Sony CMT-SBT20B Hi-Fi System : Nice and compact

Having has our old unit for 15 years hope this one does same time. Seems good quality – neat and small as well.

A birthday present for daughter.

I mainly bought it to play my cd’s on. The details on screen suggest it has a dab radio, it doesn’t, the radio is just fm.

I had this bought as a christmas present as an all singing, all dancing bluetooth system. I specifically wanted to be able to listen via headphones so as not to disturb people when they are asleep. There is no headphone socket and the bluetooth is only a receiver and not a signal transmitter, so you can’t even use bluetooth headphones. This is not clear anywhere in the advertising or even the manual. This took searching the net and phoning sony. Major failing on sony’s behalf despite them insisting you can attach them via a line in socket. No sony, you need a line out socket for headphones. They eventually conceded headphones cannot be used with this product. Though if you are inclined you could create a switchable junction box involving the speakers, which are the only output source, but that’s a phaff, right?despite all this, i have, so far, found the sound quality very good for such a small system. For me, the dab is clear, the mega bass works well, though despite the manual saying it should be on as a default on first switch on, it wasn’t.

Great stereo for the price, with one or two little niggles stopping me handing out a fifth star. It’s easy to set up, but suffers from a lack of presets (only numbered 1-4 on the handset meaning an annoying fumble for the other saved stations) for the dab. It’s a looker – brushed chrome and gloss black glass, nice lcd. Bluetooth is a great addition and picks up my iphone every time without any hassle (it doesn’t require being re-connected after initial set up. ) the weirdest thing is it forgets which radio preset it was on when put on standby and always reverts to the first saved station (at least, i can’t find anything in the instructions that changes this. )sound quality is good, certainly not great; the unit lacks bass even with the settings ramped up, and it won’t rattle the windows but for a smaller room it’s fine (i’m using it in a kitchen). Final annoyance is the cd mechanism engages whenever it comes out of standby so you get that distinctive ‘crunch’ as it gears up, even if you want to just use bluetooth or radio. Other than those things, the price is good for what you get and i’d mostly recommend this.

Good sound quality for a small system.

Sony CMT-SBT20B Hi-Fi System with CD, Bluetooth, DAB and FM Radio – Black/Silver

  • Make sure this fits
    by entering your model number.
  • Easy Bluetooth connectivity with NFC One-touch
  • USB media and Walkman playback and charging
  • Intergrated FM and DAB Radio Tuner
  • 12W total power
  • Mega Bass for dynamic sound

Good sound, but have not used it much yet.

Speakers so flimsy so connected my panasonics from my previous audio/cd unit. Station presets still trying to fathom them out so again panasonic was so easy compared to this remote control. Slightly worried that the 3 amp fuse blew – very unusual. Beware speaker leads have a weird connectors that fit into the audio unit so if you want to connect other speakers you have to cut the leads and solder them back.

Sony CMT-SBT20B Hi-Fi System with CD, Bluetooth, DAB and FM Radio – Black/Silver :

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Logitech Pop Add-On Home Switch : Click, double click and hold.

Works well with logi pop – have a few now to run activities with harmony, also hive through either harmony or ifttt for hive. Got set up with arlo through ifttt to deactivate and arm arlo, handy when leaving the back door open with the dog going in and out.

Great remotes at a fantastic ptice.

Works perfectly but one of my pops is not working out of the two i have set up the bridge with ease and one pop set up in a breeze but one pop is not working happy to change my review once i get a resolve.

‘simple is beautiful’ — there’s not much simpler than a single button. Logitech pop is a great addition to any smarthome — it seems overly simplistic at first, but that is the beauty of it. I bought two pops to control a sonos setup in my new bathroom (pops are waterproof) and almost immediately bought another two to tweak lighting setups around the house. The buttons can be configured for single, double and long presses, giving each button three macros you can program. My only gripes are that there is no native nest integration and the app (while beautifully designed) has a few ux quirks that affect usability. That aside, top purchase, thoroughly recommended.

Mainly used with sonos – ie group and ungroup speakers with button presses and play different playlists etc. However, as others have mentioned – the device is quite buggy. Generally though restarting the bridge resolves most issues. There was one issue that i logged with the logitech pop support team but ended up resolving myself. The problem i had was with updating the pop switch with changes to sonos playlists- when attempting to update i would get the error – sonos update failed. I found this was because i had too many items within under my sonos. I fixed by and removing some stations and playlists and the update began to work again. I have since logged the fix with logitech who i hope will provide a more permanent solution.

