It should come as no surprise that the use of smart devices is growing. Experts suggest that as of 2019, there were more than 26 billion IoT devices connected to the Internet. Norton securities suggests that this number will grow to the rate of more than 152,000 devices connecting to the Internet each minute by the year 2025.
Chances are your home has a device from one of the big players on the market, such as Amazon, Google or Philips. What you may not realize is there is a host of smaller players on the market as well. What’s more, there are some innovative products on the market that can make your home more connected that are simply hard to categorize.
Here are just 4 of the more interesting smart devices on the market currently.
Bond
Sure, remote controlled fans have been on the market for years; however, the problem is how easy it is to lose your remote. This leaves you using your fan traditionally. Bond changes all that. It allows you to connect your smart ceiling fan to an app and allows control through Alexa and Google Assistant.
No more searching for your remote. Just store it and use your voice to control your fan.
Echo Flex
The Echo Flex is a cool device that is powered by Alexa and provides all kinds of features to your home. On the surface, it’s a speaker and USB port, but it also brings voice control (hello timers) to spaces in your home that may not benefit from a speaker.
Additionally, there are add-ons—including a nightlight, motion detector and smart plug—that can bring extra usability to your Echo Flex.
Eve Aqua
Do you have a garden or lawn that demands a strict watering schedule? If you answered yes, then the Eve Aqua is your answer. Not only does Eve have an app for your phone, but she also connects to Apple’s Home app and Siri.
Just install the Eve Aqua unit between your home’s spigot and hose, and use the app to set up a watering schedule that fits your needs. No more going outside at 7 a.m. to water!
Hubitat
Most people associate home devices with Alexa or a Google Assistant, so chances are they haven’t considered the use of a smart home hub. That said, there is something to be said for using a hub for your smart devices. For example, Hubitat not only connects all of your devices in one place, but it also provides your devices with a level of privacy that other companies don’t offer.
This privacy does come with a price. Hubitat will set you back $90. While most won’t count the extra privacy as being worth the price tag and setup, those who want to make their devices as secure as possible will enjoy the benefits of the hub’s ability to process the automation and voice controls that come with Alexa and Google Assistant locally and leave the cloud behind.