Last year’s Logitech Pop button were an inventive solution to a common smart home problem: A lack of switches to go along with devices. You could wire up Logitech’s spring-mounted Pop buttons instead of having to fish out your smartphone for basic tasks like adjusting an internet-connected lightbulb or thermostat. And now, if you use Apple’s HomeKit, you can do the same with this year’s Pop.
The new Pop has the distinction of being the first internet-connected button inside Apple’s growing smart home ecosystem, Logitech said, and it works as you’d expect: You can control any compatible HomeKit-device you’ve set up within the iOS app.
Otherwise, it doesn’t do much to switch up last year’s formula. The new Pop still ships with an adhesive rear cover, and connects to a smartphone or tablet via Bluetooth. It’s programmable — each button press can be tied to a different action, like dimming the lights and flipping on the television or opening the blinds. And it works with Logitech’s existing Pop companion app, which lets you create IFTTT-like “recipes” with custom delays, timing, and activation orders.
It’s a plug-and-play affair with just about every product that Logitech’s Harmony remote platform supports. The Pop can toggle wirelessly connected Sonos speakers on and off, flip Philips Hue overheads to a certain color, and open and close Lutron window drapes. And better still, it works in tandem with Logitech’s internet-connected Harmony remotes, if you happen to have one or two of those lying around — you can program a Pop to switch off your television with a tap, for example, or tune in to a favorited cable channel with a double press.
That’s just the tip of the iceberg — hardware on open platforms like WeMo, SmartThings, and Insteon platforms are also compatible. And existing Logitech Pop owners are getting a software update — users will be able to control Osram Lighting, Hunter Douglas Shades, and Lutron.
“You still want it to be simple, you still want it to be capable,” Logitech’s senior director of Home Control Neil Raggio said. “And so we landed on […] gestures, as something from a mental model that would be easy enough that a user would know [how to use it].”
The Logitech Pop Smart Button Kit starts at $50, and ships with the bridge necessary to connect it to your Wi-Fi network. Each additional button costs $40, and the product comes in white, alloy, coral, and teal.