Was semi sceptical about getting the pop due to the price, however i took the plunge and i am very happy 🙂 nice packaging and good build quality. I am using the included buttons for my lifx and hue setup at various points round the house where i/guests may not have there phone or tablet this works really wellonly issue i have is the additional costs of buttons seems really high and is preventing me purchasing more.

Probably ok, but little information found about how to use the damned thing. I bought it as a present for my son and he didn’t find much either.

Brilliant, i use it with logitech harmony hub to switch on tv and lights etc.

Clever design and great addition to a sonos bedroom setup. I can now switch on/off several radio channels on my bedroom sonos in the dark. It is the simplest technology things that are the most effective.

I’m trying to make my home smarter (with hive – through the use of ifttt)i bought this item to physically control 3 x hive active lights & 1 x hive active plug. Button 1 has been configured with 3 functions in my home (though should only be 2 but ifttt does not support ‘hive active light groups’ – but i would say this is a shortcoming of ifttt’s integration to hive than a problem with this product). I have configured as followslight 1: (living room with 2 x hive active lights)one click >toggle light 1two clicks >toggle light 2hold click >toggle hive active plugthis means that if i want to turn on both lights in one room, i have to click 3 times. Button 2 controls one other light and hive active plug. On it’s own, the logitech software is (in my experience) a bit basic and as such i would recommend only buying this if you intend to pair it with ifttt.

Really easy to set up out of the box. I brought this so that i could have a physical switch to turn on / off my lifx light strip and bulbs instead of saying ‘ok google’ which gets tiring after a while. Could be improved if it had an led to confirm the action had been carried out ( i know the lights turning on or off would tell me but it would be nice to have a visual if the switch was mounted on the wall for aesthetics)i already had the harmony hub and like many others have said i don’t really know why you have to get the bridge as well as the harmony hub could do the same job as the bridge.

I have a number of these to help ‘sell’ the smart home dream to my wife who much prefers the old school physical switches. When they work, they do the job but the problem is, the don’t always work which doesn’t really help to convince my wife that ‘smarthome’ is the way to go. Also, the integration with 3rd party devices seems limited. Fine with lifx and hue but the wemo socket works very sporadically and the app doesn’t seem to support many other alternatives ( for example it won’t detect the eve socket) in summary, good idea, great when it works but performance is inconsistent. These would be awesome if they worked reliably every time and had more 3rd per device integration options.

The buttons are smaller and feel nicer than i expected. A few seconds and it was working. Use the pop with smartthings to control my blink security system. My only complaint is i wish the could add a pause in the pop recipie. I would like to be able to press the pop button and for it to pause for 30 seconds before arming my security system. I would also like to be able to de-active the button from the app.

Just bought the starter kit and set it upgreat so far easy &quick to set up and simple to assign popsonly have philips hue lighting around the house and 2 logitech harmony remotes ( touch and elite)works flawlessly and fast with lights and activities from remotei just hope they support bose soundtouch system soon as i haven’t got sonos.

Not so much as far as connectivity.

It works as phisical button insted of your wirtual button on your phone. Perfect for smart home swiches or panic button.

This is really helpful for me as my wife is not familiar with smart home apps. Now, she is more comfortable with the actual button 😁👍.

A year or so back i heard of this company that made bluetooth buttons called flic. They make little buttons that connect by bluetooth which allows you to control various types of smart devices, which cab be as simple as controlling a smart light, to triggering some sort of routine that starts music playing, sets mood lighting and are fairly sleek looking for what they are. However i immediately returned them as i found them unfit for purpose. They were hundreds of dollars, and required a constant paired smartphone, to always be in close proximity to the buttons. They weren’t smart buttons at all, they were just extensions of a smartphone app. I didn’t have any plans to carry these buttons around the world with me as i travelled around, nor did i plan to buy a smartphone just to leave at home to have these buttons function without my presence. It’s only recently i became aware of the existence of these logitech pop switches. I figured – since they were on sale – i’ll try them out.

Nicely produced kit, though i think realistically a bit too expensive (especially as you’ll probably find yourself wanting a few. )works well with lifx, but does not support our wemo bulbs (basically if it requires the wemo hub it won’t work- but things like the wemo switch which are self contained do work). Shame, because i wanted something that would finally bring those two bits of tech together.

