It has been a little while, but I am glad to be back in the realm of DIY smart home products. Today, I would like to review the barely released to the public NuBryte Touchpoint. I can definitely see this product line coming into the game as a heavy hitter, so let us take a look at what is going on with this fancy wall switch.
As of the time of this review, NuBryte has not released a unit that can accommodate three-way switches or ceiling fan controls – however both of those units will be released later this year. I located a double gang switch set in my home that could benefit from becoming “smart”. That happened to be the switch for the master bedroom lights.
I remove the switch and current hook-ups. Oh yeah, I did turn off the breaker that corresponded with this fixture. Honestly, I do consider myself fairly handy, but electricity does scare me. If you feel uncomfortable with high voltage wiring, please consider hiring a professional.
Wiring the Nubryte unit was not too difficult when replacing exactly what was basically there before. The same wires are present, just match them to the coordinating wires and you are good to go.
The unit itself is powered by the wiring for the switches, which makes sense and is pretty cool. Now of course this smart switch set will turn the lights on and off, but it also does way more.
For the advanced lighting features, the Touchpoint dims regular and LED bulbs standard. It also allows for timer options. This includes slowly raising the light levels in the room for a morning wake up or reversely, dimming the lights at night. It also allows for motion-enhanced lighting by detecting the presence of a person in the room through its onboard camera. Yes, that is right. This thing has a camera built-in! The camera is mostly used for video intercom between rooms, but also security features such as smart phone video alerts.
In a nutshell, the NuBryte Touchpoint is like having a small Android tablet built into a light switch. The touchscreen allows you to view the weather (indoor and outdoor), energy reporting and a calendar. All of this while just connecting to your home’s wi-fi. Concerning that, one thing that impressed me greatly, was the lack of delay between the app and the unit. When the light button is pressed, it comes on immediately. I know that with my Nexia unit, there can be a brief delay with switches as the instructions are relayed through the wi-fi to the bridge and then to the unit.
The Bottom Line
I would sincerely recommend the NuBryte Touchpoint system to anyone who is building or remodeling a home. The biggest benefit of the system is the voice and video intercom that can only be used with more than one unit. This would be huge to have in each bedroom and family used area of a home, such as the kitchen – especially in multi-level homes. Also, there is no monthly subscription fee which is surprising for the amount of apps that the unit provides.
To see more information about the NuBryte Touchpoint visit their website here or go ahead and get a few on Amazon here.
