Where and what should I buy for smart home gadgets after all?

It's hard to understand because it's too bamboo shoots after the rain.

Gadgets for realizing smart homes such as smart speakers, smart home hubs, smart light bulbs, etc. have entered the mainstream at once in the last few years. However, since it came out all at once, it is difficult to understand what kind of genre there is, what kind of product I need now, and which product is good for each genre.

So, Gizmodo reporter Andrew Liszewski picked up the major smart home realization gadgets by genre, and summarized what kind of people the gadgets are for, especially what we recommend. Some of them are only from the United States, so I've added some information about Japan.

First of all, mesh Wi-Fi

・ What kind of person will use it?

Wi-Fi itself has been in use for a long time before smart homes, but now that smart speakers, microwave ovens, vacuum cleaners, and everything else is connected to Wi-Fi, it's not as capricious as it used to be, and it's always as expected. Everyone hopes that they will be connected to. However, in a large two-story or three-story house, or in a house with finely divided rooms, it may be physically unreasonable to cover the entire house with a single ordinary Wi-Fi router. For those who live in such a house, a mesh Wi-Fi solution like the one recommended here will help.

・ Recommended: Netgear Orbi RBK50 ($ 310, Japanese price 38,869 yen)

The best product of its kind is Netgear's Orbi RBK50 ($ 310, Japanese price 38,869), as long as you can tolerate a white plastic look like a deodorant. With this, you can have a stable Wi-Fi life no matter where you are in a big house. As with other mesh network solutions, settings can be made using a smartphone app or by accessing "orbilogin.net" from a web browser. Each node has multiple Gigabit Ethernet ports, so you can connect it to TV set-top boxes and game consoles around your house by wire to make the connection even more stable. It also has a USB port, so you can connect a printer here and print easily from other devices on the network.

・ Or here too

For those who don't need a wired connection to a router or access to the settings screen from a browser, or who can't stand the deodorant-like appearance, Google Wifi may be a better choice. It looks neat, can be configured from a sophisticated mobile app, and you can check network performance. After that, you can schedule internet access to specific devices from the app, and it will be easy to manage your child's internet usage time. Also, security patches and software updates are all done automatically in the background, so maintenance is almost unnecessary, and it is convenient for building Wi-Fi at home, for example.

Smart speaker

・ What kind of person will use it?

If one day you can accept the reality that virtual assistants will be in every scene, it's time to buy smart speakers. It's a hassle to find a smartphone to check the weather and check the game status of your favorite sports team, and it's nice to be able to operate a smart home compatible device with just your voice.

・ Recommended: Google Home Mini ($ 49, Japanese price 6480 yen)

Google Home Mini is much cheaper than Google Home, which is not a mini (a difference of 4860 yen in Japan), and you may get it as a bonus for other home appliances. Still, it's never cheap or bad. The Google Home Mini's small, round, color-selectable enclosure contains a talented Google assistant. Even if you don't like the design, it's small and easy to hide.

Amazon's Alexa may have pioneered the field of smart speakers, but the Google Assistant has since become more capable and better at understanding voice commands. We can now connect to almost any of Google's online services without literally moving one finger. Google Home Mini is relatively cheap, so even if you buy three or so so that you can use them anywhere in the house, your wallet won't hurt so much. However, you can use a music streaming service or connect it to a smartphone to make a Bluetooth speaker, but if you value sound quality, you should consider another method.

・ Or here too

Amazon released Alexa earlier than Google Home, so for those who have been using Alexa for a long time, or who are heavily involved in Amazon's ecosystem, the latest Echo Dot ($ 50, Japanese price 5980 yen) May be easier to use. It looks and sounds better than its predecessor, and you can connect it to a larger speaker if you want more authentic sound. However, Alexa isn't as effective as the Google Assistant, so opening a mobile app to change settings can be a hassle. Still, it's many light-years ahead of Apple's Siri.

Robot vacuum cleaner

・ What kind of person will use it?

For those who want to keep the house clean, but don't want to vacuum it all the time, and don't want to use the cleaning service, but it's ants to reduce the burden of housework with gadgets.

・ Recommended: Neato Botvac D7 Connected ($ 800 ≒ about 88,000 yen)

Neato may not be the first name that comes to mind when it comes to robot vacuums, but the Botvac D7 Connected has the latest navigation technology that is also used in other robot vacuums. The Neato Botvac D7 Connected uses a laser (although not officially released in Japan) to generate a detailed map of each room, so if your bedroom is messed up and isn't a vacuum cleaner yet, it's off limits with the mobile app. You can set the area. You can also name a specific room or area in your house, and in the future it will be equipped with a smart assistant function that will work as it is when you give an instruction such as "clean the kitchen". is.

・ Or here too

Robot vacuums are cumbersome to throw away the trash that collects after cleaning, but iRobot has developed Roomba i7 +, which even does the work for the robot itself. However, it costs $ 950 (Japanese price: 129,880 yen) just for convenience, and you also need a space to set up a dock to store garbage. But Roomba i7 + also has the best iRobot brains, so you can map and schedule rooms, as well as routine settings to clean only specific areas from the mobile app.

Smart home hub

・ What kind of person will use it?

If you buy a smart speaker, you may have to ask your smart assistant about the weather, movie information, and even the time to bake meat in the oven. But if you feel that voice commands aren't enough to control your entire smart home ... the touch screen comes into play.