I didn’t think these would go well with my ha system, but thought i would give them a go. I was very surprised and very happy with them. Used in conjunction with samsung smartthings and hue, and you get 3 options for control via their app. So quite configurable to use with lights and scenes etc.

Buttons not as discreet as i would like and maybe not as clicky either. Bluetooth competitors are better in that regard. Wifi buttons are more reliable than bluetooth though. Product is not the cheapest but does what it claims to do relatively well.

I’ve been using these pop switches to control philips hue lights and most of the time they work perfectly. It seems like when they aren’t used for a while they stop working though, at least sometimes. Opening the app on my phone has resolved this issue so far, but it’s a bit of a pain when you’re trying to flick on a light as you come through your front door.

These work great and are especially useful if you have a non technical partner who doesn’t want to keep installing different apps of their phone to control different things. I have theses 2 setup on each side of our bed so that 1 press turns on reading lamp (wemo controlled), 2 presses turns on the hue lamp and a long press turns on the main light. It works great and i’ve had no issues with it at all.

Great buttons but wish they had the hub built ina solid year (2017) of accessories needing ‘hubs’ was horrific. March on 2018, the year of ‘direct connections, no hub needed’.

Frustrating setup issues with android app getting connected to the wifi. Once that was overcome setup of the button and assigning function was easy.

The post Logitech Pop Add-On Home Switch : Click, double click and hold. appeared first on Home AV.



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Wingogo TX3 Mini TV Box Android 7 – Five Stars

Brilliant, better than expected, and doe’s what its supposed.
This is the best android box i have used.
Very fast deliveryexcellent choice.
It is brilliant i would buy again best buy.
They usually don’t last but no complaints so far. Only the remote is very limited in options.
Ok this is a reasonably good product though if you are buying it for kodi i would highly recommend going to the website and downloading the libreelec dual boot build. Works well but it does only support 2. 4ghz wifi so speeds aren’t always brilliant.
This box it’s very quick and reliable have had no issues with it at all. I would recommend it to people in a heartbeat.
The item works as expected and everything was inside the box and plastics but its not a new boxi know it because the tv box was already customised in german . At the beginning it was difficult to find the reset on the definitions because i don’t speak german. If it is a returned item you need to check if everything is like new for the new customer. I feel a little bit desappointed.
Fast delivery and compliant product.
I am really happy with the product i would recommend it to anyone.
Well built with brilliant features. Has 2 usb ports, takes micro sd memory card, hd port, ethernet cable. Comes with a slim small remote.
Nice compact android set to box. Not owning a smart tv at the moment i opted to buy a set top box which fulfils all the criteria of a smart connected tv and then some. Access to the whole google play and ability to download run compatible apps. The size of the box is tiny and wherever you choose to place it you will hardly notice its even there. The box features 2gb ram which for the footprint of the box is decent, there is no real noticeable lag in terms of both navigation and playing of media. 0 ports, 1 x micro sd card slot, 1 x optical output, 1 x hdmi out, 1 x av out. The box supports 4k output, since i do not have 4k equipment i cannot check this. The box comes complete with hdmi cable, power supply and remote control (requires 2 x aaa, not supplied). Remote control is similar to amazon firestick remote but features 3 extra buttons volume +/- and a mouse mode button, switches the on screen cursor to a mouse pointer (useful for navigation on websites). Here are the specifications for the Wingogo TX3 Mini TV Box Android 7:
  • Make sure this fits
    by entering your model number.
  • 2018 NEW RELEASE TV Box: This Smart Android TV box has Quad core ARM Cortex-A53 CPU, Mali-450 penta-core, up to 750MHz+(DVFS) GPU. Its high machine configuration gives you ultra-fast running speed and professional image processing ability.You can also have access to all the tools at the play store smoothly.
  • UPGRADED ANDROID 7.1: the NEWEST Generation of smart android tv box, which raises the bar in performance and usability with a slick lag-free interface, compatibility with the the vast majority of latest android applications such as youtube,MSN,YouTube and many games,to meet the needs of different users.
  • EASY CONNECTION & OPERATION: Android TV Box has HDMI and AV out port. You simply plug the box into your device by HDMI for HD or RCA for standard definition. Two 2.0 USB ports, connect with your mouse and keyboard to help you operate more conveniently.
  • VIDEO DECODING TECH :Professional video decoding technology with WIFI 2.4GHZ offering a more stable WIFI signal,directly link it to your router lets you never worry buffering,offering a more stable WIFI signal to enjoy a higher quality experience.
  • Enjoy all your favorite movies, sport shows and entertainment programs. And you can also save the games, movies and TV shows you like, just take advantage of the 16GB storage.
It woeks great, never had to wait for it to load, fab.
Absolutely amazing tv box bought 2 and wish i had bought a long time ago.
Slow and cumbersome, hard to navigate with remote control, streaming is poor as constantly buffers.
I upgraded from a tx2 to this tx3. I can only express my feelings on the improvement in one word fantastic. The difference in power and responsiveness is like comparing a bicycle to an e-type jaguar. It has far surpassed my expectations and i would recommend it to everyone. Yes, it is a little more than ti would like to update han the tx2, but wow what a difference. I am planning on purchasing more to upgrage my other boxes since it would be unfair not to. 1, 2g ram 16g rom 4k ultra hd wifi 2017 wingogo smart tv box (2gb+16gb) i am not saying the tx2 is not a good box because it is and i was quite happy with it, but this one is just better.
Latest apps or high demand don’t work.
There are some pre-installed apps like youtube and netflix that work perfectly. I bought this for the tv in my bedroom. 16gb is more than enough to install all your apps. Two usb ports make it easy to connect bluetooth mouse and keyboard. The box wifi and an ethernet port, since im using this box to stream videos and programs ive used a wired connection for the strongest internet connection.
Reviews from purchasers :
  • Tiny But Capable TV Box
  • Fast responsive android box.
  • Perfect
Best box easy to use turns my old tv to smart tv good price.
I bought this product for my friend birthday and she love this product to watch her 3rd party movie apps. I would recommend buying a keyboard to make your life a lot easier when typing.
Quite surprised for the processor in this box how incredibly fast it responds. Power enough to run media centre on this box with no issues or lagging.
Very small box, perfectly working. Already updated to android 7. Come with remote as well, however i use it with a bluetooth mouse that makes life easier when you need to scroll lists or use some apps. I also like the fact that it show the time when it is on.
The post Wingogo TX3 Mini TV Box Android 7 – Five Stars appeared first on Home AV.


