Consumer Reports: 5 Smart Home Products We're Psyched to See at CES—Again

They were unveiled in 2016; in 2017, you might actually be able to buy them

"You look so familiar!" "Are you sure we haven’t met before?" "Do you come here often?"

These are all lines you’d expect to overhear in Las Vegas, just not necessarily on the floor of the Consumer Electronics Show, the largest tech trade show in the world. Of the many thousands of new products that debut each year at CES, a smattering seem more than vaguely familiar to our experts. That’s because after an initial unveiling, some CES products are slow to transition from prototype to production line, and are essentially being introduced all over again.

One reason for the holdups may simply be that companies, eager to make news at trade shows, are overly ambitious in their release schedules. “Small start-ups are eager to secure funding or start turning a profit, and big companies want to be seen as innovators and thought leaders,” says Angela McIntyre, Research Director at Gartner Associates, an information technology advisory firm.

Issues of scale also complicate the process. “A company may make 100 working units before a trade show and find that one fails. That’s not a big deal, but if that same 1 percent failure rate holds when you start producing 100,000 units, it can cause serious production delays,” she says.

Another issue is the nature of what products are expected to do. “Voice recognition and artificial intelligence in particular are being used more and more, and they’re two of the most complicated technologies to build into a new product,” says Jim Barry of the Consumer Technology Association. Since smart home products rely disproportionately on both technologies, the delays can really add up for connected devices.

So, as CES 2017 kicks off, we’d like to revisit a few of those smart home products we first met last year. Here’s hoping that this year, what happens in Vegas doesn’t stay in Vegas.


See Consumer Reports' CES 2017 coverage.

Delta Leak Detector (shown above)
What we liked: Connected leak detectors are nothing new, but these offer remote monitoring with a free app, eliminating the need to invest in a costly smart hub. They’ll also detect as little as several drops of water—other models often require 1/16 inch of standing water before they’ll go off.
What to expect: Delta aims to make their leak detectors ($79.99) available for pre-order by July and start delivering by fall.

Halo and Halo+ Smart Smoke Alarms
What we liked: The first smoke detectors that actually do what all models should—combine both types of smoke detection (ionization and photoelectric) along with a carbon monoxide alarm. Like all smart alarms, they’ll warn you via a smartphone app if they go off, which is helpful if you’re not at home. The Halo+ has the added feature of audibly announcing severe weather warnings for your area, or sending them to your phone.
What to expect: We’re told the Halo ($99) and Halo+ ($129) will both be available later in January 2017 and sold through retailers like Amazon and Lowe's.


iDevices Outlets and Light Switches
What we liked: Too many smart home products require buying and connecting platform-specific hubs, bulbs, and fixtures. iDevices plans to do away with all of that by offering hard-wired outlets and light switches with a built-in WiFi chip, allowing you to use a single app to control just about anything in your home. Plus they’ll work with Apple HomeKit, Amazon Alexa, and Google Home to let you turn things on and off with voice commands.
What to expect: iDevices has made switches and outlets ($99.95 each) available for pre-order now, and intends to offer dimmer switches later this year.


SimpliSafe Smart Camera
What we liked: SimpliSafe’s smart camera offers features you’d find on most models, like live streaming, night vision, and intelligent recording. But what makes it unique is the one feature you can’t see—real-time monitoring by security pros. It pairs with SimpliSafe’s other connected security products, such as motion and entry sensors, smoke and CO alarms, and even freeze detectors, all of which can be installed easily by a homeowner and professionally monitored for $15 a month.
What to expect: After unveiling a prototype at CES 2016, SimpliSafe released a beta version of its smart camera ($99) in August. While the hardware is final, we’re told more features (like two-way audio and the ability to record on demand) will be added using an automatic software update in the first half of 2017.

Brinks Array Lock
What we liked: Most smart locks burn through batteries, but the Array promises to use solar power—or even porch or street lights—to recharge the built-in lithium ion battery. Brinks promises batteries will last a year, and, with enough light, they’ll never need to be replaced at all.
What to expect: Since showing the Array lock at CES 2016, Brinks hasn’t set a sale date, but you can use its website to be alerted when it’s available for pre-order.
 

