The Wi-Fi Alliance has today announced the latest Wi-Fi security protocol, WPA3. Arriving this year, the new security standard will bring new capabilities for both personal and enterprise networks.
After conducting a thorough survey of Wirecutter readers and combining those insights with the results of our previous testing, we think the Sonos Playbar or Playbase is the right soundbar for most people, depending on the type of TV you own. Both sound fantastic, and are easier to set up and operate than any other soundbar we’ve tested.
Apple’s HomeKit is a user-friendly platform for anyone who owns an iOS device and is interested in a simple, reliable DIY smart-home system. With a couple of HomeKit-compatible devices and a recent iPhone or iPad, it’s realistic to start from scratch and have an integrated system up and running in a few minutes. Apple doesn’t yet offer a voice-controlled speaker like the Google Home or Amazon Echo (the HomePod should be available in early 2018), but you can control your HomeKit system via the Siri voice assistant built into Apple phones, tablets, computers, and watches, or through smartphone and tablet apps.
We spent more than two months testing 15 indoor Wi-Fi home security cameras, evaluating motion and sound sensitivity, alert types and frequency, speaker and microphone sound quality, smartphone apps, storage options, placement flexibility, and image quality, and the Logitech Logi Circle is the best choice for most people. The Logitech Logi Circle camera was the easiest to set up, the most flexible to place, and the most intuitive to use of all the cameras we tested.
We considered more than 20 smart-light-bulb systems and then spent eight weeks testing 10 contenders, confounding a family of four by constantly changing how their lights worked. After all that, we determined that the Philips Hue White and Color Ambiance A19 – Gen 4 is the best all-around smart LED bulb. Hue lets you change your lighting color easily and does everything other smart light bulbs do, and it’s also part of a larger product and app ecosystem, allowing for more flexibility and creativity than any other smart bulb we tested. Plus, it’s compatible with the widest variety of smart-home systems, including Apple’s HomeKit, Samsung’s SmartThings hub, Amazon’s Alexa, and Google Home. It’s not the cheapest bulb we tested, but its reliable performance and wide compatibility make it a solid choice for any smart-home enthusiast or newbie.
