Two of the biggest dilemmas facing do-it-yourself home automation users are finding a way to get all of their devices to communicate with one other, and managing the various apps they use. The folks at Revolv refer to the latter as app fatigue, and they've got a cure. The Revolv Smart Home Automation Solution ($299 list) is a wireless Hub designed to communicate with multiple home automation wireless protocols and manage them using a single mobile app. The Revolv Hub is very easy to install and does a good job of detecting your existing devices, and the app is well designed and intuitive. On the other hand, the app currently only works with iOS devices, and the $300 entry fee is a bit high, considering Revolv only supports three protocols as of this writing. Still, it's worth considering if you're looking to automate existing devices in your home.
Design and Installation
Shaped like a teardrop with a red base and a translucent cover, the Revolv Hub resembles a colorful 25-pack CD spindle. Since the Hub is supposed to be centrally located to ensure clear communications with all of your devices, the choice of red is curious, as it tends to stand out, rather than blend in, with your typical home décor. The Hub is completely wireless so you won't find any I/O ports other than the power jack here. There's a small LED indicator in the center of the Hub and a tiny reset button embedded in the base.
Inside the Hub are seven radios that can communicate with up to ten different wireless languages. As of this writing, Revolv supports Wi-Fi, Z-Wave, and Insteon wireless protocols, with Zigbee support promised sometime next year. That leaves room for up to six more protocols as more and more vendors sign on.
Installing Revolv is a snap. As mentioned above, the Hub should be placed in a location that is central to all your various devices (the Hub has a signal radius of up to 65 feet), so I choose an end table in my living room, which is right in the middle of the house, and plugged in the power adapter. Next, I downloaded the free iOS app, which provides step-by-step setup instructions, to my iPod touch. The Hub LED was flashing amber, which according to the instructions, meant it was time to place my iPod on the Hub to activate the FlashLink feature, which uses a sensor in the Hub and the flash from your iPod or iPhone to transmit your Wi-Fi information to the Hub. The activation took around 45 seconds to complete, at which point the Hub let out a beep. After entering in my Wi-Fi security information in the app, I was greeted with a screen that informed me that the FlashLink process was successful and the Hub's LED turned solid white.
The Hub immediately recognized several devices I had installed, including the Philips Hue($199.99 at Verizon) lighting system, a Belkin WeMo Light Switch($54.00 at Walmart), and a Sonos Play:3 wireless speaker. I had to go into the Add Devices menu to search for my Insteon products, which included a Motion Sensor, a Mini Keypad, and an LED light bulb. Each one was listed in the device menu and each had very straightforward instructions on how to add them to the Hub. I also had to use the Add Device procedure to detect a Yale touch-screen lock, which uses Z-Wave technology. The Philips Hue and Sonos Play:3 required the use of a bridge to connect to the Hub, which meant I had to use up two router ports. Revolv has promised a future software update that will enable bridge-free operations for both.
In addition to the abovementioned devices, the Revolv currently works with the Nest and Honeywell Z-Wave thermostats, several GE and and Insteon wall switches, a half dozen GE and Insteon outlets, and a handful of Kwikset and Yale locks. Missing is support for Wi-Fi and Insteon home surveillance cameras, at least for now. There's chance that the Hub will recognize devices that are not on the list, but they won't work until they're added to the app by the Revolv programming team. Revolv's goal is for the Hub to eventually support 95 percent of home automation devices on the market today.
Mobile App and Performance
Mobile App and Performance
Currently, Revolv only supports iOS devices, but Android and web-based apps are in the works, according to the company. The iOS app uses a simple grid-like dashboard with icons for each device. A red icon indicates that the device is currently on, and black means it's switched off. The Hub icon has a number in its center that indicates how many devices are connected, and when you tap it you can see a categorized list of said devices and their current states. Lighting devices show brightness levels, and door locks show if they are locked or unlocked. Tapping a device icon on the dashboard lets you control various functions of that device. For example, tapping the Philips Hue light bulb lets you to turn the bulb on or off, change colors, and adjust brightness, while the Yale lock controls are simply lock or unlock.
Tapping the three horizontal lines in the upper left corner of the dashboard brings you to a screen where you can adjust settings, add devices, set up locations services, and create actions. With Actions you can set up triggers that will activate or deactivate your devices. You can create actions based on time of day (including sunrise and sunset), motion (for use with a motion sensor), and proximity (using GeoSense). You can also create manual action icons for the dashboard that do your bidding just by tapping the icon. Proximity actions are very cool; you can have your lights and music turn on when you enter your proximity range, or have them turn off when you're out of range. Currently, though the Revolv software decides the scope of your proximity range and doesn't let you adjust it (my range stretched to around seven blocks in either direction).
One drawback of the mobile app is that in some cases it doesn't offer the same options as the device's original app. For example, you can turn the WeMo Light Switch on and off but you can't create IFTTT recipes like you can with the Belkin app. Nor can you create and choose lighting scenes for the Philips Hue like you can with the Philips app. Likewise, the Revolv app only lets you play whatever is already in your Sonos queue; you'll have to use the Sonos app to select a music source or choose playlists and favorite songs. According to Revolv this is by design; it's not trying to replace the original apps, but rather complement them. Still, it would be nice to have more native functionality for each device in one place.
The Revolv had no trouble controlling the various connected devices. There was a very slight lag (2-3 seconds) when initiating actions with the WeMo switch, locking/unlocking the Yale lock, and changing the volume on the Sonos player, but the Philips Hue and Insteon devices reacted instantly. Every action I created worked perfectly. I found the manual icon-based actions to be very helpful, especially at night when I wanted to shut everything down without getting out of bed.
The Hub lost the link to the WeMo light switch twice during testing, resulting in a "We were unable to reach your device." message. This happened despite the fact that the Belkin WeMo app was working perfectly. (And it wasn't a range issue, as I was in the same room as both the WeMo switch and the Revolv Hub.) Both times I had to reset the WeMo Light switch to reconnect it to the Hub. None of the other devices lost connectivity with the Hub, though.
Conclusions
The Revolv Hub makes it easy to control many of your home automation devices from one app using one wireless Hub. Its ease of use and intuitive app is tailor-made for the do-it-yourself crowd, and it's wired for the future. I'd like to see a choice of colors for the Hub itself, as well as support for cameras, and Android devices. According to Revolv, these changes are in the works. As the DIY home automation market heats up, there will undoubtedly be more players in the one-Hub-fits-all game; similar products from Staples (Connect), Securifi (Almond+), and Lowes (Iris), are either on the way or already available, and we're starting to see solutions from service providers like Time Warner Cable (IntelligentHome) and AT&T (Digital Life). But for now, the Revolv Hub offers the widest range of wireless compatibility and promises to work with even more home automation products in the near future, so if you're champing at the bit to unify your digital home, right now, the Revolv system is your best bet.
If you're a home automation buff, you'll like Revolv, which lets you control many of your devices from a single wireless hub using a single app. It's a snap to install and supports multiple wireless protocols, but it's not cheap, and if you're an Android user, you're out of luck.
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