There are plenty of things you can do just with the tip of your finger, and smartphone of course. Like ordering a pizza, booking a hotel for holidays, buying things from Amazon, you name it. So the question is, what if you can connect, all devices in your home, on the internet and operate them on your smartphone? Oven sends you a message that your pizza is ready? Forgot to turn off the lights? No problem, a click away. Running to catch the bus, but the dog is hungry? No worries, pet feeder is on the web as well. You probably saw something similar in futuristic movies, but this is not at all a science fiction, this is real and modern technology, and it will become a standard home appliance, no different than a vacuum cleaner or a TV. So what is Smart Home Technology?
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Smart Home technology
Smart Home technology or Home automation, and often referred to as IoT or Internet of things, Is a way of controlling home appliances, electronic devices, lighting, heating, etc. remotely, via computer, other devices, or more common nowadays, smartphone. And it is exactly what it sounds like, you can control any device, from anywhere, by pushing the button or by voice command. Control depends on how many devices you have, what kind of control do you want, and how much money are you willing to spend on automation.
Source: tech.co
Logitech Harmony Elite
If you prefer the traditional and convenient way of controlling things, Harmony is harmony for your fingers. These buttons control more than just the TV. It includes Harmony’s home hub to control Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, Zigbee, and infrared devices.
Wink Hub 2
Wink Hub is the most reliable and supported hub. It includes everything for the Smart Hub (Philips Hue, Netgear, Google home), and it works with devices like Z-wave, Kidde, Zigbee, Wi-Fi, and Bluetooth.
Echo Family from Amazon
A Bluetooth powered by Amazons voice assistant Alexa. Alexa already works with smart home devices as well with IFTTT. This option takes some time to set up and connects with all devices, but by adding Echo dot, adds Alexa some extra functionality.
Brilliant Control
A unique and smart option for home automation at a fair price. Since it has built-in Alexa support, it can do everything as an Echo device, and also works with many platforms such as Philips, Ring, Hue, Ecobee and so on. Brilliant is a wall switch, it uses Wi-Fi to connect and control devices. User-friendly button controls and a 5-inch color touchscreen, a truly beautiful option.
Source: medium.com
iHome iSP6X SmartPlug
Most intuitive and ‘’omnipotent’’ smart switch you can get for &29.99. With it, controlling appliances couldn’t be easier. It supports Alexa, Google Assistant, Apple Homekit, Samsung Smartthings, Wink… The only thing it lacks is energy monitoring, but that doesn’t stop it from being one of the best on the market.
Additional
If you feel that you need security integrated within your smart home system, there are plenty of options but here are some of the best on the market.
iSmartAlarm iCamera Keep Pro
Can work as a standalone security cam but you can integrate it into your home system
Wyze Cam V2
Very affordable compared to others on the market ($19.99). With a powerful CMOS sensor, and motion tracking, can’t be more secure and pay less with Wyze cam.
If you find yourself forgetting keys or even forgetting to lock your house, don’t worry, in your smart home system, you can have a smart lock that takes care of things like that. August Smart Lock Pro + Connect is all you need, smart locks, bells, whistles, Wi-Fi.
And if you hate monitoring room temperature, Ecobee4 is a brilliant design with numerous features. Using Alexa, it can do anything a smart device can do.
