Key Takeaways
- Can hit a swap in your behalf, scheduled from the app
- Plethora of sensible machine redundancies available in the market
- Cumbersome design could also be ugly, suited to area of interest functions
I just lately had the chance to assessment the SwitchBot Curtain 3 and was intrigued by an organization that appeared decided to automate issues I had by no means considered automating. The Bot is the little machine that began all of it for SwitchBot, being the corporate’s first product in 2016. I needed to test it out for myself and see the place it suits within the trendy landscape of smart devices. As of late you could find numerous ‘sensible’ devices, bulbs, switches, thermostats, home equipment, and extra, so the Bot appears designed to handle an issue that’s all of the extra unusual with every passing 12 months, however I needed to see for myself.
A unusual machine
SwitchBot Bot
The SwitchBot Bot is a small app-controlled bot that may hit switches. Whereas a artistic product, and one which held extra relevance in 2016 when it was first launched, in as we speak’s panorama it will probably really feel like an outdated answer in some functions.
- Can hit a swap in your behalf
- SwitchBot may be scheduled from the app
- Extremely area of interest perform
- Quite a few redundancies exist available in the market for sensible gadgets
- Extra performance requires extra buy of SwitchBot Hub

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Value, specs, and availability
The SwitchBot Bot retails for slightly below $30. It is out there from Amazon and immediately from SwitchBot. Shoppers can discover it in single-, two-, and four-pack choices.
The Bot is a reasonably easy product, so there is not a lot in the way in which of specs. It runs on a single CR2 3V battery that SwitchBot claims will final 600 days and capabilities through Bluetooth when managed by the app. Whereas some customization and sensible management, like schedules, is feasible proper out of the field, extra performance, equivalent to management over Wi-Fi when away from dwelling, requires a further buy within the type of the SwitchBot Hub.
What I favored concerning the SwitchBot Bot
Straightforward to put in and dependable to make use of
The SwitchBot Bot was comparatively simple to put in, although the method varies barely relying on the kind of swap you are attempting to make use of it with. Very similar to I mentioned concerning the SwitchBot Curtain 3, the Bot capabilities precisely as meant. The Bot turned my hallway lights on and off through the contact of a button within the SwitchBot app. It labored easily and wasn’t obnoxiously loud.
The swap may be scheduled from the app, and I truly discovered an ideal use for it. Every night, I would depart the hallway gentle on in order that the Roomba had sufficient gentle to wash in a single day. Nonetheless, my spouse dislikes that when she wakes up every morning round 5 AM the hallway lights are on and shiny. So, I set the SwitchBot Bot to show off the sunshine every morning earlier than she wakes up however after the Roomba has accomplished its rounds.
What I did not like concerning the SwitchBot Bot
Cumbersome and ugly
The best disadvantage for me was an aesthetic one. The Bot, whether or not put in on a light-weight swap, espresso maker, or some other machine, is ugly. Its blocky, cumbersome design stands proud like a sore thumb wherever it is positioned and would possibly solely keep away from this consideration if put in out of sight.
Must you purchase the SwitchBot Bot?
Like most merchandise from SwitchBot, the Bot serves a particularly area of interest software that may be a game-changer for individuals who discover a use for it and a head-scratcher for individuals who do not. You would possibly discover a use case that makes excellent sense on your dwelling, like my scenario with the hallway lights, through which case the SwitchBot is an inexpensive answer to your downside. I actually wasn’t about to interchange each gentle within the hallway with a wise lightbulb or DIY {the electrical} work of changing the twin gentle swap within the wall with a wise swap. So, in my case, the SwitchBot Bot was excellent for a small set of duties, and so long as you could find a use for it, it is a well-designed and dependable product.

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