Roku isn’t just trying to monopolize your TV, it wants your whole home. Roku partnered with Wyze Labs and Walmart to drop an entire lineup of smart home products. So far, the initial slate includes a floodlight camera, indoor 360-degree camera, video doorbell and chime, indoor and outdoor cameras, smart bulbs, smart light strips, and indoor and outdoor smart plugs.
The Roku name is associated with smart TVs and smart TV boxes, but it makes sense for the company to expand into smart home products. The smart TVs serve as an obvious hub for all the smart home products, where you can view your Roku camera feeds or answer your doorbell, all while watching TV.
High definition security — Roku’s indoor camera is built with two-way audio and offers a model with a 360-degree camera, while the outdoor cameras have longer battery life and weatherproofing. The Roku doorbells can either upgrade your existing doorbell, or be a standalone smart doorbell with 1440p HD video. Outside the standalone video doorbell, the other Roku cameras have 1080p HD video, along with motion and sound detection features.
Roku’s entry into the smart home market doesn’t just include security cameras. The initial lineup also features smart lights that can be customized to a wide range of colors and paired with voice assistants. Its smart plugs also let you program appliances to turn off at night or automatically turn on in the morning even before you’re awake.
Major move into smart home — With a large list of initial products, Roku is clearly determined to expand its reach for the smart home market. Roku has developed a solid reputation for smart TVs and it’s hoping to carry that reputation into its new products.
Roku still has to go up against more established brands like Amazon’s Ring and Google’s Nest, but partnering with Walmart as a distributor may allow Roku’s smart home products to be more easily accessible.
Questionable partnerships — Besides Walmart, Roku is jumping into the smart home world with the help of Wyze Labs, which is at least a little concerning. For those unaware, Wyze’s track record has not been stellar, including letting a glaring security flaw linger on its home security cameras for more than three years. To be fair, Roku says its smart home products have two-factor authentication, user data encryption, secure boot, and other security features.
Price and release date — Roku’s smart home cameras will start for under $27, but you’ll have to get them at your local Walmart location October 17. Some of its new products will be available online either at Walmart.com or Roku.com starting October 12.
