Picture this: As you drive towards your home, your mobile phone turns into a remote control, switching on household devices triggered by proximity.
Your garage door will automatically open as you approach in your car, and your lights and heating will switch on for you. Your favourite music track can play as you walk through the door, and your coffee machine can already be working away. Conversely, you can switch off all your appliances from the back seat of a taxi as you jet off on your next adventure.
Smart home appliances are no longer a futuristic pipedream, and many of us now use them in our everyday lives. Controlling everything from your phone saves significant time and space, but as we add more and more smart appliances, it increases digital clutter. Instead of searching through a drawer for a remote, we find ourselves searching through pages of apps.
After several years of development, Melbourne company Brilliant Lighting have offered a solution to this problem. With the addition of a small Nexus gateway box, you can control all your smart appliances from a single app. Their gateway system works across 500 brands, such as Sony, Philips, Apple, Samsung, and Alexa, so you won’t have to buy new products to use it.
“We’ve worked for many years to develop this app, to truly put the homeowner in complete control, and finally say goodbye to those old-fashioned remotes,” says founder Norman Levin.
Brilliant Lighting has a commitment to promote sustainability and reduce our collective carbon footprint, and they see smart homes as the next step in achieving this. With the option to turn off lights and appliances remotely, you can start controlling your carbon footprint with ease.
“These easy set-up home automation systems offer control of your lighting, electrical and security smart devices – as well as many branded household appliances – all from your smartphone,” Norman says.
You don’t have to be a rocket scientist to benefit from the convenience of smart home appliances. During the pandemic, one in four Australians introduced smart appliances into their home. The number of us keen to embrace the convenience and cleverness of a smart home lifestyle is growing every day.
“Even if you don’t see yourself as a techie, this app is so simple to use that you’ll wonder why you waited so long,” Norman promises.
Smart home devices: 7 everyday life-changing gadgets
Our homes are our sanctuaries; spaces where we can rest and spend joyful moments with our families. Lately, homes have become even more important, with many of us now spending…
Sustainable living: 6 ways to build a greener home
Building a more sustainable and low maintenance home requires careful planning but the payoff can be huge. From style to cost-effectiveness, longevity to eco-sustainability, it can often be confusing and…
Former consumer technology journalist for the likes of T3, GQ and Men’s Health and Jen’s husband, Damian Francis, reviews the Sonos Wireless Speaker System.
One of the biggest challenges for the home owner today is concealing wires. What a fantastically interesting topic! But the reality is, today’s modern homes are small technology hubs — connected environments that are meant to make life easier and more entertaining. With technology comes wires. How many are sprouting from your TV right now? Mine looks like Medusa’s head on steroids. I’ve done a bang up job hiding those wires behind an entertainment unit the size of the QM2. Strangely Jen doesn’t seem to be too thrilled with this solution.
So how do you overcome it? The truth is, it’s tricky. Cull the wires and you often cull the quality, keep the quality and you add serious expense. How many times has Kevin McCloud waxed lyrical about a great built-in system that had to be heavily researched and then installed in a house at build-stage? When it comes to sound systems though, it is now a hell of a lot easier with Sonos.
Why Sonos?
Sonos was one of the first brands to produce a wireless solution for sound systems that didn’t sound like a spluttering 1970 VW Beetle, didn’t have the price tag of a Porsche and actually looked like something you would want to put in your home. I was a technology journalist when the brand first made waves — it caught the attention of a number of my colleagues, which is no mean feat.
Let’s cut to the chase. You want a Sonos because you’re tired of wires cluttering your home, you want versatility in your system to play music in a single room or throughout your house, you want a system that blends in with modern decor and you don’t want to have to remortgage your house or cut into walls to get any of the above.
Out of the box
Interiors Addict had a set of two Play:1 speakers ($329 each) and a Connect ($599) to test. Installation is as simple as taking the speaker out of the box, plugging it into the powerpoint and following the simple and quick step-by-step instructions to get the first speaker working. Adding more is even easier, with the process taking no more than a couple of minutes. And trust me, if you want to make the most of Sonos, you want more than a single Play:1 unit.
The Sonos Connect
There are a range of sizes and accessories to suit most needs — such as Play:1 small speakers for smaller rooms like I have in our house or the Connect which connects to wired stereo systems. But you can also get larger Play:3 and Play:5 systems as well as a Soundbar and Subwoofer. All are set up in a similar fashion and all can be used solo or grouped together.
Playing music is a fairly simple process. You download the Sonos controller on your laptop, tablet or mobile device and you can then play music from that device or use a range of popular services like Spotify, Pandora, TuneIn Radio and much more to play music. The Sonos controller also allows you to name your speakers, join them together to form a stereo sound system, play music in more than one room at the same time, change your speakers’ settings and more. Start using your smartphone and then move to using your iPad, for example, and you will pick up where you left off with your playlist rather than having to start from scratch.