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Logitech Pop Add-On Home Switch : Greatwhen they work

Just bought the starter kit and set it upgreat so far easy &quick to set up and simple to assign popsonly have philips hue lighting around the house and 2 logitech harmony remotes ( touch and elite)works flawlessly and fast with lights and activities from remotei just hope they support bose soundtouch system soon as i haven’t got sonos.
Buttons not as discreet as i would like and maybe not as clicky either. Bluetooth competitors are better in that regard. Wifi buttons are more reliable than bluetooth though. Product is not the cheapest but does what it claims to do relatively well.
Not so much as far as connectivity.
Nicely produced kit, though i think realistically a bit too expensive (especially as you’ll probably find yourself wanting a few. )works well with lifx, but does not support our wemo bulbs (basically if it requires the wemo hub it won’t work- but things like the wemo switch which are self contained do work). Shame, because i wanted something that would finally bring those two bits of tech together.
I’m trying to make my home smarter (with hive – through the use of ifttt)i bought this item to physically control 3 x hive active lights & 1 x hive active plug. Button 1 has been configured with 3 functions in my home (though should only be 2 but ifttt does not support ‘hive active light groups’ – but i would say this is a shortcoming of ifttt’s integration to hive than a problem with this product). I have configured as followslight 1: (living room with 2 x hive active lights)one click >toggle light 1two clicks >toggle light 2hold click >toggle hive active plugthis means that if i want to turn on both lights in one room, i have to click 3 times. Button 2 controls one other light and hive active plug. On it’s own, the logitech software is (in my experience) a bit basic and as such i would recommend only buying this if you intend to pair it with ifttt.
These work great and are especially useful if you have a non technical partner who doesn’t want to keep installing different apps of their phone to control different things. I have theses 2 setup on each side of our bed so that 1 press turns on reading lamp (wemo controlled), 2 presses turns on the hue lamp and a long press turns on the main light. It works great and i’ve had no issues with it at all.
Great remotes at a fantastic ptice.
Probably ok, but little information found about how to use the damned thing. I bought it as a present for my son and he didn’t find much either.
  • Nothing comes close to this product. However it’s not perfect – but that’s only because of the Android App when setting things
  • Lacking one critical feature
  • Simple is beautiful

