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Automate Your Life
  • 3 months ago
Ten smart home products. Ten honest verdicts. Five are a straight Buy, four come with conditions, and one I would send back. You will have to watch to find out which is which.

This is *The Showcase*, a new monthly series on Automate Your Life. Every month I take the newest smart home gear, run it through a Reality Check (one that I can't fake), and give you a hard verdict: *Buy, Buy If, or Skip.* Then one product takes the *AYL Pick of the Month.*

We'll have a new episode around the 15th of every month! Tell me in the comments whether you agree with my verdicts, and what you want tested next.

👇 Every product and links to my full reviews below.

_All links are Amazon Affiliate links unless otherwise stated._

*1. Ecovacs GOAT A3000 LiDAR Pro* (Sponsored Segment)
$2,000 to $2,500 USD
Amazon: https://geni.us/lpKz

*2. Tapo DL130 Palm Vein Smart Lock*
$230 USD
Amazon: https://geni.us/1zSEt0
Full Review: https://youtu.be/c9mx_Wvg-iw

*3. Amazon Ember Artline 4-Series 55 inch*
$459.99 USD
Ember 4-Series (shown): https://geni.us/M4jMp
Ember Artline: https://geni.us/BVipI9

*4. Govee Lantern Floor Lamp* (Sponsored Segment)
$129.99 USD
Amazon: https://geni.us/Bf4p7AR
Full Review: https://youtu.be/ek34SsWFD_w

*5. Home Assistant Connect ZWA-2*
$69 USD
Amazon: https://geni.us/ox0oWmh
Full Review: https://youtu.be/OIBGNvdmQhs

*6. Home Assistant Connect ZBT-2*
$49 USD
Amazon: https://geni.us/wit3H
Product Page: https://www.home-assistant.io/connect/zbt-2/

*7. Ring Spotlight Cam (2nd Gen)*
$170 to $230 USD
Amazon: https://geni.us/ia34

*8. Aqara G350 Camera Hub*
$140 USD
Amazon: https://geni.us/uE4HWB
Full Review: https://youtu.be/QXaI9aJK0iI
Automation Ideas Guide: https://automateyourlife.net/products/39-aqara-automations-that-actually-work-guide (PS. Channel Members level 2 or higher get full access to our guides as part of your membership)

*9. Nanoleaf Blocks*
$200 USD
Amazon, Combo 10 Pack: https://geni.us/PsP1
Full Review: https://youtu.be/bAz_h6EhSTw

*10. IKEA GRILLPLATS + BILRESA Kit*
$12.99 USD
IKEA USA: https://www.ikea.com/us/en/p/grillplats-plug-with-remote-control-smart-20620056/

📌 *ALSO MENTIONED*

Thread Network Setup Guide: https://youtu.be/RI2SCyc0zM0
Tapo C465, used in the Ring comparison: https://youtu.be/soHNZyFvmoI
Mid-Year Roundup, the Best Smart Home Tech of 2026 So Far: https://youtu.be/OIBGNvdmQhs

⏱️ *TIMECODES*

00:00 - Ten Products, Ten Verdicts
00:27 - The Beast From The East (Ecovacs GOAT A3000 LiDAR Pro)
07:25 - The New Speed King of Smart Locks
12:17 - Smart TVs That Look Like Art (Amazon Ember 4-Series)
18:09 - What The Showcase Is
19:19 - I LOVE (This) Lamp
24:16 - The Stick(s) That Fix(es) Your Z-Wave and Zigbee and Thread
28:33 - Z-Wave Has A Spectrum Problem
29:38 - The Old Standard Camera (Ring Spotlight Cam 2nd Gen)
34:11 - Bunny Ears and Local Recording (A Better Camera)
42:59 - The Crazy Looking Thing Behind My Head
48:18 - Matters Of The Logo
49:02 - The $13 Bundle of Joy (From Ikea)
54:36 - The AYL

