Millet Sun Peng: Bluetooth starts to develop in the smart home

Lei Feng Net Note: The author Sun Peng, director of ecological chain millet.

Bluetooth technology is really good, I wrote an article before: "Bluetooth is a wonderful", you can look at the interest. The popularity of mobile phones has pushed Bluetooth to a very high level. Nokia first pushed Bluetooth headsets, pushing classic Bluetooth to the point where everyone would use it; then Apple pushed wearable devices and pushed low-power Bluetooth to its peak. . Nowadays, Bluetooth devices (headphones, speakers, bracelets, watches) are so popular that mobile phone manufacturers have the most credit.

The next area where Bluetooth will enter is smart home. Compared with WiFi, Bluetooth has the advantage of low cost and low power consumption. The disadvantage is that it cannot connect remotely. Several companies in the Xiaomi ecological chain have made early attempts. For example, the world’s first Bluetooth LED smart bulb was created by YeeLight, and the later bedside lamp was also Bluetooth. But after careful thinking, it still feels that WiFi will make it easier for users to accept it. Increasing the support of WiFi is also the most recommended by users of bedside lights.

However, we still believe that WiFi is not the ultimate solution, the biggest reason being cost and power consumption. The cost problem is still easy to handle, but power consumption is a big social problem. Users may not care much when there are few devices, but according to the prediction of the Internet of Things practitioners, each has power consumption of several tens of hundreds of devices. This is a problem. Moreover, the country will have relevant standards when it comes to power consumption.

The low power consumption in the smart home is the trend. There are more than a dozen protocols such as Bluetooth, ZigBee, WiFi HaLow, and so on. In contrast, Bluetooth is the most advantageous, and the reason is still the earliest one: the strong support of mobile phone manufacturers . Everyone can read another article I wrote: "began to be optimistic about HomeKit". As a leading mobile phone manufacturer in the industry, Apple's approach is very inspiring.

After a Bluetooth device that supports HomeKit, Apple's mobile phone can be controlled directly. If it is not at home, the home iPad or Apple TV can do transit. However, other devices require a gateway, and the cost of the gateway is a burden on the user. In particular, different vendors have their own gateways, which is totally wasteful. WiFi HaLow needs router support, but it is also a type of gateway, and it's hard to feel popular. So if you open a game in the Apple user's home, Bluetooth wins.

The users outside of Apple don't have to worry about it. The Bluetooth gateway is all over the place. Maybe you already have several in your home. For example, televisions, set-top boxes, tablets, future air conditioners, refrigerators, washing machines, as long as the unit price is high enough, manufacturers can integrate Bluetooth and WiFi into, thereby enhancing the user experience, by the way, when the gateway. Android is also a trend to enter home appliances. I have seen Android refrigerators and washing machines, so that loading an app can run the gateway without increasing costs.

Pulled so much and found that Bluetooth's life is good, but will continue to be good. But I'm not optimistic about a separate Bluetooth gateway, because I can't use Bluetooth's advantages. I'm still doing it carefully.

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