Computer Shopper - UK (2019-12)

ISSUE 382|COMPUTER SHOPPER|DECEMBER 2019 57

SMARTHOME

AMAZONEchoDot3rdGeneration

★★★★★

£35•www.amzn.to/2VVl5Bs

NEST CamIQOutdoor

★★★★★

£299•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 finallyaviable music

player ,ina dditionto 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

replacementforthe 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 isatremendous

bargainof an indoor security

camera. In many ways, it’s not all

that advanced–footage is only shot at upto

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 andavery clever device in itself,

jumping seamlessly between providing mapped-out travel routes,

playingYouTube videos and showcasing photoalbums.

This is the bestof the new

breed of smart, camera-

equipped doorbells: it’s easy

to install, comes withabundled chime,and

has fairly low subscription costsforstoring

footage in the cloud.

DRIVERS (^1) • RMSPOWEROU TPUTNotstated•WEIGHT300g•NETWORKINGBluetooth,
802.11nWi-Fi•WARRANTYOneyearRTB•DETAILSwww.amazon.co.uk•PARTCO DEEcho
Dor3rdGeneration•FULLREVIEWAug2019
VIDEORESOLUTION4Ksensor, 1080precording•CLOUDSTORAGEYes(subscriptionrequire d)•
NETWORKING802.11ac•WARRANTYOneyearRTB•PARTCO DENestCamIQO utdoor•
FULLREVIEWJul2018
REMOTETHERMOSTATYes•HOTWATERSUPP ORTYes•INDIVIDUALRADIATORCONTROL
Yes•VOICEASSISTANTSUPP ORTAlexa,Google Assistant,Siri•APPSiOS, Androi dandweb•
FULLREVIEWJan2018
VIDEORESOLUTION1080p•CLOUDSTORAGEYes(free)•NETWORKING802.11n•
WARRANTYOneyearRTB•PARTCO DENS-CAM-02•FULLREVIEWJun2019
DRIVERS (^1) • RMSPOWEROU TPUTNotstated•DOCKCONNECT ORNone•WIRELESS802.11ac
Wi-Fi,Bluetooth5.0•DIMENSI ONS118x179x67mm•WEIGHT480g•WARRANTYOneyearRTB

• PARTCO DEHomeHub•FULLREVIEWFeb2019

VIDEORESOLUTION1080p•CLOUDSTORAGEYes•

NETWORKING802.11n•WARRANTYTwoyearspartsandtheft

protection•PARTCO DE8VR1S7-0EU0•FULLREVIEWDec2018

Choosinga... Smartthermostat

01

Asmart thermostat can save you a

lot of moneybyi ntelligently

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 requirearelay

to be wired intoyour boiler,with awireless

thermostat giving you direct control.

Smartphone apps then tie intothe systemto

give you remotecontrol. While it’s possible

to fit controls yourself,you ma ywant to pay

an experienced plumberto do the job: expect

to payaround £150foratypical 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 wantto remotely set

schedules and disable hot water while

you’re away, choose your smart system

carefully,asm any don’t have this option.

Hot water control usually requiresasecond

relaytobewired int othe boiler.

03

What kindof heating system do

you want? There are two main

choices:acentral system and one with

individual radiator controls. Theformer

replaces your existing thermostat, and

lets you set onetemperatureforyour

entire house.The latter requires each

radiatorvalve to be replaced with a

smart valve so that each room and

radiator can have its own individual control.

This option is more expensiveto install but

will provide you with greater savings.

04

Do you useasmart personal

assistant? Make sure that your smart

thermostat supports the one that you use.

Amazon Alexa, poweredby the Echo and

Echo Dot, is the best-supported system;

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

well supported; Google Assistant, built into

Google Home,isj ust gaining traction and

supports Nest only.

05

If you want your smart heating

systemto do more,look forIFTTT

support. With this handy system, you can set

automatic rules, such as turning the heating

off if the outsidetemperature rises.

TADOSmartThermostat

★★★★★

£145•www.amzn.to/2ZxwIfZ

Aflexible and stylish-looking

smart heating system, theTado

Smart Thermostat distinguishes

itself withaclever geolocationfeature that turns on your

heating when you enteraroom and switches itoff,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,

ragem akeakeakeake

ree)•NETWORKING802.11n•