On this week's episode of the Smart Home Insider podcast, we cover a new plane tracker, a smart home dashboard app, and review several new devices.
Our guest this week is Daniel Wroclawski, Senior Home & Appliances Writer at Consumer Reports. Dan, a repeat co-host for the podcast, has lots of experience reviewing the latest smart home tech.
Leading off the news for the week is a new app for monitoring your home. It's called HomeDeck, and it allows you to create a dashboard to control various accessories and monitor camera feeds.
We love the ambient mode that brings in other relevant information like the local weather or your family calendar. It's a one-time purchase, too, with no subscription required.
Also in the news is a pair of new controls from Leviton. There is a new Decora dimmer and Decora switch, D36HD-1BW and D315S-1BW respectively, which have native Matter-over-Wi-Fi support.
They benefit from everything else in the Leviton ecosystem like the ability to pair a wired or wireless companion switch. The big downside is the neutral wire requirement, which means it won't work for many older homes.
Finally, FlightPortrait went up for preorder. It's a Spectra-6 color e-ink frame that can display planes passing above your home in real-time and display them as vintage airline posters.
It has open-source software for further customization. It's similar to other e-ink smart photos that have launched recently, but with a cool aviation twist.
Following the news, we hopped into a few reviews. We check out the Schlage Sense Pro, Twelve South Valet, and Hisense dehumidifier.
The Schlage Sense Pro is the second "real" Ultra Wideband lock to come to market. This Thread-enabled lock will automatically unlock as you approach and so far works exclusively with Apple Home Key.
Twelve South recently updated its popular Valet. This leather charger now supports 25W of wireless power and comes in a new, smaller size.
Lastly, the Hisense dehumidifier comes after its CES debut and is the first model to hit the market with Matter support. It's interesting though, as the device shows as a fan, rather than a proper dehumidifier to the various ecosystems.
We wrap the episode with a pair of listener questions. Alex wants to know their options for affordable smart shades and Tony is looking for the best smart home router.
Links from the Smart Home Insider podcast
- Consumer Reports Smart Home Hub
- Dan Wroclawski at CR
- HomeDeck on App Store
- New Leviton Decora Dimmer
- New Leviton Decora Switch
- Ubiquiti Thread Pro
- FlightPortrait Flight Tracker
- Schlage Sense Pro
- Schlage Sense Pro Review
- Twelve South Valet
- Hisense Matter Dehumidifier
- SmartWings Retrofit Roller
- SmartWings Sun Filter Shades
- Eero 7 Pro
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