Category: Product Review

The Art of Simplicity and the AVA Cinema Remote

I’ve been frustrated in recent years with the lack of innovation in the handheld remote category. It’s as if consumer electronics manufacturers think we’re all perfectly happy using our smartphones and a bunch of button-riddled plastic candy bars to negotiate the endless audio and video options at our fingertips. If anything, 2024 should be a […]

Leon Mera Sound Sconce Review: A Bold New Approach to Home Ambience

I love it when design and function merge seamlessly. The new Leon Mera Sound Sconce is a great example of blending these elements by combining sound and lighting in an attractive wall fixture effortlessly accenting whatever’s around it. I had no idea something like this existed until my gaze was recently transfixed at a trade show. After […]

Reviewing the new Sonos Arc Ultra and Companion Sub 4

Sonos has taken it on the chin lately. Admittedly, some of it is well deserved. From the unforced error of fixing an app that wasn’t broken to a solidly tone-deaf response, it’s been hard to root for these guys lately. That being said, I’m still a big fan of the Sonos hardware ecosystem and have […]

Security Starts at the Street

The latest home security products stop would-be burglars before they get into the house. Electronic security systems have been in our homes for over 100 years. For much of that time, it has been based on the same foundational principles: bad guys break into your house, a siren blares, and, if monitored, the system calls […]

Reviewing DMF Artafex 4″ Integrator Downlighting

While lighting innovation is moving at a dizzying pace, the age of LEDs has sent us reeling backward a bit in our ability to experience light quality inside that mimics the outdoors. Ever since the demise of incandescent bulbs, manufacturers have been chasing the elusive color rendering index (CRI) score of 100. While most builder-grade […]

What I Learned from Using the Savant Power System Demo Kit

The Savant Power System is all about catering to a desire for energy independence through alternative energy sources and time-of-use (TOU) power schedules As more energy and lighting options are flooding the market in recent months, it’s starting to resemble one of the AV world’s original “raisons d’etre”: Replacing coffee tables of clutter with universal […]

Reviewing the Alarm.com V729 Outdoor Floodlight Camera

Motion-activated flood lights are nothing new. At this point, neither are combination camera/floodlights. Alarm.com may not have started the conversation with its new V729 4MP Outdoor Floodlight Camera, but they seemed squarely aimed at finishing it. Would this new outdoor “bad guy repellent” live up to the hype? My professional integration team and I set […]

Product Review: Sonos Move 2 Improves on Its Predecessor

Henry Clifford reviews the Sonos Move 2 Sonos sent me their latest portable speaker, Move 2, to try out. The original Move debuted in 2019. Four years is a long time in the tech world. According to Moore’s Law, the new Move 2’s performance should be at least double that of its predecessor. The Move […]