Skip to Content

Connect to Your Home with Eve

UPDATED 5/19/16: Since I’ve now been using the devices for a few days I wanted to update my post because I realized I had made an assumption that is incorrect for these devices. The eve units work via bluetooth, therefore, you need to be in a fairly close range to access the data. This is big since I had originally suggested using it while traveling or for checking to see if your kids arrived home. However, since you need to be in your home, and even near the device in your home, to get the data, you can’t rely on it for these uses.

If there’s anything I learned from my time at CES in January, it’s that smart home tech is IN. Companies are coming out with amazing gadgets to help us stay connected to our homes while we’re away.

One of the smart home devices that I found was the Eve units by elgato. One of the reasons I was so drawn to them was because of their clean, simple design. So, I took them for a little test drive and thought I’d share with you in case you too want to gadgetize your living space and “Know your Home”.

First up is the eve weather station. This device is weather resistant and lives outside your home. You can easily access the current temperature, humidity, and air pressure from the app, or even ask Siri for the information, although I am having trouble figuring out how to team Siri with the devices. I can contact support, but would have appreciated better directives in the eve unit boxes.
eve weather

eve weather

As you can see from the eve app, it clearly shows the outdoor temperature, humidity, and air pressure. I love this since I can check the weather from my bedroom when I’m ready to pick my outfit for the day. And the device is fairly fast at reading, as you can see from the photo, I had the device indoors overnight, then took it outside the next day and the temp registered very quickly.

eve room

eve room

For keeping track of your indoor air quality, tempearature, and humidity, the eve room device is what you want to have. I love that both of these devices are cord free and run on batteries, making it easy to find the perfect spot for them. The eve room device helps you register if there are any harmful chemicals in your air, thankfully we’re reading an excellent air quality.

eve-door-sensor

eve door & window

The last device I tested was the eve door & window sensor. I could see this being helpful if you have a window or slider that often gets left open, or as a way to keep an eye on if your kids come home from school. The sensor registers whether the door/window is open or closed, and also show how many times it’s been opened as well as the duration. So, checking to see if your kids came home can be as simple as pulling up the app and seeing if the door was opened and closed near the time they were due home.

All of these devices are nice looking and seem to easy to install. I can see that for a family traveling, there is some peace of mind with knowing if certain doors or windows have been opened, as well as monitoring air quality and temperatures. I also feel that for families who don’t want to be brand loyal, having accessories that are Apple HomeKit capable will help enable you to peice together whichever devices you want. However, as I said before, I need to follow up on support since I can’t figure out how to get my iphone / Siri to recognize these devices.

Areas I’d like to see improved: the directions in the boxes give no information on setting up your devices as part of the Apple HomeKit, that should be included. And the door & window sensor had single use sticky pads that seem very lightweight. I think there should be some replacement sticky pads in case you want to move the device. I also had some trouble getting the spacers to properly fit my door for height, although I greatly appreciate their foresight into the door height issue and including spacers to help the sensor line up. UPDATE: I’d love to see these operate via wifi and be accessible outside the home to help with travel and monitoring home access.

If you’re looking for a home camera, be sure to check out my post on the Samsung SmartCam.

Thank you elgato | eve for providing these units for me to test.

Share and Save This Post: