The new NuBryte Touchpoint home control panel essentially becomes the nerve center of your entire home. It turns your light switch into a touch screen, all-in-one smarthome and security system, complete with a camera and with a simple installation.
NuBryte Touchpoint Overview
Basically a smart light switch and a security device with a camera, NuBryte also offers several other bells and whistles including timers and alarms, weather information, and even a calendar. It has an Android and iOS app for remote functionality, and if you want multiple devices, you can use the NuBryte Touchpoint as an intercom system.
The NuBryte Touchpoint panel itself is simple and attractive, with white borders framing the touchscreen, and a camera on top. The UI is also very intuitive, simple, and easy to navigate.
The Touchpoint, developed by Lucis Technologies, also works with Alexa and Google Calendar, so you’re getting some third-party integration from the device, and the company promises more partners in the future.
Installation
Installation is a breeze. Find a light switch that’s appropriate for the NuBryte Touchpoint to reside. The device can replace a single or double switch panel, and as long as your comfortable with simple wiring, the process is simple.
NuBryte takes over the electrical wiring in your home, and works with most bulbs, but not ceiling fans at the moment. Double-check the fine print to make sure NuBryte will work in the spot you want before you make the splurge.
NuBryte is only available for 120V American switches, but the company plans to develop a 220V model later this year for the rest of the world.
After wiring is completed, you snap the control panel onto the base plate, and NuBryte lights up to walk you through a quick tutorial and setup.
You’ll notice that the screen lights up when you get close thanks to an infrared presence sensor. NuBryte defaults to lighting controls, so you can quickly turn your bulbs on or off without navigating through any menus. The device also lets you control brightness, as long as you having dimming bulbs, and you can customize how these brightness controls work in the system’s settings.
The home button is essentially your best friend, and it’s the starting point for all monitoring and controlling. It will give you access to weather, a timer, and even an energy panel. The lighter green panel with the dial shows you your daily energy usage, and your average usage per day. You can tap on different days to see past usage. Essentially, it’s a great tool to manage and save on your energy bill as it allows you to know what is sucking up energy and what isn’t.
The App
The companion app for the NuBryte is basically an extension of the control panel. Pretty much everything you can do on the control panel, you can also do within the app. The app also walks you through a quick setup after you sign up for a NuBryte account. Once you’re through the tutorial, it defaults to a page for lighting controls, which is the same default as the control panel itself.
You can name your rooms where the NuBryte Touchpoint services, and you can control all of your lights at once or each individually. You can also dim lights to your desired brightness with a pinch, once they’re selected.
There are also preset modes, where you can hit the button in the lower left-hand corner to activate these, such as “Bedtime” or “Wake Up”. This feature will gradually dim or raise the lights at a pre-selected hour. You can also select your own times to activate them.
The rest of the menus in the app mostly match the touchscreen controls, including a new Google Calendar feature that will send a notification to your Touchpoint’s screen when an event or appointment is about to start. This is a strong feature in that eventually you’ll be able to bring your family’s calendars together in one place, which will be nice for busy on-the-go parents and teens.
You’ve probably seen Amazon Alexa integration in a ton of new products. Add NuBryte to the list now. If you have an Amazon Echo, you can activate the NuBryte skill, then control your connected lights with a voice command to Amazon’s always listening speaker. NuBryte has also announced integrations with Nest and IFTTT.
Security wise, the NuBryte Touchpoint is nice, but has a little ways to go. For instance, you can’t use the camera to view a live feed of your home when you’re away, and it won’t call the police when an alarm is activated. The only way to see any footage of the room is if the alarm is set off with the motion sensing, which by the way, works famously. And that alarm is a screaming 100 dB siren and flashing lights, so it will be very noticeable to neighbors and that lurking thief. Additionally, the control panel will send you a push notification to your smartphone, and record the event so you can see what’s going on. You can also download the video to watch it.
The NuBryte Touchpoint stores up to 200 MB of footage for free, and it purges old clips once all the memory has been used. Its wide angle lens captures 120-degrees in front of it, and you can activate and disarm security remotely using the app.
As mentioned, if you but more than one NuBryte Touchpoint, you can use the microphone and camera as an intercom, You can also control the lights connected to any Touchpoint from one panel, and check the humidity and temperature as well. Also with 2 or more Touchpoints, you can add users/family members by inviting them over email, and then they can have control remotely too.
Bottom Line
The NuBryte Touchpoint is trying to centralize your smarthome by bring features and functionality to one device…sort of a family hub. And with the integration of Alexa, Google Calendar, and in the near future, Nest and IFTTT, the device is getting smarter and stands to be a real competitor in home hub solutions.
The NuBryte Touchpoint comes in a single and double-gang version, with price points at around $250 and $260 respectively. You can buy the NuBryte Touchpoint from the company’s site, and from BestBuy.com.
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