The Best New Smart Home Devices This Month!

[@HughD]

Hey, Brian, I really enjoy a look forward to your new product video each month and this was another good one. I have the new Aqara hub and the LTE subscription, but haven't used that yet. Having services that will still do certain things in the event of a power or Internet outage adds functionality to most smart homes. While I know you folks in Alberta could be accused of blowing smoke...toward your neighbors to the south, you never seem add to it!!! Thank you.

[@AutomateYourLife]

Ahahahahahaha!!! Well done with the pun there Hugh. You're so punny!

[@Joseph-ko2kl]

Really like the shorter more focused video's.

[@AutomateYourLife]

Noted!

[@troyh2657]

Hi Brian - awesome channel ! I was wondering what you would recommend for a home hub. I am very Alexa dependent for speakers and music. I am building a new house and already have 50+ Kasa switches and 2 bluetooth garage doors. I plan on having a bunch of POE cameras, roomba, thermostat etc. I plan on keeping alexa but i am interested 6:44 in a hub that can keep everything going when the internet goes down and i can control with Alexa. Do you have any recommendations ? Thank you Troy

[@AutomateYourLife]

Personally, I'm using Homey Pro. It's an expensive hub, and you should check that it's going to work with what you have. SmartThings sounds like a good option for you, but reliability (and cost) is lower. Aqara could be a good option too, but they really don't work much with other brands in their app. That's why the other two fit a bit better.

[@troyh2657]

@@AutomateYourLife thank you!🙏

[@obijuan-]

Me too, I most enjoy you bringing new products to us. Your reviews are honest telling us the good and the bad or "not quite there yet". That's most valuable to us on a budget. We know you are a Sonoff fan. So take a look at their new ZB Bridge Ultra. I just replaced my P with the U version and I see an improvement in those subdevices there were distance-wise dropping offline. I have no scientific method to measure, but I believe it has greater range. And the Ultra is Matter. Its pricier at $54 U.S. but a lot cheaper than a M3 with Matter.

[@AutomateYourLife]

A third of the price! Something for me to look into if I can 😃👍

[@obijuan-]

@@AutomateYourLife Great. Looking forward to your opinion, because you dive deep into a product that most of us know nothing about. The Ultra also has Ethernet, and 256 subdevices vice Pro which is WiFi only and 128 subdevices. So far though, I've not been able to link a Tuya compliant $5 "smart button" from AliExpress to the Sonoff. Only connects to a $17 Tuya bridge. The Tuya compliant smart button is half the Sonoff price, less than half everyone else's smart button, and 1/5th the price of a Flic. Tuya smart button is as big as a silver dollar (anyone know what a silver dollar is?) but half as thick as a Sonoff smart button.

[@Yama_1291]

All you need to make a garage door sensor is a freely articulating metal hinge and a contact sensor. Attach one side of the hinge directly to the garage door so the other side will hang down when the gate is open overhead but lays flat against the door when it's closed. Put the passive part of the contact sensor on the freely moving side of the hinge. Place the active side of the contact sensor so it will register the door as closed when it is. Takes 2 minutes.

[@AutomateYourLife]

Yep! But these are nice too!

[@rogeroshea3490]

Brian can you recommend an outdoor Bluetooth speaker that can be linked into HomeKit so as to link with HomePod minis

[@AutomateYourLife]

Ooooh I don't know that this exists Roger. Sonos can Airplay and they have an outdoor speaker, but it's likely not what you're hoping for. Apple doesn't allow Bluetooth pairing with their speakers.

[@rogeroshea3490]

As always Brian great video

[@AutomateYourLife]

Glad you enjoyed it! Thanks!

[@SageRamirez]

Blink Mini 2? I love that band!

[@AutomateYourLife]

😂😂 well done

[@TechWithTony]

Hi 🇨🇦. Re: Amazon Canada , is it really $219 for one of these govee triple flood lights? I checked the govee sight for these to see if the price is accurate. Doesn’t exist on govees sight.

[@AutomateYourLife]

US is $150 so that seems like a reseller

[@AutomateYourLife]

Just try going to the .com site and see what it comes to if you import to Canada. Usually is a bit less

[@TechWithTony]

@@AutomateYourLife thanks. They don’t ship to us in Canada. I’d have to wait until govee Canada carries it or pay the premium on Amazon.

[@AndyBerman]

The last time I saw a smart device named M5, it was trying to take over the enterprise

[@AutomateYourLife]

😳😳😂

[@mtnpeek6748]

What’s the best outdoor battery operated camera for a rv that can be mounted with a magnet?

[@AutomateYourLife]

Oof, that's quite the question. Honestly I think a dashcam is gonna go better than any smart camera

[@GaryMetzker]

Any idea if the Aqara M3 hub works with automations when 100% offline? I saw a few early reviews where it didn’t appear to work when the internet was down.

[@AutomateYourLife]

Still not working for me 100%. Some of them did though. You can watch our review and I showed what was

[@cdarrigo]

Does aqara have plans to allow other non acara perhaps non-matter devices into their ecosystem? I've got a bunch of goveei lights and I'd like to unify all my smart home devices into a single automation platform

[@AutomateYourLife]

I don't believe you'll see non matter come in, no. I don't know all their plans internally, but I've never heard anything like that

[@cdarrigo]

@@AutomateYourLife that pretty much kills it as a cross mfg solution. Maybe homey might be a good option. Do they support z wave? I've got a lot of ring sensors for home security

[@garethjones5068]

12:49 Not just me who is still an adolescent boy then 🤣

[@AutomateYourLife]

Uhhhh, no!

[@kurtpuntacana]

Great video has always

[@AutomateYourLife]

Thanks!

[@edrosiak]

Another great video. Thanks…

[@AutomateYourLife]

Glad you enjoyed it! Thanks Ed!

[@NinaNng]

Your video is creative！

[@AutomateYourLife]

Thanks so much. We do these regularly!

[@garethjones5068]

Take my entire bank account for that paint cam right now 💷

[@AutomateYourLife]

Sold!

[@realsushrey]

So Aquara have learned that Matter in fact does matter.

[@AutomateYourLife]

😂😂😂

[@DementedDog]

Oh dear - wait for the paintball-related law suits!

[@AutomateYourLife]

For sure!

[@ronm6585]

Oh Brian. Thanks for sharing. Lol.

[@AutomateYourLife]

You bet! Thank you Ron

[@kevinhilton8683]

Call me boring but none of the products mentioned really excite me...

[@AutomateYourLife]

Hey Kevin, you're boring! Just kidding man, not every video will have something you need or want today! Just the flavor this month.

[@alwaysright3718]

Still no window winders 🤬...

[@AutomateYourLife]

It does seem to be missing doesn't it?

[@c849243]

I'd rather just hire you to mop and vacuum!

[@AutomateYourLife]

LOL