With the SmartThings system, everything, including devices not made by SmartThings (like the Sonos, the Philips lightbulbs, and other devices) is visible and controllable from your phone — even when you’re not inside.
As we simulated walking outdoors, a vibration sensor triggered, setting the Sonos to play a recording of a large, angry dog barking to scare away a possible thief. In the garage, opening the overhead door gave us an alert on our smartphone. Also in the garage, dribbling water on a sensor, simulating a leaking pipe, caused a valve to cut off the water supply in to the house.
And then the moving of an artifact (a ceremonial sword) in the office sent an urgent theft alert to his phone.
Finally, Alex set the home to “night mode” by pressing the sleep button on his fitness bracelet. The lights all went off, as did the entertainment system, and the Nest thermostat dropped to nighttime levels.
It was cool, Jetsons-style magic. I wanted this gear badly. But really, who needs all this stuff? Who’s going to construct this kind of a system?