Roku is expanding into a new frontier as the company has announced its next line of smart home devices, which has been developed in collaboration with Wyze.
On the surface, it appears that the company repackaged Wyze products and placed the Roku label on them. The hardware is indeed the same, but all of the Roku devices will be supported by Rokus'' own proprietary software. There will be multiple devices (opens in a new tab) that include more features, including a camera, and a wall plug.
The majority of these devices will work with Google Assistant out of the box, with Amazon Alexa support coming in early November. All but two can be pre-ordered from Rokus online store today. Most cameras ship out on October 17, while the lights and plugs ship on October 26.
The Rokus Smart Home line will only be available in the United States, with no known intentions to expand elsewhere at the time of this writing.
The Smart Home line
Each of the new Roku cameras can record in 1080p resolution and offer color night vision. A direct feed from the lens can be seen on a Roku TV or Player. Two-way audio is also provided for all devices.
The differences between the cameras come down to the specific roles they play. For example, the Indoor Camera SE ($26.99) (opens in new tab) is your base model, which includes auto-motion tracking and a much wider field of view. The outdoor options are made to be weather-resistant. A wired Video Doorbell & Chime SE ($79.99) combo (opens in new tab) is available so you can see who is directly outside your door.
The Floodlight Camera SE ($99.99) (opens in a new tab) which, according to the name, has two bright LED floodlights alongside the lens. No launch date has yet been confirmed.
The cameras are the only ones that get some upgrades through Roku''s new Smart Home Subscription ($39.99 annually). With it, cameras improve detection capabilities, including being able to specifically detect individuals and packages, and video cloud storage for up to two weeks. Motion and sound detection are still present in the free version, but there''s no video storage, just images.
With the Roku Smart Home app, you have the choice between bulbs and strips. What makes them smart is the ability to control their color and brightness levels. Specifically, the Smart Light Strip SE (starting at $22.99) can sync up to music using a smartphone mic.
The wall plugs are made to look indoor and outdoor. Using them, forgotten devices can be switched off from a distance or you may create custom schedules for them via the Smart Home app. The difference is that the outdoor model is built to be weather-resistant.
Security in mind
After discovering that Wyze is involved, some of you may be concerned about Roku''s Smart Home line''s security.
The company has had several security concerns. The big one was a massive data breach in 2019 (opens in new tab) that uncovered the information of 2.4 million users. In this year, Wyze found itself in hot water again after reporting that bad actors were potentially accessing user information. It seems that Roku was aware of this.
According to a Fast Company (opens in a new tab) interview with Roku CEO Anthony Wood, Roku will be responsible for the security side of things by adding two-factor authentication and [data] encryption. Wyze, however, will still manage the cloud services.