Roger Fingas
The Brilliant Home Control, which replaces a light switch with a speaker and touchscreen panel, will be getting HomeKit compatibility through an over-the-air firmware update this spring.
Using devices with Siri or the Apple Home app, people should be able to control many accessories already linked to Brilliant's hardware. These include things like lights, locks, and thermostats.
The Home Control lets people control both smarthome accessories and conventional lighting from without having to pull out a phone or tablet. To date Brilliant has depended on direct partnerships with companies like Amazon, August, Nest, Philips, Sonos, and Ecobee. In fact the Home Control has Amazon Alexa built in, and can work with Google Assistant, though it doesn't take Assistant voice commands.
Some other features include a video intercom, custom scenes, and the ability to set images and seasonal themes.
There are four different versions of the product, ranging in cost from $299 for a one-switch model to $449 for a four-switch edition. All of them require no extra wiring and run without batteries.
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3 Comments
I feel like I'd be smarter to just wall mount an iPad ... or not wall mount the iPad? Like seriously, why does this need to be 300?
Yeah, $300 for a wall switch with a screen is not needed and pricy. I like the idea except the price, and these folks do not even say that you should hire a qualified electrician, and they telling people to take picture of the wiring so you know how to put it all back together, yeah this is not going to end well. A iPhone/Ipad with some smart switch for $49 will do the same thing. Also they are charging $150 to add 3 more switch, that is the same cost as the $49 Smart switch from other companies even though their design has them all include in a single box.
Yeah they run without batteries since it required household 120V.
I had the same criticism but now I get it. 1) Ipads/Iphones all run on batteries. Which causes problems for the long term as part of a solution if you were to use them instead. You can't just put a plug in a wall and have a battery handheld last with your house like a robust switch does. Battery based devices simply go bad over time. 2) Coding a switch to conveniently do complex integrations (like Hue and Sonos and Ring) AND do the simple function of a regular switch is much more complicated than you think. 3) Savant, Control4 and other home automation systems are WAY WAY WAY more expensive and complex and this control does pretty much the same thing as they do with a much more practical form factor. Yes it's expensive when compared to other switches, but for a new house build (like what I am doing), it just isn't a big deal...even if I'm buying 30 of the things for the house and dole out 12-12K. I do HATE the fact that it has a microphone that could potentially be running 24/7 in my house (even though they say that Alexa can be turned off). I simply don't trust the IT juggernaut companies to NOT record everything thing going on in my house. But through proper router management, I should be able to control all of that. The only thing I need the internet for is to hook in Sonos music. The rest I need with the controller I can run locally within my own DMZ.