The connected home is no longer just a haven for geek. Many reliable, practical equipment that provides real daily services can find their place in our accommodations. They are controlled from an application, a connected speaker, or even a television. On the eve of autumn, nothing better to make an interior always more cozy.
For houses or apartments, for gardens or terraces, various products that can be installed in just a few minutes can thus provide additional comfort and greater safety. 20 minutes presents five of them, all tested, sometimes for long months, and whose reliability forms the hyphen. This does not prevent small flaws and other shortcomings that we have also taken care to identify.
Know who is ringing: Doorbell 4, by Ring
Powered by mains, but also battery operated, the connected video doorbell Doorbell 4 de Ring reassures.
At any time, it is possible to know who is at your doorstep. – RING
Thanks to its camera filming in 1080p, it is possible to know who is arriving at home (thanks to the detection of movement and the recording of a video sequence), but above all who rings at home. Whether present or absent, all you have to do is open the Ring app when a notification is received to find out who is there and possibly chat. Convenient to leave a deposit with a delivery person, for example, when receiving a package, and that we are at work. Please note, the vertical viewing angle of the camera (84 °) does not necessarily allow viewing of a package placed on the ground. Still, the images transmitted are perfectly detailed, even at night when the camera incorporated into the doorbell offers good vision (in black and white).
The Doorbell 4 video doorbell works on mains or battery. – RING
Owned by Amazon, the Ring company has not seen fit to offer this Doorbell 4 compatibility with Google Assistant and Apple Home Kit. Pity. On the other hand, if you have an Echo Show system, or a Fire TV stick, it is still possible to say: “Alexa, show me the front door” to see the faces of your visitors appear on the screen of your speaker or television. 199 euros.
Lighting the house without your hands: HUE Motion Sensor, from Philips
In the large family of equipment around the Philips HUE connected light, I would like it HUE Motion Sensor ! Behind this barbaric name, a presence sensor for the exterior which does not necessarily say its name. Its goal: to trigger the lighting of the manufacturer’s lamps (exterior or interior) upon detection of movement.
The HUE Motion Sensor detects a presence and triggers the switching on of the lamps connected to it. – Philipe HUE
Battery operated and requiring hanging on a wall, the little googly-eyed device is installed through the Philips HUE app. Let’s face it, this one is much more frequent from the point of view of its ergonomics since its recent update! Warning: do not plan to use this product if you are not equipped with HUE, the presence of a WiFi bridge being required for the system to work (count 69 euros for a starter kit with two white bulbs and the HUE Bridge).
Illustration of a connected house. – PHILIPS
From then on, the HUE ecosystem is functioning at full capacity. As soon as a presence is detected, the sensor can trigger any compatible bulb constituting your equipment. For each, it is possible to configure the time range during which the detector will be in operation, but also the desired lighting mode once detection has been carried out (bright, dimmed, night light) and its lighting duration. A pre-recorded scenario can even be triggered, such as lighting up the household with a “Sleeping on the Savannah” atmosphere when you come home from the evening! 49.99 euros.
Heating to the nearest degree: Nest learning Thermostat, by Nest
Managing your heating intelligently, but also making precious savings (not negligible at a time when the regulated gas price has just jumped): this is the mission of the Nest learning Thermostat. A real benchmark for our connected homes.
The Nest thermostat allows you to regulate the temperature in your home to the degree and to the minute. – NEST
May require a break by a professional (but not complicated to set up nevertheless), the device with its attractive design combines wired connection to the boiler (gas and oil) and Wifi.
Well packaged, the Nest application allows you to program day by day and hour by hour the start of its heating, its temperature … Moreover, the Nest learning Thermostat “learns” the habits of its users thanks to its presence detector, reduces heating in the event of prolonged absence and can even be controlled remotely. On many occasions, this function seemed very convincing to us during an early return from a winter weekend in order to put our accommodation back on heat earlier than expected, or during a return to the evening later than imagined to shift restarting our boiler. We regret that Nest has still not launched thermostatic taps connectable with this thermostat. They would thus make it possible to manage even more finely the heating of its interior, room by room. Competitor Netatmo offers this guy equipment for its smart thermostat. 220 euros.
Monitor and illuminate the terrace or garden: Rheita A100, from Thomson
Behind this camera stamped Thomson, it is Avidsen (French specialist in the connected home) which is in charge, designs and manufactures the
Rheita A100. Quite discreet despite its black color that is noticeable on a facade (undoubtedly enough to discourage potential thieves, however), this device is distinguished by its dual function: lighting thanks to the LED lamp which dominates it, and surveillance, with its camera. lower.
The Thomson Rheita A100 camera can be installed in place of an outdoor wall light. – THOMSON
Measuring 23 cm high by 7 cm in diameter, the Rheita A100 requires a classic electrical connection for its power supply, but its installation is not complicated if you have a drill on hand. You can simply substitute it for an exterior wall light. Please note: the camera must nevertheless be oriented downwards. IP65 certified, the device is resistant to rain and Thomson specifies that it withstands extreme temperatures (from -20 ° to + 60 °). We take control of the whole with the help of the Thomson at Home Security application.
Practical in winter, the presence detector of the Rheita A100 (up to 8 meters) can instantly trigger the lighting, while the motorized camera, whose sensitivity can be adjusted to 6 levels, automatically starts recording a sequence on microSD card. Here, no cloud to save these images, filmed in Full HD and with an infrared mode for the night quite effective.
The Rheita A100 monitors and lights the exterior of the house. – THOMSON
In case of detection of movement (or even silhouette), a notification is sent and it is as usual possible to remove the doubt, or even to orient the camera remotely for a 360 ° view, but also to communicate by voice, the Rheita A100 incorporating speaker and microphone. The device also has an alarm, but with a sound level of 79 db (A), nothing to disturb its neighbors (the sound level of an alarm is more commonly 90 db (A)).
We appreciate the versatility of the device, its ease of use, its complete application in which we can program detection times in particular. It is a well designed and reassuring product. 179 euros.
Know the weather: Smart Weather Station, from Netatmo
The Smart Weather Station of Netatmo remains a reference and without too many equivalents on the market.
The Netatmo weather station will make rain and shine on your smartphone screen. – NETATMO
Two-headed, the device is made up of two modules, one for the interior operating on mains, the second, which is weather resistant, to be placed outside. Both have different sensors. Thus, the first analyzes the temperature, humidity, noise level and CO2 rate (useful for knowing whether to ventilate your interior); while the second analyzes the temperature, the perceived temperature, the atmospheric pressure. The whole communicates in Wifi with the Netatmo Weather application. At any time, by opening the latter, it is possible to consult all the information recorded, but also to obtain a 6-day weather forecast.
Two sensors for information on the weather but also the quality of the indoor air. – NETATMO
Setting up in just a few minutes as we have verified, this Smart Weather Station seemed to us to be very reliable in its forecasts. The localized rainfall forecasts, hour by hour, thus seemed to us particularly relevant to leave or not to work or for a walk with an umbrella under the arm. Duration of sunshine and UV rate complete the measurements displayed.
To go further, Netatmo offers an optional anemometer sold 109 euros (to measure the wind speed), as well as a
rain gauge sold for 79 euros (to measure the amount of rain that has fallen), these two products being associated with the weather station and its application. This station would have been perfect if we received alerts in the event of an excessively high indoor CO2 level, prompting us to open the windows or activate its air purifier. In addition, the batteries of the outdoor module have a fairly limited lifespan. 169.99 euros.
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