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Overview
From the product page
5-in-1 SmartMonitor, 24/7 Home monitoring from anywhere
Your home is now the “home of the future”. Monitor crucial aspects of your home environment from anywhere in the world. The free iHome Control app allows users to further automate their home. Works with SmartPlugs (sold separately) connected to lights or appliances. Set rules with iHome Control app to control connected devices based on any of the 5 sensors.
The iS550 is supposed to be an all-in-one sensor. It covers
- motion
- temperature
- sound
- light
- humidity
- Trigger Lights and Cameras on Large Sound – After all, a window sensor probably won’t notify you if the window is broken.
- Turn on Humidifier when the room becomes too dry
- Turn on the lights based on the motion sensor, but only when the daylights below a certain level
- Turn on the furnace when the temperature in the room drops below a certain temperature
- Turn on the air conditioner when the temperature in the room raises above a certain threshold
- Close the curtains when the light is brighter than a certain threshold
There are a ton of possibilities with this thing and they only increase as you add more devices to your SmartHome setup!
Setup
Setup was easy. That’s one of the big usability improvements that Apple HomeKit brings to the table. You simply scan in the HomeKit code and the device is added. The WSC (Wireless Simple Configuration ) protocol is used to automatically transfer over your current wi-fi settings to the device so there’s no requirement to manually type in long WPA2 or passphrase or deal with any of the wireless configuration details at all. I’m sure that some of my wireless engineer friends might not like the lack of configurability, but from as typical home-user I’m sure this simplicity is much appreciated.
Aesthetics
The iS550 is a bit chunky for my tastes. The fact that it’s also USB powered is also a drawback for me. I’m not a big fan of the dangling cords. A bit of cable management might spruce this up, but the cable and USB power supply are both pieces which I would rather not have to deal with. The fonts on the display screen are built to be able to see across the room, not for fashion. It’s definitely a utility piece, not a conversation piece.
Usability
The iS550 was supposed to be a centre piece for me, but unfortunately, it really hasn’t worked out that way. Some of this is an issue with the iHome design. Some of this is an issue with the Apple Home application. The biggest problem I have with the 5:1 sensor is that fact that it REQUIRES me to plug it into a wall. This really limits my ability to place this where I want to. I’m limited by the distance between the device and the closet electrical socket, as well the requirement for an ugly USB cable dangling out the back (as mentioned above) ruins the appeal of this device, at least for me. Yes, in theory I could hide it behind something, but then the sensors would lose their effectiveness. Light would be filtered out, sounds would be muffled, motion would be blocked. Definitely not something we’re looking for from a sensor with these capabilities.
The other issue I has is the lack of automation triggers within the Apple Home app itself. I’ve got a 5:1 sensor here, but unfortunately, the Apple Home app only allows be to create triggers based on the motion sensor.
Setting Triggers
Native Apple Home App
Home App
Fortunately the Home app (not to be confused with the Apple’s native Home app) has the ability to create triggers based on Humidity, Light, Motion, and Temperature sensors. No sounds yet, but I did make the request to the developer so hopefully that’s coming soon.
And in some true silliness, the triggers created in the Home app DO in fact appear in the Apple native Home app, you just can’t create them there.
iHome Native App
The iHome app, as can be expected, has the most capabilities. When setting up triggers in the iHome App,you can choose to either get a notification or control a plug (the Koogeek plugs do show up as an option here as well!), and the rule type can be
– time based ( schedule)
– sensor based ( the iS550)
– Nest Home/Away Based – Uses the Nest Home/Away
Random Loss of Network
The one other major drawback that I place at iHome alone is the random loss of connectivity from the wireless network. I’ve emailed iHome support on this particular case and there response was that I should move the unit blaming my wireless network. This would work except for two things…
- All my other devices work fine in this particular room
- I’ve got 3 access points covering my house, so the chances of poor signal are minimal to say the least
- The device needs to be plugged in!!!!! Where do they expect me to move it?
SDK
I was not able to find any SDK available and when I contacted support they were “not aware” of any such thing.
Pros
The iHome IS550 is the only HomeKit compatible sensor on the market that has this many sensors. The possibilities with this many inputs are truly staggering. Imagine
Security Application – If the host is set for AWAY and there’s a large sound ( like a broken window ) a notification could be sent to your phone. As well, you could potentially trigger a camera to turn on and send pictures to your phone.
Don’t Turn on Lights when Sunny – Combine the motion sensor and the light sensor to only turn on the lights when the motion sensor is triggered AND the light sensor is beneath a specific value.
