The best smart home products: Wireless 1’s top picks for April 2021!
The best smart home products: Wireless 1’s top picks for April 2021!
There are more and more smart home products on the market every day getting us close to that dream of a fully (affordable) automated home. Almost everything electronic made for home use these days, can certainly have an app that you can sync to your home smart assistance such as Google Home, Amazon Alexa, Apple HomeKit, etc, allowing you to control the device either directly from your app or via your home smart assistant. Here are some of our top picks for April 2021!
Features: Google Assistant | Legendary JBL sound | 8-inch high-definition touch screen | 5MP Front Facing Camera | Privacy Switch | Splash Proof | Chromecast built-in | Wireless Bluetooth Streaming | 1 Year Warranty
Vivid, high-definition screen for videos, images and browsing
Great, loud sound quality and strong-bass
Beautiful, sleek, non-invasive design
In-built Chromecast and Google Home
First, in case you don’t have one already, at the centre of your smart home you should have a smart assistant. There are lots to choose from, but we highly recommend the JBL Link View for a number of reasons. Whether you have a Google Assistant at home already or not, this would be a fantastic product to add to your home.
Not only does it have a Chromecast built into it, so you can stream videos, music or images from your devices to the JBL, but it also has a Google Home servicing you as the smart assistant. Google Home has a very large library of apps it can be used with. More and more keep getting added every day. So a good 95% of all smart home apps and devices are compatible with Google Home, more than likely you’ll be able to utilize any smart home devices you get with the in-built Google Home feature. Not only is it good for compatibility between apps, but if you’re like me and like listening to music while working around the house, you’ll want to listen on something that has fantastic sound quality and mind-blowing bass. Look no further than the JBL Link View.
Features: No Hub Required | Manage Remotely | Multi-colour daylight (9000k) | Voice Control with smart assistants | Circadian Mode | Save Energy | Compatible with Android, iOS and Amazon Alexa | 3-year warranty
Easy setup and easy to connect to a smart assistant
Voice control the lights once connecting them to your home assistant or via the app
Compatible with Google Home, Apple HomeKit and Amazon Alexa
Great value and reduce energy usage by 80%
Easy schedule setup
Fits both screw or bayonet light fitting
If you don’t have smart lights already, I don’t know what you’re waiting for. While it may seem like it’s something that will make you lazier at home, but it’s actually quite efficient. You can schedule when the light bulb(s) turn on and off at your home so that you never have to touch the light switch again. When I get home and I’m sitting in my lounge room, I know it starts getting dark around 7:05 pm, however, I’ve scheduled my lights to turn on at that exact minute and I’ve also have it scheduled to turn off around my bedtime, which is a super handy feature!
You can customize the lights, to be warm, white, dim, coloured (I like purple), whatever you desire. When I’m watching a movie, I like to turn off my lights when I have all my snacks and drinks ready to go, in which I just say “Hey Google, turn off the lights in the living room” and I’m ready to start enjoying my movie. The TP-Link LB130 is a powerful and reliable bulb, extremely bright and a fantastic addition to your home.
Features: Wire-free and weather-resistant design, works with Alexa and Google Home. | 4K Resolution with HDR | Enhanced Night Vision & Integrated Spotlight | 180 Degree View | Noise Cancelling Technology | 2-year warranty
Modern, non-invasive look
Completely wire-free
Easy to set up and use
Fantastic 4K image quality with HDR
Motion detection
Night vision and spotlight
Weatherproof
Home security has never been easier with wire-free cameras and Arlo are some of the best-of-the-best within that range. Their small and sleek design makes them look great anywhere you mount them. You may even get some Arlo skins if you’d like a black camera or even a camo-style skin if you’re looking to camouflage outside between some greenery. Yes, that’s right, you can place these outside as they’re weatherproof cameras, so they’ll be protected from dust, rain, snowfall, almost any weather condition.
They boast 4K Image quality with high dynamic range (HDR) providing you with unmatched picture detail, so you can even zoom in on the smallest of objects. This isn’t limited to the day time, you’ll be able to see things you normally wouldn’t be able to with the naked eye or a regular camera with its in-built night vision. Two-way audio is also a feature very much loved by a lot of Arlo users that lets you converse with anyone on the other side of the camera. If you need a security camera where you don’t have to worry about getting someone to install anything for you but still have the utmost control over it, then look no further than the Arlo Ultra!
Features: Laser Navigation | Mopping Master | 3 Working Modes | Mi Home App Remote Control | 2100Pa Suction | Automatic Recharge | Breakpoint Continuous Sweep | 20mm Obstacles Climbing Capability | 2-year warranty
Long battery life
Can automatically recharge
Easy to schedule
Can be controlled directly from your app or smart assistant
Intelligent navigation allows it to learn better routes
Who wants to vacuum after a long day of work or on your weekend break? Probably no one, but it’s something that’s got to be done to keep your house looking tidy. Well, we can eliminate that chore now with robot vacuums, our pick is the Viomi V2 Pro Vacuum Cleaner Robot. Fantastic for those busy people and even better for people like me (lazy). I’m not home most of the day so my dog loves to run amuck, shedding everywhere occasionally when he goes for a walk, comes back a bit muddy on my tiles.
This is why I love my robot. I set it up to clean twice a day, one round of vacuuming my carpets and one round of mopping my tiles, so I always come back home to a cleaner floor than how I left it. When I get home I simply empty it out (not daily) and set it back on its charging dock (where it automatically goes back to when it’s done cleaning), so I never have to remember to keep it charged. It also has laser navigation that adapts to your environment, improving the way it cleans every time it goes out to the scheduled route you’ve set, it can also do its own clean without having to set a course for it, which it will adapt over time to give you the most efficient and effective, clean it possibly can. If you’re looking for a vacuum robot that’s not going to break your bank, we highly recommend taking a look at the Viomi V2 Pro Vacuum Cleaner Robot.
Features: Light Squares react to your touch—personalize touch commands in the Nanoleaf App | Automate your Light Squares by programming schedules | Activate Rhythm Mode and watch your Light Squares react to sound | Connect Light Squares together along any edge to create your design | Works with Apple Siri, Google Assistant, and Amazon Alexa | 12-months warranty
Bright
Easy Setup
Low Power Usage
Thin to make for easy light placements
Can be operated by onboard control panel or phone app or smart assistant
The Nanoleaf Canvas Light Squares (or triangles) are absolutely one of the best looking smart home products you can get for your home, at least in terms of décor. The light panels can be arranged in any design you like. They’re beautiful LED lights that you can customize to your liking with just plain LED colours, pulsating ones, colour shifting and you can even get a rhythm kit to sync the lights to your music to give you a spectacular light show with any type of music you’re listening to.
All this can be controlled via the on-board control panel, through the Nanoleaf app, through your smart home assistant and if that doesn’t satisfy you, you may even get an LED Nanoleaf Remote Bluetooth HomeKit, which has 8 sides to it, each one you can customize to be a different setting for your light panels so you can easily switch between them without any hassle. Switch from a vibrant warm mixture of red, yellow, orange, pink to a cool, vivid mixture of blue, green and turquoise at your fingertips. Of course, this isn’t limited to what colours you can choose, but you can even have different patterns and effects on each setting to suit your mood
There are endless designs and possibilities with the Nanoleaf products. You can extend all you like with many, many panels, it’s not strictly limited to the kit you purchase. Light up your home with one of the most aesthetically pleasing light-panel products on the market, today!