Logitech Pop Add-On Home Switch for Pop Home Switch Starter Pack – Teal

  • Make sure this fits
    by entering your model number.
  • Add smart home control to any room: Works with Pop home switch starter pack to extend smart home control to more rooms
  • Simple smart home control for the whole family: Anyone at home can control multiple smart home devices wirelessly with one press of a switch
  • Controls smart lighting: Turns smart lights on/off to your preset brightness, warmth and colour levels
  • Multiple mounting options: Stick the switch on a wall, counter top or take it from room to room for smart home control anywhere around the house

I didn’t think these would go well with my ha system, but thought i would give them a go. I was very surprised and very happy with them. Used in conjunction with samsung smartthings and hue, and you get 3 options for control via their app. So quite configurable to use with lights and scenes etc.
Clever design and great addition to a sonos bedroom setup. I can now switch on/off several radio channels on my bedroom sonos in the dark. It is the simplest technology things that are the most effective.
Works well with logi pop – have a few now to run activities with harmony, also hive through either harmony or ifttt for hive. Got set up with arlo through ifttt to deactivate and arm arlo, handy when leaving the back door open with the dog going in and out.
Works perfectly but one of my pops is not working out of the two i have set up the bridge with ease and one pop set up in a breeze but one pop is not working happy to change my review once i get a resolve.
Mainly used with sonos – ie group and ungroup speakers with button presses and play different playlists etc. However, as others have mentioned – the device is quite buggy. Generally though restarting the bridge resolves most issues. There was one issue that i logged with the logitech pop support team but ended up resolving myself. The problem i had was with updating the pop switch with changes to sonos playlists- when attempting to update i would get the error – sonos update failed. I found this was because i had too many items within under my sonos. I fixed by and removing some stations and playlists and the update began to work again. I have since logged the fix with logitech who i hope will provide a more permanent solution.
Was semi sceptical about getting the pop due to the price, however i took the plunge and i am very happy 🙂 nice packaging and good build quality. I am using the included buttons for my lifx and hue setup at various points round the house where i/guests may not have there phone or tablet this works really wellonly issue i have is the additional costs of buttons seems really high and is preventing me purchasing more.
It works as phisical button insted of your wirtual button on your phone. Perfect for smart home swiches or panic button.
A year or so back i heard of this company that made bluetooth buttons called flic. They make little buttons that connect by bluetooth which allows you to control various types of smart devices, which cab be as simple as controlling a smart light, to triggering some sort of routine that starts music playing, sets mood lighting and are fairly sleek looking for what they are. However i immediately returned them as i found them unfit for purpose. They were hundreds of dollars, and required a constant paired smartphone, to always be in close proximity to the buttons. They weren’t smart buttons at all, they were just extensions of a smartphone app. I didn’t have any plans to carry these buttons around the world with me as i travelled around, nor did i plan to buy a smartphone just to leave at home to have these buttons function without my presence. It’s only recently i became aware of the existence of these logitech pop switches. I figured – since they were on sale – i’ll try them out.
Really easy to set up out of the box. I brought this so that i could have a physical switch to turn on / off my lifx light strip and bulbs instead of saying ‘ok google’ which gets tiring after a while. Could be improved if it had an led to confirm the action had been carried out ( i know the lights turning on or off would tell me but it would be nice to have a visual if the switch was mounted on the wall for aesthetics)i already had the harmony hub and like many others have said i don’t really know why you have to get the bridge as well as the harmony hub could do the same job as the bridge.