Category

🤖
Tech
Transcript
00:01Wow, that's fast, man.
00:05Today I have 10 new smart home products ranging from a $13 add-on to a $2,500 beast.
00:12I've run them all through the ringer and I'm going to show you exactly where they win,
00:16where they fall short, and who they're actually for.
00:19Some of these are incredible, some not so much.
00:22But by the end, one of them is taken to automate your life pick of the month.
00:26Let's give her.
00:26This is the Ecovacs GOAT A3000 LiDAR Pro.
00:31It's the newest robot mower from a brand traditionally known for robot vacuums, and it's a beast.
00:37This series of mowers runs between $2,000 to $2,500 US, but it's built to handle up to three
00:44quarters of an acre.
00:45It cuts up to 400 square meters per hour, driven by a 13-inch dual-blade disc cutting system
00:53and a 32-volt power system delivering up to 400 watts of cutting power.
00:59Visually, it's impressive.
01:00And last year's smaller model only had a single-blade disc and lacked the new side trimmer.
01:06When you combine that new trimmer with a dual LiDAR system and an AI-capable camera,
01:13this is packed with enough tech that it should be perfect.
01:17What you get is almost as important as what you don't get.
01:20You don't get an annoying tower to stick in your yard.
01:23I've dealt with those on most other mowers, and this one operates entirely off Wi-Fi and Bluetooth.
01:30And the setup is as easy as installing a smart bulb.
01:33Plug it in, set a pin code so no one can steal it, and grab the app.
01:38From there, it uses automated map creation.
01:41And I mapped five complex zones in about an hour, and the accuracy was nearly perfect.
01:46You get four operating modes, manual, auto, trimming, and area, plus full scheduling.
01:52The app gives you a lot of great control and settings.
01:56You can even set different cutting heights and speeds for different zones.
02:01Over time, it actually improves its own maps too.
02:04It did get stuck in our yard once, and then marked the spot on the map, and it hasn't had
02:10an issue there since.
02:11The object recognition is near perfect, and I've intentionally stepped in front of it.
02:16It just reroutes and continues.
02:19And my favorite part, well, when the goat is trimming, it's extra careful.
02:23If someone comes near it, it stops, but it keeps moving.
02:28And actually, it warns people to stay back.
02:31While working, please keep a distance of 1.5 meters from the...
02:35Now, overall, you're barely going to hear this thing ever running until that trimmer kicks in.
02:41Then it does get fairly loud.
02:42For our reality check with the goat, we set up the gauntlet.
02:47Now, I dropped unexpected objects right in its path all over the yard.
02:52What you have to know about this system is that its recognition won't always work on objects
02:57that are smaller than 10 centimeters.
03:00Everything else, it'll pretty much reroute around.
03:03Okay, let me just say, we're going to get tougher now.
03:07All right, buddy.
03:11Oh, that's an improvement over last year.
03:15That's a big improvement.
03:17And then I thought I would test what happens when we move it in the middle of a job.
03:22The thing's actually not that heavy.
03:24At least, not as heavy as you would think with a mower of this size.
03:27It's over here.
03:31Yeah.
03:32So, we went from about there to there.
03:35Said continue.
03:37Let's see.
03:42Oh, he's going back.
03:45Oh.
03:48He figured out exactly where he is.
03:50So, even without the RTK tower that you've got to put around with all these, he knows where
03:56he is in the yard.
03:57I have to give you a little story here.
03:59Okay.
04:00This was overgrown when we did the mapping.
04:03So, it's never been cut.
04:05We let it.
04:06And, honestly, it's so we could do this.
04:17Okay.
04:30Look at this thing.
04:35That is awesome.
04:37Okay.
04:37I never expected a little robot mower to be able to do something like this.
04:42But, I'm actually going to get through part of this.
04:45Look at that.
04:46I actually got in there.
04:56You're not going to do this stuff with this mower.
05:01But, there is a ton that I actually got done here.
05:05Sitting five, ten minutes.
05:06Just running it through.
05:08And, it's totally fine.
05:10I was able to deal with a lot of this.
05:12Now, this is what you deal with.
05:14And, then you redo your boundary.
05:16You redo your map.
05:17That's how this one works.
05:20It becomes a maintenance item.
05:21Not to deal with this kind of stuff.
05:23There are three places the goat flexes hard.
05:27Now, first, the simplicity.
05:29The automated mapping was fantastic.
05:32To be fully up and running in about 90 minutes with complex maps and zones is very impressive.
05:39Second, sophistication.
05:40You can run it fast when you need a quick trim or slow and meticulous.
05:44It alters its own cutting paths to keep your grass healthy.
05:48And, it lets you dial in the exact cut height for the front yard versus the back.
05:54Third, the navigation.
05:56You'd think a robot this big would struggle in narrow paths.
05:59But, a quick settings tweak in the app made it navigate tight walkways perfectly.
06:06This is the best mower out there, I think.
06:08But, it does still have a few catches.
06:10First, the edge cases.
06:12It dropped into a garden bed a couple of times early on.
06:15It did mark those spots, and it avoids them now, but you'll have to manually tweak the trimming boundaries in
06:22the app to get everything perfect.
06:24Second, the smart home integration.
06:27Ecovacs doesn't have an incredible breadth of connections here.
06:31There's no native matter support, and the home assistant integration is currently broken.
06:36Brand new issue should be resolved soon.
06:39So, you end up relying a lot on the Ecovacs app, although you can, of course, use Google and Amazon.
06:45This is the first robot mower I can wholeheartedly get behind, because it is, first and foremost, an excellent mower.
06:52It's a true set-and-forget device once you tweak the digital boundaries.
06:57Then, there's very little that can go wrong here.
07:00Maintenance is basically just swapping out the blades every once in a while, and maybe buying some new trim line.
07:05This is a strong unit, and our first buy recommendation of the month, with the caveat that, of course, you're
07:13spending a good chunk of change to replace your weekly yard work.
07:17One thing that needs to be clear.
07:19Ecovacs paid for their spot in this video, but they did not pay for that verdict.
07:24That was all me.
07:25This is the Tapo DL130, a new smart lock from TP-Link's smart home brand.
07:30It's a $230 product, it works over Wi-Fi, and it does palm vein and fingerprint recognition.
07:37Plus, it has a keypad and a physical key.
07:40You can also use the Tapo app, Google, Amazon, and SmartThings to manage your door.
07:45And it even has a doorbell built into the lock itself.
07:48It features a dual battery system, and despite running on Wi-Fi, Tapo rates it for up to a year
07:55on a single charge, based on about 20 unlocks a day.
07:59Even if that's slightly off, that's a long time for a Wi-Fi lock.
