The reviewer has been compensated in the form of a Best Buy Gift Card and/or received the product/service at a reduced price or for free. In the early 90’s I lived near Celebration, Florida where they were testing the house of the future. The main piece of technology that I remember being in awe of was a television that could record live TV without a large rectangular box next to it. Fast forward 20 plus years and the Best Buy Tech Home makes its first appearance outside of their headquarters.
We visited the ‘house’, it’s mock up façade that was built inside of a mall. However, it had everything a real home has, except the bathroom. The first observation about the technology on display was that it meshed seamlessly with its surroundings. Had we not been shown what the possibilities were with these items or how they really function. Even though we saw all of the tech outside of a Best Buy store, you can can find it all at your local one or online.
A central hub aspect to it is Samsung SmartThings devices and their potential. This can control hundreds of small appliances. What’s more important is that it can control these devices without them all being retrofitted, changed or updated to a specific model. Using the Samsung SmartThings Outlet you can monitor anything that’s plugged into the system using the SmartThingsApp. This can include knowing when your kids arrive home from school, turning off certain things if they don’t do their homework-the only limitation is your creativity.
How about a camera monitoring system that you can check remotely? You’ve seen that, I know. What about a completely wireless system that you can check remotely and records video. The Arlo Wireless Free HD Security Cameras are just that and can be moved with ease-all without wires.
The kitchen also had some bells and whistles that impressed us. There was the Petnet SmartFeeder that allows you to manage feeding times for your pet and more can be managed from your smart phone. However, the greatest accomplishment was displayed in the Samsung SmartRange. For years we’ve wanted an oven that could be controlled from our smart phone. This would allow us to start preheating it when we’re at the store. It’s a small thing, but saving 20 minutes when you’re trying to feed two noisy boys goes a long way. The SmartRange connects with your smart phone and allows you to turn it on remotely. The Samsung Family Hub Refrigerator can also take a photo of the inside of the refrigerator, just in case you need to see if you have any cream cheese. You don’t BTW.
The kicker is that you don’t feel like a techno loser if you’re unfamiliar with the technology in the Best Buy Tech Home. I asked some seemingly simple questions (for me) and the experts thoroughly explained them. They were also quick to point out that all of this technology is DIY friendly. If you’re into DIY at home you can do install these things, however, if you’re not The Geek Squad is there too.
They also know that everybody wants technology. To wit, these items do not have to be installed when you’re digging the wires through your drywall. All of this technology is designed to be simple and simplify your life, with a handful of creature comforts. We don’t live in a brand new house, it’s about 25 years old and is a far cry from state of the art in its current state-and we don’t have any plans for a thorough house renovation.
I learned it was OK. Best Buy has an In-Home Advisor that will visit your home-at no charge to look things over. They’ll answer any questions you have about upgrading your tech, can recommend any upgrades and assess needs/wants plus much more. This is for any size, if you just have a question about installing some Phillips Hue White and Color Ambience lights (which are awesome and have 16 million colors to choose from) or it’s something bigger regarding kitchen measurements and power they can do it.
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