🔴 CHECK OUT 🍿 10 ALEXA TIPS and USES! Do MORE with the Echo! - ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-8me4oWrzrE8.html 🍿 Top 10 Everyday Apple Watch Uses! Why You Need One - ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-687RhgGGSiY.html 🍿 Top 10 Everyday HomePod Uses! Why You Need One - ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-oty5zxs0uoc.html
Like you, I love the Wyze products and find myself purchasing all of their new stuff. Never had a problem with anything I've purchased so far. Great video, saw some new interesting products I look forward to possibly trying in the future. Thank you for sharing
It's so rare I post, but Craig's comment about "everyone thinks smart lights, when they should be thinking smart switches" = GOLD. I've dabbled in smart stuff for years, and have only recently found/realized that I should have just invested in decent smart switches instead of over 100 smart bulbs... Great channel and content.
Great video Craig as usual, always informative and delivered with humour and infectious energy. My go to for staying up to date down here in Aus. Cheers Paul
Greetings Craig. We are totally on the same page with gadgets. Re meross vs gosund. Solved a connection issue by swapping out a meross switch for a gosund and problem solved ! Garage door opener works very well but seems to interfere with "car" remote range. I just say ok google in the car and open the door. On another cast you mentioned getting family to pick names for the routines. I just create several routines for the same device. This seems to have solved the brides frustration trying to remember. :-). My only other tip is being able to set a timer on gas fireplace. Ask the fireplace to turn on and "she" will shut it off after an hour. It's great fun experimenting. Thanks for your channel :-).
The vacuum is a very interesting and welcome suggestion! It’s always worth remembering that you can use IR hubs to link them to Apple’s ecosystem too via Siri Shortcuts. Can’t wait to explore more of these devices in future!
First of all, Thank You Craig for a great channel. I love the time you put into showing so many people the power in automation, and keeping it realistic for those that either don't have a lot of time and/or money. I wanted to like the Meross HomeKit light strip, but the color rendering is terrible. It couldn't hit a dot on a color chart to save its power. Part of the problem is that they mix all of the colors, even when all of the colors are not needed. I have spent two weeks trying to get it dialed in, but once you have LiFX, it really is hard to find anything better for color rendering. I just wish LiFX would get their crap together and learn how to communicate with their customers and partners. Craig, have you heard anything substantial from LiFX lately? Beyond the vaporware Clean and switch. Also, while not HomeKit compatible, I have some aukey and powerui smart power strips that are rock solid. I might try the new Meross one at some point, but honestly, after the light strip, it is hard to give Meross another go. Has anyone experienced issues with the new Echo4? I have one and it is so slow, constantly lights up and then answers in another room, and I constantly have to tell it things twice. My gen2 dots and flexes run circles around it in performance. Like you noted, the Flex is an awesome combo device. I wish there were other plugins to it, but even standalone, it gets my vote. Lastly, has anyone played around with the relay boxes? I really want to delve into something that can control 8-10 items in one box, but don't know anyone messing with them and HomeKit, or even Alexa. I would love to find a programmer delving into IoT stuff, as I have more than a few projects.
Craig, another item you should consider for starters is the The Bond. This will control most ceiling fan/light combos. It works with Alexa and we have ceiling fans in all our bedrooms. Combine a Bond with an Alexa or a Flex and now your lights and ceiling fan are now voice controlled.
I have just recently started, with a new Apple TV 4K, a EUFY camera, and a Fibraro sensor. This brand has nice and relatively cheap stuff, maybe it’s not well-known in the US, but i would recommend you check up their stuff. I also have a Hobbs device coming soon, and will use it to be able to add our Ring doorbell to the budding Home.
What all is needed to make my MyQ garage work with the top three assistants? I like the features of it but I wish I could just talk and the door open. Thank you for the information and great video. New subscriber
Hey Craig, just had to say that I love my Meross Garage Door Opener, I've had it for nearly 2 years now and it is the best $40 I have spent on smart devices.
Hey Craig! Amazing video as always but I gotta know... why do you use a smart plug on your treadmill? Lol All I can picture is someone shutting it off while someone is running full speed! 🤔🤪😆
New to your channel and I’m loving your content. Smart switches are the key to success for people with a family. One flick of the switch and your smart light is now dumb. I’m thinking about the Meross garage door opener as my next purchase but I do want a video door bell. 🤔 I need more money...
