Hot on the heels of their recently releases K10+ Pro Robot Vacuum (video HERE), the company are now preparing to launch a product in a new category for them, namely a humidifier. The SwitchBot Evaporative Humidifier (Auto refill) is different to many of the smaller smart humidifiers on the market, that tend to use ultrasonic technology to break up the water within into minute droplets. SwitchBot’s offering, as you might have guessed by the name, uses evaporative technology. This avoids the fine film of dust you sometimes might experience on your home surfaces, due to minerals in tap water.
However, evaporative humidifiers also tend to be less effective at bringing humidity up to required levels, especially in larger areas. This model can produce a humidification output of up to 750mL/h, via a 4.5 litre water tank, although that would also depend on the size of the room or rooms its designated. The unit is designed to work at its best with rooms between 20~30 sq m / 215~322 sq ft.
The bad news for HomeKit News readers, however, is that the device is currently not exposed to Apple HomeKit, even if you were to pass it through one of the company’s Matter hubs. A hub isn’t required thankfully, as the humidifier uses WiFi to connect to your smart home. Despite it not being HomeKit compatible, due to the SwitchBot app, it can at least be controlled via Siri Shortcuts.
It also doesn’t appear to have built-in humidity or temperature sensors, with the company’s specs stating that to automate the device based on either measurements, it should be “…Paired with SwitchBot Meter series to get temperature and humidity data”. Given this device comes in at around US$200 / UK£180 / EU€200, one would assume such sensors would be included. I guess not…
What does make SwitchBot’s Humidifier sort of unique is its ability to work with the company’s own S10+ robot vacuum; When the humidifier’s tank is close to empty, the S10+ is alerted to this via the SwitchBot ecosystem, whereupon the S10+ will fill its own tank with water (from the mains water supply its base station is plumbed into), and then connect to the humidifier via special connectors at the side, and proceed to transfer the water to the humidifier’s tank. Of course, if you don’t have an S10+, you can get alerts and still fill the water tank yourself.
The SwitchBot Humidifier should be available shortly, if not already on Amazon and the company’s own storefront, although currently it’s listed as ‘out of stock’ on Amazon.co.uk, Amazon.com, and Amazon.de.
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