SwitchBot Curtain 3 review: Smart curtains don't come cheap
It'll run you $90 to $180 per window to automate your curtains with SwitchBot
It'll run you $90 to $180 per window to automate your curtains with SwitchBot
The ultimate hub to control all your smart home devices
Smart speakers are a great way to control smart home devices like lights, locks, and thermostats, allowing you to operate them hands-free and naturally. Smart displays build on that convenience, allowing you to view visual content, see information at a glance, and interact by touch — none of which is possible with speakers.
This smart lock is cheap, seamless to install, and easy to use
The SwitchBot Smart Lock is one of the more affordable smart locks on the market, offering enhanced door security at a reasonable price. Indeed, at only $100, it’s a very affordable product, while offering plenty of features. It aims to cater to a broad range of doors with its adaptable design. It’s meant to fit over the thumb-turn of existing locks, great for rental properties where lock replacement isn't feasible, or for people who don’t want to fiddle with their existing lock. If you can get past the bulky design, it's a great option.
The Roborock Dyad Pro Combo can hit every surface, and more importantly, every spill
About two and a half years ago, I was pretty vocal about giving up on robotic vacuum cleaners, preferring to use a handheld wet-dry vacuum cleaner to make my floors sparkle. Since then, I've been amazed by how new products like the Roborock S8 Pro Ultra and Dreame L30 are fully autonomous and can effectively clean a house with almost no human intervention.
The world’s smallest vacuum proves size doesn’t matter
Smart robot vacuum cleaners have constantly improved for the past few years, with newer models getting more powerful, smarter, and bigger. A perfect example is the Dreamebot L30 Ultra, one of the most innovative robots we've reviewed, but it also comes with the bulkiest base stations we've seen for a robot vacuum cleaner.
With Atmos surround sound and a lot of power, the Bar 1000 brings home theater immersion in soundbar form
There are a lot of soundbars to choose from, and many of them are pretty good. But most of them don't come with the ability to turn into a 7.1.4 system as the JBL Bar 1000 can. Part of its charm is the ability to add both surround sound and Dolby Atmos, aka spatial audio, to the mix at a price that, while high, is appropriate.
Spatial audio and a repositioned camera make for a solid update
Amazon was first to the smart speaker game back in 2014 with the Amazon Echo, a tiny speaker with poor audio quality and no display whatsoever. The e-commerce giant has come a long way, though, rolling out a wide range of smart speakers and smart displays that keep Amazon firmly in the discussion as a smart home hardware provider. The brand-new, third-generation Echo Show 8 solidifies that status even further, providing a comprehensive interface and stellar sound quality.
Plug n’ play setup, sleek looks, and dependable performance
Google has been making mesh routers for several years, and their latest iteration, the Nest Wifi Pro, is a notable upgrade — sort of. It's the first Google router to use Wi-Fi 6E, which may prove useful for the latest smart devices. That isn't to say the Pro won't work with older devices; however, they will be limited to the 2.4GHz and 5GHz bands and cannot utilize the 6GHz band reserved for Wi-Fi 6E-enabled devices. Either way, you'll enjoy less latency, lag, and reliable speeds.
An affordable projector that nails it...mostly
Formovie may not be a household name in the United States, but this innovative company captured the attention of the tech community with the Formovie Theater projector, one of the best home theater projectors you can buy currently. While that's a flagship product with a price to match, Formovie is back with its latest offering, the Xming Page One projector, poised to make waves in the world of more affordable projectors.
From hot water mop washing to automatic mop pad extension, and an AI camera, it has it all
Robotic vacuums have improved tremendously over the past two years, becoming almost fully autonomous thanks to self-cleaning and emptying functionality. They're also getting smarter, with embedded AI that allows them to recognize and avoid obstacles, such as the new Dreame L30 Ultra. Manufacturers continuously strive to improve their products' features and perfect their offerings. Robovacs have gained hot air drying over the past year, and newer models like the Ecovacs X2 can even use hot water to wash their mop pads.
It packs 3D motion sensing, HDR video, and color night vision
Ring is one of the leading brands in terms of home security, as it makes some of the best outdoor security cameras, but also a great alarm to secure your home. The manufacturer has just released a new outdoor security camera that comes packed with plenty of advanced features.
