Smart technology has gained immense popularity in recent years. Smartphones have been the kickstarter of the smart home revolution. Today there are gadgets to prepare your coffee before you wake up, turn on your room’s air conditioner while you are driving home from work, and water your plants while you are on vacation. This article introduces to you some smart devices for a better living, though you may already be aware of some of them
Robotic cleaners
Robotic cleaners have arrived in the market to take up domestic cleaning tasks. Floor cleaning robots allow vacuum cleaning as well as wet mopping of floors and other flat surfaces. Higher-end robots can also perform functions like swimming-pool cleaning and your lawn’s maintenance.
One interesting feature of all these robots is automated sensing of stairs to prevent a fall. Another fun factor is that these robots automatically retreat towards the charging dock when out of charge.
The robots come in various sizes and prices. The basic dusting robots start at INR4000. For example, Milagrow’s Roboduster costs INR 3500 only. Proper floor cleaners cost over INR18,000. Brands like ReadyMaid, Milagrow and iRobot, which have recently entered the Indian market, bring you a substantial list to choose from. With timely maintenance, these cleaners can take the load of strenuous chores off you and ensure a better living.
Wireless speaker systems
Wi-Fi connected speakers are good for audiophiles. You can install any number of speakers across any number of rooms and control them from a single mobile application, provided all of them are configured on the same Wi-Fi network. You can choose to play the same audio through all the speakers or play different tunes across different speakers. Some speakers also come with voice command and AI support.
Bose Soundtouch is a popular option in the market, starting at INR 15,000. The Sonos Play series, starting at INR 20,000, is another recommendable option. Amazon’s Echo series AI-enabled speakers cost around INR 10,000.
Smart lighting
While smart switches help you turn the lights on and off remotely, there are lot many other lighting features required to create the best home ambience. These additional features could be auto-dimming, colour control and ambience effects among others. But for these features you need the lighting itself to be smart.
Smart bulbs are usually paired with a smartphone via Bluetooth and controlled by a mobile application. The application helps you to decide the brightness as well as the colour of lamp’s light. Many light bulbs also have the intelligence to auto-customise with other external factors like audio or music.
Smart bulbs cost INR 1000 onwards depending on features like voice command, IFTTT support and so on. Syska offers Smartlight Rainbow LED bulb at Rs 1500. TP-Link has its own range of smart bulbs costing around INR 2500. Xiaomi’s smart Yeelight LED costs INR 2000.
Newer players who are innovating in India also offer some commendable options. For instance, Delhi-based Cube-26’s Reos Lite smart bulbs cost INR 1300. Gurgaon-based Mansaa’s Smartshine smart bulbs are priced at Rs 1800. And of course, there is Philips Hue, which costs much higher.
Smart Locks
Doorlocks are also going digital. These are mobile-activated and provide absolute security due to their sturdy and reliable designs. You can automatically lock the doors when you leave home and open them with a touch on your mobile screen. So, if you are at work and your parents come down to meet you at home, you can remotely unlock doors of your house using the mobile application to let them in.
Some smart locks also come with two-way audio and video interface. Answer your door using your smartphone or watch the real-time video of your doorstep while you are inside or even far away. Yet, apart from all the advanced features, smart locks give you the flexibility to open them even with their traditional keys.
Some popular smart locks include Yale’s YDR3110 available for about INR 15,000, August’s Smart Lock for INR 19,000 or Samsung’s digital lock for about INR 20,000.
Wireless security cameras
Wireless security cameras allow you to watch the inside and outside of your home from any Internet-connected device. These have in-built intelligence to record video footage whenever there is motion within the covered area, which can be viewed in real time on a smartphone.
You can check live streams at your own convenience as well. Video footages can be stored in cloud servers and accessed from anywhere. Additionally, many cameras come with two-way voice interaction feature, which lets you talk to the person at the other end using the smartphone. All this is driven by mobile applications.
Some products that you can explore in the market are D3D Fisheye Vision for INR 4000, Sricam SP005 for INR 3000 and YI home camera starting from INR 2000.
