FYI Tuya have removed adding blinds and curtains so I would assume that there are over one million people that can no longer open and close their blinds worldwide using their voice. This is just one of the many reasons smart home automation will never become main stream tech...
@@AutomateYourLife Open the app and see if you can add a blind or curtain. I can't... so if you already had them configured Google Home see them as a switch and think they should be switched on or off rather than open or closed therefore voice commands no longer work 🤬
They are sitting in the tuya app and seem to be working there, but I don't have one to test. As for Google...that's a Google thing through and through. They're a pain in the ass with stuff changing all the time.
@@AutomateYourLife hmmm you are right, they weren't there yesterday... how bizarre. This is definitely not a Google issue, anyway I can fix the problem now...
It's hard to imagine that in the second quarter of 2023, I'm still operating my shades by hand. But I can hallucinate abut buying one of these this year.
Your tutorial channel is great. The details on setting the switchhub 2 is well done. Surprised more from here do not subscribe to that channel also. Did not realize you did more videos there. Yolink has a good temp sensor also and great for distance. Like the LEDs on this one.
Hey thanks! We've been inconsistent on the other channel in being able to put up content, so that's why I think. My own fault really ;) But thanks! And I do remember a great temp sensor from YoLink
Maybe yours is a model that doesn't throw back the confirmation IR status. That would be something that's known in the config I think...but I'm actually going to have to try this for myself now.
My experience with SB has been hit or miss. Their motion sensor is cheaper than but isn’t as accurate as Phillips. I own both. I have a few of their temp/hygrometer’s which I love. I also have the original hub mini which is just ok, it really doesn’t work on every IR device you may have. I’ll give this new hub a try, but I’m not holding my breath. Great review.
Yeah Hiram I think they need a bit more compatibility with things like the motion sensor, but many of those main products are great. The Hub 2 has been great so far, although always keep in mind that it's early with Matter Bridges so it's not perfect yet!
Hi Brian, @ 11:52 You mentioned that the hub reads back a confirmation signal from the AC. I understand how the Hub 2 can listen for commands sent by the original AC remote, but have you found that the Hub 2 can track manual changes you make on the AC unit? Is this just for certain models of AC that actually respond back with IR signals?
It can't track anything you don't send through it. So it's more like a feedback signal after a command. They aren't always communicating, or at least I haven't noticed that. Sorry Frank!
Idk if you know about this but in japan switchbot sell a ceiling light and hub combine together and also a robot vacuum. Idk how good the robot vacuum cause I don't see the need but I've bought most of my stuff from switchbot thanks to your recommendation and the availability in Japan, especially amazon (they just recently added to a couple of big japanese electronic store) while also still friendly to my pocket and rental apartment Thanks for the recommendation!
Hi Nina! Yeah I'm really excited to see some of those products come to North America. I know the vacuum is planned to come this way, so as soon as I can I'll show that one. But it sounds like you might get it before me!
I have the hub mini. Can't interface their temp sensor with my Wyze thermostat to control my home temperature. So what's the point of their temp sensor?
That miiiight be more about Wyze than SwitchBot. Wyze has been less good at integration than SwitchBot has generally, but I know the temp sensors are primarily used You could do a few workarounds depending on what you have in SwitchBot's app and what platform you're using to try to interface the two. SwitchBot plugs and things like that usually give you a trigger or automation starter. :)
Your video along with your buddies video, Paul Hibbert show this might become a very useful hub, but currently with it only talking to devices with Bluetooth (very limited range) needing the “Cloud” to work and and Matter being so spotty as your banking on this to ever work makes this IMHO a cool but not really truly solid device.
It's base function is useful with their products, but you gotta be bought into the Bot ;) Matter's been much improved in the last 2 weeks. I've been more and more impressed, so it's coming.
Do you know the outside temperature operation for the probe? With our winter here, mine froze last winter and I was unable to got the weather at -40 c. I'm about to pull the trigger for those things, but can't find the information for the probe.
Is the Bluetooth range better than the hub mini? I bought a crap ton of blind tilt devices for all of my windows. After setting everything up i found that I needed way more hubs than they originally claimed. I basically need one in every room that I have my devices in. Have you had any difficulties?
With the Smarthings Hub 0.49.X Beta update, the support for Matter Bridge end devices was added. Does anyone knows if this is working with the switchbot hub 2 and the other devices?
Great video. Thinking of buying one just for 2 things, using the outdoor sensor to have a small display of the weather, and more importantly the IR blaster. But are/will be the paired IR devices be visible in Smartthings?
