What Makes a Good IoT Device?

As IoT devices begin to flood the market, we’ll see a lot of shabby, rushed-out gadgets hit the shelves. These aren’t designed to enhance the lives of the people who bought them; they’re nothing more than a cheaply-made product aimed to cash in on the rise of IoT.

With all these products flooding the market, it begs the question; what does a “good IoT device” look like? Let’s take a look at the kind of devices that are worth a spot in your home.

Usefulness

First, you have to look at what the smart device is bringing into your life. You’ll find that there will be a lot of smart devices that have a smart connection, but they don’t really need one. For example, there was the fruit juicer Juicero that was made smart but didn’t really need to be.

A good smart device will have a reason behind its smartness. It won’t have it “just because;” it’ll bring a new feature that cannot be achieved without the connection.

Ease of Connectivity

Smart devices can connect to the Internet and other devices; but how easy is it to get your new device hooked up? Will you be able to access your device using any smartphone, or is it Android-only? Will your router be able to recognize it?

A good IoT device will broaden its horizons as widely as possible. It’ll handle as many smartphone OSes, Wi-Fi routers, and perhaps even smart home hubs like Alexa as it can. This will make it easy to get connected with the device, no matter what you’re using.

Open-Ended

In a similar vein, you want a device that keeps its options open as much as possible. If a device demands you only use its solutions to solve your problems, you may find it won’t fit your needs as well as you’d like.

On the other hand, a good IoT device will be open to other services, websites, and even third-party software. This will allow you to tweak the device to suit you instead of being forced into using the programs the manufacturers want you to use.

Ease of Access

So your smart device connects to your home fine and doesn’t force you to use their software solutions. How easy is it for you to access the device when you need it the most, however?

A bad IoT device will be tricky to “get into” with cumbersome connection methods and inelegant login processes. A good IoT device will allow you to quickly and easily access it whenever you need it, all without compromising the overall security of the device.

Security

Speaking of which, keeping the device secure is very important! Does the device use encryption? How easy is it to hack? A good IoT device will keep itself secure so you don’t have to worry about your privacy being invaded by a random hacker.

The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

As we see IoT devices become the “hot new product,” we’re going to see some shoddy products made to capitalize on the trend. By keeping smart on what you buy, you can ensure you spend your hard-earned money on only the best.

What do you look for when buying a smart device? Let us know below.