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- iPhone 11 Pro: I know I get a lot of crap for supporting Apple. First lets start out with the bad. There is a lot that frustrates me about Apple. I am not a fan of the expensive gear that comes with is like iPhone charging cables and adapters. These are often unique to apple and cost way more than the competition for similar items. Another con is that they make it hard if not impossible to quit once you make the jump to Apple products. From all of the Apps, to calendars, music, cloud, MacBook Pro and MacBook Air (Laptops), Watches, Apple TV’s, iPads, AirPods, FaceTime, I-Messaging and now credit cards it is even harder to leave once you make the leap. This is because they all work well together. This con is ultimately a pro as no other phone has all of these items that integrate so seamlessly. Now the iPhone has stepped up its game with iPhone 11 Pro. Just for the camera alone it is a great phone. The screen is crisp. The build quality is amazing. It overall is the most used electronic device that I own and I am grateful for it each day.
- Schlage Sense™ Smart Deadbolt: On the journey to have a smart home this was one of the first purchases that I made. A smart lock. I have two kids that notoriously do not lock doors. This was my solution to that. I could program the locks to auto lock. I can also give access to friends and family with unique codes. Another cool feature is giving access to workers. Our cleaner has access on a specific day during specific hours. This smart lock also plays well with Apple Home Kit and once integrated can be opened by voice command and remotely monitor lock activity and open and close lock remotely. We have an Airbnb on our property and this allows us to control the access to the unit, give individual codes with specific start and stop times and not have to give keys to people for them to loose or replicate. The biggest selling feature was their customer support. One of my locks broke after several years. I called in hopes to get some tech support. It ultimately was deemed to be broken. Without pause they sent me a new lock as their locks all have a lifetime warranty. I had no idea. There are other locks that are on the market that may be cheaper but this lock has stood the test of time for me by a brand that will be here for years to come.
- Chamberlain® Smart Garage™ Hub: I love this little product for the money it was the best purchase I have made on this list. The problem that I had was again we have two boys who notoriously do not close doors, garage doors being one of them. We also have a detached garage with alley access and if left open things go missing. Now with Chamberlain Smart Garage I can monitor if the door is open or close and remotely close the garage from my phone from anywhere. It has a simple app that thankfully just works and it not glitchy. This is not a new product but also has stood the test of time. It works great with the iPhone app and also has a Apple Watch app that you can open and close the garage door directly from your Apple Watch. This product also plays well with Apple Home Kit. They have also started integrating its use with Amazon for leaving packages and purchase in the garage. This is a feature that I like a bit more than giving full access to my home. I have not used this feature but may in the future. It also plays well with several other security systems. All in all, every time I use this product I smile it has been one of my best electronic purchases of all time.
- Wyze Camera: If you have been around me for more than 20 minutes this may come up in our conversation. I am truly an evangelist for this company. Wyze is a company that started out with a goal to disrupt the security camera game. I loved the idea of monitoring my home with security cameras but found out that I was not independently wealthy and was not spending over $1000 to get a couple of cameras. Wyze was my solution. I purchases wireless, high def, easy set up, easy use cameras with tons of cool features for less than the price of ONE of my other security cameras. Each Wyze Cam is $19.99 directly from their website or about $5 more from Amazon. They have the ability to add storage to each cam to allow for continuous monitoring but also have FREE online storage. This is not continuous but hey, did I mention it was FREE. It is packed with cool features like two way communication through the camera, creating smart zones for recording, night vision and on and on. For the money you WILL NOT find anything better. They have a deluxe model and pans and tilts and this is for a whopping Wyze Cam Pan $29.99 or about $5 more from Amazon. Also the camera works with Amazon Alexa. If you have an Amazon Echo Show you can see the individual cameras activity directly on your Echo via voice control, a very cool feature. They have now gotten into the game of other smart home items such as bulbs, sensors, plugs, thermometers, locks and more products on the way.
- Ecobee Thermostat: I love this little thermostat. I wanted a bit more control but wanted the smart features of a smart thermostat and EcoBee was that. It adapts to our schedule but we are able to put in a schedule for our preferences. There are Smart Sensors that can monitor rooms that do not have the EcoBee thermostat to check to make sure that the temperatures are regulated to our desire. This allows the units to go into energy saving modes if no one is in the room or home. It works with ical for vacations. It also plays well with Apple Home Kit and has a great app. With this feature you can remotely monitor your home’s temperature and control the thermostat remotely and control via voice control and Siri. It also works with Alexa and can be controlled by Alexa via voice. (A total dad thing to want to do!). The latest version of Ecobee has Alexa built in which is kinda cool. Overall there are a ton of cool features and it is a great solid product.
