D-Link’s Komfy Switch is more than your basic light switch

20.11.2015
D-Link took a few steps further into the smart home category with the debut of its Komfy Switch, the company’s first product aimed at beefing up its home automation line with more premium offerings.

The Komfy Switch features Wi-Fi connectivity that allows a user to control the lights in a room using D-Link’s own Komfy app or any home automation system with IFTTT support. Also included is a motion-detecting HD 1080p wide angle camera, which either records to the cloud or locally to a microSD card located within the switch itself. D-Link says its cloud service stores up to eight days of videos at no additional cost.

If that’s not enough, there’s sensors inside of the switch that monitor air quality, humidity, and temperature, and sends alerts to the homeowner when it senses changes. With all these cool features packed into a switch comes a steep price: D-Link says the switch itself will retail for $300 when it goes on sale in late December.

Why this matters: D-Link is no stranger to home automation, although our experience with their offerings is decidedly mixed. We’ve reviewed several of their products over the past year, and walked away a little disappointed . The top-of-the-line Komfy switch could change our opinion.

From talking with D-Link, the Komfy Switch is just the beginning for a new line of products that go over and above your standard home automation products. While the original version of this switch ships with a camera, a camera-free version will be available in early 2016.

“You’ll see other products coming focused around increased automation and insight into what’s happening in the home,” said D-Link consumer marketing chief Ken Lloyd. “We’re leveraging the research, development and adoption of D-Link Connected Home devices such as the Wi-Fi Motion Sensor, Water Sensor, Sirens and more to make this happen.”

Those devices have been on sale since the summer, all controlled by D-Link’s ZWave Hub, which retails for $80. We’ll have reviews of those products, as well as the Komfy switch, soon.

(www.techhive.com)

Ed Oswald