12 Alexa-powered gadgets that’ll make your home smart
Turn your house into a voice-controlled utopia
12 Alexa-powered gadgets that’ll make your home smart
The dulcet tones of Amazon’s AI assistant are popping up in all kinds of gadgets these days, but Alexa’s most at home, er, at home. So we’ve put together a list of 12 smart home gadgets that come with Alexa inside, either right now or coming later this year, all of which will make your house that little bit cleverer.
Hisense H10E
Sony and LG have TVs that can be voice controlled via an Alexa speaker but Hisense’s H10E actually has Amazon’s AI assistant fully onboard. That means you get all the usual voice-activated features, such as flash news briefings, controlling connected smart home devices and asking how old minor celebrities are, plus you can also use it to switch the TV’s inputs and adjust its volume.
HP Pavilion Wave
Even without Alexa’s help the Pavilion Wave would be a seriously desirable desktop computer. With a built-in 360° speaker designed and tuned by audio experts Bang & Olufsen, plus an Echo-esque fabric coat, it looks much nicer than the PC towers you’re used to. Amazon’s AI assistant is just the cherry on top of one of Windows 10’s most fancy cakes.
Amazon Echo Plus
With so many Echo products available now it can be difficult to know which of Amazon’s smart speakers is best for you. But if you want to maximise smart home control and get the best sound quality, the Echo Plus should be top of your list. It’s the only one with a built-in ZigBee hub for controlling things like your Hive thermostat and Philips Hue light bulbs.
Kohler Verdera
Have you ever looked at yourself in the mirror and asked your reflection a question, in the vain hope that it might give you an answer? Kohler’s Verdera mirror has Alexa inside, so while you might be limited to simple questions like what the weather’s going to be like that day, rather than deep, philosophical ones, at least you’ll get an answer.
Asus Lyra Voice
You know Alexa’s working her way into everything when there’s even a wireless router with the AI assistant onboard. Asus’s Lyra Voice works as part of a mesh network, meaning you get better Wi-Fi coverage in hard-to-reach corners of your home, but there’s also a pair of 8W speakers built in, so you can use it as a voice-controlled speaker too.
Amazon Fire TV
Using a fiddly remote to spell out ‘The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford’ is no fun but on streamers without voice control that’s your only choice. Fortunately, Amazon’s Fire TV comes with an Alexa-powered remote, so you can just hold down the button, tell it what you’re after and the box will show you where you can watch it.
Ultimate Ears Megablast
An Echo is perfectly adequate as a super-charged kitchen radio but if you’re looking for something with a bit more audio nous, listen out for Ultimate Ears’ Megablast. It shouldn’t be hard, because it goes much louder than any other smart speaker, plus it’s also fully portable, so you don’t need to tether it to a power socket. Just remember Alexa won’t work if there’s no Wi-Fi.
OneLink Safe & Sound
It might look like an upside down wireless router but the Alexa-assisted OneLink Safe & Sound smoke and carbon monoxide detector wants to do more than just sit around waiting to sniff some burnt toast. As well as sending Nest-style notification to your phone, it can play music as well as sound the alarm.
Sandman Doppler
Amazon’s Echo Spot makes a fine bedside alarm clock but if having a camera in your bedroom makes you feel weird, Sandman’s Kickstarter-funded Doppler has a more traditional design but you can still decide whether it’s worth getting out of bed by asking it whether it’s going to rain.
Polk Audio Command Bar
If you can have a regular speaker with Alexa onboard, why not a soundbar? Polk Audio has infused its Command Bar with Amazon’s AI helper, plus there’s a wireless subwoofer and Dolby/DTS surround-sound tech to make your movie nights more immersive than ever. Alexa’s never sounded so omniscient.
Asus ZenBook UX331
Siri is available on MacBooks and Cortana lives inside anything running Windows 10, but Asus has found space for Alexa in its new laptops too. The UX331 is one of many ZenBook and VivoBook models that’ll have Amazon’s assistant onboard, although unfortunately they won’t support calls to other Echo devices. Shame.
Sanbot Nano
If you’ve ever wondered what Alexa actually looks like, chances are you didn’t imagine a cross between a 10-year-old child and a robotic milkman. But that’s what Sanbot has decided to make the Nano look like. Standing just under a metre tall, with 50 sensors to stop it bumping into stuff, it’s like having a home security camera on wheels that will also play music and order you a pizza if you ask it for one.