Hey John! The IR blaster devices will show up in SmartThings. Visibility of the status will not. At least not yet. And keep in mind, you'll only get the On/Off button in SmartThings.
Great video as always! I'm wondering if I can use this hub and its illumination sensor to control an Aqara shade roller. I only want to pull the shade down when it's very bright and sunny outside a west facing window. If this hub is not measuring in lux, how can I define the brightness level as trigger? So far I've been using weather triggers in aqara app, which is not very reliable. Aqaras brightness sensor can't be triggered without motion detection, so it's not helpful for my use case either. Thanks 😊
Right now, I believe just the temperature and humidity go into Apple HomeKit through Matter, so I'd suggest that you turn on/move something in SwitchBot's app. Something like a smart plug could go on or off, and then use that to trigger the Aqara Shade Roller in HomeKit. SwitchBot has an Apple HomeKit version smart plug. It's a workaround, but I think it's the only way today! Alexa could do the same thing :)
Hi, I have a question about the lock. Is it possible when unlocking the door, to keep open in a way I just have to push it from outside the door ? I'm asking that cause from out side my door I cannot open with the doot handle, I need a key, I can use the door hanlde only from inside, so basically I need a key everytime I need to open the door from outside. So it its possible to keep the door open when using the switchbot app to unlock then its good for me
I have to ask the question again because some other reviewers say the contrary: does the hub v2 give the status of the A/C ? Does it depend on the A/C brand or features ? Thx
It does depend on the AC unit brand, as some don't provide feedback. However, when it does provide feedback it shows in the SwitchBot app. Not on the hub 2.
@@AutomateYourLife Ok thank you for the reply. I know have to check if my a/c (quite old) would provide such feedback. Do you know what do I have to check for that ?
If you display the outdoor sensors reading could it switch back and forth between the two sensors? Or is stay with only the one you choose until you change that in the App? Thanks!
It was supposed to be deployed yesterday, but hasn't come out yet! I think it's pick one or the other at a time and doesn't switch automatically as far as I understand it
Yep! NFC tags can be used with the SwitchBot app to start any scene or device action. Really useful, but you'll need to use SwitchBot's NFC tags to have high reliability.
hi great video thanks. Ive got switch bot Hub mini controlling my Mitsubishi Heavy industries wall mounted AC but the louvre control is not very good the display just shows 3 swing options that do not represent how the louvre works. Is the Hub 2 better in this regard thank you. The outdoor sensors are great BTW
The Hub 2 does change some things with AC units, but it's more on the side of feedback then the actual controls you can send. So I don't think it's going to be better for you :(
Sadly we pretty much aren't. Not for that price. I can get two tuya IR/RF blasters incl 433/315 and rolling codes, plus a zigbee thermohygrometer sensor with illuminance and still have change out of what I'd pay for a hub I don't need. Their prices are insane, especially given the Bluetooth fetish. Sadly I can get zigbee blind drivers + blinds for the other half of the flat for the cost of one switchbot window that doesn't really work (those two part hyper cheap curtain rails... Tuya is on the way to winning this because despite the fact the app is godawful and the apparently new owners are greedier than a Tory voter (Republican-ish) the hardware works with a lot of other hubs like smart things and the current light duty dumpster fire that is Hubitat... But its all irrelevant, because none of this is even remotely close to being ready for prime time and the general user. It's not reliable enough, it's not remotely close to simple enough, and that's not to mention the security issues like the Nexx gear that makes the American version of the PAL code debacle look positively Fort Knox (don't look it up if you have a sensitive disposition).
Great video, Brian. I bought one for the Matter part as I'd like Switchbot stuff to go right into Homekit w/o using Homebridge as I do now. I'll be glad to get the bot going as that is/was their core product. I'll be a little patient, but hope they get-r-done soon! Thank you!
i bought it and found that i cannot setup a routine to use temperature or humidity to trigger another device. this means it is a display only, this has been confirmed with cs. really disappointed
The Automations work just fine within SwitchBot's app. Not sure what conversation you had but it works. That means even if you're talking about another platform, you could switch the status of a Smart Plug or something simple to start the automation in that platform.
@@AutomateYourLife i mean triggering non switchbot device like my air humidifier, this use case should be quite usual. alexa routine trigger just doesn't find it as trigger device
@@ppp588 yes, except you could do that through a lot of other SwitchBot products that can start Alexa routines. Maybe they'll add it later but for now just do a smart plug workaround or something like that
The 2 way communication with the IR device is the first time I’ve seen that functionality 👏
I know! That's neat and I hope it gets better with some automation options
Thanks again for the "heads-up" Brian. You're wonderful !
My pleasure! Thank you!