08:03The DL130 is BHMA grade 2.
08:06Grade 2 isn't the absolute top, okay?
08:09Schlag and a few others will sell you a grade 1.
08:12But most of the cheap biometric locks you see all over Amazon aren't BHMA rated at all, and that's the
08:20comparison that actually matters here.
08:22When you install this, you feel it.
08:25It's a physically serious lock.
08:27Everything you need is in the box.
08:30There's also an included door sensor, and that sensor is crucial for this lock because it's how the lock actually
08:36knows the door is shut.
08:38If you've ever had a SmartLock lie and tell you it was locked while the door was standing wide open,
08:44that little sensor fixes it.
08:45Install and setup are pretty quick, and the only confusing part might be the large plate that goes on your
08:51door, but that's there to help with that BHMA grade rating.
08:55Setting up the palm vein and the fingerprint unlocking takes just moments.
09:00The app is intuitive.
09:01The integrations with Amazon, Google, and SmartThings, they work really well.
09:06The only hiccup is that Google and Amazon voice control requires you to speak a PIN code out loud to
09:13unlock the door,
09:14so it ends up being a bit of a conversation instead of a single command.
09:17The most impressive thing about this lock is the palm recognition.
09:22I've used other palm vein locks, and they take way too long to decide if it's you waving at the
09:28door.
09:28This one is so fast and accurate that you almost don't stop locking.
09:34Okay.
09:40So you see when this little image comes up, that's the palm vein being ready, and you just stick your
09:47hand there, and you should be able to hear that.
09:50I know it's a little noisy, but yeah, it's done instantly.
09:54Now, here's a fun test that I made to try and trick this locks vein and fingerprint recognition.
10:01Now, my thumb is a little wet.
10:04It's not super soaked or anything, but let's see what happens.
10:10Verification failed.
10:11See that?
10:12And this is going to happen a bunch of times.
10:16Verification failed.
10:18Verification failed.
10:19Verification failed.
10:20That's what goes on.
10:22Now, on the flip side, you know, my palm is a little wet.
10:25I'm going to go soak it.
10:27Hang on.
10:30So here we go.
10:32Okay.
10:32I'm even dripping.
10:33Let's go.
10:35Look at that.
10:36Perfect.
10:38That's the difference right there.
10:40But let's get it dirty and then see if that still works, that palm vein.
10:49If this works, I will be surprised.
10:53Let's try it out.
10:55Okay.
10:58That didn't work.
11:00Cookies were too much.
11:01The DL130 wins in three major categories.
11:05First, the speed.
11:06You've seen this.
11:07Second, local security.
11:09Your biometric data never leaves the lock.
11:11It's stored and encrypted on the device.
11:14Never uploaded to the cloud.
11:16Third, the backup features.
11:17You can pad your pin code with random digits so nobody snags your code.
11:21And if you manage to run the battery completely dead, you can use that USB-C port on the bottom
11:27to get in.
11:28But it falls short in two critical ways for smart home builders.
11:33First, no matter.
11:35There is no native Apple home integration.
11:38And HomeMe and Home Assistant have no official support either.
11:42That turns this into a device that's far less integrated with the rest of many homes.
11:48Second, Wi-Fi over thread.
11:50I would have preferred thread since it'll be running on my home network anyway.
11:55Without matter and thread, it's an overall miss for deep smart home automation.
12:02My verdict is this is for people who want a simple smart lock that reacts instantly.
12:07If you just want it to work every single time with yourself as the key, this is the lock.
12:13It's for someone who wants a heavy, secure lock with high-powered biometric tech.
12:18This is the Amazon Ember 4 Series.
12:20It is Amazon's own 4K QLED, and the whole pitch is that it doubles as a digital art display
12:27when you're not watching anything.
12:28I bought the 55-inch, and I paid $430 Canadian.
12:33Delivered.
12:34Now, QLED here is describing the color layer, not the backlight underneath it.
12:40It is a direct-lit panel with no local dimming and peak brightness around 320 nits.
12:47So, this is a budget 4K set with a quantum dot layer on top, not a premium one.
12:54So, hold that thought because it matters for the art part later.
12:58With the TV, you also get an Amazon Fire TV remote, the basic stand, and standard wall mounting options.
13:06But where it gets interesting is how you can expand.
13:09You can accentuate this setup with Echo speakers for surround sound, upgrade to premium Fire TV remotes,
13:16or add the Fire TV soundbar.
13:18Plug it in, log into your Amazon account.
13:20Now, the Fire TV interface in 2026 isn't quite as customizable as, say, the early 2020s.
13:28It's fairly locked down with Prime TV heavily dominating the main page.
13:33You do, of course, get all the apps you want, games, and there are some sections that show recommendations
13:39from your other apps like Netflix.
13:41The most often section, though?
13:44Sponsored.
13:44Kind of annoying.
13:45But the experience with Miss A+, the new AI voice assistant, is something Amazon has heavily focused on.
13:52Let's check the speed of the interface and the voice search.
13:56What's weird about this is, one time, it didn't work at all.
14:00The second time, it worked instantly.
14:02And the third time, it told me the camera wasn't going to come up on screen.
14:06And then it did.
14:07Show me the front door.
14:12Okay.
14:13Showing the Karen.
14:16They called it Karen.
14:17Sorry.
14:18Something went wrong with the device scale.
14:20Right.
14:21Looks like it's working.
14:24Yeah.
14:26Apologizing, but still working.
14:27Other smart home control has been a little up and down.
14:31Show me the chop shop camera.
14:38Okay.
14:39Showing the chop shop cam.
14:52Not exactly the fastest.
14:54Show me the chop shop cam.
14:59Okay.
15:00Showing the chop shop cam.
15:05What's the temperature in the chop shop?
15:10The temperature in the chop shop is 75.6 degrees Fahrenheit.
15:14What's the humidity in the chop shop?
15:18I don't have humidity data for the chop shop.
15:21Would you like me to check the temperature there again?
15:24Can you unlock the door lock in the chop shop?
15:29I can't unlock multiple targets with voice code.
15:32Please ask me to control each one separately.
15:34But the voice assistant is supposed to be best used for finding movies.
15:39I want to watch a movie with the lady from Modern Family whose name is Claire and it was a
15:47golfing movie.
15:52Searching for that golfing movie with Julia Butters.
15:57That search capability is mostly great.
16:01The fact is it didn't work a few times and I don't know that I want to deal with Amazon's
16:07inability to be reliable.
16:09Where this TV wins comes down to three things.
16:13First, the price.
16:14When you look at the feature set, the 4K panel, all the services it supports out of the box.
16:20For the price I paid, this is incredibly tough to beat.
16:23Second is simplicity.
