The Best Smart Gadgets For Your Home
At Essex WiFi we are firm believers in smart technology, and by smart technology, we mean devices that work remotely and are controlled by you, via an app on your smartphone. All smart devices require an internet connection, at Essex WiFi, we want you to be getting the most out of your smart technology! Therefore if at any point you feel as if your internet connection is struggling – maybe you are on a rural broadband package and cannot get what you want from your smart devices – then get in touch and let us bring you out of the dark ages!
Obligatory introduction over, let’s get into the fun stuff! We had a fantastic time writing this blog, and we hope you have a fantastic time reading this blog. We were blown away by the amount of amazing smart devices out there, and whittling them down to five proved a challenge in and of itself! We’re excited – let’s go!
Kicking off our exploration into smart tech is a trifecta of excellence, and that trifecta comes from a company called Nest Labs, known simply as Nest. Founded in 2010 by two former Apple engineers, and subsequently bought out by Google in 2014 for $3.2 billion (around £2 billion), Nest have been pioneering smart technology for years now and what we will be looking at today represents their (in our opinion) best work to date. And no, this blog was NOT sponsored or endorsed by Nest in any way!
The Nest Protect – £89 – £90
This is an amazing smart device that puts your standard non-smart smoke detector to complete and utter shame – in fact, it’ll make your old smoke detector look down-right stupid. This 85-decibel smoke alarm system monitors both smoke and carbon monoxide, so you can throw two devices out at the same time! If you burn a pizza (for example) then the Nest Protect will send your smartphone a notification – making your house and your lacklustre cooking skills safer. Furthermore, should the alarm be about to sound, you will receive a vocal “heads up” from the device itself! Oh, and did we mention that the batteries (on the wireless version) will last for between 5 and 10 years?! Amazing. We’ve just bought seven.
The Nest Learning Thermostat (3rd Gen) – £199
This is a thermostat. A thermostat that LEARNS. We could wax lyrical about this device for hours, so we’ll try and keep it short. Not only can you control the heating of your home from your smartphone, but you can also use voice activated third party conduits such as Amazon’s Alexa and Google Home. One of the most appealing aspects of this piece of smart technology is that it will remember your preferences, and will then tailor itself to you! The features of this device are almost limitless, you will not find a smarter thermostat than this! (Unless you’re from the future).
The Nest Cam – £159 – £179
And this draws to a close our Nest trifecta. The Nest Cam is for those of you out there who are dedicated to making your house safer. With stable and reliable motion detection,1080p image quality at 30fps, a built-in in mic/speaker AND 130-degree field of view, look no further for a smart cam that will keep your peace of mind…peaceful. Side note – you can control every single one of your Nest devices through one app – Apple anyone?
This is a remote controlled kettle. Need we say more?! Okay, we’ll say a little bit more. From the dedicated app you can switch the kettle on and off, you can remotely monitor how much water is the kettle, and you can also regulate water temperature! So, if you like to steep your green tea in water that is exactly 80 degrees celsius, then embrace the beauties of idleness and get this kettle.
Click and Grow – A Smart Garden – £45 – £60
For those of you who love plants, and a tired of burying those dead basils like yesterday’s hamster – why would you not invest in this? The simplicity of this smart device is mesmerising. Just add the plant capsules and the water and viola! With enough capacity to store one month’s worth of water, you needn’t lift a green finger. The automated LED lighting system ensures that your plants are kept in the ideal conditions all year round, so even if you live on the moon, you can still eat basil all year round! Not that you would want to… But you could.
Like we said in the beginning of this blog, it has been a real challenge whittling down our favourite smart home devices down to just 5! Here are a few that didn’t make the cut (the big names didn’t make it because they just weren’t surprising enough) They’re still superb devices though, check them out:
The Amazon Echo
Withings Aura Total Sleep System
Philips Hue White and Colour Starter Kit
We are aware that sometimes smart home devices are dependent on broadband speeds. On this vein, we would like to invite all of you out there on slow rural broadband plans, and all of you out there who are on unsatisfactory superfast packages – to join us! We can bring your smart home devices to life.
(Image credit: Amazon)
