Smart home company SwitchBot has launched a 4-in-1 Smart Home Hub capable of connecting to a variety of home automation devices. The ‘SwitchBot Hub 2’ can control air conditioners, lights, humidifiers, and other smart home products, and is powered using a regular wall socket. This device includes temperature, humidity, and light sensors, allowing it to automate certain functions, such as turning on the humidifier when the room humidity drops below a set value, or using its geo-fencing capabilities to switch on the air conditioning when the user is close to arriving home.
The SwitchBot Hub 2 also supports legacy infrared (IR) appliances and can learn and mimic signals from existing IR remote control devices, such as air conditioning units. Users can also connect with other SwitchBot products via Bluetooth LE and Wi-Fi, so they can control these devices using their smartphone both locally and remotely, for a more complete smart home experience. The ‘smart button’ function also allows the SwitchBot Hub 2 to execute certain pre-set ‘scenes’ – such as a bedtime routine that switches off all lights and closes the curtains. The user just presses the relevant button whenever they want to engage these functions.
This device is powered by Nordic Semiconductor’s nRF52833 advanced multiprotocol SoC. The nRF52833 SoC is used to control the screen display, as well as process the key input and environmental data, using its powerful 64 MHz, 32-bit Arm Cortex M4 processor with floating point unit (FPU). This Bluetooth LE connectivity is enabled by the nRF52833 SoC’s 2.4 GHz multiprotocol radio, with 8 dBm output power -96 dBm RX sensitivity for a link budget of 104 dBm - ensuring robust connectivity and good range.