Turn on Humidifier when Air is too dry – If the humidity in the room drops below a certain threshold, turn on a smart plug that has a humidifier in it. Or alternately, if the humidity sensor raises above a certain threshold turn on the wall socket with a dehumidifier in it.
Save $$$ – If temperature raises above a threshold and the light sensor is above a certain threshold, automatically close the curtains.
There are a ton of different applications you could use with this thing!
Cons
Limited Support in Apple Home App: The Apple Native Home app only supports the motion sensor to create triggers. The other sensors can only be accessed through the iHome or other application. The sound sensor isn’t available at all. (Note: There is currently no HomeKit support for Sound sensors, so this really isn’t a problem with the iHome iS550, but rather the HomeKit framework itself ).
No SDK: public facing SDK. Speaks for itself here.
Limited compatibility: This device does work with my Nest thermostat, which is nice, but no support for Amazon Alexa or Googlehome. (Note: iHome just announced Googlehome support for their line of smart plugs, so hoping this support may be added in future firmware. )
Unreliable Network Connection: The fact that this device looses network connectivity means that I can’t depend on it for any security applications based on the sound or motion sensor.
Check out the video review here
Final Thoughts
The iHome iS550 is a device that has a lot of potential. It’s definitely the most capable device in the market as far as sensors. This was the major factor in deciding to add this to my SmartHome setup, but the reality leaves a lot to be desired. The loss of network connectivity and the requirement for USB power and the ugly cable it brings along means that it’s pretty limited in where I can place it and how much I can hide it.
If what you’re looking for is a convenience device that can be used to trigger various SmartHome scenes while you’re home, this is probably not a bad buy. Especially as it’s the only product on the market that I’m aware of with the sensor capabilities that the iS550 brings to the table. But if you were looking for a sensor to use as part of your home security strategy, I would keep looking. Too much of a chance that the device is going to loose network connectivity when you need it the most.
Questions, Comments, Corrections? Feel free to comment below!
Homekitgeek - SmartHome made Easy 
Thanks for this review. Does it allow you to get notifications if the temperature gets too high/low in the room via the Home (Apple) app? Rather than just triggering a device?
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The Apple Nathan be home app doesn’t allow “notify” as an action based on a trigger, but the iHome native app does let you create a notification for when a sensor detect an event like “temp above X”. You’re can also limit the time this rule is active ie. Only between 11pm-8am.
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No. No notifications in the native apple Home app. But the iHome application does allow you to trigger notifications.
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Perhaps I have a newer version of the app than you as I can have a rule triggered on not only Motion, but also on the other 4: Temp, Humidity, Light, Sound AND on a mix of those sensors for something called Occupancy. In addition each one can be set for the event initiation or upon it’s cessation. Mine shows 2.2.3(194)
On a matter of preference, I was expecting this to be plugged into the wall but then realized it would always be ~16 from the floor and I could not see the front face. The usb power cord lets me set it on a nearby table and I think greatly improves the utility of it. Perhaps a battery operated version might work but the front panel display is quite brite and that must consume enough power that the battery change cycle could preclude it’s usefulness if used, for example, as part of your security monitoring when you were on an extended vacation – i.e. winter in Florida etc.
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Moderator. Please delete my above comments. I missed the fact you were talking about the Apple native app and not the iHome Control app. Your comments applied to the Apple native app and mine were in reference to the iHome Control all. My mistake for not carefully noticing your switching between the two apps.
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No worries at all Jim and thanks for stopping by! I really appreciate the critiques and the thoughtful questions. Things change quickly and I’m sure this article will be out of date before too long. 🙂
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Very nice description of the product. Loosing the connectivity for no reason happens to me with koogeek plug many times. Do you think that using iHome app + sensors could turn on and off my koogeek plug according to the humidity ranges pre defined?
Thank you for your time and honest feedback.
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Hi Nicholas,
I managed to resolve the issues with my Koogeek by upgrading my wifi. It’s still strange to me that the Koogeek’s were the ones suffering the most from disconnects… but the important thing is that it’s been months now with very few problems. ( Replaced my old wireless with a Ubiquiti LR access point ). If you are using Apple Homekit with a homekit hub ( Apple TV, Homepod ) you can definitely use the sensors to trigger the Koogeek plug to turn on/off. This is something I’ve done quite a bit. Assuming you want to use it to turn on a fan or humidifier or something like that, the thing you’ll need to be careful with is making sure that the device you plug into the Koogeek socket actually turns on when the power is turned off and back on. Most new equipment is digital and won’t turn back on automatically once power is lost. Hopefully this helps! Oh! One other thing, strangely enough, you won’t be able to configure this automation in the Native Apple Home app. Check out something like the Eve Systems app for more advanced applications. Good luck!
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