Switchbot are a company who have been on my radar for a while and so when they reached out to me recently and offered to send me 3 of their products I jumped at the opportunity!
I’ve made video reviews including a giveaway of these over on my YouTube channel.
So, what is the Switchbot Bot?
The Switchbot bot is a small smarthome product with a mechanical arm and the idea is simple…what if you could make any switch or button in your home smart?
The device itself comes with two pads for sticking the bot to the appliance of switch you want to use it with, two optional on/off switch accessories and the bot itself which comes in a choice of white or black and is small with rounded edges.
It runs on a CR2 battery which Switchbot claims will last for nearly 2 years (obviously I can’t test this!) and is connects to your phone using bluetooth 4.1 with an open field range of 80 meters.
Setting it up is as simple as downloading the Switchbot app and following the instructions on screen and once set up and attached to your chosen device you simply use the app to turn it on or off. There’s the option in the app to change the mode to ‘switch mode’ for using it with a light switch but whether you attach it to a light switch, coffee machine, lamp switch or whatever it works every time and sticks really well. (It does however struggle with slightly indented buttons)
And really…that’s it…almost. The Switchbot bot is a £25 option for making any button or switch smart…it’s simple but incredibly effective, complimented by a brilliant app.
However, if you just buy the bot the only way you can control it is via the smartphone app when you’re in range however if you’re planning to buy more than one then it’s certainly worth spending an extra £29 and picking up a Switchbot Hub Mini (There’s a full review of this device on the blog too).
The Switchbot Hub Mini takes the bot to the next level and offers you some extra features:
- You can use your bot outside of your home. The Hub connects to your wifi and to the Switchbot devices within bluetooth range of the Hub, it then enables you to activate switches using the app anywhere in the world.
- You can also then use the Switchbot with voice assistants such as Alexa, Google Assistant and Siri Shortcuts plus set up recipes either using scenes within the switchbot app or using IFTTT.
For me, as someone who uses Alexa all the time the Hub adds the functionality I need at a really good price.
If you want to pick up a Switchbot follow this link: Black | White
If you want a Hub mini click here
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