Consumer Reports: Hey, new routers at cool! Yes, routers

Innovative and attractive network routers introduced at CES 2017 are set to duke it out in an increasingly crowded arena

For most consumers, routers remain mysterious little boxes that make the internet possible. In the past, routers have been ugly, confusing to set up, difficult to update with security patches, and often hidden inside a closet or under an end table.

Worst of all, for many consumers, they left dead zones in your home without WiFi reception. But a number of companies at this year’s Consumer Electronics Show, the annual trade show held in Las Vegas, are hoping to change that by offering up next-gen routers that are attractive, easy-to-understand and user-friendly.

At the top of the to-do list for most companies: Eliminating those dreaded dead spots by selling sets of two or three small "network" routers that talk to each other.


See Consumer Reports' CES 2017 coverage.

“Mesh networks have been around for many years on the enterprise side," said Oscar Reyes, associate vice president of marketing at D-Link, which makes devices for connected homes. According to Reyes, the demand for better WiFi coverage throughout the home (fueled by the increasing number of internet-connected devices) is driving much of the innovation in the router industry.

That innovation began in early 2016 when Eero launched the first mainstream mesh network, which is when multiple units talk to each other. It was followed later in the year by similar products, including Google WiFi, Netgear Orbi, and Luma.

Another multi-unit product, the Amped Ally, went on sale in December, and is being shown at CES. Like its competitors, it can be controlled through a smartphone app that seemed, after a demo, to be simple and easy-to-use.

"We expect people to be in that app to change parental controls or to set up schedules a couple of times a week," says marketing manager Lacey Limbrick.

Consumers will no doubt see more entries into the field in 2017. Here are three new routers already making waves coming out of CES. D-Link's Covr WiFi system, includes the router and extender.


D-Link Covr WiFi system
Old-School Style
With its four prominent antennae and black box styling, the D-Link Covr WiFi system looks like the routers that you've known and didn't love very much. But looks can be deceiving. The Covr promises much better performance, with a base unit and extender that should send signal to the farthest reaches of your domicile. The router and the extender ($299) come pre-paired out of the box for simple setup.

D-Link also announced the Covr PowerLine which, in conjunction with an existing router, creates a whole-home WiFi by using your home’s existing electrical wiring like a network cable to transfer data. Each system comes with two adapters and will cost $199 when it’s released later this year.

Update: On January 5, The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) filed a complaint against D-Link Systems, Inc. alleging that they failed to take reasonable steps to protect their wireless router products from known security risks.  A statement from the FTC is here.  D-Link has denied the allegations outlined in the complaint and says that the complaint does not allege any breach of any product sold by D-Link Systems in the US.

A Node too Sleek to Hide
Velop, by LinkSys, continues the trend of modular WiFi systems that promise fast and reliable WiFi through a mesh network made up of nodes that are, the company hopes, too pretty to hide. 

Like the Eero and the Google WiFi before it, the Velop uses a system of “nodes” that work in unison to blanket your home with signal. Each node is a small, white tower about seven inches in height intended to be strategically placed out in the open, say next to your favorite lamp.

Karen Sohl, director of marketing at Linksys, said that most consumers hid their routers simply because they thought, rightfully, that they were unsightly. Hiding them, however, was detrimental to the signal. Sohl says that the Velop's sleek design allows it to blend in nicely with most decor, and if consumers display it proudly, or at least don't stash it behind the sofa, it should provide better performance.

The Velop is available in three-pack for $499.99, two-pack for $349.99 and individually for $199.99.

Security...with a Monthly Subscription
Norton, best known for its anti-virus software, announced a secure router called Core. Reminiscent of Buckminster Fuller's geodesic domes, think Epcot, the Core certainly looks futuristic. But unlike the other router systems on this list, the Core is a standalone, which means that it needs no extenders or additional modules to extend its coverage.

The Core claims to be a router designed for the Internet of Things, so it features additional security chops to protect your data. The Core will use a combination of solutions, like data encryption and automatic security updates, to keep your home network safe and sound. This level of security may help consumers sleep better given that internet-connected devices at home are becoming a go-to target for hackers.

At $279, however, the Core isn't cheap. And while the first year's subscription to Norton's security plan is complimentary, after that trial period, owners would have to cough up an additional $120 a year to continue receiving updates and new features from Norton.