Best HomeKit-compatible smart home devices from CES 2017

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ces_homekit
HomeKit devices are spawning fast.
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

CES2017 The jury’s still out on whether HomeKit will really take over our homes and all the smart devices in them, but new HomeKit-compatible devices continue to pop up all the time. At CES 2017 in Las Vegas this week, vendors showed off a bunch of them, from light switches to security cameras.

Here’s our roundup of the best.

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Ring Floodlight Cam

Ring Floodlight Cam
Floodlight Cam makes home security simple.
Photo: Ring

We covered Ring’s new Floodlight Cam earlier this week, but it deserves another mention. This all-in-one home security device watches over your home with 1080p video recording, lights up paths and driveways at night, and boasts a built-in 100dB siren to scare away intruders.

The Floodlight Cam is easy to install and connects wirelessly to your Wi-Fi network. It starts recording as soon as it detects motion, then uploads the videos to the cloud so you can access them from anywhere. You can also tune into the live feed from your PC or mobile devices.

Launching in early April, Floodlight Cam can be preordered now from Ring, priced at $249.

Withings Home Plus

Withings Home Plus
Withings’ Home camera just got a lot better.
Photo: Withings

For keeping an eye on the inside of your home, check out Withings’ latest Home Plus camera. This pretty little unit works seamlessly with Apple’s new Home app to allow you to monitor rooms from your iPhone, iPad or even Apple Watch. You can also ask Siri to tune in for you.

Home Plus also boasts features like motion detection, with alerts sent to your devices when necessary; a built-in light; and an air quality monitor. A handy baby-monitor mode lets you watch over your little ones with night vision — and play them soothing lullabies.

Home Plus will be available during the first quarter of this year, priced at £169.95. U.S. pricing is yet to be confirmed.

Leviton Light Switches

Leviton switch
Light switches are getting smarter.
Photo: Leviton

Leviton’s new light switches don’t look particularly special at first glance, but thanks to HomeKit integration, they can be controlled from your iOS devices. You can also use Siri to feed them voice commands, and leverage HomeKit scenes like “Good Morning” and “Good Night.”

Even better, they don’t require a separate hub like some competing products do. Leviton’s switches will be available as a 1000W universal dimmer, a 600W universal dimmer and a 15A universal rocker switch. An accompanying app lets you alter settings for things like bulb type, minimum and maximum brightness levels, and more.

We don’t yet know how much Leviton’s new switches will cost, but we’ll find out more in April when they go on sale.

Eve Extend

Eve Extend
Eve Extend extends the range of your HomeKit network.
Photo: Elgato

Elgato’s new Eve Extend is a clever little device that improves the HomeKit experience in larger homes. It connects to your Wi-Fi network and extends Bluetooth connectivity, reaching devices that are too far away to connect to your Apple TV.

It’s ideal if you have smart devices set up outside your home — like cameras or garage door units — that experience trouble communicating with the Apple TV in your living room. Sadly, we don’t yet know when Eve Extend will be available, or how much it will cost.

Fibaro Flood Sensor

Fibaro Flood Sensor
Flood warnings as soon as you need them.
Photo: Fibaro

If you live near water, flooding is something you might have to battle on a regular basis. The Fibaro Flood Sensor can help you stay prepared by ensuring you’re made aware of a flood as soon as it becomes a problem.

Fibaro claims its Flood Sensor is “the most technologically advanced, most functional, yet amazingly aesthetic flood sensor available in the world today.” The device requires no professional installation, and it does more than just detect floods and trigger an alarm when water is detected.

A built-in tilt sensor alerts you when the device moves. And the Flood Sensor also monitors rapid changes in temperature. What’s more, it’s powered by just one battery that lasts around two and a half years before it needs changing.

The Fibaro Flood Sensor is priced at $60 and you can order yours today from Amazon.

Focalcrest Mixtile Hub

Focalcrest Mixtile Hub
The Mixtile Hub marries HomeKit with previously incompatible products.
Photo: Focalcrest

Smart devices have been around a lot longer than HomeKit, so many of them aren’t compatible with Apple’s platform. Focalcrest’s Mixtile Hub wants to change that by bridging devices that aren’t HomeKit-compatible with the Home app.

It uses a solution called “HomeKit Accessory Protocol,” developed by Focalcrest, alongside an embedded MFi authorization chip to allow third-party products to communicate with HomeKit, allowing control from Apple TV, Apple Watch and iOS devices.

It sounds ambitious, so we’ll have to wait and see how useful it is. There’s no word on pricing or availability for now, but this is one to look out for if you have a lot of smart devices that don’t play nicely with HomeKit.

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