Sweet, I've been waiting for an outdoor temp sensor. Hard to understand why no one has done one before this.
There are a few, but I like this one a lot! You'll see it fully on the next unbox video Brad. 😃
Another superb review, thanks Brian! It'll be very interesting to see how it integrates with Hubitat when Matter gets rolled out on the C8.
Yeah that's a gap for me and my home right now so I hope they do too!
FYI Tuya have removed adding blinds and curtains so I would assume that there are over one million people that can no longer open and close their blinds worldwide using their voice. This is just one of the many reasons smart home automation will never become main stream tech...
Tuya have removed adding blinds and curtains to their platform? Where did you see this?
@@AutomateYourLife Open the app and see if you can add a blind or curtain. I can't... so if you already had them configured Google Home see them as a switch and think they should be switched on or off rather than open or closed therefore voice commands no longer work 🤬
They are sitting in the tuya app and seem to be working there, but I don't have one to test.
As for Google...that's a Google thing through and through. They're a pain in the ass with stuff changing all the time.
@@AutomateYourLife hmmm you are right, they weren't there yesterday... how bizarre. This is definitely not a Google issue, anyway I can fix the problem now...
I bet they're prepping for Matter.
It's hard to imagine that in the second quarter of 2023, I'm still operating my shades by hand.
But I can hallucinate abut buying one of these this year.
Yeah Dave...get it done man!
I really liked your triggers/actions per device breakdown section.kk and the scene section
Thanks Frank! I like giving that info and it felt appropriate with this new hub. Glad it hit for you!
Great review. But really wish the hub would also include a 433/866 mhz radio controller to control things like blind / shade motors directly
Knowing these guys, they'll add something like that to the next one :)
Thanks Brian.
Thank you sir!
Your tutorial channel is great. The details on setting the switchhub 2 is well done. Surprised more from here do not subscribe to that channel also. Did not realize you did more videos there. Yolink has a good temp sensor also and great for distance. Like the LEDs on this one.
Hey thanks! We've been inconsistent on the other channel in being able to put up content, so that's why I think. My own fault really ;)
But thanks! And I do remember a great temp sensor from YoLink
Thanks Brian for your detailed review, wondering if you will review soon the SmartThings Station?
I sure wish I could. I can't get one up to Canada right now and Samsung isn't sending them or talking to me at all. Sorry! Trying hard!
@@AutomateYourLife just received mine last week here in Mexico (purchased on USA trough eBay), I saw Amazon will start to ship to Mexico in May too.
Thanks!
Too kind Big Bear! Thank you!
I don't seem to be able to replicate the IR command confirmation feature. If I put the hub in a box it still show the command as executed.
Maybe yours is a model that doesn't throw back the confirmation IR status. That would be something that's known in the config I think...but I'm actually going to have to try this for myself now.
What model do you have ? I'm waiting to know how this works before buying.
My experience with SB has been hit or miss. Their motion sensor is cheaper than but isn’t as accurate as Phillips. I own both. I have a few of their temp/hygrometer’s which I love. I also have the original hub mini which is just ok, it really doesn’t work on every IR device you may have. I’ll give this new hub a try, but I’m not holding my breath. Great review.
Yeah Hiram I think they need a bit more compatibility with things like the motion sensor, but many of those main products are great. The Hub 2 has been great so far, although always keep in mind that it's early with Matter Bridges so it's not perfect yet!
I need local automation for a few lamps in my office. What’s out there for that?
Depends on what you mean by lamps. Controlling by switch or controlling by bulb gives you different options.
Hue and Lutron will work though
Hi Brian, @ 11:52 You mentioned that the hub reads back a confirmation signal from the AC. I understand how the Hub 2 can listen for commands sent by the original AC remote, but have you found that the Hub 2 can track manual changes you make on the AC unit?
Is this just for certain models of AC that actually respond back with IR signals?
It can't track anything you don't send through it. So it's more like a feedback signal after a command.
They aren't always communicating, or at least I haven't noticed that. Sorry Frank!
next version will add dimming control between the on and off buttons?
I don't know, but I like your thinking!
Idk if you know about this but in japan switchbot sell a ceiling light and hub combine together and also a robot vacuum. Idk how good the robot vacuum cause I don't see the need but I've bought most of my stuff from switchbot thanks to your recommendation and the availability in Japan, especially amazon (they just recently added to a couple of big japanese electronic store) while also still friendly to my pocket and rental apartment
Thanks for the recommendation!
Hi Nina! Yeah I'm really excited to see some of those products come to North America. I know the vacuum is planned to come this way, so as soon as I can I'll show that one. But it sounds like you might get it before me!