- Amazon Echo: I have to admit that I was slow to this game. I didn’t see the point of this product. I really didn’t want a “smart speaker” and felt that the iPhone could do most of what this was calming to do. But reluctantly I bought an Amazon Echo Dot. Having more and more smart products it was convenient to control the devices via voice in each room. Added features of having a bluetooth speaker was also a huge plus. We play music in the kitchen, use the timers, check the weather, ask stupid facts to settle debates. You know life saving features. Another cool feature is the “Drop In” mode where each Alexa can act as an intercom for the home. There is also the broadcast mode where you can let all Echo broadcast your announcement like “Get down here for dinner, I am tired of calling y’all.” For the money, this little speaker packs a hug punch and with more and more smart devices it is a must have.
- G-MAX 40V 20 in. Cordless Twin Force Lawn Mower: First, this mower is now 5 years old and I still love it. It is by a company Called Greenworks. At the time I purchased this product it was only available online but now can be purchased at the big box stores such as Lowes, Home Depot and Walmart. We don’t have a huge yard and I wanted to be “green”. I always wanted an electric mower and this was my chance. I hated going to fill the gas tanks, changing the oil in the mowers and getting the mowers serviced. For 5 years I literally have have a maintenance free experience. This mower has been a work horse for our home. We have added other products from this company such as the hedge clippers, weed whip, edger and leaf blower all of which work wonderfully. The mower has also stood up the my son using it in the summer to make extra money mowing the neighbors yards. The charge has been enough to mow the entire lawn in a single charge. They have made different versions now, some that self propel but this more than meets my needs.
- Philips Hue Lighting: I chose Philips for my lighting after I had tried several other options. Philips allowed me to choose the Home Bridge (the hub that connects the bulbs, plugs, etc to the wifi and thus to Apple Home Kit and Amazon Alexa) with variety of configurations to fit my needs. I chose the Home Bridge with four bulbs as my first jump off. I was able to easily set up the bulbs and it all works seamlessly. Now I can control the lighting via voice with Siri and Alexa. I can set lights to turn on and off at specific times. I can also set them to turn on an off at sunrise or sunset. They have other cool features like dimming at night for a “nightlight” feature. With the color bulbs you can control each bulb with specific colors. I have just stretched the surface of the capabilities of this set up but for the money it packs a lot of features for the price.
- Fitbit Inspire HR: I was an early adopter for Fitbit and had several of the earlier products from Fitbit. It is a great company with a great app. The app allows you to connect with other Fitbit users, do personal or group challenges, track food intake, water intake, sleep monitoring and so much more. I was worried when Apple came out with the watch that Fitbit would be replaced but that was not the case. Having both the Apple Watch and the Fitbit they both have different unique features that make each valuable. I love my Fitbit for several reasons. One, I can use it continuously and only have to charge it about once a week. I like knowing the I am moving and getting enough steps during the day. It keeps me motivated to stay active. The problem that I had with earlier versions was that it was not waterproof. The Fitbit Inspire HR solved that for me. Now I can swim, shower, run in the rain without destroying it as I did with several of the earlier versions. I also like looking back and how little sleep I am getting. Some day I will do something about that but for now it just reminds me that I am an Emergency Medicine Physician that truly doesn’t get enough sleep.
- Withings Body+ Smart Scale: I was again and early adopter of this scale. This was one of the first smart scales on the market and we have one of the first versions. Great news after 8 plus years this scale still works like a champ. The the accompanying app I can track my weight and BMI seamlessly. I don’t use it daily but it has been great to monitor my weight over time. It works well with other apps and the information integrates with Apple Health and other health apps like “Lose it”. For me, it is another monitor to keep me in check and to give me feedback on my progress that is measurable. There are no recurring fees with the use of the app and overall it has provided a great value to my family and I.
- ChiliPad: I had a huge problem regulating my body temperature at night. Before the ChiliPad I would wake up in a puddle of sweat. Come to find out One of my problems is that I like to sleep with covers on me and I would oftentimes overheat. Now living in Florida, I would have to blast the AC to be comfortable, often time freezing out my family. While browsing online I found this startup company that solved my problem of night sweats. ChiliPad was the first offering of Chili Techonology, which again as an early adopter I bought. The ChiliPad is a mattress pad that has fluid filled cells that circulate to a central unit that can either heat or cool the water to your desired temp. There are other products out there such as BedJet but ChiliPad had a much larger temperature range (55-115 F) with the ability to have different zones in the same kingsize bed. I like it arctic cold (65 F is my perfect temp) but a Puerto Rican I use to sleep with liked it Africa Hot. It isn’t a cheap product but as we spend a significant portion of our lives in bed I felt it was worth the investment. So for I love it! I recently purchased the ChiliBlanket. This a weighted blanket that you can heat and cool using the ChiliPAD sleep system. I love the weighted blanket but still think the ChiliPad system is better using the mattress pad as it heats and cools much better. I would just by the ChiliPad and get a weighted blanket instead. Chili now offers a “smart version” which is called OOLER which allows you to control the device via phone and the accompanying app. This was not available when I purchased the device but despite the limited control of the ChiliPad it more than meets my needs. If you decided to that this may fit your needs sign up for the news letters and offers and they routinely give coupons and discounts for purchasing the various products.