The logitech pop smart switches lack one critical feature – an led to confirm whether the task executed. For example, if you set a button to turn on the heating via a logitech harmony hub, there’s no immediate feedback – did it execute or did it fail due to a communications or activity error?.
I’ve been using these pop switches to control philips hue lights and most of the time they work perfectly. It seems like when they aren’t used for a while they stop working though, at least sometimes. Opening the app on my phone has resolved this issue so far, but it’s a bit of a pain when you’re trying to flick on a light as you come through your front door.
This is really helpful for me as my wife is not familiar with smart home apps. Now, she is more comfortable with the actual button 😁👍.
Frustrating setup issues with android app getting connected to the wifi. Once that was overcome setup of the button and assigning function was easy.
The buttons are smaller and feel nicer than i expected. A few seconds and it was working. Use the pop with smartthings to control my blink security system. My only complaint is i wish the could add a pause in the pop recipie. I would like to be able to press the pop button and for it to pause for 30 seconds before arming my security system. I would also like to be able to de-active the button from the app.
‘simple is beautiful’ — there’s not much simpler than a single button. Logitech pop is a great addition to any smarthome — it seems overly simplistic at first, but that is the beauty of it. I bought two pops to control a sonos setup in my new bathroom (pops are waterproof) and almost immediately bought another two to tweak lighting setups around the house. The buttons can be configured for single, double and long presses, giving each button three macros you can program. My only gripes are that there is no native nest integration and the app (while beautifully designed) has a few ux quirks that affect usability. That aside, top purchase, thoroughly recommended.
Brilliant, i use it with logitech harmony hub to switch on tv and lights etc.
I have a number of these to help ‘sell’ the smart home dream to my wife who much prefers the old school physical switches. When they work, they do the job but the problem is, the don’t always work which doesn’t really help to convince my wife that ‘smarthome’ is the way to go. Also, the integration with 3rd party devices seems limited. Fine with lifx and hue but the wemo socket works very sporadically and the app doesn’t seem to support many other alternatives ( for example it won’t detect the eve socket) in summary, good idea, great when it works but performance is inconsistent. These would be awesome if they worked reliably every time and had more 3rd per device integration options.
Great buttons but wish they had the hub built ina solid year (2017) of accessories needing ‘hubs’ was horrific. March on 2018, the year of ‘direct connections, no hub needed’.


The post Logitech Pop Add-On Home Switch : Greatwhen they work appeared first on Home AV.


buy from AMAZON

Logitech Pop Add-On Home Switch : not so much as far as connectivity

Was semi sceptical about getting the pop due to the price, however i took the plunge and i am very happy 🙂 nice packaging and good build quality. I am using the included buttons for my lifx and hue setup at various points round the house where i/guests may not have there phone or tablet this works really wellonly issue i have is the additional costs of buttons seems really high and is preventing me purchasing more.
These work great and are especially useful if you have a non technical partner who doesn’t want to keep installing different apps of their phone to control different things. I have theses 2 setup on each side of our bed so that 1 press turns on reading lamp (wemo controlled), 2 presses turns on the hue lamp and a long press turns on the main light. It works great and i’ve had no issues with it at all.
Just bought the starter kit and set it upgreat so far easy &quick to set up and simple to assign popsonly have philips hue lighting around the house and 2 logitech harmony remotes ( touch and elite)works flawlessly and fast with lights and activities from remotei just hope they support bose soundtouch system soon as i haven’t got sonos.
I didn’t think these would go well with my ha system, but thought i would give them a go. I was very surprised and very happy with them. Used in conjunction with samsung smartthings and hue, and you get 3 options for control via their app. So quite configurable to use with lights and scenes etc.
Brilliant, i use it with logitech harmony hub to switch on tv and lights etc.
Great buttons but wish they had the hub built ina solid year (2017) of accessories needing ‘hubs’ was horrific. March on 2018, the year of ‘direct connections, no hub needed’.
The buttons are smaller and feel nicer than i expected. A few seconds and it was working. Use the pop with smartthings to control my blink security system. My only complaint is i wish the could add a pause in the pop recipie. I would like to be able to press the pop button and for it to pause for 30 seconds before arming my security system. I would also like to be able to de-active the button from the app.
Buttons not as discreet as i would like and maybe not as clicky either. Bluetooth competitors are better in that regard. Wifi buttons are more reliable than bluetooth though. Product is not the cheapest but does what it claims to do relatively well.
  • Almost brilliant
  • Easy set up works with lifx LED strip
  • Usually works but a bit unreliable

Logitech Pop Add-On Home Switch for Pop Home Switch Starter Pack – Coral

  • Make sure this fits
    by entering your model number.
  • Add smart home control to any room: Works with Pop home switch starter pack to extend smart home control to more rooms
  • Simple smart home control for the whole family: Anyone at home can control multiple smart home devices wirelessly with one press of a switch
  • Controls smart lighting: Turns smart lights on/off to your preset brightness, warmth and colour levels
  • Multiple mounting options: Stick the switch on a wall, counter top or take it from room to room for smart home control anywhere around the house

