Skip to main content

Want a remote control for your smart home? SwitchBot has made a Matter-compatible one

Web Hosting & Remote IT Support

SwitchBot has launched a unique piece of tech capable of controlling smart home devices and infrared appliances. And the best part is you don’t need to connect it to a smartphone or to the internet as it functions perfectly offline. 

Aptly named the SwitchBot Universal Remote, it has large spacious buttons, a navigation wheel in the middle, and a 2.4-inch LCD at the top. The company states in their announcement it sought to create a “user-friendly design” that everybody can understand.

Now, you can’t just point the Universal Remote at a device and then push a button to issue commands immediately. According to Android Central, you must first choose what you want to control, which can be done by pressing the center red button. Pressing the main button will let you change which group of smart home devices to control. 

See more

Classifications include air conditioners, house lights, Apple TV streaming boxes, and Fire TV screens. Selections appear on the LCD screen at the top and you can scroll through the menu via the navigation wheel. It's worth mentioning there are plans to expand display support to Roku TVs, Android TVs, and NVIDIA shield at some point in the future.

Batteries are neither included nor necessary since there's a 2,000mAh battery inside that can last for up to 150 days, and when it does run dry, you can recharge it through the USB-C port on the bottom.

Matter enabled

The Universal Remote primarily works with first-party smart home devices such as the SwitchBot LED Strip Light. It can, however, control third-party hardware thanks to its support of the Matter standard. You could, for example, turn on Philips Hue lights or close IKEA curtains among other things. But there are a couple of catches.

First, users must own either a SwitchBot Hub 2 or a Hub Mini (Matter Enabled) if they want access to the Matter network. The second caveat is that it only works with Apple Home. Neither Alexa nor Google Home are available "due to platform limitations," although it seems the company is working on a solution.

The hubs do more than enable Matter; they also let people create or pick smart home scenes to issue multiple commands. Picking Movie Mode, for example, can close curtains, adjust light brightness, turn on the TV, and activate the sound system “with just the tap of a button.” Pretty handy.

SwitchBot Universal Remote laying downto

(Image credit: SwitchBot)

Availability

SwitchBot’s Universal Remote is available for pre-order right now on their official website. Prices start at $59.99 / £59.99 / €69.99. Bundles that include a second remote, the Hub 2 or the Hub Mini, are also available. And the Universal Remote is set to begin shipping on July 12, 2024.

We strongly recommend reading the support page for the Universal Remote, as it offers insight into the hardware’s limitations. To give you an idea of what the website pertains to, it reveals that there isn’t a child lock function, and you can only manage up to 25 home devices simultaneously. 

Additionally, long-pressing buttons does not work. For instance, if you want to increase the volume, you’ll have to push the button repeatedly; however, there are plans to roll out a firmware update enabling the feature by the end of 2024.

Be sure to check out TechRadar's list of the best smart home devices for 2024.

You might also like



via Hosting & Support
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Web Hosting
Remote IT Support
Sites & Socials
Computing Handbook - $9.95

Popular posts from this blog

Hacking Huawei Modems

Post a Comment
Read more

Ransomware and email attacks are hitting businesses more than ever before

Web Hosting & Remote IT Support Ransomware and business email compromise (BEC) attacks are hitting businesses more than ever before, a new report by Cisco Talos Incident Response (Talos IR) has claimed. The report states ransomware and BEC accounted for almost two-thirds (60%) of engagements, combined. There had been fewer BEC engagements this quarter, compared to the previous one, Talos added, noting it was “still a major threat for the second quarter in a row.” At the same time, Ransomware accounted for almost a third (30%) of engagements this quarter, up by a quarter (22%) compared to the same time three months ago.  Tech firms in the crosshairs Furthermore, the researchers observed Mallox and Underground Team ransomware families for the first time, suggesting the number of threat actors in the industry continues to grow. At the same time, Black Basta and BlackSuit ransomware operations continue to wreak havoc among organizations. The majority of organizations falling vi
Post a Comment
Read more

Report: Android's desktop mode might allow future tablets to double as computers

Web Hosting & Remote IT Support Back in April , evidence surfaced online revealing that Google was working on improving Android's desktop mode. Early demos show it’ll be more user-friendly than before by having movable windows, although it still lacks vital features. Since then, we haven’t heard much about the project until recently, when it popped up again in the “latest Android 15 Beta 4.1 release”. Android expert Mishaal Rahman discovered that Android’s feature may work on a tablet – provided it has a big enough display. In the build, he states that if you go to the device’s 'Recents' view and open the dropdown menu for an app, you will see a new button called “Desktop.” Tapping said button causes whatever app you were on to turn into a free-floating window. From here on, it behaves similarly to a browser on Samsung's New DeX system. The app can be minimized, maximized, attached to the side, or connected to another window. Down at the bottom is a taskbar
Post a Comment
Read more