I have the hub mini. Can't interface their temp sensor with my Wyze thermostat to control my home temperature. So what's the point of their temp sensor?
That miiiight be more about Wyze than SwitchBot. Wyze has been less good at integration than SwitchBot has generally, but I know the temp sensors are primarily used
You could do a few workarounds depending on what you have in SwitchBot's app and what platform you're using to try to interface the two. SwitchBot plugs and things like that usually give you a trigger or automation starter. :)
Great info!! As of 7/17/24, are he Curtains and tilt blind still the only devices with Matter support?
Nope! Many more SwitchBot devices have full Matter support. Bots, the locks
Some other stuff too
Your video along with your buddies video, Paul Hibbert show this might become a very useful hub, but currently with it only talking to devices with Bluetooth (very limited range) needing the “Cloud” to work and and Matter being so spotty as your banking on this to ever work makes this IMHO a cool but not really truly solid device.
It's base function is useful with their products, but you gotta be bought into the Bot ;)
Matter's been much improved in the last 2 weeks. I've been more and more impressed, so it's coming.
Do you know the outside temperature operation for the probe? With our winter here, mine froze last winter and I was unable to got the weather at -40 c. I'm about to pull the trigger for those things, but can't find the information for the probe.
Is the Bluetooth range better than the hub mini? I bought a crap ton of blind tilt devices for all of my windows. After setting everything up i found that I needed way more hubs than they originally claimed. I basically need one in every room that I have my devices in. Have you had any difficulties?
Oh my...no troubles at that level for sure Rick. What's your home made of?!?
Can Smartbot hub control "dumb" light strips that have the little remotes? I don't think it can but it'd be cool if it would
If they're IR, absolutely. I didn't try one but it should be just fine!
Would this be a good alternative to the sensibo products?
It’s fairly similar and I think so, but it’s not 1 to 1 exactly on features
With the Smarthings Hub 0.49.X Beta update, the support for Matter Bridge end devices was added. Does anyone knows if this is working with the switchbot hub 2 and the other devices?
It is not quite out of beta. Hold a bit longer!
Thx. Does the previous hub also return the information from devices like AC ?
It doesn't and this is the first IR blaster I've seen that does this.
Great video. Thinking of buying one just for 2 things, using the outdoor sensor to have a small display of the weather, and more importantly the IR blaster. But are/will be the paired IR devices be visible in Smartthings?
Hey John! The IR blaster devices will show up in SmartThings. Visibility of the status will not. At least not yet. And keep in mind, you'll only get the On/Off button in SmartThings.
For this to work with HomeKit would I need one of the new HomeKit Hub with Thread network?
You would need a HomeKit Hub for it to work properly, but Thread is not required at all.
Great video as always! I'm wondering if I can use this hub and its illumination sensor to control an Aqara shade roller. I only want to pull the shade down when it's very bright and sunny outside a west facing window. If this hub is not measuring in lux, how can I define the brightness level as trigger? So far I've been using weather triggers in aqara app, which is not very reliable. Aqaras brightness sensor can't be triggered without motion detection, so it's not helpful for my use case either. Thanks 😊
Right now, I believe just the temperature and humidity go into Apple HomeKit through Matter, so I'd suggest that you turn on/move something in SwitchBot's app. Something like a smart plug could go on or off, and then use that to trigger the Aqara Shade Roller in HomeKit. SwitchBot has an Apple HomeKit version smart plug.
It's a workaround, but I think it's the only way today!
Alexa could do the same thing :)
Wow this is a great workaround, thank you so much 😊
Bryan can you recommend me a good smart switch like lutron diva ,i can't use lutron because in my country has 240/50hz electrical
Do you have a hub?
@@AutomateYourLife i use zigbee. but I will buy other hub if its needed
Hi, I have a question about the lock.
Is it possible when unlocking the door, to keep open in a way I just have to push it from outside the door ? I'm asking that cause from out side my door I cannot open with the doot handle, I need a key, I can use the door hanlde only from inside, so basically I need a key everytime I need to open the door from outside.
So it its possible to keep the door open when using the switchbot app to unlock then its good for me
Sadly, no Nir. I don't think that's going to work for you. I think you're gonna have to do a full replacement of that door lock to get "smart". Sorry!
I have to ask the question again because some other reviewers say the contrary: does the hub v2 give the status of the A/C ? Does it depend on the A/C brand or features ? Thx
It does depend on the AC unit brand, as some don't provide feedback. However, when it does provide feedback it shows in the SwitchBot app. Not on the hub 2.
