2019-09-01_Computer_Shopper

ISSUE 379|COMPUTERSHOPPER|SEPTEMBER (^201965)
SMARTHOME
AMAZONEchoDot3rdGeneration
★★★★★
£40•www.amzn.to/2VVl5Bs
NESTCamIQOutd
★★★★★
£329•nest.com/uk
NEOSSmartcam
★★★★★
£20•shop.neos.co.uk
GOOGLEHomeHub
★★★★★
£119•www.currys.co.uk
RINGVideoDoorbell 2
★★★★★
£149•www.box.co.uk
Asouped-upspeaker
means the latest Echo Dot
is finally aviable music
player,inadditionto the best-value Echo
speakerand smart home controller.Buy multipledevices and you can
scatter them throughoutyour home,maximisingAlexa coverage.
While this is an expen
replacementforthe old
Cam Outdoor,its imag l y
is withoutequal. Facial and sound recog
have also been improved, and it’s now
harder forthieves to remove the camerafrom its mount.
The Smartcam is atreme dous
bargainof an indoor se y
camera.In many ways,
that advanced –footageis only shot at
15fps, forinstance–but the 1080p reso
night-vision mode and free cloud storag
foranifty little package.
The first truly excellent
smart screen,Google’s
Home Hub is both a
multitalented smart home controllerand avery clever device in itself,
jumpingseamlesslybetweenproviding mapped-outtravel routes,
playing YouTube videos and showcasingphotoalbums.
This is the best of the new
breed of smart, camera-
equippeddoorbells:it’s easy
to install, comes with abundled chime,and
has fairly low subscriptioncosts 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

Choosing a... Smartthermostat

01

Asmart thermostatcan save you a

lot of moneybyintelligently

controllingyour heating.

Most smart heatingdevices are designed

to be used with hot water centralheating

systems, with the boiler directlycontrolled

by the system. These typicallyrequirearelay

to be wired intoyour boiler,with awireless

thermostatgiving you direct control.

Smartphoneapps then tie intothe system to

give you remotecontrol. While it’s possible

to fit controlsyourself,you maywant to pay

an experiencedplumberto do the job: expect

to payaround £150 foratypical installation.

If you have electricheating,there are

very fewchoices,and the big names (Nest,

Honeywell and so on) do not directly

supportthese systems.

02

Want smart hot water control?

If you want to remotely set

schedulesand disablehot water while

you’re away, chooseyour smart system

carefully,asmany don’t have this option.

Hot water controlusuallyrequiresasecond

relaytobewired intothe boiler.

03

What kind of heatingsystem do

you want? There are two main

choices:acentral system and one with

individualradiator controls.The former

replacesyour existingthermostat,and

lets you set one temperatureforyour

entire house.The latter requireseach

radiator valve to be replacedwith a

smart valve so that each room and

radiator can have its own individualcontrol.

This option is more expensiveto install but

will provide you with greater savings.

04

Do you use asmart personal

assistant?Make sure that your smart

thermostatsupportsthe one that you use.

AmazonAlexa, poweredby the Echo and

Echo Dot, is the best-supported system;

Apple’s HomeKit,poweredby Siri, isn’t so

well supported; GoogleAssistant,built into

GoogleHome,isjust gainingtractionand

supportsNest only.

05

If you want your smart heating

system to do more,look forIFTTT

support.With this handy system, you can set

automaticrules, such as turningthe heating

off if the outsidetemperaturerises.

TADOSmartThermostat

★★★★★

£139•www.amzn.to/2ZxwIfZ

Aflexible and stylish-looking

smart heatingsystem, the Tado

Smart Thermostatdistinguishes

itself with aclever geolocationfeature that turns on your

heatingwhen 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

up to

olution,

ragemakeakeakeake

ree)•NETWORKING802.11n•