16:25You just need that Amazon account and from there you get Prime Video, tons of apps and an interface that's
16:30pretty good.
16:31Easy to navigate without ever needing to use a phone app to change settings.
16:36And third, the ecosystem.
16:37Well, the voice assistant is powerful.
16:40The preloaded art looks decent and being able to instantly pair with Echo speakers to create wireless surround sound is
16:48a huge bonus.
16:49But there are three distinct catches if you're putting this in a smart home.
16:54First, the OmniSense feature.
16:56The sensors that turn the TV on when you enter the room.
17:00They only kind of work.
17:02In a living room, maybe that's cool.
17:04In a bedroom, it's a freaking nightmare.
17:06It turns on constantly at night and every time you walk in your bedroom, it's lit up.
17:13You'll end up disabling it for sure.
17:16Second, you know, the panel finish.
17:18Because this panel does not have the matte finish of the higher-end models and because it's built to be
17:23bright rather than paper-like,
17:25the art still shows up as a glowing TV rather than a framed canvas.
17:30Third, smart home speed.
17:32Amazon's smart home integrations with the Fire TV are just too slow to be useful.
17:38And Matter Casting, which is the big piece for TVs at Matter 1.5, currently seems to only work well
17:45with Prime Video.
17:46Now, my verdict.
17:47Well, for the price, this is one of the best out there.
17:50Amazon has simplified their process to the point where anyone can use it.
17:54If it's cheap TV time in your house, go get one of these.
17:59Enjoy the extra features that work for you.
18:01But don't consider this a prime candidate for a dedicated home theater.
18:06You're going to want to upgrade for that.
18:09Quick timeout.
18:09In case you hadn't noticed, this is a brand new series for Automate Your Life.
18:13And I'm calling it the showcase.
18:15My goal is to make this your monthly smart home ritual.
18:19Around the 15th of every month, we'll drop one of these.
18:22Tell me if you agree with my verdicts, what you're seeing with these products in your own home,
18:27and what you want tested next month.
18:30Now, the channel is also evolving.
18:31My intuition and the data tells me that the traditional 20-minute dedicated tech review is fading in 2026.
18:40And we have to shift with the time.
18:41So the rest of the Automate Your Life channel will be focused on big comparisons, roundups,
18:46and the deep dive tutorials that actually help you build a proper smart home.
18:51But for keeping up with what's new, that's what this showcase is for.
18:56Quick specs, a reality check, and a hard verdict.
18:59And about that last verdict, some of these are sponsored.
19:04And you'll see this on our verdict card when they are.
19:08What they're doing is they're buying placement in a specific month's video.
19:12It does not buy the verdict.
19:14And none of these companies see this video before you do.
19:17But let's get back to it.
19:19This is the incredible looking Govee Lantern floor lamp.
19:22It's a 1400 lumen, 1000 to 10,000 Kelvin RGB ICWW smart floor lamp with voice control.
19:32It also has touch control, a massive library of scenes, synchronized lighting modes, and DIY build-it-yourself options for
19:43effects.
19:43It stands 63 inches tall on an 11-inch circular base, with the lantern shade making up the top 11
19:51inches.
19:51The base isn't overly heavy, but it's weighted enough that it won't tip if you bump into it.
19:56But the magic is in the shade.
19:59It's a squishy silicone that diffuses the lighting inside.
20:03RGB ICWW means the three color LEDs are combined into a single chip,
20:09while the warm and cool white LEDs are separated and controlled independently.
20:14That distinction matters because those two white LEDs drive the full color temperature range,
20:21from a super warm amber 1000 Kelvin all the way to an intense and icy 10,000 Kelvin.
20:27They mix together on the surface of the diffuser with the RGB chips.
20:32And when you watch multi-color effects roll across the shade, it's a wild visual experience.
20:38It's simple.
20:39It can be dressed up or down, and it fits into almost any room.
20:43But living with this lamp day-to-day is where it really shines.
20:46When you just need light, the silicone diffuser doesn't ruin its brightness.
20:51I'm blind!
20:531400 lumens genuinely feels like 1400 lumens.
20:57But when you're relaxing at night, it can produce a soft halo effect that almost looks like the lamp isn't
21:03even on.
21:04Now, if you do want to show off, the app features over 100 scenes.
21:08And because the lamp has a built-in microphone, it syncs beautifully with music playing in the room without needing
21:14a separate sync box.
21:16While this connects to your home's Wi-Fi at 2.4 gigahertz, the physical control on the top lets you
21:21turn it on and off.
21:22And you also have a Bluetooth backup.
21:25So, if your Wi-Fi is down, you're having problems with that, you do have the phone backup option always
21:31available.
21:32When you first look at it, you think, okay, this is a hard plastic shell.
21:37It's your typical stuff.
21:39Nope.
21:40And look at, you can see those LEDs.
21:44You know, let me get a better shot of that.
21:51Looks like a crazy mouth.
21:54Now, let's talk about matter and AI.
21:58So, right here, you can see easy, quick control.
22:03You have hundreds of scenes.
22:05You know, he's changed whatever you're feeling like.
22:08They all look amazing.
22:10And you have these deeper features like the speed.
22:13How fast do you want the fire effect to go?
22:17And it really changes everything.
22:19And then you can favorite it.
22:20And there's categories.
22:22There's tons of categories for all these different effects.
22:26So, it's incredible, right?
22:28Here's the Govee Lantern Floor Light in, well, Apple HomeKit.
22:34Ready?
22:35It's green.
22:37It's not very bright.
22:39It's very bright.
22:40Super fast control.
22:42This is what matter is.
22:44Though, in 2026, when it comes to lights.
22:47So, you're just not getting a ton of control options when you go through matter.
22:55It means the Govee app becomes required for all the fun stuff you want to be doing.
23:00But when you're in the Govee app, the features are essentially endless.
23:05And actually, the effects are endless.
23:07So, this is AI Lighting Bot 2.0.
23:11I've shown this on the channel.
23:12And sometimes, you know, these effects look better with different lights from Govee.
23:17But in this case, I'll hold the talk.
23:20I want an effect for Spider-Man's new movie.
23:24It's going to design it.
23:26City Night Cool.
23:27Okay.
23:28Well, and now, if I don't like it, I can ask for a new one.
23:30If I do like it, though, I can save this.
23:33So, I can apply it.
23:36And then, I can save this to my DIY effects.
23:41Okay.
23:41And this is how you can create unlimited effects.
23:44Because then, you can go into DIY.
23:47And you can use these in Govee's app anytime.
23:50And you can change to that effect.
23:53So, for my verdict, go get this one.
23:56And find a place for it.
23:57It's fun.
23:58It's exciting.
23:59And it's going to drive conversations with anyone who walks into your home.
