Samsung’s approach to smart homes appliances, to say the least, has been quite ‘inconsistent’. None of this has really been helped along by the fact that Bixby and the company’s most awaited smart speaker, the Galaxy Home, are still lost in the woods.
The company in 2014, acquired home automation startup named SmartThings, which is comparatively steady under its eye. And it just launched a trio of its products comprising, SmartThings Cam, WiFi Smart Plug, and Smart Bulb, aiming to enter the connected home market with low cost smart home appliances.
SmartThings Cam enables families keep a watch on what is most valuable to them at home. With SmartThings app families can easily see home from anywhere. The app also gives notifications that intuitively distinguish between people and other motions, for instance, that of a pet or a car passing by. Users can also set activity zones to pay attention to a particular area, such as notifying about movements of sick old people when no one is at home or in any case as required. The Cam provides Full HD (1080p) 145-degree, wide-angle camera and switches to night vision in case lights are off, and is worth $90.
In addition to the SmartThings Cam, Samsung has introduced SmartThings Wifi Smart Plug and SmartThings Smart Bulb under its SmartThings product lines. Both SmartThings Cam and Wifi Smart Plug, can operate easily via in-home Wi-Fi, and a SmartThings Hub is not required. However, the Smart Bulb does require Smart Hub costing $70, which is quite not surprising given its $10 worth.
Smart Bulb is a smarter cost effective appliance to light up a place with a voice control feature. It also offers personalization such as, dimming the lights etc. when used together with a SmartThings Hub and the SmartThings app.
Wifi Smart Plug allow users make nearly every lamp, small appliance or electronic device in the home smart with a discreet, compact design and voice control support .
Smart Plug provides a pretty good bargain at $18 in comparison to Amazon’s $25. All three; Alexa, Google Assistant and Bixby can work with all of the new products mentioned above.
The Cam, Smart Plug and Smart Bulb are available in market for purchase starting today.
