I don’t about you, but I love smart home gadgets. We have them sprinkled throughout our home, and truly believe they have both enhanced our daily lives, as well as give us a true sense of security. I was so excited to be chosen as part of the Merkury Innovations Smart Home TryaBox campaign. I couldn’t wait for my box to arrive. What we were all being sent was a surprise. When my box arrived, I couldn’t wait to tear into it. I received their Indoor Wi-Fi Plug, their 720P WIFI CAM, and their Smart Wi-Fi Bulb – White. Definitely a great box of goodies!
These products can be run by one app. It is free and availabe on IOS and Android. I have an Android phone. It is a Samsung Note 9. The app you download is Geeni. Once downloaded, you add your home (name it), and location. These run off a 2G network. Most homes are 5G with new higher speed cable. We have a router that does 2G in our home as well, so we can operate some smart home products that we use. The home page of the app has categories. If you are attaching a smart plug, just click on that option, and it walks you through the steps, which is nice. Pretty user friendly. I can’t state enough though. Have your 2G password ready, lol. I started with my 5G out of habit, and had to reinstall the app with my husbands phone number. After that, and a few curse words from my husband, lol, we have been connected and up and running without issue. Now, once you have your smart home item connected, and you use Amazon’s Alexa, go to your Amazon account and enable the Geeni app. You can operate all of these gadgets from the app, but it is a lot of fun to just ask Alexa to do it.
The Merkury Innovations Smart Plug was the first item I tested out. It just plugs into your existing outlet. It has a great size to it, and does not block the other outlet, which is key to us. We have a lot of plugs, lol. I already stated how we connected it to the app. We use our Alexa to operate it on a daily basis, though. This smart plug can handle a 3-prong plug. We chose to plug in a decorative light that I love, my flamingo light, lol. But, we also use this outlet for our Christmas tree. I can’t wait to be able to use Alexa for our Christmas tree, with this smart plug. I can’t wait! It’s going to be so much easier with all the items I place around my tree. Our plug has been working flawlessly so far. We are very pleased with it.
Merkury Innovations Smart Plug (From the manufacturer)
-No hub required, Wi-Fi is built in
-Plug in, download the free Geeni app and start controlling your lights and appliances from anywhere in the world
-Slim and compact design will blend into your power outlet without blocking adjacent slots
-Works with Amazon Alexa, The Google Assistant and Microsoft Cortana
The Merkury 800 White Dimmable A19 Smart LED Bulb was the 2nd item we installed. We placed it over our kitchen island. We keep that light on 24/7 pretty much. This LED light bulb is bright at 800 lumens, which I love, and it is dimmable. It does not need a separate hub either. You can dim it from the app, but yes, it is also dimmable with Alexa. How cool is that! Just say, Alexa (whatever you named your light with Alexa) at 25%. It will adjust your light down to 25%. This is perfect for when we head to bed. It is also operable with Google Assistant or Microsoft Cortana, according to Merkury Innovations. The light, even when it’s on full brightness, is still pleasant to the eyes. It’s outer covering is white plastic, which is what my family seems to prefer. I also like that it won’t shatter if I drop it. Overall, we are loving this bulb. We cannot find any negatives with it, and love being able to operate it remotely. Even when traveling, no more timer needed for your lighting. You can operate this remotely which is a dream.
