This smart home hub is much more than just a Wi-Fi connection tool and is vital when using the full range of SwitchBot products.

 

Most of us will have a smart home hub in our house especially if we have Hive Heating you will own Hive Hub.  Now the main function of this device is to transport data from a Bluetooth device to your Wi-Fi network and keep everything connected. 

 

First Impressions

 

The SwitchBot Hub 2 does this well by creating a gateway for all of your SwitchBot smart home products and also communicates with your smart home assistant such as Alexa, and Google Assistant but also works with smart home systems like Apple HomeKit and Samsung SmartThings. 

Additional Features of the SwitchBot Hub 2 is the panel itself which will display the temperature and humidity. You can have the temperature displayed in Celsius or Fahrenheit. Celsius is the default and switching it over requires a degree in engineering as it’s not very obvious to find. You need to go exploring in the preferences section of the app. 

The SwitchBot Hub 2 also allows you to monitor ambient light levels so as you can see not only will it create the bridge for Wi-Fi. It also makes use of the device in terms of showing you real-time information such as temperature and humidity but oddly there is no clock which you would have expected to have. 

Now the SwitchBot Hub 2 currently costs £79.99 let’s take a closer look as to if you should make the investment.

 

Design/Build

 

The Hub 2 is white in colour and measures 8x 7x 2.3 cm and weighs in at 210 grams. This means it’s very lightweight and won’t take up to much room but you need to position it close to a power socket as it’s powered via the provided USB to A/C power adapter. 

Image Credit: ZDNET

You are also provided with double-sided sticky tape if you want to wall mount it or if you want to position it on your coffee table it comes with an integrated kickstand.  

 

The front panel bears a white LED readout and comes with two small touch-sensitive buttons marked with on/off that can be assigned as shortcut keys via the SwitchBot app. 

 

The Hub 2 also operates as an IR blaster which lets you point the SwitchBot remote at the hub and it determines with just one press which devices it could match to. 

What you will notice is this feature only really works when the switch is positioned facing the device it controls. Having said that you do get quite a wide angle of operation up to a 45-degree angle or a max range of 90 feet. 

The SwitchBot App

When using the SwitchBot Hub 2 it’s vital it is connected to the app otherwise it will simply not work.  On Hub 2, you will notice a small percentage reading located just above the temperature reading and this is the humidity readout now the display will show you a real-time recording but the app allows you to view historical information such as by the day all the way up to a year on year recording. 

Image Credit: Trusted Reviews

Now it is worth considering the sensor for both the temperature and humidity is actually in the USB cable so make sure you do not swap it for a third-party cable.

The Hub 2 also provides you with additional monitoring not shown on the display and that is the ambient light level which is measured with a number from 1 to 15. I think 15 must represent the room is very bright and as a result, it will adjust your Smart blinds, Curtains to adjust the amount of light you get into the room this can also be linked to the temperature or humidity so if the levels hit a certain point an activity will begin.

Verdict

The SwitchBot Hub 2 comes in at £79.99 which if you consider the cost of the Curtain Rod 2 and Switchbot Blind Tilt could be quite an expensive offering but call it an investment.  As once purchased there is no need to purchase again and the fact that Hub 2 allows you to connect other SwitchBot products is actually seen as value for money. 

I like what SwitchBot have done that has taken a basic Wi-Fi bridge and added some useful extra features such as recording temperature, humidity and even ambient light levels it really does help you make your home even smarter and allow you to select the schedules based on historical data. 

 

It will be interesting to see now Switchbot has done this and how long it will take other brands to also do the same. My only negative about this product is the lack of a clock is seems a little odd it was not added but at the same time, it’s hardly a deal breaker.

 

Product Rating   

Design/Build: 5.0 out of 5.0 stars5.0

Features: 4.0 out of 5.0 stars

SwitchBot App: 5.0 out of 5.0 stars5.0

Value for Money: 4.0 out of 5.0 stars

 

Overall ranking: 4.5 out of 5.0 stars – 4.5 stars  

Current Special Offer till July 31st 2023 – 5% off code XMSWITCHBOT

Also, read SwitchBot Curtain Rod 2 Review or SwitchBot Blind Tilt Review

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