test conclusion
The FritzDect 301 deserves praise for its economy with electricity and data, but offers little comfort when it comes to smart heating. Thanks to FritzBox as the control center, the smart home stays within your own four walls and does not require registration, cloud or subscription costs. But savings potential and falling energy costs without human intervention promise above all fast reaction times or automatic lowering when windows are open and when the house occupants are absent. This is exactly where the AVM system weakens – or has to fit completely. If you don’t need these functions and value data protection, the FritzDect 301 is still the right choice.
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That’s how smart the AVM thermostat heats up
The highlight at AVM: Your Fritz heating controller only requires a FritzBox with DECT function from FritzOS 6.83, which is usually already available, for operation – and no additional bridge or Internet connection. This is what the FritzDect 301 has to offer:
- Quick start: The installation of the compact device (7 centimeters long, 5 centimeters in diameter) worked without any problems in the test. To do this, the testers unscrewed the “stupid” thermostat, slipped the new AVM device over the exposed valve and hand-tightened the fastening ring – that’s it! The Fritz Dect 301 fits common valves and connection threads. A plastic adapter is included for Danfoss. Additional adapters for exotic connections are available for a few euros. Finally, the thermostat prompts you to press the DECT button on the Fritzbox router – the connection is already established. It couldn’t be easier!
- Works reliably: Additional devices connected to the FritzBox transmit via the built-in DECT standard, more precisely via the energy-saving version DECT ULE (Ultra Low Energy). This protects the WiFi network, which is often heavily overloaded at home, and ensures long ranges. Where there is a risk of dead spots on heating controllers with a WLAN or Bluetooth connection, the FritzDect 301 was also easily accessible in the test far from the router and reliably received control commands.
Push the button, connected! The FritzBox not only takes care of the WLAN, but also controls the FritzDect 301 and other smart home devices from AVM.
- Always readable: The testers liked the display. Although it is not illuminated, it works with the e-paper technology known from e-book readers. The shows information sharp, high-contrast and from every angle – and permanently! The small screen only consumes power when the display changes. In combination with DECT radio, this is a power-saving solution that shouldn’t drain the two AA batteries used so quickly.
- Many control options: The five buttons don’t exactly make the Fritz heating controller a designer piece. After all, the temperature can be conveniently adjusted on the device, the display can be rotated or the controller can be notified of an open window so that heating can be paused for a while. Alternatively, you can use the Fritzfon landline telephone or the “Fritz Smart Home” app on your smartphone. The FritzBox also recognized this immediately and displayed the Fritz controller in the overview. Here you can quickly access important functions, such as switching off, selecting the temperature or heating up quickly. A graphic also shows the temperature profile of the last 24 hours.
- More options on detours: All settings are only accessible via browser. If you call up the user interface of the FritzBox on your cell phone or PC and log in with your password, you can activate heating plans, holiday mode or the key lock in the “Smart Home” menu. Voice control is also possible, but not with on-board tools: If you want to have it cozy in the living room with commands like “Alexa, increase the temperature by 3 degrees” or “Ok Google, set the heating to 22 degrees”, you need the right Alexa Skill or Google service.
Visual contact: The energy-saving display is always switched on and is also easy to read from the side.
How does the FritzDect 301 fare in everyday life?
Sounds too good to be true – and it is. The practical test showed that being economical with DECT has its price. Anyone who chooses a different temperature on their cell phone, for example, is surprised that nothing happens at first. The reason: In order to save electricity, the FritzBox only forwards control commands to the FritzDect 301 every 15 minutes. If you want to heat up quickly when you get home, such a sluggish system will probably not seem smart. After all: If the heating schedule targets 20 degrees for around 9 a.m., heating begins in advance so that the desired temperature is already reached when you get up. AVM calls this “adaptive heating”.
If you want to control the heating from the sofa or on the go, use your cell phone and app. However, many settings can only be adjusted in the browser.
A lot of data protection, few really smart functions
Pleasing: The smart home products are not in the cloud. With the FritzDect 301, too, no registration, no subscription and no internet connection are required. With remote access, the mobile phone app speaks directly to the FritzBox at home while on the go – and not via external servers. But so much data protection has its downside: important functions that make smart heating easier are missing. The AVM thermostat does not adjust the temperature to local weather data and does not automatically turn it down as soon as everyone is out of the house. On board is an automatic window open detection, which should stop the heating for about 30 minutes in the event of a sudden drop in temperature. However, this did not work reliably in the test: Although the sensitivity was set to “high” and the thermostats were placed near the window or directly below, nothing happened. The better choice: external window sensors, which AVM says it wants to support shortly.