Until recently, home automation was the only way to truly have a smart home. You would have to drop $10,000 on a system that had a central remote that could control lights, locks, HVAC, and the rest of your smart home. Now, smart consumers can build their own smart homes with a la carte products that work together, and cost way less than what it used to in order to make the perfectly customized and tailored smart home.
Entertainment
Best Bluetooth Toothbrush: Philips Sonicare vs Oral-B Pro 5000 vs 7000 vs 8000
For hundred of years, the toothbrush remained relatively unchanged. Put a few bristles at the end of a handle and call it a day. Then the electric toothbrush was invented that changed the game and introduced the first bit of technology to the industry. In recent years, sonic and ultrasonic toothbrushes have raised the bar for oral hygiene. The latest invention is the bluetooth toothbrush, and the two biggest players are the Philips Sonicare and Oral-B Pro series.
The Best Portable Bluetooth Speaker: Beats Pill vs Bose Soundlink
When it comes to portable Bluetooth speakers, the two names in the game the stand above the rest are Beats and Bose. That is why we wanted to see which product, the Beats Pill vs Bose Soundlink, would prove the be the superior portable speak and declared “the best portable Bluetooth speaker on the market.”
Wink vs SmartThings vs Insteon: What is the Best Smarthome Hub in 2018?
Call it first world problems if you want, but one big issue facing the smart home market is the fact that you have fifteen different places to control your devices for fifteen different products. There is a real challenge to get your smart devices to connect with one another. There are platforms like IFTTT that can link certain services and platforms together, but the real answer to bringing the vast majority of your smart devices together and managing them from one place is getting a smarthome hub. The three best smarthome hubs are Wink vs Smartthings vs Insteon.
The Best Smart Speaker for your Home in 2018: Google Home vs Amazon Echo
Smart speakers like Google Home and Amazon Echo aren’t the engine that makes smart homes go, but they are one of the most critical components to having a complete smart home. If there is one piece you want to add to your home to begin adding smart home elements to it, you NEED to start with the smart speaker. Smart speakers not only play music and tell you the weather when you ask, but they can sync with nearly every smart device on the planet and allow you to control everything without anything more than your voice. If you want to unlock the door because your kid is coming home in a few minutes, simply tell Alexa to unlock your smart lock. If you want to turn on the cool air, both Google Home and Amazon Echo can sync with your Nest thermostat and lower the temperature. But before you decide on which is right for your home, first let’s look at what makes them different.