SwitchBot Button Pusher with Hub, and lots more...
What if you lose the key to your house one night while you are out and about? It happened to me...don't judge. Or you leave it in your checked in luggage, which unfortunately is lost and will arrive one day later than you? Also happened to me.
Wouldn't it be great to be able get back into your home by using only your phone? My apartment is in a 9-floor building and you need to get through two doors to get inside. The second door is the one to my apartment.
Thankfully there is now a number of solutions to gain access to your own door, including one from Switchbot. Many of these replace the knob on the inside, which opens the lock via a control from your phone or a pad.
The best thing about this is that the door still looks the same from the outside (as most buildings don't like you swapping out the apartment door locks) and can still be opened with the original key as well.
So, solutions exist for my own apartment door. But what about the main door of the building? Obviously, the problem here is that you are not allowed to just change the lock on the public door with a smart lock since other residence also use it for access.
Sure, you could upgrade the whole system to a smart key, but that is often expensive, a number of people don't see the value and certainly aren't willing to pay their share of this type of upgrade.
So, I was back to square one; since both keys are on the same key-ring, and when lost or misplaced, are lost or misplaced together.
We were not financially compensated for this post and the samples were provided to us for review purposes. The opinions are completely our own based on our experience with the products.
After trying to figure out a solution, I realized I have the ability to open the main door for visitors from my apartment. The visitor calls from the front door, I push a little button, and voila!
They gain access to that first door without a key. What if I could push this button from outside the building? But how to control this button remotely without tampering too much with the system?
Then I came across the Switchbot Bot, which solved my problem. Now there are a few other button pushing mechanisms out there, but the issue with all the others I have encountered is that you can
only activate the robot button pusher if you were in close proximity, using for example Bluetooth connectivity. The beauty of the Switchbot button pusher is that it is able to connect to a hub
and be accessible from outside the building. I figured it was worth a try.
The bot itself is thankfully more compact in real life than it looks in pictures, and the build quality is great. Everything you need is in the box. It comes installed with a pad that sticks to a
surface and an extra pad. Also included are a set of two smaller pads that you could use if the button does not pop out again by itself and needs to be pulled, like a light switch, for example. In my
scenario, the button that needed to be pushed didn't need any help to get back into its original state. However, the button I need pushed requires quite a bit of force AND needs to be pushed in quite deep
to work. It took some trial and error to figure out the sweet spot for my Switchbot button pusher!
First, I tried to place the bot so that its finger hit the button in the middle. That turned out to be pretty hit or miss though as far as actually working. I thought the middle was the perfect spot, but
the amount of force was just too much for it to be consistent. Next, I moved the robot a tiny bit so that it hits the button closer to its outer edge, and as such requires less force. I was very grateful
for that extra pad in the Switchbot package that gave me the ability to change the placement. In this position, the robot pushes the button with enough force every time.
I fiddled a bit more and used one of the little pads (the pull the light switch back to the original position pads included in the packaging) directly on the button. Now the little Switchbot bot doesn't
need to push as far to trigger the button. This made the functionality even more reliable.
Due to limited space where to robot needed to be placed, I was only able to use a little over half of the sticky pad on the robot to make it stick in place and was worried that the little guy would fall off
after a while, particularly because he uses such force to push the button. I'm happy to say the sticky pad is EXTREMELY sticky and it holds the bot in place with no problems, even with a lot of use. When
I had to move it as described above, the pad was so stuck that it took a surprising amount of force to get the Switchbot off of it. It was certainly easier to move when I first installed it, so I would be
sure to give the sticky pad 12 hours to get good and stuck before you start to use the robot.
You can use the Switchbot Bot by itself without the hub using only your phone, but it will only work within your own home or close to it. As I needed to be able to trigger it from outside, the hub was necessary.
I can now easily control all of my Switchbot devices (oh yeah, after this one, I ventured out into other Switchbot products) from just about anywhere in the world.
I admit, I was not too happy about installing yet another hub in addition to the ones from hue/Smartthings etc. that I use to control my other smart home products, but I was very happily surprised by the
Switchbot hub. It is very small and best of all....it is powered using only a USB-cable, so you don't need to occupy yet another power socket. I was able to power the Switchbot hub from a USB port on my router
that wasn't in use for anything else. Installation was very easy. Just install the app and add the hub. At first it would not connect to it, but as soon as I realized that it works on the 2GHZ Wi-Fi network
and not the 5GHZ network, it connected right away with no problems.
