Here are some smart appliances for your smart home

Futuristic as it sounds; smart homes are a growing trend. There are a number of smart appliances already available in India that can help you set up your smart home. It enables all the devices in your home to be connected to the Internet so that you can communicate with them and issue commands.

Technology has developed so much so that anyone can afford to automate their houses, customized to individual needs and, more importantly, individual budgets. In India, following the boom in the realty sector new home buyers are opting to add automated elements to their property.

Here are some gadgets that can become ideal smart home devices:

Controller hubs: This is the first item you will need to set up a smart home. A controller hub essentially connects to all your smart devices and lets you control them remotely using your smartphone. Some devices such as the Philips Hue lights come with their own controller hub but these are only for a single product.

Security cameras: Getting security cameras no longer means having a CCTV set-up professionally installed in your home. There are a lot of options available for smart security for a very basic camera, check out the Wireless IP cameras from YI that cost Rs 999 each. You just need to plug them into a power source and connect them to your Wi-Fi network.

Robotic vacuum cleaners-In order to make floor cleaning easy, effortless and hassle-free, iRobot Roomba 695 is an affordable smart home appliance that comes with Wi-fi connectivity. The robotic vacuum cleaner is available in Indian market at Rs. 32,900. The product comes in a low profile, disc-shaped design, in deep blue colour with a touch of green below the handles. The patented 3-Stage Cleaning System of Roomba 695 is specially engineered to loosen, lift, and suction everything from small particles to large debris from carpets and hard floors. Roomba's 695 Dirt Detect technology recognize and focus on high-traffic areas where dirt collects more. Just by pressing its 'CLEAN' button, Roomba 695 starts on its vacuuming job, without the need for any programming. Roomba 695 connects with the iRobot Home App and can schedule the cleaning from anywhere through the app which comes with various features. Using a full suite of smart sensors, the Roomba robot vacuum makes more than 60 decisions per second to adapt to your home and thoroughly clean your floors. It comes with in-built cliff detect sensors, avoid stairs and other drop-offs. Roomba 695 comes with Dual-Mode Virtual Wall Barrier for more control over where your robot cleans.

Smart air purifiers: Honeywell Air Touch S8 - The Air Touch S8 is capable of covering an area of 450 sq. ft. Although it supports app control, the buggy implementation of the app is a letdown. It's better to control the air purifier from the device itself until there's a software patch. Leave aside the app, the Air Touch S8 works out to be a decent air purifier to own. The air quality of the room is displayed using different coloured LEDs. The patented HiSiv filter is said to remove odours and toxic gases from the room. It also includes a pre-filter and a HEPA (high-efficiency particulate arrestance) filter in its purification system.

Smart speakers: If a speaker does anything more than play your music, then it can be labelled as a 'smart speaker'. Smart speakers are now wireless speakers that come with voice control. Using the artificial intelligence on these devices you can ask them to do anything from playing a song to set a timer for your cake or even dim the lights if your house already equipped with smart bulbs. The Echo Dot, the successor to the original Amazon Echo, has carried forward most of the features while also reducing the price. The audio output of this device might actually be a tad bit better. The Echo Dot runs Alexa, the Amazon artificial intelligence (AI). Alexa has been integrated with skills that are unique to India, which unlike what most other smart products have been able to do.