Merkury 800lm (60W Equivalent) White Dimmable A19 Smart LED Bulb (From the manufacturer)
-No hub required, works out of the box with your home Wi-Fi. (2.4ghz wifi network required)
-9-Watt, 800 Lumens, equivalent to a traditional 60-Watt incandescent bulb
-Control your lights from anywhere with your smartphone using the Geeni app (iOS, Android)
-Easily control your lights with Amazon Alexa, your Google Assistant or Microsoft Cortana
The third item we received to test is the The Merkury Innovations WiFi 720P Smart Camera. We had no trouble connecting this to the app, or our Alexa. It has worked flawlessly since we plugged it in. It comes with the camera, a detachable power cord, and a USB adapter to be able to plug it into a regular outlet, in case you don’t have a USB outlet, and a round piece of double sided sticky tape, in case you want to mount it to your furniture or wall. The base, or stem, if you may, is unique. It is flexible, so you can turn it to eh desired angle you need. I really like this feature. It’s our first camera with that option. The image comes up pretty clear. The only downfall we have found with this camera, is the volume when speaking through it. If there is a lot of noise in the room where the camera is, and you are trying to speak through it via the app, you can barely hear the person. For us, there is a 5 second delay in the speech feature as well, which is not a real negative for us. Since we use our camera for security, to see what’s going on, the speech issue is not a major issue. If there was a break in at night, then that room would be quiet at that time anyhow. From the app you can press an alarm, press and hold to speak, record, and take photos, and playback. The alarm feature, when pressed on the app brings up a motion detector setting You can choose from low, medium, and high. This is a nice feature, because you can set it on, once everyone is in bed.
I have an Alexa Show, so I can actually ask Alexa to show me that room (You name the room for Alexa), and it brings up the camera view. I love being able to do that. Smart home technology to me, is a fun and positive option. We placed the camera, for now on our desk, so it faces our door into our garage. It captures most of the room there. At night time, the IR takes a few minutes to get adjusted to the dark. It’s not as fast as some cameras, but hopefully a break in doesn’t occur the second you turn the lights out. That, so far, is the main negative we have found with this camera. You can overcome this negative, however, if you have a nightlight in the room. Our room that we placed it in, is a pretty dark room at night. IR needs some light source to be effective. Here’s a photo of the night view on the Alexa Show:
We are going to continue to use it, as it is a pretty nice camera to use. The alarm is not an audible alarm that the camera emits. What it does is sends you a notification to your phone. It comes up as an alarm symbol. I like this feature. It will give you time to act, before melee breaks out, hopefully. You can also enable the notifications from your Alexa, Google, or Cortana device as well.
Merkury Innovations Smart WiFi 720P Camera (From the manufacturer)
-No hub required, Wi-Fi is built in
-24/7 live video streaming: see your home on your phone in 720p HD and control vision from anywhere
-Alerts on your phone: get motion alerts so you know if anything happens
-Night vision done right: see the whole room at night
-Talk and listen: hear the baby or talk back to get someone’s attention
-Flexible stem to bend and mount at any angle
-Turn alerts on and off by voice with Amazon Alexa, your Google Assistant & Microsoft Cortana
Over all, we are very pleased with both the Merkury Innovations products and their Geeni app. Since we have been up and running, everything has been working very well, and these products have enhanced our lives in a positive way. I love having the added security camera. We have been needing to add one to that room. I suffer from frequent anaphylactic reactions, and being able to operate my lights remotely, actually make my life easier. Not to mention, when we are out of town, we can both access and operate these new features to our home, remotely. A win, win, win, all around. Definitely check out what this company has to offer.
Availabe to purchase here:
https://www.walmart.com/ip/Merkury-Innovations-Smart-WiFi-720P-Camera/835969619
https://www.walmart.com/ip/Merkury-Innovations-A19-Smart-Light-Bulb-60W-Dimmable-White-LED-1-Pack/512088827?athcpid=512088827&athpgid=athenaItemPage&athcgid=null&athznid=PWVUB&athieid=v0&athstid=CS020&athguid=0957a8b7-516-169a5c0bfa591e&athena=true#https://www.walmart.com/ip/Merkury-Innovations-Smart-Plug-1-Pack/126201995?athcpid=126201995&athpgid=athenaItemPage&athcgid=null&athznid=PWVUB&athieid=v0&athstid=CS020&athguid=d54623a0-18b-169a5c25aa9fcc&athena=true
I received these products to test. All opinions are my own. I do not profit monetarily at all from this review or from any sales of these products. All product facts come straight from Merkury Innovations.