Withings Aura Smart Sleep System Review

In the most recent episode of Bad Voltage, I reviewed the Withings Aura Smart Sleep System. Tune in to listen to the ensuing discussion and the rest of the show.

Long time listeners will recall I reviewed the Withings WS-50 Smart Body Analyzer a couple years ago. As I mentioned in that review, I’m someone who makes a concerted effort to stay relatively healthy. Part of that means exercising regularly and being cognizant of my eating habits, but as an Open Source tech guy, I’m someone who prefers to make empirical decisions. I like data. I like being able to spot trends and from there see if I can find causation. A large part of staying healthy is getting enough sleep, any studies have shown that many people simply don’t get enough. While I was interested in getting data about my sleep, having to wear a device to bed every night or remember to activate a device regularly is anathema to me. Enter the Withings Aura Smart Sleep System, which aims to track your sleep without any manual interaction.

The Aura consists of two pieces: A plastic bedside device that serves as a control panel, speaker, digital clock, USB port and LED light that works in conjunction with the sleep programs and alarms, and a flat cloth sleep sensor that you place under your mattress. Once configured the device will automatically track and measure Temperature, Luminosity, Sound levels, Heart rate and amount of sleep. Sleep is broken up into light, deep and REM cycles which are then combined with time awake to give you a number for total time in bed, including how long it took you to initially fall asleep. The data is sent to the same Android or iOS Health Mate app as the WS-50, which syncs the data with the online portal. In addition to tracking, you can set a sleep program which combines soothing sound with a sunset light spectrum (which is various shades of red, from lighter to darker), use the nap program which allows you to sleep for a specific duration of time or set a traditional alarm. One nice alarm feature is that you tell the app not only what time you need to get up, but how many minutes before that you are willing to get up. It uses this data along with the sleep tracking to slowly start waking you using sunrise spectrum light (various shades of blue, from dark to light) and soft sounds once it detects you’re in the optimum part of your sleep cycle during that time window. You can even be woken up to a custom Spotify playlist.

Once you’ve had the device for a while, the app and online dashboard start to build activity and sleep patterns. While it’s easy to see how much sleep you’re getting and what kind of sleep you’re getting, there’s unfortunately no attempt to explain why you may not be getting enough sleep or what actions you could take to try to improve your sleep. I should note that I initially had some issues with connectivity and the alarm function, but recent firmware updates seem to have addressed those. Withings has consistently improved the app and online control panel, and has added additional functionality (most recently Nest integration). The device retails for $299 with one sleep sensor or $369 with two. Roughly a week before this review, Withings was acquired by Nokia, so it’s too soon to know what long term impact that will have.

So, what’s the Bad Voltage verdict? The Withings Aura Smart Sleep System gives you a lot of data and in my experience has been surprisingly accurate. The passive nature of the device appeals to me and ensures you have consistent and reliable data. While it would be nice if there was an attempt to further analyze the data and give customized actionable advice, you have the raw data to do this yourself. Overall the device works well, and if the concept appeals to you it’s something I’d recommend.

–jeremy

Wi-fi Security Camera Review: Netgear Arlo vs D-Link Guardian DCS-2630L

In the next episode of Bad Voltage, I’ll be reviewing the Netgear Arlo and D-Link Guardian DCS-2630L wi-fi security cameras. Tune in tomorrow to listen to the ensuing discussion and the rest of the show. In the interim, here’s the review:

Netgear Arlo vs D-Link Guardian DCS-2630L

Those of you who regularly listen to the show know that I’ve been creating an increasingly smarter home. Continuing that trend, in this show I’ll review not one, but two wi-fi security camera offerings: the Arlo by Netgear and the Guardian DCS-2630L by D-link. To be fair, it’s difficult to directly compare these cameras as they are aimed at slightly different use cases. The Guardian requires a power outlet, and comes equipped with 180 degree field of view, 1080p HD video quality, two way audio and local recording but no cloud recording options. The Arlo is completely wireless, and comes with 110 degree field of view, 720p HD video quality, no audio and no local recording but does include cloud recording options. Both cameras have motion detection, apps for Android and iOS, live viewing, and event notifications. The Arlo kit starts at $200, with each additional camera adding $150 while the Guardian will set you back $200. For the Arlo, the free, 7-day recording option lets you sync up to five cameras. There’s also a 30-day option that costs $10 a month and lets you sync up to 10 cameras, as well as a 60-day option that costs $15 a month and lets you sync up to 15 cameras.