24:04The color temperature.
24:05The dynamic effects.
24:07Turn this into a smart light you'll use every single day.
24:11And same as the mower.
24:12Govee paid for their spot here.
24:14But the verdict is still mine.
24:16This is the ZBT2.
24:20And this is the ZWA2.
24:22And these are antennas or radios for home assistant users.
24:29The ZWA2 uses Z-Wave.
24:32And this one, actually, is dual protocol.
24:35Now, you can use both Zigbee and Thread with it.
24:40And there's more to that story, too.
24:42Both of them have a really important update.
24:45And one of the things I want to do with this video is tell you when something big has changed
24:50in the industry.
24:51So what's changed here?
24:53Well, these used to have to be plugged in directly into your home assistant instance.
25:00They had to be wherever your hub was.
25:03And that might mean that they couldn't be central.
25:07Or that they couldn't help you with your network as much as you had hoped.
25:12Because really, the big benefit with both of these is that they're very powerful.
25:17Especially in the case of the ZWA2.
25:19I've personally seen just how far this can reach.
25:24Both of these devices have now become capable of being a repeater.
25:29And therefore, they are capable of being placed anywhere in your home.
25:35This is far away from my hub.
25:37My hub is actually down in the basement of our home, kind of centralized.
25:41But I needed something that got out to our garage out there.
25:46Especially for Zigbee.
25:48Yeah, there they are right there.
25:50Now, why am I talking to you about this today?
25:55Well, this can be a big problem for a lot of us.
25:58So I'm just showing you the distance out to the back of my home.
26:04Okay?
26:04We have a detached garage.
26:06There's one light.
26:08There's another light.
26:09And Zigbee, especially, is not going to reach all the way to the end of your property.
26:14So for me, these bulbs are relatively unreliable for me.
26:20So I fixed that.
26:22So today, when I look at my Zigbee and Z-Wave maps in Home Assistant, I see all these red
26:28bubbles that mean the device is currently disconnected.
26:31You can see here, my current garage one and two lights are red.
26:36The way you can get these two radios to be a repeater is simple.
26:40You plug them into a computer, then you go to the Home Assistant site for the device.
26:45And there, you'll see options for using them as a repeater or as your main radio.
26:52For me, I chose them as a repeater.
26:55And then I put them at the edge of my home.
26:57And then I added new smart bulbs to test it all out.
27:01The first bulb I added was Third Reality's newest Zigbee bulb.
27:05It connects as a router itself, but routes through the ZBT2.
27:10The second and third bulbs I added, these are the ones outdoors.
27:14They're eight-year-old sang-lid Zigbee bulbs that are notoriously bad.
27:20The reason they're usually bad is because they won't often use a repeater to communicate.
27:25So if they're too far away from your main radio, you're going to experience disconnections.
27:31But actually, they correctly connected to the ZBT2.
27:35And actually, they're using the Third Reality bulb in one case as the connection point.
27:40But most of this traffic is going through our ZBT2 now.
27:44And my LQI and RSSI values for my Zigbee network are really good.
27:50So the question as to whether these are worth it.
27:54Well, in my opinion, the ZBT2 is going to help a lot of people.
27:59Whether you're using it for Zigbee or Thread, it's going to be helpful to get that type of network set
28:07up.
28:07I think that's a total buy.
28:09When it comes to the ZWA-2, well, you've got to have a large enough property for this really to
28:16matter.
28:16And I think the other thing that might catch people is just you got other repeaters around that can get
28:23out to the garage with these other repeaters.
28:27And if you can do that, you're maybe not going to need the ZWA-2.
28:32So let's have a quick chat about Z-Wave.
28:35There's actually something really impactful going on with Z-Wave.
28:40So Z-Wave uses around 900 megahertz as a frequency.
28:45It varies a little by country.
28:47Someone's trying to buy that part of the spectrum.
28:50And I actually don't know who that is.
28:52You guys can tell me down in the comments below.
28:54But because they're trying to take that basically from open spectrum that anyone can use for any technology and turn
29:02it into private spectrum, that would actually be a really big problem for Z-Wave.
29:07So there's a bit of an alliance forming right now to kind of have this battle out and try to
29:14protect that part of the spectrum.
29:17If this is something you want to get involved in, I'll leave a link down below.
29:21You can read more about what's going on.
29:23The Z-Wave alliance is asking people to kind of help out with this.
29:27So I don't know what kind of timelines or what kind of impact this would eventually have.
29:31But I think it would be an eventual very big problem if it became privatized spectrum.
29:38This is the new Ring Spotlight Cam.
29:41It's the second gen of Spotlight Cameras from Ring and its big headline upgrade is a bumped up 2K resolution.
29:50Oh, wow.
29:51Ring has always mastered the out-of-box experience.
29:55Setup is completely guided in plain English.
29:59And instead of drilling into my home's exterior, I use these cheap vinyl siding clips.
30:05Makes the install and setup a five minute job total.
30:08Once it's mounted, living with a Ring camera comes down to dialing in battery versus feature trade-offs.
30:17The hardware gives you a good 140 degree horizontal by 85 degree vertical field of view, two-way audio, and
30:26550 lumen spotlights.
30:28It runs on 2.4 gigahertz Wi-Fi version 4.
30:32When you pair this pretty good hardware with Ring's ecosystem, including the app and web view, the day-to-day
30:40use feels really polished.
30:42You get smart single event alerts that combine multiple motion triggers into one clean notification.
30:50As a consumer experience, it feels awesome until you look under the hood.
30:55It's dusk out, and that's one of the hardest times of the day.
30:59So, I'm going to do our reality check right now.
31:02And I'm going to compare it to another camera I've had on the front of my home for a while
31:06now.
31:06So, we got a nice notification.
31:08A person is walking on the pathway with a tripod.
31:12Incredible, eh?
31:13So, yeah, that, I mean, that's an amazing notification.
31:16What you want, totally.
31:17But the TAPO did come in sooner with the person detected.
31:22The other thing I'm noticing is TAPO is reloading quicker.
31:26I'll let you guys decide which is the higher quality feed, you know.
31:30It's a pretty wide angle with the Ring here in this case.
31:35That's what I'm noticing.
31:37What I'll say is TAPO is taking more videos more often.
31:43What happens when I turn off the internet?
31:46So, what I'm going to do is restart my network here.
31:52Okay, so I just hit restart.
31:54I'm going to wait for the Wi-Fi to go out on my phone.
31:585G.
31:58There we go.
32:00Okay, let's go out there and see which camera records.