Hi Craig, I love your reviews. I have a request for future video could you review smart products to assist an older parent with dementia. My mum in law is 90 and lives at home. Our aim is to keep her safe, independent and be able to communicate with her without intruding too much. She has google nest smoke alarm and I hope it will give her verbal instruction to leave the home if there was a fire. I heard that kids and older people respond better to verbal instructions rather than just a noise. Can you confirm it would work please? Also do you have any idea on routine I could put in place if the smoke alarm was to be triggered? I would like the path to the front door to be lit up like the middle lane in an airplane. I was thinking of using light strips. She has several Alexa echo dot in the house. Drop in is great but we miss the visual. I was also thinking of investing into some Alexa echo show. I saw the plug in sensors from Alexa but is limited to walking by the sensor attached to a plug. She tends to unplug things. The cleaner might also forget to plug things back if she needs it to plug the hover for example. A wall mounted one would be better. What are your thoughts? I’m looking forward to this video so pleeeeease ? 😜
Great videos Craig. Any suggestion for external HomeKit cameras that work with Apple HomeKit. Currently using Aqara G2H Pro but they are only internal. Need a reliable external option that will also show alongside the internal Aqara cameras on HomeKit if not on the Aqara app. Any idea why Aqara don’t do external cameras? Thanks
The center of my smart home is Nest (speakers, hub, thermostat and doorbell) but the plugs are Meross. Scale is Wyze and I can't believe the price. How did they do that? The switches, when I get them, will likely be Meross as well just because I am so happy with the plugs. I didn't know Wyze had cameras. I might do one of those for indoor. Thanks for the hints!
LIFX blows away Philip’s with color. Luton caseta are some of the best smart switches available, eufy makes great cameras, ecobee thermostats are highly respected. Sorry the “doesn’t work with anything good” argument isn’t true.
Very cool. Glad to hear you’re loving them. It’s good for others to see opinions in the comments like yours. They are all great devices. Thank you for watching.
Great information and super helpful. I really like the budget theme of this video and the products show cased. Thank you for the work and time you put into this.
Thank you Ron. Glad to hear it has worked well for you. I was hoping that it is a good option when I bought it. Thanks for sharing your thoughts on it. Have a great day Ron.
Hi Craig, I love your videos and have been watching a ton lately. May I ask what happened to your previous video doorbell that broke? I currently have a Eufy video doorbell but am thinking about adding a second and possibly third to various places around the exterior of my house.
Craig, really great review of home automation devices. I love MEROSS, have multiple device and all work great. Also have the Ring video doorbell pro & it just works great. Have a pan & tilt Wyze camera that also works very well, never had any problem with these devices. Bought the echo flex with the motion sensor, have setup routines in Alexa for it & they too have worked great. Really love your coverage on these different devices that won’t break the bank!
Hi Craig, I'm surprised you didn't mention the Wyze Camera V3. To me it's better then the V2 and Wyze also just came out for a light you can put on top of it. Just thought I wouldn't mention it.
Hey…got a question. I’ve got a “my portal” from Amazon that I can not seem to get it connected to my Wi-Fi. Do you have any suggestions on how to get my Wi-Fi connection? I can’t seem to find a way to contact Amazon. Thank you!
Downside to both camera brands you mentions are the lack of rtsp support. For (usually) $5 more, get the tp-link. Wifi and supports sd, rtsp, and cloud (separately)
Craig, I was looking to buy my first Alexa, I don’t care about price, which one would you choose, echo studio (I heard their speakers are great) or an echo 4th gen? Thanks.
Very cool. Between the two I would say go with the regular echo. The Studio does sound great and if you plan on listening to a lot of music or as a sound bar for Dolby Atmos, it is a great choice. If it’s for casual listening, I would buy two echos and have them in two different rooms. I would recommend trying to see the studio in person. It is a big speaker. Hope this helps.
Hi Craig. Firstly love your channel. Quick question. We want to setup a HomeKit smart home and would like your advise on what system/hub or what ever gizmo or gadget to get, to control our Samsung air conditioners and other devices in our smart home ecosystem via Siri. Have heard of the hoobs hub or ecobee thermostat. Please Keep in mind we are living in deep dark technology starved South Africa. Or would you suggest a polyamores relationship with Siri and Alexa. Your advise will be greatly appreciated to avoid costly mistakes. King regard Graeme
Thank you very much Gorgon. The WeMo switches are a great option. The only reason I didn’t include them is the price over the other options. But I will say the three-way kit is great since you only need to use one switch. I didn’t have any problems with the one 3 way WeMo switch I was using. I am switching over to Lutron though. Thanks for watching the video.
