Get These Amazing iHome Devices to Make Life Better
by Alison Blackman
“Live Life Loud” is IHome’s perfect description of how their devices help make life easier and more fun.
There are so many, but I’ve picked four that I think will definitely make the end of 2017 and all of next year, healthier, safer, and definitely, more joyful!
More Energy, With ZENergy!
Do you have trouble sleeping at night and waking in the morning?
The iHome ZBTT10 Zenergy Alarm Clock ( Zenergy iZBT10, srp. $99.99) will transform your life!
It’s a color-changing clock radio that also plays your own music, but what makes this amazing is that there are sound and light therapy modes to help you relax or get energized, sleep better, and wake happier!
The blue-tooth enabled clock can be controlled manually or with the Ihome Zenergy App (for ISO orAndroid) with 11 light therapy patterns (you adjust the intensity: Nighttime Lighting: Calm, Breath, Sunset; Morning Lighting: Flash, Energy, Dawn; and Daytime Lighting: Aurora, Pulse, Glow, Color, Lamp.
The sound therapy modes have a Tone Adjust EQ to gently or overtly give you natural sounds: Heart Beat, Ocean, Nature, Storm; Tonal Sounds: Dream Tones, Peace, Zen; White Noise: Air (brown noise), Focus (pink noise), Peace (white noise), Quiet (white noise).
For those who can’t live without radio, this one has 6 programmable FM radio presets and it comes with an Aux-in jack and aux-in audio cable included so you can get music from your other smart devices.
Dual alarms let you wake to Bluetooth, FM radio or built-in sounds at separate times.
You can even use the clock as a speakerphone with digital voice echo cancellation and talk/end controls.
All of this is packed into an attractively shaped clock that doesn’t take up too much space,
The controls are really intuitive, and the app tells you exactly what you’re getting. There is also an iHome app specifically for this device that controls sleep timers, light, sound, etc or you can do these manually with the control on the top of the Zenegy device IOS: iHome Zenergy Google Play iHome Zenergy.
I can’t tell you how much I’ve enjoyed testing this. It does so much, for so little. You can even charge your mobile devices with the . 1 Amp USB charging port – wheee!
Party All the Time!
For those who like sound and light at home and at parties, iHome has this amazing, color changing, rechargeable disco ball speaker IBT175 ($129.99) which will be the focal point of your next gathering but also help to create a mood at home.
I’ve always enjoyed iHome color changing speakers, but this device is “large and in charge!”
Last year we went wild for the iHome IBT84 Color Changing Bluetooth Speaker (read our review) calling it “the ultimate party pal.”
But this year iHome has gone two steps beyond, offering good loud sound, color changing technology and more than that, a true “disco ball” that projects colors all around the room.
This big round speaker has two audio sources: Bluetooth wireless audio streaming from your Bluetooth-enabled device, or direct audio via the aux-in jack.
There is a built-in mic, digital voice echo cancellation and answer/end controls make this speaker a functional speakerphone.
But the main attraction of a speaker is sound, and this one belts out your music with 360° sound and four speakers plus 3 passive subwoofers for enhanced bass.
The eye-catching faceted round speaker pulses to music and projects 360° lighting effects on walls and ceilings (15 ft. range) with 5 color changing modes that can be combined different colors for multiple effects.
There is a free iHome Enhance App to set alarms and change color modes via Bluetooth, and it also works with Works with free a free melody voice-powered personal music assistant app to play music from Spotify, iHeartRadio (I don’t have either so I didn’t try this).
You can party with the IHome IBT175 from an internal rechargeable battery OR 100V-240V universal AC adapter. A USB charger is included. Pairing is super easy.
A Spot for Your Dot
Perhaps my favorite device of the season is the iHome IAVs1 ($69.99).
This really nifty device has a place to put your Amazon Alexa Echo Dot and a whole lot more…it’s an alarm clock, personal assistant, and radio/music playing wonder.
The device looks so stripped down and simple, you may not realize all that it can do. The large donut hole in the middle of the unit is specifically made to drop in an Amazon Dot (not included) and it docks instantly and easily.
While not as flashy as the Zenergy clock radio, this square, low profile clock is powered by the Amazon Alexa dot, so it can play music, answer your questions, wake you up, tell you the weather or the news, or give you information about just about anything on your mind that Alexa can handle. It even plays cat sounds.
It works without your having to lift a finger, or use an app. There is even a space to add a USB to charge your phone (1 Amp USB charging for mobile devices), but you won’t need your phone. All you need to power this is your voice!
The sound of this device is excellent for its size and function, powered by the Amazon Echo Dot™ through via the hardwired aux-in cable that powers Amazon Echo Dot via included USB cable. Operates on included 100V-240V universal AC adapter. 2 AAA backup batteries for clock included.
There is a 1 Amp USB port to charge mobile devices. Gen 1 and Gen 2 docking insert included.
Most of the controls are on the bottom (e.g. setting the clock) so do hold onto the Amazon Alexa Dot or it will fall out.
The Amazon Echo Dot works with iHome SmartPlugs (sold separately-read our review after the “Read More” link) and many more smart home solutions. That’s great, but if you read our next review (clic the read more button), you’ll see that if your devices really aren’t updated or “smart” this function is limited.
When it comes to sound, it’s impressive thanks to the stereo high-fidelity drivers in specially designed Reson8® speaker chambers. It’s not concert hall quality but it’s loud and clear with little distortion on either end.
Alarms can be powered by the Universal 100-240V AC adaptor that is included. If there is a power failure there is a battery backup with your 2 AA batteries included.
You may not plan to travel with this high tech clock, but should you move overseas, a switching power supply works just about anywhere in the world to power your unit (with an adaptor, I assume).
The clock numbers are bright and clear, but you can manually dim them up to 8 degrees to your liking (this is the only control button on the front of the device).
If you don’t have an Alexa-enabled Amazon Echo Dot iHome get one, or try another iHome clock radio device (there are so many great ones). However, if you do have an Amazon Dot powered by Alexa you will adore directing a little bit of your world from your bed or desk with voice commands.
[read more=”Read more” less=”Read less”]
A Smarter Home!
The iHome Smart Plug iSBO2 ($29) is an affordable wifi device for anyone who wants to try out a smart home device. Although it’s not exactly “plug & play” it’s easy enough to download the smart home app and pair it to the plug.
That’s the good news. Alas, in our tests we couldn’t get the Smart Plug to pair with Amazon Alexa enabled or Google Home devices, as advertised.
The device will work with 6 different smart home hubs, such as Wink Nest, and Smart Things, but if the devices you want to manage are of older generations, or you don’t have the hubs or your Android orApple smartphone isn’t an updated version, you may be disappointed.
We did manage to turn devices on and off with the downloadable app but other devices such as fans, heaters, holiday lights and home audio systems in our test home were not compatible.
However, with the right devices, you can really make some interesting and useful connections between devices. With the app you can create “scenes” (e.g. Kitchen or Bedroom) and control multiple devices simultaneously
Find these amazing iHome devices in online and local retailers such as Best Buy or Amazon. For more information visit https://www.ihomeaudio.com/
[/read]
