Many home automation product users, including myself, are tired of juggling dozens of smartphone applications to control the devices in our homes. Although the release of Matter alleviates this problem, the new connectivity standard is not yet supported enough to eliminate the problem.
Therefore, many of us are looking for “smart displays” that give us quick access to control our devices. Some techies will use an old tablet attached to the wall. Others will opt for a connected display like the Echo Show or the Google Nest Hub, which can already function as a smart home control hub, among other things. But these devices have drawbacks. Amazon’s latest addition, the Echo Hub, hopes to fill a gap by being what these devices are not: a connected home control center, and only that!
The three takeaways from the Amazon Echo Hub
- The Echo Hub retails for €200.
- The Echo Hub gives Alexa a deserved place in the connected home market: it is a control panel that provides easy access to network devices, without advertising, without frills.
- The device can be slow and quite buggy, especially when loading multiple camera views. Only Ring cameras are currently available in snap view, but this is expected to change in the future.
The Echo Hub has nothing superfluous. No spatial audio speaker attached to its base, no ultra-high definition for streaming, or ads to display in standby mode: it has no main purpose other than to be a hub and a connected home controller.
A refreshing experience
Testing this Echo Hub over the past week has been a refreshing experience. Its navigation is classified by categories and widgets. At a glance, the Echo Hub displays your widgets on about two-thirds of the screen, with your routines and rooms on the left side of the screen and device categories at the bottom of the screen. Widgets can be customized and you can add more that you download from a widget store.
The Echo Hub can be a little slow when viewing feeds from your security cameras. Maria Diaz/ZDNET
The 8-inch touch screen can be wall-mounted, which I prefer because I’ve always wanted to turn a tablet into a wall-mounted smart panel, or placed on a flat surface using a table stand.
In addition to being a control panel with the Alexa voice assistant, the Echo Hub, as its name suggests, works to connect Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, Zigbee, Matter, Thread and Sidewalk devices (Amazon protocol ).
The Echo Hub makes it easy to control all Alexa-enabled lights. Maria Diaz/ZDNET
Effortless connection with devices from other manufacturers
But if Amazon already has the Echo Show, why create the Echo Hub? The Amazon Alexa Smart Home Network is one of the largest and most intuitive smart home systems available. This system is most compatible with 100 million devices.
The Alexa app quickly connects and adds new devices to your home, from different manufacturers, with little effort. All in one place. If a home automation device says it “works with Alexa,” you can be sure that its network integration will be easy to set up and control with the Alexa app, voice assistant, and now, the Echo Hub.
I currently have three Echo Shows and four other Echo speakers, so there’s a lot of Alexa in my house.
Apple HomeKit or Amazon Echo Hub
Since the house was already managed by Apple HomeKit, I installed the Echo speaker to see how Alexa would cope with Siri. I then put an Echo Show in my kitchen to listen to music or watch the news while cooking dinner and to control home appliances. But also because I thought the screen would give me a better view of my calendar and a general view of the devices in the house.
But that was not the case.
In contrast, the Echo Hub does exactly what it promises: giving me a clear view of my smart home and a quick way to control it.
The Echo Hub camera view. Maria Diaz/ZDNET
I have never hidden the flaws of the Echo Show. I don’t like the fact that I can’t control what is displayed in sleep mode, that Alexa only understands me 80% of the time, that the operation is slow, that an application like YouTube, which requires a browser , is so difficult to use with voice, and home control is such a secondary function.
Buying advice for the Amazon Echo Hub
Because Alexa can manage many different devices, maintains a reliable connection, and the routines are easy to use, I have to admit. I now use it more often than my Apple Home app…
The Echo Hub now displays everything I need on my wall, right at my fingertips. I can easily run routines from the hub, arm or disarm my alarm system, check my security cameras, adjust the downstairs thermostat, or turn a light on or off when I go upstairs to night.
Although the Echo Hub is not a connected speaker, Alexa has a built-in microphone and listens to you. Also, you can mute it so that it does not react to the wake word and adjust its volume. Maria Diaz/ZDNET
During setup, you can choose which Echo device in your home to play music on when you ask Alexa to play something from the Echo Hub, since it’s not a speaker (another difference between the Echo Hub and other Echo devices).
This approach means you can’t substitute an Echo Hub for an Echo speaker if you want to listen to music.
But like many people living in a connected home, I’m reluctant to completely give in to Alexa and Amazon for privacy and security reasons. Especially considering that the data is not processed locally.
Although companies always claim to prioritize consumer privacy, you can’t take them at face value when it comes to your personal data.
Source: “ZDNet.com”