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Latest by Terry Walsh

ecovacs deboot 601 robotic vacuum cleaner review feat

Ecovacs Deboot 601 robotic vacuum cleaner review

While mapping features are sorely missed, the Deebot 601 offers quiet operation and a suite of cleaning modes that, in combination, make it a friendly and enthusiastic performer in the home. Promoted below $200, it’s a snip for smart home owners on a budget. Read our review to learn more.
Johnson Controls GLAS review

Johnson Controls GLAS thermostat review

GLAS is the prettiest smart thermostat we’ve reviewed in some time, but a high price and flawed Cortana implementation means that it’s well short of the best. Read more about it in our full review.
Yale Assure Lock SL Connected review

Yale Assure Lock SL Connected by August review

The first fruit of Yale’s acquisition of August, this enhanced Assure Lock SL is a definite upgrade on last year’s model, adding style and smart versatility to home security. But we think the partnership needs more time to develop a smart lock that truly delivers the best of both brands. Read our full review to learn more.
Philips Hue Play Light Bar review

Philips Hue Play review

Philips Hue Play synchronizes lighting with music, video, and games for a great entertaining effect. But it’s early days for this immersive tech, and we had some trouble with getting the parts to sync up seamlessly. Hue Play needs some fine-tuning before we can fully recommend it. Read our review to learn more.
Honeywell SmarHome Security Starter Kit

Honeywell Smart Home Security Starter Kit Review

Despite its high price, the Honeywell Smart Home Security Starter Kit offers great value, bringing together home security, a network camera, and Alexa-enabled control in a comprehensive, easy-to-use package. We got a chance to test drive the system and came away mostly impressed.
Nest Hello

Nest Hello video doorbell review

Nest Hello’s crystal-clear video, intelligent features and simple operation ensure you’ll never tire of hearing the doorbell ring. Now you can answer your door no matter where you are.
philips hue lightstrip outdoor review feat

Philips Hue Lightstrip Outdoor review

Philips Hue fans can at last enjoy the brilliance of this weatherproof light strip, which offers simple, versatile positioning, a rich selection of 16 million color options, and bright, vibrant illumination. Deck life and holiday home decorating just got a whole lot better.
TP-Link Kasa review

TP-Link Kasa Cam Outdoor review

While premium cameras from the likes of Nest are pushing home security monitoring into the 4K HDR era, TP-Link Kasa Cam Outdoor proves you don’t have to break the bank to benefit from simple, friendly, high-performance protection. We got a chance to review the device and came away impressed.
netgear orbi voice review feat

Netgear Orbi Voice review

Packing high-speed networking from Netgear, premium audio from Harmon Kardon, and Alexa voice assistance from Amazon, Netgear’s Orbi Voice hits a high note in smart home convergence. Could this be the future of smart home devices? We took a look at the device to find out how well it works.
irobot roomba i7+ review profile

iRobot Roomba i7+ review

The range-topping, reimagined Roomba i7+ offers great cleaning performance, multi-floor mapping and automatic dirt disposal, throwing shade on discount dirt-busters. We wouldn’t be surprised to see other robovacs follow suite by copying many of the features of this device. We took it for a test spin to see how well it worked.
SimpliSafe review

SimpliSafe Home Security System review

These days, there a lot of do-it-yourself home security systems out there. How do you choose? Simplisafe’s latest offering brings together beautiful hardware and the ability to customize your home security package.
samsung smartthings w-fin counter

Samsung SmartThings Wi-Fi review

Collaboration with Plume ensures Samsung SmartThings Wi-Fi is quicker than its predecessor, but a lack of wired connectivity and fragmented controls means it’s not for everyone. Find out more in our review.
Nest-x-Yale review

Nest X Yale Lock review

Three years in the making, the Nest X Yale lock is stylish and beautiful, but offers surprisingly little substance. We were surprised by how difficult it was to install due to faulty parts. But newly-announced Google Assistant integration offers some promise.
Philips Hue White and Color Ambience Starter Kit Review

Philips Hue White and Color Ambience Starter Kit

While cheaper smart lighting options abound, few competitors can match Philips Hue’s blend of style, sophistication and simplicity that makes it easy to create the perfect ambience for your home. The White and Color Ambience Kit isn’t new, but with other lighting kits flooding the market, we figured it was a good idea to take a fresh look to see if it still holds up.
Ooma Butterfleye review

Ooma Butterfleye review

Ooma Butterfleye’s high quality, auto-adaptive imaging, wire-free operation, and free cloud storage delights, but with smart features tucked behind a paywall and no night vision support available, the camera overall disappoints performance-wise.