And so now, thanks to my Switchbot, I am finally able to open the front door of the building with just my phone. I am also able to open the door while at work for package deliveries, for the plumber or when
you have a guest arriving, instead of giving them your spare key. And the cost? Minimal for the convenience it offers me.
It's worth mentioning that call-systems on buildings are all different, so is worth considering the nuances of your system and think of how you can use the Switchbot to work for you.
The Gist
Flexible, durable, configurable, inexpensive and effective in given situations.
6 out of 6
SwitchBot Smart LED Strip Lights
There is quite a lot of different LED Strip lights out there. Some are smart, others are just....well...not smart and pretty useless. I already have several Philips Hue Light strips installed - it's a big brand,
very reliable, and is more expensive if you buy into the you-get-what-you-pay-for saying, which I typically do. I truly did not expect much for the less expensive Switchbot Strip Lights. I am happy to say I was wrong. Very wrong. As it turns out, the Switchbot Strip lights are actually better than the Hue light strips in several ways.
► They come in a length of 5m, which can be cut down in length if you need them shorter. Hue light strips come in lengths of 2m and just one of these costs significantly more. If you need 5 meters of Hue light strip, it would cost you nearly ten times as much as the Switchfoot's.
► Personally, I think the colors from the Switchbot light strip are nicer and cleaner. They are even able to produce a dark blue color. The Hue light strips can do most other colors nicely but for some reason they never seem to be able to produce a rich blue color.
► The Switchbot light strip is very powerful. Without measuring the light levels, it seems to me to be brighter than the Hue light strips.
► The Switchbot strips are much thinner and more flexible than the Hue light strips, which makes installing them in tight spaces easier. Also, the double-sided tape on the Switchbot lights sticks much better than the tape on Hue light strips, which also makes installation much easier. So far, there have been no signs of unsticking.
► They come with absolutely every function you would ever need in the app. For example, you can easily make the Switchbot light strip change between colors with an adjustable speed AND you can choose which colors to change between. With a Hue light strip, my experience is that this is only partially possible. Even after all these years, Hue controls seem to be in an experimental state and you have to download plugins that still have a lot of limitations and are very fiddly to get to work. The Switchbot app comes with all the functionality from the start that most people want to have.
► You also get a physical remote included in the box. Personally, I don't need this, but I can understand how many people would have a use for this.
► The Switchbot light strip has a microphone installed on the light strip. At first, I thought this was a pretty useless gimmick feature, but, after trying it out, I realized that not only was this feature fun to play with, but it makes it extremely easy to make the light strip interact with music in the room. It works very well! You are even able to adjust the sensitivity between very frenetic blink of light and all the way down to the light strip hardly reacting at all. On a Hue light strip, it is very cumbersome to do the same. In addition, trying to work with other music sources than your phone would require an investment in extra hardware for hundreds and hundreds of dollars with the HUE, and with a lot more hassle and fiddle.
► You can easily connect the light strip to SmartThings, Google Assistant, etc. to make it play nice with your Hue Lights and any other smart lights you may have in your space. All of the Switchbot light strip's main functionality works smoothly with SmartThings. Fine adjustments of colors do seem a bit slow and buggy right now in the SmartThings interface, but honestly you should just do this in the Switchbot app and save presets. Once set there, you can activate your presets with no problem through SmartThings.
I can honestly say I give the Switchbot Smart Led Strip Lights my very highest recommendations. There isn't anything I can think of that needs improvement, and the price point, they are really a steal of a deal. Run out or get online and order some before Switchbot realizes that they are worth much more.
The Gist
Easy setup, intuitive app, more functionality and less cost than competitors.
6 out of 6
SwitchBot Baby Monitor Indoor Camera
Ok, I don't have a baby. And I live high up in an apartment building where only Spiderman would be able to enter the apartment through the balcony, so my only need for intrusion detection is the front door, which can easily be monitored with a simple sensor. So why would I need a security camera?
I'll tell you - it's simple. If one of my other smart sensors are triggered it is nice to know what is going on before I call the police or rush back home. This camera is the very best solution for my application in this price category and even quite a bit upwards in price.
First, you can mount it anywhere: in the ceiling, on a wall or just sitting have it sitting on a table. Best of all, it is powered by just an USB-cable, so there is no need to take up a power outlet to power the thing. Fewer cables and less concern about yet another power adapter that could overheat.
