Best List: Smart Outlet by Nyrius
I just walked into my living room and the lamp came on, welcoming me in from a cold, dark morning at the gym.
When I leave for lunch later, it’ll turn itself off.
The home of the future is here, and it’s easier than ever to create with the Nyrius Smart Outlet, a Bluetooth wall plug that lets you turn any device with a plug into a smart device.
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Setup couldn’t be any simpler — just download the Smart Outlet app onto your iPhone, pair the plugged-in Smart Outlet, and launch the app. Plug a lamp into the bottom of the outlet, like one of those vacation timers you’ve all used before, and you get some serious power.
You can use the Nyrius Smart Outlet as a timer, sure, go ahead. You can set a ton of timers for as many Smart Outlets as you have in your home. Turn your TV on just before prime time, get your stereo on in time for your favorite radio show, or just turn your lights on when it gets dark outside.
You can also turn any plugged-in device on or off with a button in the Nyrius app on your iPhone. It makes turning on the lamp from the couch so much easier.
The proximity sensor, though, is what really got me. I want to install a Smart Outlet in all of my kids’ rooms, so when they leave the room with their iPhones in their pockets, the lights will turn out. It’s like a magic money-and-electricity-saving machine! The proximity is the 33-foot Bluetooth limit (in a straight line), which makes things even simpler — there’s no configuration for iBeacons or other foofarah.
At $40, you can afford quite a few of these magical little doohickeys. Grab a few and pepper your new smart home with a bunch.
Cult of Mac’s Best List is a roundup of products that help us take the fifth. Read more Best List mini reviews.
