreen, webcams and on-demand fitness sessions, it’s available in two versions: Screen for face-to-face free weight and floor-style classes; and Full Studio, which transforms the mirror into a full home gym, with collapsible weight bench, retractable pulley arms and even a ballet barre. FORME Life Home Studio, $2,245 plus the subscription fee, formelife.com