Ezviz ez360 Pano review

Ezviz ez360’s wide field of vision and extensive monitoring features are a step up from most consumer smart cams, but this camera isn’t the simplest to work with. We’re also unsure how, exactly, the device works with Google Assistant or Amazon Alexa. Read our review to find out more.
Philips Hue Calla

Philips Hue Calla Outdoor Pathway Light & Extension Kit Review

Installing outdoor LED lighting has been too difficult for too long. Philips Hue has made it easy by making outdoor lighting that’s gorgeous and exciting to use. A combination of style, sophistication and, best of all, simplicity makes Philips Hue Calla an easy pick. Here’s how testing went.
Ecovacs Deebot 901 review

Ecovacs Deebot 901 robotic vacuum review

The Ecovacs Deebot 901 Floor Cleaning Robot offers a fabulous blend of usability and advanced features at a great value. A $349 cleaning robot with room mapping, great cleaning performance and smart assistant integration? It’s time to put your cleaner on notice.
August Smart Lock Third Generation review bike

August Smart Lock (3rd gen) review

In our August Smart Lock Third Generation review we discover a lock that’s sleek, secure and simple to use.
wisenet smartcam d1

Wisenet SmartCam D1 video doorbell review

Pitched at the top of the video doorbell market, the Wisenet SmartCam D1 Video Doorbell has some great features, but can’t quite deliver the performance required to chase Nest and Ring away from your porch. Read our review to get more details.
Canary View review

Canary View review

The $99 Canary View is an impressive smart home camera with fantastic imaging and an attractive design. But it’s let down by motion detection issues and ongoing subscription fees required to unlock its full potential. Are those problems enough to detract from the camera's affordable price?
Nest Cam IQ Indoor review

Nest Cam IQ Indoor review

There are few smarter or more sophisticated cameras than Nest Cam IQ Indoor, which looks impressive and delivers all the features you could want. It's also expensive, though, and with other more affordable options out there, you might want to shop around.
Shark Ion Robot 750 review

Shark Ion Robot 750 review

There are more refined robovacs out there that provide extensive mapping abilities and better suction, but the Shark Ion 750 offers combines good performance and easy management with smart control to deliver great value for money. Just keep your cat and your furniture out of the way.
Wyze Cam Pan Review

Wyze Cam Pan review

While lacking refinement in some areas, there’s little doubt that the $30 Wyze Cam Pan delivers unparalleled value, with 360-degree pan/tilt support and imaging that outperforms many of its peers. We can’t believe Wyze has built a quality camera at such a low price point.
nest cam iq outdoor review feat

Nest Cam IQ Outdoor review

Nest is among the best. With excellent image quality and intelligent zoom, tracking, and facial recognition, the Nest Cam IQ Outdoor is one of the smartest cameras on the market right now. Here’s why.
VTech HD Pan & Tilt review

VTech HD Pan & Tilt (VC931) review

While remote pan and tilt controls plus responsive motion detection are great with the VTech HD Pan & Tilt Camera, the features aren’t enough to overcome a bad setup experience and low-quality imaging. This camera's somewhat affordable price isn't nearly enough to excuse the long list of problems we ran into.
WyzeCam v2 Review

WyzeCam v2 review

Think you can’t get a good security camera for under $100? Think again. While its supporting cloud services are patchy, WyzeCam v2 looks and performs better than any $20 smart cam should. We were overall surprised by and impressed with this little security camera’s performance.
scotts gro 7 zone smart watering controller box contents

Take charge of your yard with the Scotts Gro 7 Zone Smart Watering Controller

Make your irrigation system smarter with the Scotts Gro 7 Zone Smart Watering Controller, which gives you the ability to control when and how often you water your grass or outdoor plants. Download the app on your phone and even ask Google Assistant or Alexa to water the grass for you.
Nest Temperature Sensor Review

Nest Temperature Sensor review

Nest has finally released standalone sensors that remotely report temperatures home, allowing the Nest Learning Thermostat to effectively eradicate cold and hot spots around the home. Are they are worthy upgrade to your home thermostat, or are they dumb devices tacked onto a smart system?
honeywell lyric leak and water freeze detector

Flood-proof your home with Honeywell Lyric Wi-Fi Leak/Water Freeze Detector

At $80, the Honeywell Lyric Wi-Fi Leak and Water Freeze Detector is a simple and smart early-warning system for homes susceptible to floods. Setting it and forgetting it could someday save your life.
Honeywell Lyric C2 review

Honeywell Lyric C2 review

The Honeywell Lyric C2 is a compact smart home camera offering wide-angled, high quality imaging, and the ability to differentiate the sound of a smoke alarm from a baby’s cry.
Honeywell Lyric T5 review

Honeywell Lyric T5 review

The Honeywell Lyric T5 isn’t the prettiest or smartest, but adds app-based control and geo-fencing to the classic digital thermostat without breaking the bank
Nest Secure Review

Nest Secure review

Nest Secure’s high-quality hardware and super-slick features make smart home security a cinch. But it comes at quite the price.
Hive View review

Hive View review

Hive View’s sleek lines and premium finish will enhance the look of any smart home. But so-so image quality and limited features mean it doesn’t quite deliver all you’d expect for the price.