Motion sensors12/22/2023 (The most popular platforms include Amazon Alexa, Apple HomeKit, Google Home, and Samsung SmartThings IFTTT is another service that allows you to automate devices from different companies, which we explain in This App Turns Any Smart Device Into a Multitasker.) These platforms are great because they allow you to consolidate the controls of all (or most of) your smart devices into a single app, and they also bring perks like voice control when used with smartphones, smart speakers, smart displays, and tablets. Sensors need to be set up using a smartphone app, and there are several software ecosystems-often called platforms-you can use with them that in turn are compatible with a whole bunch of devices made by a whole bunch of different companies. Those systems, often called “platforms,” are controlled by their own app and are important because they let you connect your smart sensors with other smart devices, and then customize how they all work together.īelow you’ll find our favorite picks, plus a few good alternatives, for the three major types of smart sensors: motion, temperature, and contact. ![]() “To get a smart home, you need sensors,” said Mitch Klein, executive director of the smart-home technology group Z-Wave Alliance.įor this guide we tested a few dozen smart sensors that are compatible with three of the most popular DIY smart-home systems: Amazon Alexa, Apple HomeKit, and Samsung SmartThings (Google Home, while popular, has yet to offer meaningful support for smart sensors). And a temperature sensor in a child’s room (or a chicken coop) can alert you if it gets too hot, cold, humid, or dry, and if you like, even have it adjust a fan or the thermostat automatically. A contact sensor on an exterior door might be used to alert you whenever an Airbnb tenant arrives, or perhaps if the back door has been left open at night. If you want to take it to the next level, you might program it so in the morning it tweaks the thermostat, and then starts playing music when you come downstairs. You might install a motion sensor at the top of a stairway and then, using an app, instruct it to turn on a light downstairs whenever someone walks by at night. Install one and you might solve a single problem-add a bunch and you’re on your way to having a home that runs on autopilot. Some detect just one activity, while others are multitaskers. Then they tell other smart devices how to react-smart lights, plugs, speakers, thermostats, and so on-all in an instant, and without requiring any direct commands or effort from you. When placed around a living space, these low-profile wireless devices are able to detect specific activities, like movement, temperature, or the opening or closing of a door.
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