・ Recommended: Google Nest Hub ($ 130 ≒ about 14,000 yen, weight list is being accepted in Japan)

Amazon Alexa was a starter, but it's already overtaken by the Google Assistant in terms of ability and sales. And Google introduced the cheapest Google Home Hub with a touch screen, which was recently redesigned to Google Nest Hub with Google I / O. Still, the price is 130 dollars (about 14,000 yen) just to add 30 dollars (about 3300 yen) to Google Home, which is much more affordable than the 230 dollars (about 25,000 yen) of Amazon's hub with display, Echo Show. is. And I'm glad that Nest Hub will be released in Japan as well, and at the time of translating this article, we are accepting weight list registration.

Google Nest Hub isn't the perfect device for listening to and watching music and videos, but the 7-inch touch interface is a great way to organize your smart home device. Since it specializes in ease of use at home, I am good at finding recipes and displaying them in a format suitable for the screen, which is appreciated during cooking. And Google also has Nest Hub Max, but I think Nest Hub is safer because it doesn't have a camera.

・ Or here too

For those who have introduced Amazon Alexa before Google Home and have become full of Amazon, the Echo Show may be a better choice. The touch screen is 10.1 inches larger than the Nest Hub, you can make video calls with the front camera, and the quality of the speakers is also better. It also natively supports wireless protocols that connect to smart light bulbs like Philips Hue, making it easier to operate. However, the price is 230 dollars (Japanese price 27,980 yen), and it feels like a premium is put on it.

Smart plug

・ What kind of person will use it?

For those who have a TV remote control and suddenly wonder, "Why can't other devices be operated remotely?" With a smart plug, that's possible. And with this, you can easily realize what a "smart home" means.

・ Recommended: Belkin's Wemo Mini ($ 30 ≒ 3300 yen)

Launched six years ago, Belkin's Wemo has been one of the most reliable products since the early days of smart homes. After a subsequent update, the compact Wemo Mini was introduced, which solves the problem of "too large to block the next outlet" that is often found in other smart plugs. Moreover, since it can be connected directly to Wi-Fi without using a separate hub, you can control the on / off of the gadget connected to the plug directly from the iOS or Android app. It is compatible with Amazon's Alexa, Google Assistant, and Apple's Siri, so you can control the voice of old lights, fans, etc. that you have at home.

Unfortunately, it seems that this is also not normally sold in Japan, but there are various smart plugs that are also compact and do not require a hub, and it may be thicker in Japan.

Smart light bulb

・ What kind of person will use it?

People who are worried that they may be careless when it is pitch black all the time when they go on a trip. Or if you're at home and want to moodyly adjust the lighting to suit your mood while sitting on the couch.

・ Recommended: Philips Hue (starting from $ 70, Japanese price starting from ¥ 8,541)

The Philips Hue is the first smart home product that seems more convenient than the hassle. Launched in 2012, it has expanded to almost all types of light bulbs and settings. You can also turn it on remotely in the mobile app, darken it moody, set a timer, turn it on with a motion sensor, change colors, and connect it to a voice assistant like Amazon's Alexa or Google Assistant. However, it does not connect directly to Wi-Fi, so you need a hub to make full use of it. We recommend starting with the easiest Philips Hue White Gradient Starter Set (a hub, two white bulbs, and a dimmer switch) and gradually expanding.

・ Or here too

There are smart light bulbs that are cheaper and do not require a hub. At the time of writing the article, Kasa of TP-Link can be purchased in the middle of the 2000 yen range, connected to Wi-Fi without a hub, and can be operated by voice with Amazon Alexa support. Iris Ohyama's smart light bulbs are also compatible with Alexa and Google Home, so there are more options.

Security camera

・ What kind of person will use it?

People who are concerned about the safety of household goods such as high-priced gadgets when they go out. Or for babies, older parents, or anyone else who wants to watch over.

・ Recommended: Logitech Circle 2 ($ 180 ≒ about 20,000 yen ~)

Circle 2 of Logitech (Logitech in Japan) is highly evaluated for its ease of use, as well as specifications such as 1080p video shooting, a wide angle of view of 180 degrees, and waterproof and dustproof. It has abundant functions such as detecting a person with the image recognition function (although it does not judge the individual), shooting with night vision, and collecting one day's worth of video in a time lapse of 30 seconds, Amazon Alexa, Google Assistant, It is compatible with Apple HomeKit, but unfortunately it has not been released in Japan.

Another Giz-like recommendation is Lighthouse, which was a smart camera full of AI-like functions such as 3D motion detection, human face recognition, and searching for people in saved videos. I couldn't get the desired success. "

Neither of the recommendations from the US Giz can be bought in Japan, so I tried to find a good alternative, but wide-angle / 1080p shooting, night vision, recording function, call function, waterproof, person detection, assistant support such as Amazon Alexa It's hard to find anything that meets all the conditions such as ... Ah, but as an easy-to-introduce one, Don Quijote's 3,980-yen camera is reasonably priced but has all the basic features. If you look at Amazon, there are various models, but there are many that have subtle Japanese, which makes me feel uneasy even though it is a security product.

But now Google is enriching its security camera Nest Cam, and Amazon has acquired Blink. And Apple not only announced HomeKit's security camera support at WWDC the other day, but also discovered that it had secretly bought the Lighthouse patent mentioned above. From this major movement, the decisive hit of a highly functional security camera that can be used with confidence in Japan may be born.

Source: Netgear, Google (1, 2, 3, 4), Amazon (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6), Neato, Belkin, Philips, Logitech, Lighthouse, The Verge