Page not foundWe are unable to find the page you requested. Please try your request again.Thus far I’ve basically ignored Iris and Connect. To me they really aren’t that exciting but what I’ve realized is that they are introducing home automation to people who might not otherwise know about home automation and that is a worthy cause and warrants investigation into these two products. Iris is Lowe’s proprietary smart home platform. It doesn’t necessarily play with other big name smart home players but it plays with some and Lowe’s has multiple Iris sensors that can all work together in one happy, little mesh network. For people who are new to smart homes there is often a misconception that you buy a hub and that you can then connect anything you want to the hub. That’s not the case. Though the industry has become more affordable and accessible there is no “standard language”. That means that Iris isn’t necessarily going to work with your smart thermostat or your IP camera.
Instead, you must find and buy things that are known to work with Iris. While this may be frustrating, the good news is that Lowe’s has taken the guesswork out of the equation for you by creating a smart home section with items that will work with the Iris hub. The bad news is that this somewhat limits you from growing your smart home creatively. Iris includes very basic access under their aptly named “Basic Service” plan. It’s like an appetizer where you’re left feeling hungry and wanting more. With Basic, only one person can be in control and only one person can get alerts. From a security perspective this would work if you live alone but if you don’t live alone you will want your family to be aware of any security breach and that is what the $9.99 per month Premium Service package offers. There are other subtle differences between Basic and Premium as well. For example with Basic you can remotely turn off devices or turn them on manually but you can’t create any rules.
Rules are essential for home automation because without rules there is no automation. In fact, this would be what I call “stupid automation”. For example, let’s say you want to turn on a light with the Iris app. If you have the basic package you need to find your phone, enter your password, open the app, navigate the app, and click a button. Your light is on! However, in the meantime your family member has walked across the room and flipped on the switch = way easier. It doesn’t necessarily have to be that way with Iris. For $9.99 per month you can create rules in a simply “if this then that” format. For example, if a door opens then a light goes on or if it is midnight then the lights go off. This is true automation and unfortunately Lowe’s requires you pay where so many others give you the ability to create rules for free. Lowes also offers additional fee based services for Iris. They have a package called “Care” for $4.99 per month. However, all of their additional services require a premium subscription so the real cost would be $14.98 per month.
Designed primarily for caregivers and family members of aging adults, the Care service can alert you when help is needed or when daily routines change unexpectedly You can also pay extra for a Cellular Connection which is $4.99 over the $9.99 premium service or $14.98 per month. With Cellular Connection Iris will stay up and running even if your internet fails. The $4.99 package uses a cellular backup with coverage up to 5MB of data or you can pay $9.99 for coverage up to 20MB. It is important to note that camera streaming and playback are not available through cellular connection but all other features can be accessed which makes it an interesting option for added security. Right now the only other self-monitored/DIY company I know of that offers 3G backup is Scout Alarms. Staples Connect is made by a company called Zonoff. Zonoff does not sell directly to consumers. Instead, they white label and partner with brands like the Staples Connect. We reached out to Bob Cooper, Chief Marketing Officer for Zonoff and asked him to tell us what sets their solution apart from other similar solutions.
I would say there are a couple key differentiators. One: We support the widest array of wireless protocols in our hub architecture including Z-Wave, ZigBee, Lutron Clear Connect, WiFi and Bluetooth LE. Two: Our solution is not dependent on an internet connection in the home, like so many others. Three: If your Internet is down – no problem. You can still control everything in your home – with the fastest response time. Four: Based on third party reviews, we have the lowest latency (aka response time) of any platform out there. Five: Finally, our business model supports $0 monthly fees. For Staples Connect all things spawn from the hub. The hub sells for $79.99 and it works on your home’s wireless connection. The hub works with hardware from multiple well known home automation companies and through it you can control your lights, locks, thermostat, and tons of other things in your home. One way that the Connect differentiates itself is through their software. Through the app you can customize your activity push notifications.
In their own words, You can customize your Activity push notifications so that they open to a specific page in Staples Connect when you tap on them. This means that clicking your “Kids home from school” notification can open the camera near the front door. It’s easy to create convenience for yourself. But perhaps the biggest way that Connect sets itself apart is with their option to run remote and local. While they certainly store information in the cloud and communicate to the cloud, that isn’t their only source of running your home’s automation. They also provide a local connection. If your internet goes down, your hub will remain connected to your local network. All of your connected devices can continue to communicate with your hub. Not only do they communicate but you can still control them with your personal device – yes even when the internet is out. However, the downside is that you can only give one person access to the app. I recently secret shopped Staples and one concern I have is lack of training.