Paul Morris·

Ecobee4 Thermostat And Smart Light Switch Announced, Features Built-In Alexa Voice Assistant

Home automation enthusiasts rejoice as there is now another intelligent product available. The wonderful ecobee4 smart thermostat has officially been placed up for pre-order from today, with price starting at just $249.

The new ecobee4 may initially appear to be yet another intelligent thermostat added to the ever-increasing array of available devices of the same ilk, but its features ensure that it is definitely one that stands out above the crowd.

First and foremost, the hardware comes ready to instantly work with Apple’s HomeKit – like its predecessor – but this time also with built-in Amazon Alexa integration, found in devices such as Amazon Echo or Amazon Echo Dot. This instantly means that users can simply trigger Alexa right on the thermostat itself without needing Echo or Dot and give commands such as “set my heating to 80-degrees” to instantly invoke an environmental change in the home.

Of course, there’s also the consistent touchscreen experience for those who prefer to control devices such as this, manually. That level of functionality is also baked into what is undeniably a very attractive piece of product design. When you are dealing with hardware that stands tall and proud within the family home, you really need to make sure that the aesthetics can hang in there with the most beautiful products around. The ecobee4 doesn’t disappoint in that area and remains as good to look at as the hardware that came before it.

Additionally, Ecobee has also announced its first-ever smart light switch, designed to “bring Alexa and far-field voice recognition to every room of the home”.

The release of the intelligent light switch signifies the company’s intentions to go beyond its current smart thermostat lineup by venturing into the production of other intelligent products for the home. This release appears to be part of a bigger strategy to “lead the smart home category into a whole-home-voice future”, which is definitely an ambition that we can get behind and support.

We are committed to building technology that makes customers’ lives simpler and better. Technology that allows our customers to focus on the things that matter – their families and moments they share. The voice-enabled ecobee4 smart thermostat and smart light switch bring that promise to life.

With pre-orders available now, the ecobee4 smart thermostat is expected to start shipping on May 15 at a cost of $249.

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