Has anyone else began to dabble with smart home products? I would love to see some smart home devices with the Anker name, such as smart outlets, bulbs and cameras (similar to the AnkerCam). Ideally, it would work with existing standards, such as HomeKit, Alexa, SmartThings, Wink, etc and not require yet another app to control them.
What are your thoughts on Smart Home products?
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Not yet but I am kinda old school when it comes to turning lights on and off etc. Plus I really donāt need any more reasons to be lazy, can cover that most of the time already 
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I havenāt tried any of the 'Smart Home ā products neither but have always been kind of curious about them. And will so many different brands out there, having never tried them, I wouldnāt know which brand to trust or choose. If Anker made them, I wouldnāt hesitate on trying them. 
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If I didnāt live in a rural area with no internet access besides slow, expensive satellite internet I would have my home transformed into a rural fort knox, I have a side of me that would love to have a fully automated home. Just seems convenient and good since im at work for weeks at a time and would love to see I still have a home to return to lol.
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Years ago I used X10 stuff in our old house. It was nothing fancy. I had remote switches, lamp modules, and such. I didnāt replace any wall switches or outlets, so I had the big bulky boxes visible.
It was nice to be able to use a wireless remote to turn lights on/off, dim them, turn my hepa air cleaner on/off, etc It was nice to be able to use the app on the PC to randomize lights turning on/off when we were away. It was nice to be able to remote in and turn stuff off/on.
Now that we moved into a bigger house, I kind of miss it, but I donāt find it worth spending the time and money getting it setup and working here.
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Anker does have a Smart Home sister brand called Eufy.
Currently they only have a robot vacuum and some LED desk lights, but Iām sure theyāll explore other categories.
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I think this would be a great market for them to get into. Smart Home/Smart devices are starting to become more popular and more affordable. I just paid $50 for an Amazon Echo Dot and feel it would be great if I could buy anker smart home switches/power outlets/etc.
I currently have 2 Belkin Wemo outlets, a Wemo Motion, a Wemo Insight, and a Wemo wall switch. They are pretty rock solid and responsive but the price is a real downer. I have used the switches with electric heaters in the Maine winter and had no issues. The heater switch actually burned out before anything happened to the Wemo. I used to also use an outlet connected to the wall switch to power my 1.4kw electric car charger over night also with no issues. These guy are about $40-$50 each. I also have recently gotten into the GE Link bulbs with the Wink App. These have much more flexibility with scheduling and their ārobotsā are awesome. Grouping is also allowed. Neither of these currently work with Appleās HomeKit. The Link bulbs also often have issues with connectivity where the bulbs have to be repaired or the hub reset due to extended signal loss. Happened twice and now Iām on a 4 month stretch with 0 issues since upgrading my Wink Hub. I also purchased a $200 August door lock and the app and performance leave much to be desired. The app is designed for owners of more than one lock. The first lock also stopped working, started grinding, and making noises all the time. It was so distracting we had to replace it (thank you August). The second one lasted about 2 months before doing the same. Our door is a weird cheap door so not surprised. Lastly, Nest thermostat has been a trooper for 3 years. No issues ever. Whatsoever. Bottom line, all companies use different protocols, no one is adopting home kit that should be, and its all too expensive/bulky to retrofit an entire house.
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Ugh, I have this issue, too, with the GE Link bulbs. Sometimes, if I leave them turned off for 12 hours, theyāll automatically reconnect to the hub without repairing.
Yeah. Tech support once gave me a trick on resetting them with out resetting them. Its such a pain to turn it on/off at one second intervals 5 times for each bulb. I bought them in packs of 2 bulbs and one link hub for $25 so I have about 8 now which is pretty good for now. Any more and the process would be really lousy and I have most parts of my house covered. I did get a sweet deal on the indoor/outdoor larger spot lights so I still have four of those in a box for a landscaping light project next summer. Iām really hoping they add home kit to the next hub since Wink Hub 2 just came out with out the support which is a mistake. Phillips has home kit but their bulbs are way more expensive than the average $14.50 Iāve paid for my bulbs. Iāve been waiting for a company (read: ANKER) to develop an in wall smart switch. They keep stuffing these bulbs with all the electronic guts into a tight form factor, when there is plenty of space behind the drywall. The LED bulbs are cheap that with a smart switch, we could get it done.
I have multiple Nest products (Thermostat, 3 Smoke/Carbon monoxide detectors, and an outdoor camera) and they are all awesome. I can see my thermostat temp and humidity on my phone, change it, set schedules as well as it learns my habits and tries to save me money (which it has!) The smoke/carbon monoxide detectors are on point as well. They give my wife peace of mind because we have a dog at home during the day alone, and her worst fear is something happening to him. It will alert us at the slightest detection which gives us added assurance.
I know what you mean. Iāve had to do this a few times and it is a pain! Also a nuisance: if the power goes off and comes back on, all the āsmartā bulbs come on at full brightness.
If they do start making some products, I hope they support zwave. That is what I have found easiest to standardize on with my setup.
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Yes. I would love to see this.
Agreed! A couple years ago, I switched from Insteon to Z-Wave and found it much more reliable.
I also hope they do not require communication with a remote server. I am building my system out of devices that only talk to my internal system.
I love them and would most definitely consider purchasing the Anker brand, if it were available. Iāve got the Echo and a few ādots,ā and have been wanting some accessories for some time. However, the prices on these products are still ridiculously high.
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I just started the addiction with 3 LIFX Color 1000 bulbs. I have to say, Iām loving them. Now I want to get an Echo Dot, and maybe a Nest Cam at some point! My biggest concern about Smart Home tech is security. I donāt want some creeper spying on my camera. Or, especially if you have smart locks on your door, that is a whole new level of scary. I canāt see myself ever having smart locks.