Love your channel Craig! My Wyze Vacuum keeps having mapping issues, you ever have problems with it?. Mine will leave the base and then skip and jump as if the vacuum and the base are in the wrong room. Then it's lost and can't get back on track. It's happening every time now. I'm worried I'm gonna have to re-map the whole place AGAIN..... (it already took 3 tries to get it all correctly)
Gréât vidéo. Have you ever reviewed the « globe » set of smart lights and plugs? I like them but no apple homekit. Also maybe they are just in Canada. We have iPhone iPods iPads and MacBooks but no home pod or Apple TV yet. We did get a free google nest mini and some fire sticks, wondering which ecosystem would be best for us.
None that I know of. The thing with the Y scale is that the information from the Wise app can be synced up to the health app on iPhones. So it will gather the data that you would want to implement with your health features on the iPhone.
I have 4 VOCOlinc Smart plugs and all of them disconnected all the time . I have them connected with 2.4ghz and it’s really upsetting everyday fighting with them.
Do you have any RGBW bulb recommendations that do not require a wifi? I have an echo gen 4 with the zigbee hub and I prefer not overloading my house with devices that need wifi. thanks.
I would go with Philip Hue bulbs. They have the best color saturation and intensity next to LIFX. I use LIFX for my studio. Philip hue connection is much better and doesn’t experience drop outs.
Hello Craig, I have some questions... My husband is disabled sometimes falls, I'm looking for buttons that we can put around the house for him or service dog to push to send a message to our echo devices to alert me. His speech is very low and mumbled at times is there away to train Alexa to understand him?
I have a couple thoughts that come to mind that may or may not help - 1) Whisper mode - where you can use low voice on Alexa to activate her. 2) Train routine words with your husband recording them, so that that is the recognized way to say whatever needs to happen to trigger an action.
Hey DG, I put all the links in one place on Amazon since there were so many. I have different smart home kits there too. I believe you are not in the US? Please, if are not able to see the kits on Amazon it would be great to know.
There are more of them coming out. The only one that I have used is the Philips motion sensor since I have Philip’s bulbs. From what I see, most of them need hubs and come out to about $40. But I have not checked out a lot of them.
Sorry I was trying to reply to the gentleman who had issues w/ the echo flew motion detectors. I set up 4 w/out problems, but it's been long enough that I don't remember how - sorry. Brian at Automate your Life has a great tutorial on how to incorporate them w/ Samsung Smart things virtual switches to enhance your Alexa guard & use it as a pseudo alarm.
Anyone have luck with Hoobs for Wyze cam? I’ve been using a Wyze cam for over a year now as a baby monitor and would love to add it to HomeKit but I’ve never done anything with Homebridge/Hoobs. I’d love to be able to add more Wyze cams if I can get them into HomeKit!
Hello Soporte, like David said, it is still available. Here is a link, it is an affiliate link. amzn.to/3umpXNF Thank you both for watching and the help David.
I want to get a Wyze vacuum. If I could justify it I would get a different thermostat, Nest works, just not with anything else. It sits there doing it's own thing. I'm unimpressed by Ring, but I have vanilla gen 2's. Maybe someday the Blurams will actually ship and I'll like them... but for now stay away. The only thing I really wish I skipped, is the Smartthings hub. Hubitat is better in every way even if it did take a little bit more work. I live in the Texas snow-mageddon, and my auto bathroom lights worked even when we lost the internet. Great video in every way.
Wyze, for me has, hands down, been the most frustrating, biggest disappointment I've dealt with after getting into home automation a few months back. I was surprised after all the hype I'd heard surrounding them and really, really liked the small form factor of the contact & motion sensors. But, they constantly either randomly stop working for periods of time or are so delayed in their reactions, they're almost useless. The hub is within 8 feet of the router. The sensors are all within 10 feet of the hub. It was far worse prior to their last update a month or so ago. But, it's still been mostly frustration. Almost every other device I have has performed surprisingly well since their install. Their smart plugs work flawlessly. The camera & sensors? Borderline abysmal.
A tip for anyone who reads this, just don't buy a smart device, discounted or not. The security flaws those things have are a huge risk and that doesn't even include the data collection these products do
Had 4 gosund smart plugs and they were NOTHING but trouble, support was crap, continual offline errors, and finally just quit. Tossed them in the trash and will NEVER use ANYTHING gosund ever again!!!
Yes there is. Free 12 second clips store for up to two weeks. There is a paid tier too. Says it right here on their site and I have been a user for 2+ years. wyze.com/wyze-cam-v3.html
My face may be wrinkled and old. But I have cute feet that look like an eight-year-old girls. My feet are so bad I had to have my daughter stand in. Thanks for checking out the video.🙏