Note: The soon to be released Arlo Q is much more comparable to the D-Link Guardian, with the caveat that you’re still making a local vs. cloud choice. I’ll try to update this review in the future once that product actually ships.

Both devices are relatively easy to setup. For the Arlo you insert the four included CR123 batteries, plug in the seemingly unnecessarily large hub, download the phone app, create an account and sync your camera. The camera must be within 200-300 feet of the hub. The D-link is a similar process of plug in the camera, download the phone app, create an account, scan an included QR code and sync your camera. The Arlo comes with dome shaped magnetic mounts to allow maximum flexibility, while the Guardian has a solid more traditional swivel base.

With the devices both installed, lets move on to actually using them. The Arlo app home screen and website display a nice overview of all your connected cameras. From either you can view multiple cameras, control all available settings, select different motion detection modes, set schedules and view a library of past recordings. The app is intuitive and responsive, and video loads smoothly in both the app and browser. The D-link app defaults to a simple list of available cameras. The free app is fairly basic, but a more full featured app can be purchased for $.99 (although do note the paid app hasn’t been updated in over a year). The app is not quite as intuitive as the Arlo app and was continually laggy for me. While the video on the D-Link is of a higher quality, it sometimes takes a while to load. Incredulously the website doesn’t work at all in any browser in Linux. It’s not just that you can’t watch videos, nothing at all works. You can’t update settings, access a list of your cameras. Nothing. It requires a non-standard plugin for OS X but I wasn’t able to get that to work correctly. It’s almost 2016 and there is absolutely no reason for this. With HTML5 and other web technologies available I consider this a major strike against the Guardian. Also odd is that much of the advanced functionality of the device is hidden in a little mentioned local http server, which means you must find the IP assigned to your camera and manually type it into a browser. Luckily, this does work in Linux. While D-Link doesn’t offer any public cloud recording options, they do offer multiple Network Video Recorder options that allow you to create a DIY local cloud setup, although those come at an additional cost.

The video quality on the weatherproof Arlo is high and the field of view is well suited for most outdoor applications, which is one segment the camera is clearly aimed at. The Arlo in front of my house covers my entire yard and most of each house on either side of me. Battery life is very dependent on how often your placement and motion settings will trigger recording and notification. Overly noisy setups may only get 2-3 months, while well thought out setups should get around 6 months. The addition of a solar charging option would be a welcome addition here. The video quality on the Guardian is very high and the field of view is also the highest I’ve seen from any consumer security camera (and they’ve managed to keep the fisheye minimal). It’s enough to easily capture the entirety of even large indoor spaces. The night vision on both devices is more than adequate, with the Arlo seeing slightly farther and the Guardian being slightly brighter.

While both products are more polished and have a higher build quality than competing products from Foscam, neither support If This Then That (IFTTT) or integrate with any third-party devices, which may be disappointing depending on your integration needs. One concern I have with the Arlo is that the operating temperature low end is 14F. We’ll see how the device operates outside during a New York winter.

So, what’s the bad voltage verdict? The Arlo is a solid system and if you’re looking for a completely wireless setup it’s one of your only options. While the hub is giant, the battery life is surprisingly good for the feature set included and the free cloud tier will be sufficient for most people. It’s a device I’d be comfortable recommending. The Guardian is definitely better than similar devices from Foscam and the like, but at a higher price point to match. If you’re looking for a camera with 100% local storage it’s a high quality device that will serve you well. That said, the D-Link is a little difficult to use and they seriously have to get their act together when it comes to browser support. There’s just no excuse these days.

–jeremy