Computer Shopper - UK (2019-08)

ISSUE 378|COMPUTER SHOPPER|AUGUST 2019 65

SMARTHOME

AMAZONEchoDot3rdGeneration

★★★★★

£50•www.amzn.to/2VVl5Bs

NEST CamIQOutdoor

★★★★★

£329•nest.com/uk

NEOSSmartcam

★★★★★

£20•shop.neos.co.uk

GOOGLEHomeHub

★★★★★

£119•www.currys.co.uk

RINGVideoDoorbell2

★★★★★

£149•www.box.co.uk

Asouped-up speaker

means the latest Echo Dot

is finally aviable music

player,inaddition to the best-value Echo

speaker and smart home controller.Buy multiple devices and you can

scatter them throughout your home,maximising Alexa coverage.

While this is an expensive

replacement forthe old Nest

Cam Outdoor,its image quality

is without equal. Facial and sound recognition

have also been improved, and it’s now much

harder forthieves to remove the camera from its mount.

The Smartcam is atremendous

bargain of an indoor security

camera. In many ways, it’s not all

that advanced –footage is only shot at up to

15fps, forinstance –but the 1080p resolution,

night-vision mode and free cloud storage make

foranifty little package.

The first truly excellent

smart screen, Google’s

Home Hub is both a

multitalented smart home controller and avery clever device in itself,

jumping seamlessly between providing mapped-out travel routes,

playing YouTube videos and showcasing photoalbums.

This is the best of the new

breed of smart, camera-

equipped doorbells: it’s easy

to install, comes with abundled chime,and

has fairly low subscription costs forstoring

footage in the cloud.

DRIVERS (^1) • RMSPOWEROUTPUTNotstated•WEIGHT300g•NETWORKINGBluetooth,
802.11nWi-Fi•WARRANTYOneyearRTB•DETAILSwww.amazon.co.uk•PARTCODEEcho
Dor3rdGeneration•FULLREVIEWAug2019
VIDEORESOLUTION4Ksensor, 1080precording•CLOUDSTORAGEYes(subscriptionrequired)•
NETWORKING802.11ac•WARRANTYOneyearRTB•PARTCODENestCamIQOutdoor•
FULLREVIEWJul2018
REMOTETHERMOSTATYes•HOTWATERSUPPORTYes•INDIVIDUALRADIATORCONTROL
Yes•VOICEASSISTANTSUPPORTAlexa,GoogleAssistant,Siri•APPSiOS,Androidandweb•
FULLREVIEWJan2018
VIDEORESOLUTION1080p•CLOUDSTORAGEYes(free)•NETWORKING802.11n•
WARRANTYOneyearRTB•PARTCODENS-CAM-02•FULLREVIEWJun2019
DRIVERS (^1) • RMSPOWEROUTPUTNotstated•DOCKCONNECTORNone•WIRELESS802.11ac
Wi-Fi,Bluetooth5.0•DIMENSIONS118x179x67mm•WEIGHT480g•WARRANTYOneyearRTB

• PARTCODEHomeHub•FULLREVIEWFeb2019

VIDEORESOLUTION1080p•CLOUDSTORAGEYes•

NETWORKING802.11n•WARRANTYTwoyearspartsandtheft

protection•PARTCODE8VR1S7-0EU0•FULLREVIEWDec2018

Choosinga... Smartthermostat

01

Asmart thermostat can save you a

lot of moneybyintelligently

controlling your heating.

Most smart heating devices are designed

to be used with hot water central heating

systems, with the boiler directly controlled

by the system. These typically require arelay

to be wired intoyour boiler,with awireless

thermostat giving you direct control.

Smartphone apps then tie intothe system to

give you remotecontrol. While it’s possible

to fit controls yourself,you maywant to pay

an experienced plumber to do the job: expect

to payaround £150 foratypical installation.

If you have electric heating, there are

very fewchoices, and the big names (Nest,

Honeywell and so on) do not directly

support these systems.

02

Want smart hot water control?

If you want to remotely set

schedules and disable hot water while

you’re away, choose your smart system

carefully,asmany don’t have this option.

Hot water control usually requires asecond

relaytobewired intothe boiler.

03

What kind of heating system do

you want? There are two main

choices: acentral system and one with

individual radiator controls. The former

replaces your existing thermostat, and

lets you set one temperature foryour

entire house.The latter requires each

radiator valve to be replaced with a

smart valve so that each room and

radiator can have its own individual control.

This option is more expensive to install but

will provide you with greater savings.

04

Do you use asmart personal

assistant? Make sure that your smart

thermostat supports the one that you use.

Amazon Alexa, powered by the Echo and

Echo Dot, is the best-supported system;

Apple’s HomeKit, powered by Siri, isn’t so

well supported; Google Assistant, built into

Google Home,isjust gaining traction and

supports Nest only.

05

If you want your smart heating

system to do more,look forIFTTT

support. With this handy system, you can set

automatic rules, such as turning the heating

off if the outside temperature rises.

TADOSmartThermostat

★★★★★

£179•www.amzn.to/2ZxwIfZ

Aflexible and stylish-looking

smart heating system, the Tado

Smart Thermostat distinguishes

itself with aclever geolocation feature that turns on your

heating when you enter aroom and switches it off,saving

money, when you leave.

door

nsive

ld Nest

mage quality

ecognition

wmuch

era from its mount

mendous

security

it’s not all

at up to

olution,

ragemakeakeakeake

ree)•NETWORKING802.11n•