When it comes to converting your home and making it smart, for lighting, there are really just two main options. Smart light bulbs or smart light switches. Though both have more budget-friendly and higher-end options, the switch is generally the more cost-effective solution unless you get a fancy model. Orro is one of those higher-end products and offers an identical design as a normal switch. What makes Orro different? Its specialized software that helps automatically set the lights in your rooms to proper levels.
Orro uses pattern-detection algorithms to customize itself. Through these algorithms, Orro will try to make sure that your lights are brightening and dimming throughout your day as light generally does, either gently brightening or dimming them in the morning and evenings respectively.
Orro’s smart light switch mimics and enhances natural light
Orro offers a unique feature. The device offers a touchscreen which lets you dim or brightens the lights, and it’s a physical button to turn on and off your illumination. But where Orro sets itself apart is in its brightness features. If it’s in your living room that has large windows and offers lots of natural light, Orro won’t turn the lights on in that room when you attempt to turn your home’s lights on. But, for this to be effective, Orro has to be in all rooms of your house. Plus, if you enjoy RGB lighting from Philips Hue, Orro won’t work as it doesn’t work with smart bulbs.
This smart light switch offers more than a touchscreen, however. There are motion and proximity sensors, microphones, and even an ambient light sensor. This is used so Orro can know whether or not to turn off lights in an empty room. Say you’re in a room and not moving around, then the motion sensor won’t see you, but the microphone will pick up on the fact that you’re there and leave the lights on for you.
Orro is built to learn your habits and try to turn the lights on/off based on how you normally live your life. This smart light switch is also compatible with Alexa and Assistant, but the built-in microphone can’t be used to access them (though it’s possible via a future software update).
You’ll want to be ready to invest if you like the idea behind Orro, however. It’ll run you $199 each, which isn’t cheap compared to other options such as Philips Hue, or even TP-Link’s smart bulbs that don’t require a hub.
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