4 CREEPY Aspects of Smart Homes – New Video

Me looking at an Echo Dot scared

Smart homes are great. They give a range of benefits to home owners and lodgers. BUT they have some big downsides too: they can be really creepy. Whether it’s listening to your household’s conversations by mistake, running facial recognition on people walking by or various data privacy issues, it’s important to know the risks so … Read more

Let There Be (Smart) Light! GLEDOPTO Triac AC Dimmer Review – New Video

YouTube thumbnail showing me using a Hue Dimmer Switch to control a dumb halogen bulb

In 2021, GLEDOPTO released their latest product – a smart triac AC dimmer, which is Zigbee based and can introduce smart (on/off and dimming) functionality to standard ‘dumb’ bulbs – such as dimmable LEDs, halogen and incandescent lights. This is wired into the lighting circuit and sits inside the light switch, and it worked really … Read more

Can Philips Hue Cycle Colors? (Yes, most of the time…) – A Tutorial – New Video

YouTube thumbnail showing me talking and screenshots of the Hue app and a lightstrip

Whilst it’s not obvious from the Philips Hue app, it IS possible to automatically cycle between different colors with your Hue lights and light strips. This is possible via the “Hue Labs” feature, which I show step-by-step in this guide. I also cover this topic in much more detail on my blog here. However please … Read more

Why I LOVE Philips Hue (5 Reasons They’re NOT “A Rip Off”) – New Video

YouTube thumbnail showing me sleeping with my Hue bulbs and accessories

Whether it’s Linus (from LTT) or Paul Hibbert (of “Oooh the Zigbee” fame), YouTubers seem to love bashing Philips Hue. As a result, I wanted to give a rare insight into why I sleep with my highly prized Philips Hue bulbs and accessories each night. Or, to be less flippant, I wanted to cover 5 … Read more

Ring Devices Without A Subscription: What Still Works (Hint: Not Much) – New Video

YouTube thumbnail showing me looking confused and two Ring app screenshots with no recordings

Ring devices aren’t exactly cheap, so the thought of paying even more for an additional monthly subscription seems silly. Surely it’s worth just keeping the basic Ring functionality without a subscription, right? Well… as it turns out, many of the key features only work with a Ring Protect plan – whether it’s the $3 per … Read more

Help! My Amazon Echo Is Making Random Noises/Beeps/Chimes?! (How To Fix) – New Video

YouTube thumbnail for weird Amazon Echo sounds

This is a video guide to go alongside my blog post last year which walks you through everything to investigate if your amazon echo makes random noise, beeps, chimes – or even weird train-like sounds! Echo devices are very useful, but they have been known to make “creepy” noises at times, which can be confusing … Read more

Hue Lab Formula Examples – Color Loop, Living Scenes (& 12 More!) – New Video

Philips Hue bulb and lightstrip in my study (as a YouTube thumbnail) with Hue Labs screenshot to the right

The official Philips Hue app is a little bit… boring, to be honest. Unlike the LIFX app, there are no dynamic effects or scenes. Any scenes or colors chosen within the Hue app are just static – meaning they don’t then change color or brightness. However thankfully Hue have the “Hue Labs”, which allow you … Read more

Ring Doorbell Wired vs Pro (What’s the difference?!) – New Video

Ring Doorbell Wired vs Pro (with me looking up at them)

I purchased the Ring Doorbell Pro – a purely hardwired Ring doorbell – around a year ago, and it’s working out really nicely for me. But Ring have now announced the Ring Doorbells Wired, which is also purely hardwired. So… what’s the difference between the Pro and Wired versions? And what are the similarities? Well, … Read more

New Video – Protect Your Neighbor’s Privacy With Ring Cameras & Doorbells

Ring neighbors privacy YouTube thumbnail

Ring cameras and Ring doorbells are great for crime prevention and parcel deliveries because they record in full HD and record audio. However this also means that they can be misused to invade neighbor’s privacy. As a result, this video explores some of the things you can do to protect your neighbor’s privacy when installing … Read more

New Video – Philips Hue Lightstrip Plus: Everything You Need To Know (Does It Justify Its High Price?)

The various parts of a Philips Hue Lightstrip V4 base and extension kit

Despite building my own DIY smart lightstrip for my kitchen last year, I purchased Philips Hue’s lightstrip to run around my desk in the black friday sales. Why did I do this? Well, I wanted to compare the Philips Hue Lightstrip Plus to my own ZigBee DIY one. Is Hue’s offering really worth the high … Read more