Smart Home Trends

Sure, smart home hubs aren’t new, but the next generation of hubs offers new features that make life even easier.

The Amazon Echo Plus, the next generation of Alexa-powered Amazon devices, acts as a smart home hub, voice controller and speaker system all in one. Turn out the lights, find out the weather or play your favourite tunes effortlessly.

The Samsung Smart Things Hub, meanwhile, is controlled using the free companion app from either your smartphone or tablet, and gives you the option to pair it with Amazon Alexa for voice control.

Why do you want a Smart Hub?

Stream your music, call a friend, and connect all your other smart devices through your Smart Home Hub in order to automate your home however you want.A hub can be the centre of your smart home activity and the perfect place to start.

Gone are the days you need to shell out a monthly fee for someone else to monitor your home – now you can do it yourself from a smart security system.

The Arlo Pro Security System is wireless, weatherproof and rechargeable, and comes equipped with 4 HD cameras that record sharp video, even in the dark. It will also send you alerts when sound or motion is detected.

The iCamera Keep Pro automatically identifies, tracks and records activity in your home. This 1080p security camera also sends you notifications when it hears smoke and carbon monoxide alarm sirens.

On a different scale video doorbells such as the Google Nest Hello give you the security of always knowing who’s at your front door, even if you’re not at home. Once installed, Hello gives you a live always-on HD video stream of your doorstep and can send you mobile alerts when someone approaches, rings the doorbell, or leaves a package.

Why do you want a Smart Security device?

With the new era of home security, you can monitor motion in your home yourself – from anywhere – and see who’s at the door, who’s coming and going, and even check out what the dog’s up to when you’re not there.In short, you’re putting your home’s security in your hands.

Control your lighting and adjust the atmosphere in any room at any time – from anywhere – with smart lighting.

Starter kits like the Phillips Hue White LED Starter Kit offer a great foundation and let you dip your toe into smart lighting. As you get more serious, you can explore systems that let you transform the way you light your home through colours, sensors, dimmers and so much more.

Why do you want smart lighting?

Smart lighting lets you easily control your lights through sensors, switches and mobile apps. Make your lights behave as though there’s someone at home when your house is empty; use motion sensors to turn on your lights when someone walks into the room; or create the ultimate mood by choosing from millions of colour combinations. With smart lighting, you can give your home’s security, energy efficiency and ambiance a boost.

Achieve greater control over your home’s temperature, and start saving big on your energy bill.

The Nest Learning Thermostat 3rd Generation learns your habits and adjusts to your lifestyle over time, helping you conserve energy and lower your utility bills pretty much automatically. Plus, it can program itself and offers extensive smart home compatibility.

The ecobee 4 meanwhile is easy to schedule, offers reliable room sensors for room-to-room temperature control, and will be highly compatible with your HVAC system.Having Alexa built into its hardware is a big plus for many, but still works with other home automation systems, including Siri.

Why do you want a smart thermostat?

Beyond saving you money on your heating and cooling costs, a smart thermostat lets you automate your home’s climate, check in on your home while away, and adjust the temperature from anywhere. Plus, you can analyze your energy usage and tweak your habits to reduce your carbon footprint.

Take your home entertainment to a whole new level and transform the way you spend your downtime. With Smart TVs and Smart Speakers, you can enjoy a truly connected viewing and listening experience, all controllable through voice, app or remote.

Smart speakers such as the Sonos One or Harmam Kardon Astra blend great sound with voice assistance – simply ask your speaker to play music, answer questions, control smart home devices and much more.

When it comes to viewing, Samsung HDR Smart TVs provide exceptional colour, contrast and clarity, while the built-in Tizen operating system gives you access to popular apps such as Netflix and YouTube.

LG Smart TVs also boast an immersive viewing experience along with internet connectivity, giving you access to the LG Content store and a full web browser for surfing.

Why do you want a smart home entertainment system?

Smart TVs offer on-demand viewing, connectivity with other smart devices and the opportunity to view live TV in higher definition than ever before. Some even become your smart home hub, allowing you to create your smart home base in the living room.Pair with smart speakers and enjoy excellent sound quality that you can easily control – from wherever you are in your home.

As you set up your smart home start with some fundamentals – including smart plugs that let you control your devices, appliances and lights from your smartphone.

The WeMo Mini SmartPlug lets you turn any electrical outlet into a Smart Plug, giving you control over devices, like lamps and heaters, using the free WeMo app. The Samsung SmartThings smart plug uses Zigbee 3.0 connectivity to do the same, giving you control using your smartphone via the SmartThings app.