The anatomy of a Smart Home
And how Amazon has the upper hand
I have a basic smart home. It’s unlikely anything close to Zuck’s, but it’s enough to make living at home a little simpler and certainly more fun.
If you’ve only heard Smart Home in passing, perhaps you think:
- Lights turn on automatically
- An alarm system with an app
- A thermostat you can control remotely
While these are all true, those are just things. A smart home has the potential to be so much more. In fact, to do these things, there are other components working behind the scenes that should be considered.
A basic smart home should
Think
You’ll need a device that tells other parts of the system what to do. In a person, this is the brain. In a computer, this is the CPU. In a smart home, it’s the hub.
Listen
You’ll want devices that enable voice command. They’re not mandatory, but they add to the convenience and fun.
See
Smart cameras are the most obvious thing here, but don’t forget about motion sensors!
Say
Okay, “Say” is a stretch, but is it? With smart speakers, not only do you gain the ability to play music, but with a decent hub, you can get speakers to say custom things like, “The garage has opened.” or “Romy is approaching.”
Do
These come in many different forms: Light switches, blinds, fans, thermostats, remote controls, and door locks.
But… what does this all have to do with Amazon having the upper hand?
We’re almost there, I promise. But first, let me showcase some brands I recommend for the different Smart functions.
Think: SmartThings
There are a number of smart hubs in the market. For this, I recommend the Samsung SmartThings Hub. In fact, they sell a kit that gives you some starter smart home functionality. The kit includes a hub + motions sensors + door/window sensors + smart plug. I’ve personally had some issues with their motion & door sensors, so you may want to stay away from the kit and stick to the hub. You can always buy your own items, often cheaper and more reliable, later. (note: When looking at the main article image, I intended for the Hub to live where the Asus Router was located)
Listen: Amazon Echo & Dots
They’re really good at understanding your commands. Additionally, they work well with the SmartThings Hub which is important. For rooms where you want a good speaker, consider getting an Amazon Echo. For small rooms where you just need it to issue commands and you don’t care about loud music, get Echo Dots. (yes, you can have a mixture of both products sprinkled across your home)
See: Samsung Smartcam & Ecolink
As a standalone “smart camera”, the Samsung smart cameras work with SmartThings (by now, you should be picking up on how important it is to get products that are compatible with each other). For example, the Dropcam does NOT play well with anything. It’s a closed off product. Don’t expect it to play friendly with many (if any) smart products.
For motion & door sensors, I recommend the Ecolink products. They operate using Z-Wave which is directly compatible with SmartThings. They’re pet friendly meaning your pets can walk around without triggering motion. Be warned, if you have a small kid, they might not rigger the sensors either. Hah! And most importantly, they’re reliable unlike the SmartThings sensors.
Say: Sonos
This is a tough one. Technically, Amazon Echo can solve what you need. But if you want something that was designed to be a “speaker first”, then I recommend Sonos. Their entire line is expensive, but you get what you pay for. It’s semi-closed off in the sense that some of the products can’t tell Sonos to play music, but I’m hopeful that’ll change.
Do: GE Switches & Logitech Harmony
If you want something built into your home to turn lights on and off, I recommend looking at GE Z-Wave Dimmers & Switches. They’re pretty reliable and they’re cheaper than some of their competition. And because they’re Z-Wave, they work with SmartThings as well as other “more open” systems.
Logitech Harmony has a Smart Hub system as well, but it’s more centered around controlling your entertainment system. It works well with SmartThings and I highly recommend it if you end up getting an Echo. You’ll be able to trigger commands verbally to do things like “Turn on Apple TV” or “Turn down volume”
Again, in a future post, I’ll go more into Z-Wave, pricing, etc, but this should be enough to now talk about the main topic.
How does Amazon have the upper hand?
- Foundation
When Amazon Echo came out, it quickly became one of the best listening devices. And once they released the Echo Dot, it became one of the most affordable. The Far-Field Voice technology makes it such that you could have Dots all around your home for less than $100 (it works really, really, well). Having devices spread out like this lays a good foundation to build a smart home.
2. Compatibility
I know I recommended the Samsung SmartThings Hub above, but Echo is somewhat of a smart hub in itself. It continues to accept more apps and more devices, meaning more compatibility — this is key. If Amazon opens up and continues striking partnership deals, Amazon can win by compatibility alone.
“Buy the best smart products out there. We don’t care. We’ll be the Hub and Ears that controls them.”
And remember those sensors & switches? Those are prime (see what I did there?) candidates to be Amazon Basic products. If they built their own “100% Alexa Certified” door sensors, motion sensors, and switches, they could sell these at a lower cost and shutter these businesses. I didn’t talk about smart bulbs as I have some reservations with them, but they could take over some of that marketshare, too.
3. Services
But — who is going to install the switches that require some electrical know-how? Well, if you’re not, Amazon could. They’ve touted “Geek Squad” type services for some time. I don’t know if it’s been a successful vertical, but building some of these components can help unlock its potential.
4. And beyond…
Another key component that I haven’t talked about is a good wireless router. For some of these components to operate, you need Wi-Fi. Z-Wave (and ZigBee) allows the devices to communicate with each other, but Wi-Fi is required to allow these things to function in the cloud and be controlled remotely.
Imagine if Amazon jumped in the wireless router game. They could go one step beyond “routing” and actually build Echo technologies with them. Playing this one step further, what if it wasn’t a traditional router, but designed as a mesh network? You wouldn’t even need Echo Dots spread across your home — your Amazon Wi-Fi Mesh would cover it for you.
So now, you’d have this:
Amazon isn’t the only player…
Apple
Apple is trying to invade this space by creating “Works with HomeKit”. The problem with this is that it assumes iPhones, Apple Watches, and Apple TVs are going to lead their respective markets in perpetuity. Perhaps they will, but it’s simply too much to risk. When you sell your home, you also have to hope that the future tenants are Apple enthusiasts as well. Otherwise, you could end up having expensive locks, sensors and switches that really don’t do anything beyond their dumb counterparts. “Great sales pitch Realtor, but we use Android.” Ugh.
Google is clearly on Amazon’s toes but Echo still leads the market. Additionally, Google may be spreading themselves too thin. You have Google Wifi battling Eero, Google Home battling Echo, and Chromecast battling AirPlay and Sonos. It’s hard to build cohesive, compatible systems, when you’re also going to war with different brands.
News about Facebook joining the smart home arena has been lively recently, but there really hasn’t been anything tangible to see yet. Facebook and Instagram are services that everyone uses, but even if you embedded them into something like Amazon Echo Look, that doesn’t necessarily mean you have a smart hub. In its most basic form, it’s just a set top box that lets you read articles, like, etc, while you’re cooking or brushing your teeth. It’d need to do more.
Despite all these battles and how Amazon seems to have the lead, it could be anyone’s game right now. It’s no longer just a battle of technology, but also of product vision (end game strategy), biz dev (partnerships) and marketing (the “why we’re better” angle). It’s only going to get more exciting from here.
I plan on posting more smart home related material in the near future. I hope they address pros & cons, pricing, longevity etc. Till then, comment and I’ll try to get back to you!