32:06If a camera records, I don't even know.
32:09I have a notification from TAPO.
32:12That's pretty wild.
32:13That means that's being served inside of the network.
32:16So, TAPO's already done something.
32:18The Ring camera's not coming on at all.
32:21This is the real crux of the issue when it comes to Ring in 2026.
32:26Fantastic features.
32:28Absolutely amazing.
32:29It's a great camera.
32:31It looks great.
32:31It sounds great.
32:32The connection is actually really stable.
32:34But if your internet connection goes down or you don't pay that subscription, you're not getting any of the wonderful
32:41features.
32:42You're basically getting a thing sitting on the wall.
32:45In 2026, come on.
32:48Unplug your router and this camera is a paperweight.
32:51If your Wi-Fi signal fluctuates, the camera automatically degrades its own recording bit rate.
32:58Leaving you with Pac-Man pixelated footage right when you most need it.
33:03Without a subscription, you get no video history.
33:06You get no videos at all.
33:08And none of those incredible AI video descriptions.
33:11To get those features, you're pushed into higher tier monthly plans.
33:15Want continuous 24-7 recording?
33:18Well, that's another paid add-on.
33:20The price on the retail box is just the down payment for a bill that never ends.
33:26And honestly, those bills seem to get bigger every year now.
33:30There's zero local storage.
33:33No microSD card slot.
33:35No RTSP.
33:37No NAS streaming.
33:39Honestly, this is outdated connectivity.
33:41Running on 2.4 GHz Wi-Fi 4 means it lacks speed, stability, and bandwidth efficiency of modern Wi-Fi
33:506 security hardware.
33:52So, despite the sharp 2K footage and Ring's polished ecosystem, I'm giving the Ring 2K Spotlight Cam a skip verdict.
34:02Paying a recurring, growing subscription fee for a camera with no local options is a cost disaster.
34:11Now, this is the relatively new Aqara G350.
34:15It's both a camera and a hub, and it comes with these cutesy little bunny ears.
34:20It's a 4K camera with 360-degree panning.
34:24It even has a 9x hybrid zoom, and it can track people and other stuff.
34:29You get a dual-lens optical system, a loud 95-decibel built-in siren, Wi-Fi 6 connectivity operating on
34:37both 2.4 and 5 GHz bands,
34:41a microSD card slot, and support for local NAS storage and RTSP streams all over your own home network.
34:49This is one of the very first official Matter 1.5 cameras on the market.
34:55That allows you to bring video feeds natively into platforms like Apple Home, SmartThings, and more.
35:02But you're also getting an Aqara Zigbee Hub, a Matter over Thread border router, a Matter Bridge to bring all
35:10your Aqara gear into other apps,
35:12and my favorite part is the gesture support.
35:16When I show you that one, I think you'll get it.
35:19There's a lot to talk about when we talk about this experience, because there's so much going on.
35:23Now, first of all, the detection options you have without a subscription.
35:26You know, motion, people, face, smile, animal, specific sounds, and those gestures.
35:33Each one of those has detection settings that help you customize that to work how you want it.
35:38The recordings are crisp and clear, and night vision is excellent.
35:42There's really nothing I can say about the visuals on this camera that I could complain about.
35:47The local recording options mean I never have to think about the recordings actually happening.
35:53I know they are.
35:54Plus, I can pipe this into things like Frigate.
35:57I can send 4K resolution footage to hard drives in my home, and I can process them locally with AI
36:04here.
36:05The two lenses come together in this really interesting way.
36:09There's both a normal lens and a telephoto lens.
36:12You can zoom in on objects, and it actually switches between the lenses automatically.
36:17That, on top of the tracking capability being pretty good, means this is an excellent security camera for inside your
36:23home.
36:24There's also a really important feature, the physical shutter.
36:28Once that turns on, you get that little face showing you that you have privacy.
36:35The hub features are really good too, although you aren't able to pair so many ZigBee and Matter Over Thread
36:42devices with this,
36:44as you can with other standalone Acara hubs.
36:47It's an easy entry point for a budding smart home.
36:51But it's the gesture support that gets me the most, because you can start automations that are so easy, and
36:57it's so effective.
36:59And you can even limit those automations to your face.
37:02I'm not looking at it, okay?
37:04This is important.
37:06I'm not looking at the camera, and I'm giving it the bunny ears.
37:10Now, if I turn around, and, hang on.
37:15So now, I'm looking at the camera, and I'm going to give it the old bunny ears.
37:20Right there, you see that?
37:21Ready?
37:23Uh, let's give them the gun.
37:25Yeah!
37:26Now let's do this one.
37:29Gotta admit, that one's pretty fun.
37:32One of my first tests has to be how far away I can do this.
37:38So, working still.
37:41But watch this.
37:45Oh, still got me.
37:48Oh, still got me.
37:50Oh my goodness.
37:52It's getting good.
37:58Still working.
37:59Well, let's back up.
38:00Okay.
38:04Holy smokes.
38:05I'm a long ways away.
38:11Still, I...
38:15Okay.
38:17Maybe not the straightest measure, but 16 feet right there.
38:22I've been sitting here for a few minutes, trying to get the camera to recognize gestures when I'm sitting here.
38:28And it hasn't gone so well.
38:31So, why isn't it as accurate?
38:34Well, see that big, nice window behind me that lets in all that lovely light that we all love so
38:40much?
38:41That's a backlight.
38:42So, this is being hidden quite a bit by that backlight.
38:48And it's hard for me to get the camera to be able to see this.
38:54So, there it goes.
38:56It's just not as reliable.
38:58So, it will work.
38:59It's not as reliable.
39:01You got to play with the location a little bit.
39:05I think you want basic backgrounds, things that are not changing so much.
39:12You don't want big backlights like that, kind of calmer situations so that the camera can analyze what it's looking
39:20at and respond.
39:22I know you can barely see me now, but it's pitch black in here.
39:27And we've got three tests to do this evening.
39:32The first is just the basics.
39:36So, yes, right here, I'm sitting on my couch.
39:41Totally working.
39:43So, right here, under gesture, I just turned on the face authorization.
39:50Now, I'm going to go sit down.
39:54It can still do it in the dark.
39:57Unreal.
40:00This is my test.
40:02All right.
40:02Now, the camera doesn't know it's me.
40:05So, I'm going to hold this up to my face.
40:08And it'll probably bring down the brightness a little.
40:11So, it looks a little more natural to the camera.
40:15But, let's get that in front of my face.
40:17And let's see.
40:19Okay.
40:20This is me.
40:26Yeah, I've tricked it.
40:30So, if you have my face, you can run my automation.
40:36Please don't steal my face.
40:38The Acara G350 wins in four big ways.
40:41Local storage and no subscriptions.
40:44At least not ones that you'll need.