The 360-degree pan/tilt function works nicely and can be controlled via the app, even when you are away from home, which makes it easy to check out what is going on when you are traveling. Combined with a wide-angle lens and a good placement in your space, the SwitchBot Baby Monitor can give you visibility into a large space with just one camera. You would need many stationary cameras to cover the same.
It is even able to patrol by itself, meaning that if it sees something, it will track it. And I can honestly say it does this quite well!
There is even a SD-card slot, so it can record video whenever it sees something moving. Best part of this feature - NO MONTHLY FEE and your videos are secure unless you choose to share them.
The video quality is also surprisingly good for this price. It even has a night mode that can record in the dark that works very well.
But, the Switchbot Baby Monitor and Indoor Camera's very best and quite unique feature is its privacy mode. Just by activating this in the app or via some other trigger, it will physically block its lens so there is no way it can capture any still picture or video. If you don't like the idea that some hacker could be watching you, this is the camera for you. In my case, I have set the camera to follow a time schedule, where it is active during my work hours and goes into privacy mode during the evening when I am at home and don't need the monitoring.
Is it perfect? No. One pretty major feature is missing and would really make a big difference in my opinion. You can set the timeframe to monitor and not the way I described and you can trigger the camera in many ways, but the biggest feature that is lacking is that I feel the app should have a function that would trigger the privacy mode automatically, or allow it to be set this way, depending on if you/your phone are located at home or away from home. SmartThings, for example, has a security feature that turns on and off based on your location. While you can add the camera to Smartthings with most of the SwitchBot functionality, the Privacy Function is not something that you can trigger from SmartThings. I get that some people wouldn't want this if they are using as a baby monitor, but to allow would be great. I think Switchbot should implement location (home/away) in its own app as a condition for triggering the camera.
The Gist
The lack of automated location activation of the privacy mode is a bummer, but the Tilt/Pan, auto tracking, privacy mode and price make this camara great for multiple applications in your home.
5 out of 6
Switchbot Curtain
Being able to open or close your curtains without having to actually do it manually would seem to be an unnecessary luxury....until you have tried it and seen the benefits. I'm not going to lie, I'm a bit lazy some days and have a tendency to forget things in the morning. I love smart home solutions and have a lot of them to not have to think much in the mornings, and opening the curtains and blinds have been on the bottom on my list. After trying out the SwitchBot Curtain, I truly regret not doing it earlier.
I usually just have my curtains always open unless I absolutely need to close them for watching television on a sunny day. The problem with this is that when its sunny, the sunlight also floods into my bedroom in the morning since I never close the door from the living room. To have a brightly lit bedroom affect my sleep on days when I want to (and NEED to) sleep longer than the rising sun allows. And you know that once you have to get up and close the curtains, what's the point...you might as well get up.
The reverse problem is also true - If from time to time I actually close the curtains in the evening, I will usually forget to open them when I get up in the morning, which my plants don't love because they are in the dark all day.
This little SwitchBot Curtain robot makes your existing curtains smart and motorized, and gives you a lot of control without you doing anything since it can all happen automatically.
I have everything set so my curtains close themselves when I go to bed and open automatically when I get up in the morning.
Installing is quite easy as long as your curtain rod is within the limitations of the robot. It is really important to check this out before you make a purchase.
I was expecting that having these little guys installed on my curtains would produce some limitations. I was concerned that you would always have to use the app (or a smart button that you can link to it) to open and close the curtains, or that opening them manually with your hands would cause you to have to recalibrate the robot start and end positions. Thankfully, the folks at SwitchBot seem to have thought of everything!
In one of the modes, the robot can sense when you start to pull the curtains and then the motor will take over and open or close them fully. This feature works well, since the robot still does the opening or closing itself and remembers where it is, so there is no need to recalibrate. I can see that some people would really like this capability, but honestly, I'm not a big fan. I want to be able to open and close the curtains manually as fast as I want. In the beginning, I didn't because I was sure it would mess up the calibration. But one day I was in hurry and just wanted the curtains open fast and without the robot having any part in it. To my amazement, the robot actually registers even manual movement and still knows where on the curtain rod it is, so that the next time you trigger the SwitchBot Curtain, either via a routine in the app, manually in the app, or via a remote control, it still works and remember how much to open or close. Incredible. I am stunned, truly.
The Gist
It's time to take your smart home to the next level! You might think it is a new level of lazy, but with the ease and flexibility of the install, and the features and modes available, the SwitchBot Curtain takes away one of the mundane chores of morning and evening AND lets you still be in control if you have the time and desire. Let poted plants and late sleepers everywhere rejoice!
6 out of 6