Really easy to set up out of the box. I brought this so that i could have a physical switch to turn on / off my lifx light strip and bulbs instead of saying “ok google” which gets tiring after a while. Could be improved if it had an led to confirm the action had been carried out ( i know the lights turning on or off would tell me but it would be nice to have a visual if the switch was mounted on the wall for aesthetics)i already had the harmony hub and like many others have said i don’t really know why you have to get the bridge as well as the harmony hub could do the same job as the bridge.
Works well with logi pop – have a few now to run activities with harmony, also hive through either harmony or ifttt for hive. Got set up with arlo through ifttt to deactivate and arm arlo, handy when leaving the back door open with the dog going in and out.
Clever design and great addition to a sonos bedroom setup. I can now switch on/off several radio channels on my bedroom sonos in the dark. It is the simplest technology things that are the most effective.
Frustrating setup issues with android app getting connected to the wifi. Once that was overcome setup of the button and assigning function was easy.
I’ve been using these pop switches to control philips hue lights and most of the time they work perfectly. It seems like when they aren’t used for a while they stop working though, at least sometimes. Opening the app on my phone has resolved this issue so far, but it’s a bit of a pain when you’re trying to flick on a light as you come through your front door.
Works perfectly but one of my pops is not working out of the two i have set up the bridge with ease and one pop set up in a breeze but one pop is not working happy to change my review once i get a resolve.
It works as phisical button insted of your wirtual button on your phone. Perfect for smart home swiches or panic button.
Great remotes at a fantastic ptice.
Not so much as far as connectivity.

Nicely produced kit, though i think realistically a bit too expensive (especially as you’ll probably find yourself wanting a few. )works well with lifx, but does not support our wemo bulbs (basically if it requires the wemo hub it won’t work- but things like the wemo switch which are self contained do work). Shame, because i wanted something that would finally bring those two bits of tech together.
Probably ok, but little information found about how to use the damned thing. I bought it as a present for my son and he didn’t find much either.
This is really helpful for me as my wife is not familiar with smart home apps. Now, she is more comfortable with the actual button 😁👍.


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wd 2tb elements portable external hard drive - usb 3.0 review



  • Extra storage for your videos, music, photos and files
  • Plug-and-play ready for Windows PCs
  • Free trial version of the WD SmartWare Pro software for automatic and cloud data protection
  • Fast data transfer with USB 3.0
  • Compatible with Windows 10 or 8.1, reformat for MAC OS

The Good The WD Elements Portable drive offers a large amount of storage space for a low cost. Its simple design allows it to work well with computers, game consoles and other type of hosts.
The Bad You have to pay extra to use its included backup software after the introductory 30-day trial. The drive has no security features and carries a short warranty of just one year.
The Bottom Line Though not the fastest on the market, the WD Elements' large capacity makes it an excellent deal considering its low price.
The WD Elements is a compact yet high-capacity external storage device that won't dig a hole in your wallet. 
The catch is, in my testing, the drive's performance wasn't as fast as its intended rival, the slightly more expensive Seagate Expansion. Not only that, it carries a short 1-year warranty, has no other added value such as security, and includes only a 30-day trial version of the WD SmartWare Pro backup software.

However, like the Seagate, the WD Elements' simple design enables it to work well with both computers and games consoles as either storage expansion or a backup drive. That said, if you're looking for an easy way to carry data around, or extend the storage of your Xbox One, the Elements is an excellent buy. 

No bells or whistles

Basically, the Elements is WD's answer to the Seagate Expansion drive. Both of them are low-cost, high-capacity and easy to use USB 3.0 external hard drives.
On the outside, the Elements looks similar to the higher-end portable drives from WD, such as the WD My Passport Slim, with rounded corners and a smoothly finished surface. Measuring 4.4x3.2x0.8 inches (11.2x8.1x2.0 cm), the compact drive is small enough for you to easily tuck it away in your pocket. Compared to the Seagate Expansion, it's slightly shorter and thicker, but overall it's better looking.
On the inside, however, it houses a low-power standard laptop hard drive that spins at just 5,400rpm, slower than drives that spin at 7,200rpm. This generally translates to slower performance. The drive doesn't support encryption for security, either, meaning you shouldn't put sensitive data on it.
The Elements is preloaded with a trial version of the WD SmartWare Pro, 20 if you you want to use it beyond its 30-day trial period. Higher-end portable drives from WD includes the full version of this software for free.
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How to choose an external hard drive