40:46You get that full 4K continuous recording to microSD or your local NAS.
40:51And you've got a lot of AI detection for free.
40:55Matter 1.5, and therefore universal ecosystem support, has a need of Matter 1.5 camera and
41:02Matter Bridge, streams video feeds, and it also brings other devices into those apps.
41:08Number three, the footage is excellent.
41:11And it's not just because it's 4K.
41:13Actually, a lot of ways that Acara designs their cameras and their lenses and other components to produce really great
41:20footage.
41:20They've also got that blazing fast gesture automation option.
41:25Using physical hand gestures to start smart home routines, it's faster, it's more reliable than voice commands.
41:32But there are two minor catches to keep in mind.
41:35It's indoor only, and there's really no mounting options unless you want to 3D print something.
41:40It's definitely not an outdoor camera with no weatherproof rating.
41:45It does have an okay temperature rating, but I wouldn't be putting it outdoors.
41:49It's also locked down in terms of Zigbee.
41:51So while it acts as a Matter Bridge, its built-in Zigbee hub only pairs directly with Acara-branded Zigbee
41:59sensors.
42:00The Acara G350 costs less than the Ring Spotlight Cam we just looked at.
42:06Yet, it gives you 4K footage, a dual-lens setup, Wi-Fi 6, local NAS recordings, zero subscriptions as long
42:16as you don't need a few things,
42:18a physical privacy shutter, and gesture-based automations.
42:22So it completely blows traditional cloud-based cameras out of the water.
42:27So you want a state-of-the-art indoor camera and a smart home hub?
42:32The G350 is an absolute buy.
42:34If you want to see more about this camera and that gesture support and what you can do,
42:38check out our review video of it.
42:41Okay, you'll see some pretty wild ways to build automation.
42:44Also, you can check out our guide of automation ideas with Acara's smart home system.
42:50They've got a lot of unique devices.
42:52And so both of those things are going to help you as great resources if you're considering this camera or
42:58any of their gear.
42:59All right, we need to talk about these.
43:02If you've watched the channel at all over the last couple of years, you've seen these.
43:07People ask about them constantly.
43:08So every month, I want to take something a little bit older like this, dig it out, dust it off,
43:15and tell you how it went.
43:17So that's what we're going to do with the Nanoleaf Blocks now.
43:20And if there's something you'd like me to dig into that you have in your home, let me know in
43:25the comments.
43:26Yeah, that's the same effect for two years.
43:30I wouldn't even call it an effect.
43:31It's just a single color.
43:33Now, it wasn't staying that way because I loved that so much.
43:38It's good branding.
43:39But actually, the reason was it was kind of annoying to change it.
43:46It's not that the app is broken or terrible.
43:49It's just that, you know, in the last couple of years here, I've maybe opened the app a total of
43:55four times or four times when I wasn't troubleshooting an issue.
43:59And because I wasn't in there constantly and I wasn't constantly looking at what I could do with these lights,
44:06I kind of assumed that lots of the neat effects that I had found when I first got them were
44:13kind of stuck in the app.
44:15So actually, as I was preparing to talk about these and as I was digging into them,
44:22I was kind of at the point where I was going to tell you, you know what?
44:25Skip this right now.
44:27There's better options out there on the market.
44:29But I went digging and I found some stuff.
44:34Nanoleaf syncs your scenes out.
44:36Not just the ones that they build or are sitting in the app.
44:40Your custom ones.
44:42HomeKit, Homey, and Home Assistant all get access to all the scenes with one of your lights.
44:50Although I haven't been able to get those scenes into Homey.
44:55I'll come back to that in a minute.
44:56I did this for a living and it took me almost two years to find this little feature and this
45:04thing was sitting just behind my head.
45:06I know some of you are going to call me crazy, but it was kind of hidden behind this little
45:11icon.
45:12Honestly, I thought it was decoration in the app.
45:14I thought it was a Nanoleaf icon.
45:17And when I found this, my whole world changed.
45:20It's not in Google.
45:22It's not in Amazon.
45:23It's not in SmartThings.
45:25Almost every other company in the industry builds for those companies, those platforms first with everything they do.
45:34Nanoleaf did the exact opposite.
45:37And what's wild about that is that these are sitting on shelves in Best Buy and Costco.
45:45That is the controller and it has never worked right.
45:52It's not always failing like that, but a lot of the time it is.
45:57Now, I do have a spare because this setup actually took two separate boxes of Nanoleaf blocks.
46:03But installing that means popping some of these off the wall.
46:09It's a little bit of a project.
46:10So it's still sitting in the box somewhere in here.
46:14But if your controller dies or you have this kind of a problem, well, you're kind of stuck.
46:20And this is why I haven't been able to get these into Homey as of late to try out all
46:26those scenes.
46:27Honestly, everything else here has held up, okay?
46:30The Wi-Fi on this product initially was a bit flaky.
46:35It used to come down and I would find that controller actually sitting there blinking and they would be disconnected
46:41from Wi-Fi.
46:42The Thread was also a bit of a problem.
46:45This is a Thread border router.
46:47And you know what?
46:49Since a few firmware updates, both of those things have become excellent.
46:54And they are bright and as colorful as they were on day one.
47:00And the pegboard attachments, I mean, they're fantastic.
47:04I wish a little bit that the pegboard attachments would be usable from other products.
47:10They're a little square pegboard.
47:13But that's why I bought the thing.
47:15It had that great pegboard and those options to kind of hang things that I wanted to show you guys.
47:21Then a few months ago, Nanoleaf got bought out for $40.5 million by a company called One Robotics.
47:31One Robotics is the parent company of SwitchBot, who traditionally haven't used Thread in their products
47:39and don't have their products in any of those retail spaces.
47:43Honestly, knowing what these do with those three platforms, HomeKit, Home Assistant, Homey, it makes a lot of sense now,
47:52actually.
47:53And it makes a lot of sense why the parent company of SwitchBot would want to go out and get
47:59these.
48:00So while I was doing the testing here, my verdict switched.
48:03They're a buy if you're a user of HomeKit, Homey, or Home Assistant.
48:08If you're a SmartThings or an Amazon or a Google user, honestly, these aren't worth it anymore, or at least
48:16not in my opinion.
48:18Quick one, because this has come up twice already in today's video and it's about to come up again.
48:23The Matter logo on a box does not tell you that a feature works.