Flawless vacuuming coupled with excellent navigation and obstacle detection
During their early days, robot vacuum cleaners had fairly limited navigational and mapping capabilities, resulting in them happily bumping into your furniture and walls to find their way around your house. Things have greatly improved since then, with almost all modern models featuring LiDAR technology, allowing them to map their surroundings and navigate effectively and precisely.
The Blink Outdoor 4 camera system would make Ron Popeil proud with its outstanding two-year battery life
Outdoor camera setups can be quite a pain. Depending on the type of coverage you desire, you may need to run cables and connectors, all the while hoping there is a power outlet close enough to make it all work. While there are plenty of wireless options, Blink throws its hat back in the ring with the Outdoor 4. It boasts a wider viewing angle, better picture quality, and improved motion alerts for an overall enhanced experience over the Outdoor 3. In addition, Blink claims to have maintained the two-year battery life on a pair of AA batteries, keeping it relatively low maintenance.
It's expensive, but the Deebot X2 Omni is one heck of a robo-vac
If you haven't been following it closely, you could be forgiven for not knowing that the smart vacuum space has gotten crowded in the past few years. Companies like iRobot, Roborock, and Dreametech release new models at a breakneck pace, with new, high-quality smart vacuums and mops hitting the market at what seems like a monthly cadence.
Birdwatching without all that 'going outside' business
Bird Buddy is one of the more frivolous gadgets I've had the opportunity to test: it's a premium-priced smart bird feeder that records and catalogs the critters that stop to feed, pushing adorable videos of birds throwing seed around right to your phone. After living with the feeder for a few months, I have to admit that the novelty of daily bird notifications has lost some of its luster. But Bird Buddy is still a lot of fun to use, and I think anybody with even a passing interest in birdwatching will love it.
Its new features untangle new possibilities, but sometimes get wrapped up in their own complexity
Robot vacuum makers have been hard at work engineering new innovative features these past few years, especially after Roborock released the S7 MaxV Ultra, one of the first fully autonomous robot vacuum and mop combos. Several brands have since been doubling down on catching up with flagships of their own, including Dreametech with the L10s Ultra, the brand’s first fully autonomous robot that autonomously self-washes after each cleaning cycle.
The new Ring Indoor Cam shutters privacy concerns, but at a higher price than a lot of the competition
Ring is one of the leading makers of home security products. The brand, which is one of Amazon’s many subsidiaries, is popular for its smart video doorbells, as well as its Ring Alarm. As it offers a complete ecosystem dedicated to home security, it also manufactures an impressive number of security cameras, both for outdoor and indoor use.
This streaming device undeniably proves that affordable things also come in compact packages
When it comes to great streaming devices, the options available can be overwhelming. While they all offer the same basic features, if you’re looking for a high-quality 4K UHD option that is extremely budget-friendly, the new compact Onn Google TV 4K Streaming Box is worth considering.
Asustor's new all-flash NAS enclosures are an interesting launch
With the continued rise of network-attached storage (NAS), Asustor is working to establish the brand as a leader in SSD-only connected storage. Asustor launched the Flashstor series of NAS with support for M.2 NVMe SSDs that offer considerably higher transfer speeds than mechanical hard drives. The Asustor Flashstor 6 (FS6706T) is a unique enclosure in that it doesn't have any 3.5-inch or 2.5-inch bays. Instead, the company kitted out the NAS with six M.2 PCIe 3.0 slots that should be good for about 3,500 MB/s per slot, at least on paper. While not perfect, the Flashstor 6 (FS6706T) is an interesting step forward for the brand into an all-flash future.
Cheaper price doesn’t mean worse cleaning efficiency
When Roborock unveiled the S7 MaxV Ultra in 2022, it pioneered the fully autonomous robot mop and vacuum market, kicking off a wave of versatile cleaning bots that can automatically wash their own mops to shave off maintenance time. Several other brands have followed in its footsteps, including Dreametech with the L10s Ultra, and Ecovacs, with its Deebot T20 Omni and its innovative hot water cleaning technology.
Just don't assume this will be the only light you need to illuminate your space
Philips' Lightguide Ellipse smart bulb is a big, glass RGB wonder that looks as good as it functions, but it's not for everyone. It's a statement piece as much as it is an incredible RGB light; as such, it's more expensive than a conventional, colorful Hue light bulb, gives you less light, and might not look good with your free fixtures. It's more fashion than form, but if it works for your space and design aesthetic, it's one of the more compelling smart bulbs you can buy.