Connected Home – Buyers Guide

Smart Screens, Amazon Alexa & Google Nest

Every Connected Home needs a type of Smart Hub or Home Assistant device that acts as your virtual assistant and there are plenty of devices that can help with that. Devices such as a Google Nest or a Lenovo Smart Clock or an Amazon Echo Show and Dot.

These Connected Home 'smart' devices can do a number of things; use them to stream your favourite tunes with premium sound quality, ask Alexa questions, check the news headlines, get weather updates, set alarms and be the central control point for other compatible smart devices.

This will enable you to turn on and off other devices around your house: lights, security cameras, the slow cooker in your kitchen, voice activated speakers, the tv in your room and talk to Alexa all while lying on your bed or sitting on your sofa.

Many of these functions can all be achieved by voice command or by finger touch in your phone app. You will be able to operate your home audio, your smart lights, your connected cameras, smart tv and other devices from the comfort of your bed or sofa.

Smart Cameras

Owning smart security cameras means that you have the ability to tune-in to view your security footage in real-time any time of the day or night.

With some home security and doorbell cameras you can command the camera to tilt and pan, you can ‘roof mount’ them and set them to different modes: patrol, movement and sound detection modes.

These cameras can be extremely useful not just for home security but also for peace of mind situations e.g. if you have a habit of leaving the garage door open or if you like to monitor your pet during the day when you can’t be home.

You can also set rules for some camera using an app. An example being that if you have a camera installed outside your garage, the rule may dictate that after 6pm at night your camera will turn on your front entrance light when your camera detects motion (your car coming home or people approaching).

Smart Lighting

Invest in a Hue Bridge lighting control hub and gain the ability to talk to your bulbs via voice assistant like Alexa or Google Assistant, verbally turn them on and off, adjust the brightness and what colours you want them to be. There are numerous smart bulbs to choose from household name brands like Philips, TP-Link Kasa, Cygnett, Lenovo and Lifix.

Create a whole new ambience in your home, match mood lighting with your gaming RGB or dim the lights to relax the vibe – all by just moving your finger.

Baby Monitors

A digital baby monitor offers you the peace of mind that’ll help you to sleep soundly knowing that your baby is sleeping well and safely too.

A wireless baby video monitor provides two-way communication, allowing communication between you and your infant. It allows for lullabies to be selected and played, room thermometer and colour LCD screen with night vision and zoom function. Selected models allow for you to view your baby remotely via app on your phone.

It's becoming increasingly common for wireless baby monitors to be digitally encrypted to protect against the threat of hacking and some models allow you to ‘dress up’ your camera to resemble cute characters.