48:28That was supposed to be the whole point, but today, three separate things have to line up.
48:32The hardware has to actually do it, the firmware has to expose it over matter, and then your platform has
48:40to decide to show it to you.
48:42Any one of those things breaks and you don't get a feature.
48:46That's why Govee's effects do not survive the trip into Apple Home.
48:50It's why Nanoleaf scenes reach those three platforms and no others.
48:55And it is why the next product measures your power consumption every second of every day, and most of you
49:01will never see it.
49:02This is the IKEA Grill Platts, and it costs $13.
49:08That's not for the plug alone, either.
49:10That is the kit with the BillRacer remote included.
49:15It is matter over thread.
49:16It has an energy meter built in, and IKEA has committed to at least five years of software updates on
49:23it.
49:23For $13? I've been doing this a long time.
49:26I don't think I've ever said a sentence like that.
49:29In the box, you get the plug, the remote, and that's it.
49:32Batteries are not included, so budget two AAAs in.
49:36The remote and the plug are sold as a pre-paired kit, and one remote can drive up to 10
49:43plugs, which is a part that a lot of people miss.
49:47This is not one plug and one button.
49:49This is the cheapest way I know to put physical control on 10 different things in your home.
49:56Setup is not setup.
49:58You plug in the plug, you put batteries in the remote, and you press a button, and it just works.
50:04If you want to add another plug to this same remote, well, you follow a very simple sequence.
50:11You plug in the new plug, you hit the pairing button on the remote four times, and you get the
50:17remote within five centimeters of your new plug.
50:20And then, voila, you have two plugs paired to one remote.
50:24And there's no app, no account, no hub.
50:28And that matters more than it sounds, right?
50:30Because we all know people who refuse to use a smart home app, but pretty much everyone will use a
50:37button.
50:38If you want your phone involved or you want automations, you will need a thread border router.
50:44A Dirajera hub works from Ikea.
50:46A HomePod, an Echo speaker, a Home Assistant ZBT2.
50:51Whatever you already have.
50:52Without one, though, it's a very good dumb remote.
50:55Now, here's the thing Ikea advertises on the box, and almost nobody actually sees it.
51:01Energy monitoring.
51:02Over there is the grill plats plug, and I'm going to show you it in a couple of apps.
51:07Inside of Apple HomeKit, when I go into the grill plats, this is all I can do with it.
51:13There's nothing else inside of the settings that I can do with it, really.
51:19Inside of Home Assistant, though, okay, it looks like, okay, just a plug.
51:24Same thing, except when we head down here, what do we get?
51:31Look, energy, power.
51:33You can see it jumped right away to 10 watts.
51:36And then I have firmware control.
51:39I can request a firmware update at some point.
51:42I can change the power on behavior.
51:46I also get all of these different components of electrical information.
51:51These can be very useful for you.
51:54And you can see, I even have my thread channel and my network and everything all in there.
52:00I can see the voltage in here.
52:02It's just a huge amount of data.
52:04It's a similar situation inside of SmartThing.
52:08So here we can see the 10 watts running.
52:10We can see the energy meter running over time.
52:13So that's watt hours and something that's really nice.
52:17This has just been resolved recently, actually, is that it does show in your energy panel.
52:23So you can see it right there.
52:25Just because I just added it to SmartThings, it's not really showing anything.
52:29But there you go.
52:30As you build up the kilowatt hours, you're going to have that in the energy panel with SmartThings.
52:37And, you know, with both of the SmartThings and the Home Assistant platforms, look, you have the power meter and
52:44the energy meter that you can base automations off of.
52:48And, of course, with this, with Home Assistant, you have much more that you can do in terms of triggers
52:57and conditions with all those different components of power, right?
53:03So you even want to measure something like apparent current, you want to know what type of load is on
53:10there?
53:10You can do that and you can automate based off of that reactive power, too.
53:15So that's the same plug, but completely different products depending on which app you opened.
53:20And in Home Assistant, where it does work, there's been some back and forth on getting it working quite right.
53:26The power monitoring stuff was initially filed under diagnostics rather than sensors.
53:31The plug is measuring the whole time.
53:34Your app just is determining your experience.
53:37And that is not how matter was supposed to go.
53:40Three things are big wins here.
53:41The price, obviously.
53:43Two devices, 13 bucks.
53:45All these features, huge deal.
53:47Second is the remote.
53:49It works without a hub, without a phone, drives up to 10 plugs.
53:52It's a fix for every family member who will not open an app.
53:57And third, you don't have to set up anything if you don't want to.
54:01So you can hand this to your parents.
54:03Tell them they have a remote for their lamp or their fan.
54:06Two catches, though.
54:07Energy monitoring, it's going to matter based on your platform.
54:11And that matter over thread means you need a border router for anything beyond the remote
54:16slash plug control.
54:18Once you have it right in your home, these are honestly amazing.
54:23I have a guide linked below for you.
54:25My verdict then?
54:27Well, it's buy, not if.
54:29Just buy and buy a bunch.
54:31At 13 bucks is the easiest recommendation in the entire episode.
54:36Let's crown the automate your life pick of the month.
54:39And when I give this away, it's truly an award to a product that epitomizes automating your life.
54:46Automating your life means you're not going to spend an arm and a leg.
54:50And you're not going to spend your life getting it working.
54:53And this month, despite all these great, complex products that we had, well, the best thing
55:00that you all can use is the last thing we talked about.
55:03IKEA has nailed it.
55:05Giving those products to your parents or to friends that have never used smart home gear,
55:09they will be truly overjoyed when you get there.
55:12Two lamps packaged together with a remote and rechargeable batteries.
55:16You won't even have to connect things to Apple HomeKit or anything else.
55:20Your friends are going to love it.
55:21You can check out all our reviews and guides for all the products you saw on today's video.
55:26Those are all down in the description.
55:28Now, you just watched some of the best smart tech to come out this month, but our mid-year
55:34roundup of the very best gear is on screen there now.
55:38That's what I've crowned as the top of the industry so far.
55:41Some absolutely wild stuff in that video.
55:43Otherwise, thanks for joining us on our first episode ever of the Showcase.
55:49And of course, live smart.

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