@@AutomateYourLife Ok thank you for the reply. I know have to check if my a/c (quite old) would provide such feedback. Do you know what do I have to check for that ?
@@theattorney6072 remotes that reflect the state is usually a good indicator, but no...
@@AutomateYourLife ok 👍 thx. All my remotes do reflect the state. Now I'm tempted :)
I have read Somewhere that the Aqara Hub V2 does show the status of the A/C on the Aqara app. Can you confirm ? Thx
If you display the outdoor sensors reading could it switch back and forth between the two sensors? Or is stay with only the one you choose until you change that in the App?
Thanks!
It was supposed to be deployed yesterday, but hasn't come out yet! I think it's pick one or the other at a time and doesn't switch automatically as far as I understand it
@@AutomateYourLife thanks for the follow up!
Dose the screen dim
It does based on the illumination sensor!
@15:32 what is the NFC setting? Does this actually trigger from an NFC tag?
Yep! NFC tags can be used with the SwitchBot app to start any scene or device action. Really useful, but you'll need to use SwitchBot's NFC tags to have high reliability.
@@AutomateYourLife does the hub 2 include a tag reader?
Oh not a tag reader there. You do the tag on your phone
How can I connect Xiaomi fan or Touya bulb to this piece of junk? I can't, because it's not a hub, it's just thermometer with IR.
Just a thought...that might be about those two brands just as much as it is about SwitchBot. All 3 have their own ecosystems and separate apps. :)
hi great video thanks. Ive got switch bot Hub mini controlling my Mitsubishi Heavy industries wall mounted AC but the louvre control is not very good the display just shows 3 swing options that do not represent how the louvre works. Is the Hub 2 better in this regard thank you. The outdoor sensors are great BTW
The Hub 2 does change some things with AC units, but it's more on the side of feedback then the actual controls you can send. So I don't think it's going to be better for you :(
I think tell SwitchBot your specific unit and how it's not representative, maybe they'll correct it?
@@AutomateYourLife Thank you for the speedy reply . Good idea about contacting Switchbot.
Get a haircut Hippie! LOL. Great info, thanks!
Lol I did!🤣
Probably won't love it, unless it's zigbee or zwave and not proprietary. cough cough aqara.
unless it's $20...
Well?
Sadly we pretty much aren't. Not for that price. I can get two tuya IR/RF blasters incl 433/315 and rolling codes, plus a zigbee thermohygrometer sensor with illuminance and still have change out of what I'd pay for a hub I don't need. Their prices are insane, especially given the Bluetooth fetish. Sadly I can get zigbee blind drivers + blinds for the other half of the flat for the cost of one switchbot window that doesn't really work (those two part hyper cheap curtain rails...
Tuya is on the way to winning this because despite the fact the app is godawful and the apparently new owners are greedier than a Tory voter (Republican-ish) the hardware works with a lot of other hubs like smart things and the current light duty dumpster fire that is Hubitat...
But its all irrelevant, because none of this is even remotely close to being ready for prime time and the general user. It's not reliable enough, it's not remotely close to simple enough, and that's not to mention the security issues like the Nexx gear that makes the American version of the PAL code debacle look positively Fort Knox (don't look it up if you have a sensitive disposition).
Ok!
Copying Paul Hibbert are you? 😜
I did? Good if I did!
@@AutomateYourLife please, not that guy ! !
...and not just a pretty face !
Definitely not that ;)
Great video, Brian. I bought one for the Matter part as I'd like Switchbot stuff to go right into Homekit w/o using Homebridge as I do now. I'll be glad to get the bot going as that is/was their core product. I'll be a little patient, but hope they get-r-done soon! Thank you!
I hope so too Hugh! I'm waiting for that one and it should be fairly easy since it's a switch!😃. We will wait together
I don’t like hubs 👎🏾
okay!
i bought it and found that i cannot setup a routine to use temperature or humidity to trigger another device. this means it is a display only, this has been confirmed with cs. really disappointed
The Automations work just fine within SwitchBot's app. Not sure what conversation you had but it works.
That means even if you're talking about another platform, you could switch the status of a Smart Plug or something simple to start the automation in that platform.
@@AutomateYourLife i mean triggering non switchbot device like my air humidifier, this use case should be quite usual. alexa routine trigger just doesn't find it as trigger device
@@ppp588 yes, except you could do that through a lot of other SwitchBot products that can start Alexa routines. Maybe they'll add it later but for now just do a smart plug workaround or something like that
@@AutomateYourLife don't get me wrong, i bought it the very first day it released, i like your video very much, thanks all for that
@@ppp588 just trying to help! 😃👌. Enjoy what you can