Use tech, your smarts to smarten up your home
If the idea of asking Alexa or Google to turn on and off your lights appeals to you, and you’re not doing it already, the holidays could be a great time to finally get to it.
“Competition is growing and prices are dropping which makes now the best time to make your home,” smart, says YouTuber Steve Siems, who has a channel called “Steve Does,” devoted to smart home reviews and installation.
He suggests starting small, with a connected speaker, then adding smart switches and bulbs before venturing further with doorbells and other products.
“See what you like and what you need more of,” he says. “No need to buy 10 smart plugs then realize you only need three for what you want to do. By the time you use the other seven plugs, something newer, better, and cheaper will be out.”
Google Assistant or Alexa?
First, decide who you want in your home, the Google Assistant or Amazon’s Alexa. Alexa is available on more devices, while Google tends to be a little smarter and more versatile in answering questions about arcane subjects. Both will do the basics: turn and off your smart lights, tell you who’s at the door and open your garage door.
If you use an Android phone, you’re already living in Googleland and you may be more comfortable with the Assistant. Amazon doesn’t have a smartphone and will be sending you back and forth to the smartphone app, on Apple and Android devices, to set up skills.
But not all products work with Google or Amazon, or vice versa. Facebook’s Portal video chat device for TVs works only with Alexa, as does Sony’s line of smart noise-canceling headphones, while the Nest doorbell answers only to Google.
While Apple has a home speaker, the HomePod, it has sold poorly and hasn’t been updated, while Google and Amazon aggressively discount and market their wares.
What smart devices do I need?
Amazon’s Echo Dot and Google’s Nest Mini are the entry-level models, tiny speakers with tinny sound that will do the job. The Dot sells for $25 and the Mini for $35, but both could see their prices slashed after the holidays.
The top-of-the-line Echo is the Echo Studio, a high-end speaker selling for $199, while Google’s top is the $249 Max. Both companies also offer video display units, which are great as digital photo frames and video viewers, such as the Echo Show and Google’s Nest Hub and Hub Max. They’re a nice addition for smart home products including doorbells and security cameras, to see who’s at the door or prowling around outside.
Smart plugs
The easiest smart home accessory should be your first purchase. With the smart plug, available for around $25, from a variety of companies, you plug it into your regular outlet and then add ordinary “dumb” products such as coffee pots, lamps and the like into the smart plug. Now, you can use an app (or voice commands) to turn them on. A new addition this year on many shelves multiplies smart plugs to a bigger, more functional accessory in a smart strip.
The Kasa by TP-Link sells for $59.99 and has six outlets to run fans, Christmas lights, lamps and the like from one central location. Plus, you get a surge protector and outlets to charge three USB devices. Like the smart plug, you can use voice command to turn on and off the products.
Smart lights
Asking Alexa or Google to change the color of a lamp from white to red is about as cool as it comes. And how hard is it to go smart when you can buy a smart bulb from your local hardware store, plug it in, connect to the app and let your voice do what your fingers used to do on the light switch?
The Hue line, from Philips, is the most popular, but they come with a catch: You need to plug a hub into a router, which you may not have room for.
The benefit of a hub is that it can do more elaborate setups, such as mood lighting on movie night in the living room. The downside is that it’s yet another product asking to take up valuable real estate on your electrical strips.
The Lifx bulb sells for just more than $20 and is advertised as “no hub required.” It can be turned on and off and dimmed, with just white light. A comparable light that changes colors will cost you an extra $60, at $79.99.
Smart TVs and streaming
Many smart TVs now support voice commands from Google (Android TV) and Alexa (the Fire TV Edition from Toshia and Insignia), and there are products that can bring voice to the “dumb” TV. Amazon’s new Fire TV Blaster ($35) does just that, by plugging directly into the TV, and Amazon’s Fire TV streaming sticks (starting at around $25) offer voice commands via the remote control.
Smart doorbell
Ring, which is owned by Amazon, is the most visible maker of doorbells, whose appeal is showing you who’s at the door without you having to open it. Rivals have pushed through copycats, including the $99 Remobell from Remo, which offers free cloud storage of the generated video from the doorbell. Ring charges $30 yearly for the same service.
Ring has come under fire from privacy groups for having a product that’s easy to hack. Recently, a family in Mississippi claimed a hacker gained access to a Ring camera placed in their 8-year-old daughter’s room and started talking to her.