There are a lot of “Smart Plugs” available in the home automation market today. From big names such as Wemo and SmartThings to smaller guys such as Sonoff and Eco.
For the most part, they all work the same, so it is kind of tough to do a comparison review. In regards to companies in this market place, there is one that I was recently introduced to that has impressed me. They and their Smart Plug, the Inovelli Smart Plug, have a lot going for them.
I really feel that Fibaro does a great job at making their hardware attractive, and their software feature rich and stable. The Fibaro KeyFob is an example of them sticking to that process with a sleek, small design, and plenty of capability.
I’ve seen the Qubino Weather Station floating around the Z-Wave market for the last few months. It definitely stands out as a unique home automation product. With 10 measured values, it is marketed as having all the climate sensors you will ever need. I can in no way deny that claim, but does the device deliver what it promises?
I have recently received three in-wall Z-Wave devices made by Qubino. Qubino has been making Z-wave products for the European market for a few years and has recently started releasing devices for the US Market. Even with the Z-wave Alliance having more than 450 companies participating in the technology’s growth, it is great for consumers to have even more choices. From the spec sheets, these devices seem extremely capable with plenty of options to fine tune them to fit your needs. With in-wall relays and dimmers from several companies now (Fibaro, Aeon, Enerwave, etc.) how do these stack up?
There aren’t many options in the Z-Wave market for color LED light bulbs. I have been using the Aeon RGBW bulb for some time and have recently obtained a Zipato bulb and wanted to write a quick comparison of the two for people out there that might be interested in buying one or the other.
zooZ has done a fantastic job making 3 new devices that are sleek, affordable, and on par with some of the more well known Z-Wave device manufacturers. Each device has a lot to like and very little to complain about. In fact, one of the devices has even ended up being my favorite of it’s category (which isn’t easy considering the competition). So, what is it that I like so much about zooZ’s latest and greatest?
The Smartest House just published my review of the Fibaro Dimmer 2. Click below for more info.
Another crowd funded device, Strips by Sensative is an ultra thin Z-Wave door / window sensor that is meant for those that are sick of ugly, blocky sensors that typically sit on your door or window frame. I finally got my hands on one and have spent a few hours testing the device to see how it compares to the multitude of sensors that exist in the home automation market.