Many users want to automate their home and I can assure you that I have personally tried many devices, from smart locks to all kinds of speakers, both compatible with Google Assistant, Siri as with alexa.
I have had no qualms about installing smart plugs that allow me to separate parts of the house, such as the room that I use as an office.
Most of the set hangs from a smart plug and I can say “Alexa, turn on office” and everything is available or “Turn off, office” and kill those phantom drains from each device in one fell swoop.
The LED lights, turn on, off, change their color, or create scenes for which when you go to see a movie they are automatically downloaded are very effective functions. However, it is not the most useful.
As I am writing these words, I would like to say that the smart lock and the intercom system, which have saved me carrying keys for two years, are the most useful, but even with that great advantage and change from day to day, there is another device that wins long in terms of versatility and functionality.
One device to control them all
Those of you who know me a little will know that I prefer to adapt and modernize the house in the least invasive way possible, that is, you could install a new smart lock, but it seems more useful to keep the old lock, with its key and security systems and add a smart opening system such as Nuki or Yale Smart Lock .
If I have a device that works as a air-conditioningbut it is not smart, it seems to me a useless waste of money to change it completely for a new model with smart capabilities.
Another example is a ceiling fan, if it works, gives light and air correctly, why change it? The same is true of a lamp that I can turn on and off with a remote control, but which is not really smart.
Well, here I reveal the device with which you can integrate these devices into your intelligent Google Assistant, Alexa or Siri system in a very simple way. Surely you will be thinking… “ufff it will cost an arm and a leg” and nothing is further from reality, it is close to 30 euros.
Broadlink RM4 Mini It is an emitter and receiver of infrared and radio frequency signals. It is, therefore, an intelligent universal remote control with which you can replicate the wireless signals of each remote control to control devices in your home.
There are many different models, some more advanced, including a thermometer or an ambient humidity meter, but they are more expensive.
How the Broadlink RM4 Mini works
It could complicate me in the explanation on a technical level, but, in short: it is a device that can replicate the signals emitted by the remote controls of your devices. Has a database of more than 50,000 devices according to brandsso the configuration is a matter of four touches on the mobile.
Once the remote is recorded, through a simple wizard, from the application you can turn the device on or off and use any function that you can invoke from the remote. You can also create scenes from the application that you can run from your voice assistant. That is to say, we will have made our device smart, using its remote control with voice.
The good thing about this model is that it emits and receives infrared and also radio frequency (433MHz). This makes it possible for me to replicate commands like the one for my air conditioning (IR) that is not on the list, it is from a white brand, but I can record the commands one by one.
I can also record the commands of my ceiling fan that has an RF remote control, and control its light or fan speed by voice.
And to make matters worse, I can create one routine make it “Turn on the air” and turn on the air conditioner (IR) and the fan (RF) at the same time.
“Watch TV” where the TV turns on, the 5.1 system, the ceiling fan light turns off, and the ambient light LEDs turn on, is another one of my favorite combinations and all just by saying “Alexa, watch TV.” TV”.
I also have “Alexa, turn off living room” configured and it does a round of turning off TV, 5.1, air, fan.
Final considerations of these control replicator devices
I have told you about my personal case with the device that I bought on Amazon, but there are many more. Each model has its handicaps, this particular one requires an intermediate step when it comes to creating voice routines in Alexa, which is to create scenes in your app and then create a voice routine in Alexa that launches the app routine, for example.
This device is powered by Bluetooth, so we will have to install it near either a plug or a bluetooth adapter.
Furthermore, although the RF emission is not directional and it depends more on the range of action of the device to be controlled. The infrared emission does require some line of sighteven if it is bounced, so in our case, it has to be located so that the infrared wireless signal reaches the air conditioning or our 5.1 sound system or TV.
This requires certain trial and error phase until you find the correct location and orientation and in my case, counterintuitively, it involves pointing at the wall.
Depending on your particular case, and even more so if we are talking about devices in different rooms, you surely need to think about buying several for your home. There are all kinds and much cheaper if they are just IR.
What I am clear about is that the options I have to make any home device that works with a remote control smart, so yes, it becomes one of the most useful items in my smart home. And if I had to value utility taking into account the cost, the first one is placed, without a doubt.