The quirks
While it is relatively simple to use, it still has some quirks which can become a little annoying. It’s not always as simple as finding what you want and pressing play. While that’s not a big deal, it can grate a bit. In some cases it would be much better to be able to use the standard app, such as Spotify, rather than having to use the Sonos controller app to control your Spotify account with your speakers.
The real world test was getting Jen to use the app on her smartphone. She got it, but it took a little while and there were some really good questions as to why certain aspects weren’t simpler.
Also, bear in mind that Sonos is not a bluetooth speaker. You may use it with your computer or smartphone, but it is different to a bluetooth setup and therefore can’t be used like a bluetooth speaker. Big deal? Not at all – but if you’re after a bluetooth speaker, buy one.
Being that the Sonos system is meant to be a home music solution, sound quality is of greater importance than most speakers you would associate with control via your laptop or mobile device. Thankfully it’s good. But let’s qualify that. My Honda CR-V is good — plenty of space, cheap to run, good looking. But I’ll still get smashed off the lights by a Porsche Cayenne. The story is similar for the Sonos Play:1, which I tested at home, and other systems which I have tested previously, such as the Play:3 and Play:5.
Sonos offers great bang for buck. The sound is loud and travels further through your house than you would imagine. But it’s bass heavy, and treble can become murky, making certain genres of music more enjoyable to listen to on the Sonos than others. Adding speakers together, such as two Play:1s for a left and right channel system, helps but it doesn’t completely solve the problem. Despite this, the music is still enjoyable to listen to and I would argue that if you wanted better clarity through your highs, you should spend more money on a higher end system.
The result
When it comes to the crunch, the Sonos products are well priced and well designed, with adequate sound quality. They are well thought out and relatively easy to use. If you want a wireless solution that won’t require remodelling of your home or your bank account, it is hard to go wrong with a Sonos system. Play:1 will suit apartments or small rooms, Play:3 will suit lounge rooms and medium-sized areas, but for open plan areas, go for a Play:5… or two.
I was recently gifted an awesome Mighty Purse from Handbag Butler. Now, you can imagine someone like me relies on and uses their mobile phone a lot. Instagram usage alone is enough to burn through half of the best phone battery in half a day! When I’m out and about, if I can avoid it (and especially since I’ve been pregnant) I try to avoid taking my MacBook Air with me, light as it is. And these days, you can do so much just from your small screen.
To avoid being caught short of juice, I had bought a portable battery charger for my bag. However I kept blooming well forgetting it. So when Handbag Butler offered me one that comes attached to a purse, and a nice looking cream real leather one at that, I knew I was onto something.
Another pregnancy thing has been downsizing my massive bag (the 3.1 Phillip Lim Pashli Medium) to a smaller, hands-free (motherhood pending!) cross-body bag (Tory Burch, if you’re interested). My new Mighty Purse fits perfectly inside it, fitting all the essentials like my phone (as it charges), Opal Card, business cards, keys and LIPSTICK. Because this on-the-go charger is now kept with other everyday must-haves, I don’t tend to forget it.
For a full-time blogger, being able to charge on the go is a dream. My phone would often die on the way home from an evening event when I’d taken lots of pictures. Not being able to catch up on emails on the way home (by cab or train) was always really irritating. As a business owner, I like using ‘dead time’ wisely!
The battery in the purse is a Lithium-ion Polymer battery, the same type as in your smartphone, except for its size. The purse battery has a capacity of 4000mAh; more than twice your phone battery. With a fully charged purse, you can typically charge a smartphone twice over before your purse will need to be recharged. When it does, you plug it into the mains via your phone charger: easy! Or into your computer’s USB port! The purse measures 20cm x 12.5cm x 2.5cm and weighs just 200g. It comes in many colours and is RRP from $99.95 for faux leather. It is suitable for all micro-USB phones and iPhone adaptors are an additional RRP $14.95.
The wristlet collection is made from the finest grade leather and The Mighty Purse Sport Luxe Collection is for the fashion forward and active person. Crafted with quilted nylon, with a genuine leather trim, this bag has belt loops on the back and a removable, adjustable leather strap. It can be worn across the body or around the waist as a hip-bag, taking you from work, to the gym, and out at night!
WIN
I loved my Mighty Purse gift so much, I’ve got hold of three (each with iPhone adaptors should that be your mobile of choice) to give away to three of you lucky ladies! Just fill in the form below for your chance of winning. Please state your preference of:
If you’re impatient or not feeling lucky, we have a special 20% off Mighty Purses for our readers using the promo code interiorsaddict. Valid until next Tuesday 28 April 2015 online.