Backing up your most important files to cloud providers is great, but if your internet goes down it’s always good to have a backup close at hand too. That’s where external drives come in, and they even offer a great way to expand your storage for lower-end laptops and portable devices.
With so many drives out there though, how do you know which ones to buy? Should you buy a hard drive or an external SSD? Which version of USB do you need? Do connectors matter? What about encryption? We’ll answer all that and more in our guide on how to choose an external drive, to make sure you get the most for your money.
If you just want to skip to buying an external drive, here’s our list of the best ones available today.

Storage capacity

Arguably the most important specification to consider when buying an external drive is storage space. It’s no good buying a high-speed device with encryption and remote access if it’s not big enough to actually store the information you need. That said, you also don’t want to pay through the nose for a drive you’ll never even come close to filling, so what size should you be aiming for? It depends what you want to do with it.
If you want a device that’s good for transferring documents, photos, or other media from one device to the other, or just want to expand the storage space of your low-end laptop or tablet, then you might be best off with a mid-range flash drive. While the largest of those can stretch up to 2TB of storage space, they get very expensive and are unnecessarily big for this sort of usage. Really you’re better off saving yourself a lot of money and buying something in the region of 64GB. 
If you’re interested in storing a lot more or keeping files and folders on there long term, you’ll want something bigger. A 1TB drive should suit most needs for the foreseeable future, but if you envision storing hundreds of movies (maybe you ripped your DVD collection?), or just never want to run out of space, there are drives available today that offer multiple terabytes of space. 

Transfer speed

Size isn’t everything, even when it comes to external drives. Transfer speed is incredibly important too, because if you transfer files back and forth to a huge drive on a regular basis, you don’t want to have to wait an age for them to complete.
There are two main factors that play a role in how fast your drive can operate at: The storage technology and the connector it uses. Although some drives are faster than others (and if you want bleeding edge speed, make sure to check reviews of your options) in general, solid state drives (SSD) can process data faster than hard drives (HDD). External SSDs tend to be more expensive than their HDD counterparts and often have less storage capacity. You don’t have to have one or the other, as there are larger SSDs out there, but you will have to pay a premium for it.
In terms of the connector used to hook up your external drive to your desktop, laptop, or mobile device, there are several common options to consider. Most drives today use a USB interface, but there are several generations that have some distinct differences — most notably with transfer speed. USB 2.0 is an old standard and should be avoided if you’re doing anything but making infrequent small file transfers. USB 3.0 offers a substantial increase in speed (up to 5Gbps), while USB 3.1 (sometimes called USB 3.1 Gen 2) is becoming more common and offers up to 10Gbps transfer speeds. Devices that support Thunderbolt 3 offer the fastest connection medium out there, capable of transferring media at up to 40Gbps.
Some older devices use alternative connectors like eSATA and Firewire, but due to their reduced relevance, they should be avoided.

Security

If the data you store on your external drive is sensitive in any way, encrypting the data is a good idea. There are many drives out there that are compatible with software encryption solutions and those are fine for most people, but for those who take their data security more seriously, you want to find a drive with hardware encryption. If you’re extremely security conscious, you could even opt for a physical security system like the pin-code input on the Apricorn Aegis Padlock drive.
Some drives will also come with strong casings to prevent physical tampering. While Kingston’s Ironkey flash drives don’t offer the same storage capacity as full-scale drives, they have a secondary security layer in that their drive PCBs are dipped in a resin that makes it hard for anyone to access the internal memory chips.
Extra features
There are a multitude of different external drives out there, and that means stiff competition. While all of the above features and specifications are worth considering before anything else, there are some other neat features you can look out for if you’re still unsure which drive to go for.
Some offer Wi-Fi connectivity for easy file access, and some offer better warranties than others, so if you are at all concerned about reliability, picking one with a long warranty is a good idea. You might also consider the cables that the drive ships with — if your laptop or phone has USB-C or Thunderbolt 3 connections and your drive only comes with a USB-A cable, factor in buying another cable or an adaptor.