Well its been a few days, so thought i'd update on the journey so far...
Setup
Well setting up the SmartThings is anything but smart; the application isn’t the most user-friendly. The initial setup screen requests you type in the hub code which is written on the documentation in the box, you then get prompted to search for any extra smart things, such as your sensors. Once this is done you need to go into each sensor, and tell the application where it is, and what you want it to do. The software needs some work, it is almost impossible to navigate with any ease.
The time it takes to detect each of the additional smart items runs into minutes, rather than the seconds a lot of people will expect, I found this to be the case even when the extras were all in the same room as the hub, there is obviously a lot of work going on behind the scenes between the device and the hub that the customer doesn’t see. However, once connected, the connection does appear to be solid.
Just as an example I used the smart plug to turn on the lamp. I had hoped the application would allow this to be done at a set time, for example every day when I get home around 6pm, but nope; there are no options for this. I can turn it on / off manually, or when my phone is in the immediate area of the house (using geo-location), but something as basic as a timed function is missing.
This doesn’t even begin to cover how much more complicated things get if you want to add some 3rd party smart items, for example anyone who has a Phillips Hue lighting system would need to link the Samsung hub to the Phillips hub to controls the lights, so I can see a house of the future being a “house of hubs” something which isn’t ideal.
I can understand why manufacturers want to keep their own items working with their own hubs, but if you’re going to advertise 3rd party support as being a selling point, it really should work out of the box.
Day to day usage
I have the Multi Sensor attached to my back door, this being a room in the house to the outside that doesn’t have an alarm sensor on the doors (though it is covered by a PIR sensory), so when the door is closed everything is fine and the sensor reports ‘closed’ along with the temperature at the sensor point (useful, but I don’t quite see the point when these sensors will mainly be used next to external access points). When the door is opened the status in the application changes to ‘open’, yet no alert is sent to my phone (I’m sure this is something in the set-up, but it does show an example of how the setup is far from straight forward).
I have the plug in use to power the aforementioned lamp; this works well, and reports the appliance current as well as status (on/off)
The hub does send some useful notifications to your phone without any extra setup, just yesterday it notified me it lost power for 1 hour (a street-wide power failure) and when it was subsequently restored.
The Smart Tag I’ve yet to find a use for. I can see this being useful for families checking when their child is home / goes out, but for me, when my phone does this, has no use so far. I did think about attaching it to my kitten’s collar, but there is a good chance it would return broken, if it returned at all.
Motion sensor, this is set up in the living room, I did trial using this with the smart plug so once it detected someone walking past the lamp would illuminate, this again works well, but I feel would be better with more smart appliances.
Conclusion
I can certainly see the usage, and I can see many benefits, but I can’t help but feel that there are elements missing. The application certainly requires improvement to become more user friendly, and unless you plan on installing Z-Wave, Hue, or Zigbee bulbs in every room of your house (and don’t mind trying to find your phone each time to turn a light on or off) there is no ability to control general lights (such as ceiling lights), the easiest solution is the smart plugs for lamps, etc. but at £45 per plug, it would work out to be an expensive alternative.
While the starter kit does have some good initial items, customers should be prepared to have an additional budget to cover extras, as out of the box functionality isn’t there.
One good point is at the moment there are no on-going costs, once you’ve purchased your starter kit, it’s yours for good (well you may need to replace the batteries every year or so)…
If anyone has a questions, or any ideas of things I could try with the device, please do let me know 🙂
