{"source_url": "https://www.techhive.com", "url": "https://www.techhive.com/article/3512059/kleverness-smart-lighting-review.html#tk.rss_all", "title": "Kleverness Smart Lighting review: This hub-based lighting system is unfinished and expensive", "top_image": "https://images.idgesg.net/images/article/2019/12/klever-all-100825697-large.3x2.jpg", "meta_img": "https://images.idgesg.net/images/article/2019/12/klever-all-100825697-large.3x2.jpg", "images": ["https://images.idgesg.net/images/article/2019/12/th-2019-holiday-gg-100821400-orig.jpg", "https://idge.staticworld.net/images/twitter.svg", "https://images.techhive.com/images/article/2012/09/chrisnull201-100003849-byline.jpg", "https://images.idgesg.net/images/article/2019/12/klever-all-100825697-large.3x2.jpg", "https://idge.staticworld.net/images/reddit.svg", "https://idge.staticworld.net/images/mail.svg", "https://idge.staticworld.net/images/print.svg", "https://idge.staticworld.net/images/pinterest.svg", "https://idge.staticworld.net/images/facebook.svg"], "movies": [], "text": "Kleverness proudly bills its products as \u201cthe best, easiest and smartest solution for your home\u2019s lighting.\u201d I can categorically tell you that none of those claims are accurate, and that today Kleverness is not worth serious consideration if you want to outfit your home with smart lights.\n\nMuch like the Philips Hue system, Kleverness revolves around a hub that controls everything connected to it. To communicate with components (in-wall switches and dimmers, as well as plug-in outlets), however, Kleverness does not use any standard wireless protocol (such as Wi-Fi, Zigbee, or Z-Wave); it operates instead over a 915MHz unlicensed RF band, ostensibly to give it long range. It\u2019s worth noting here that Zigbee and Z-Wave also use unlicensed spectrum in this range: 908.41MHz for Z-Wave, and either 2.4GHz or 915MHz for Zigbee (both standards operate on slightly different frequencies outside the U.S.). The Klever Hub must be permanently connected to your router via an ethernet cable, so plan accordingly.\n\nThe hockey puck-sized Klever Hub requires just the ethernet hookup and a power connection, and then you\u2019re ready to connect via the Kleverness app to get things going. Or so I thought. After registering your name, email address, and a password with the app, you must wait for a confirmation code to be delivered via email before you can proceed. I registered and waited\u2026 and waited\u2026 and it wasn\u2019t until nearly an hour later that my confirmation code finally arrived, after which time I had already created a new account with a different email address. This time the code landed in a spam folder, another aggravation.\n\nKleverness The Klever Dimmer can be installed even if your home\u2019s wiring doesn\u2019t include a neutral wire.\n\nThe next step in setup is to scan a QR code on the underside of the Hub to register it to the app. I scanned, and the connection failed. I tried twice again, same result. After unplugging the Hub and plugging it back in, I tried a fourth time. The app crashed. The fifth try turned out to be the charm.\n\nAfter a lengthy firmware update, I was finally ready to get started adding Kleverness components. Marketed as a smart lighting solution, Kleverness does not sell light bulbs. Instead, it sells an in-wall switch, an in-wall dimmer, and a plug-in outlet. The system\u2019s goal is not to give you tunable lighting options but rather a way to control the lights you already have. Note that all this gear requires the Klever Hub to work.\n\nChristopher Null / IDG A logging system tracks all switch activity (in Greenwich Mean Time only).\n\nIt may come as no surprise to hear that the Kleverness app crashed over and over again when I was setting up these devices (more QR codes to be scanned), requiring multiple force-quits of the app and power cycling the Hub before I finally got anything to work. All told, I spent 2.5 hours working with the Kleverness system to get just one plug-in outlet working.\n\nThe big selling point of Kleverness, of course, is that its various switches and outlets can control and be controlled by one another. To test this ability, I had to install an in-wall Klever Switch, only to discover that Kleverness directs you to fully install the switch within the wall \u2026 and then tells you to scan the QR code on the back of the hardware, requiring you to remove it. As expected, setup crashed again on this process, but within another hour I was finally up and running. (As a side note, the Klever Switch can control up to three independent loads, and, intriguingly, it can be configured to work even without a neutral wire.)\n\nThe Kleverness app worked well at letting me control both the switch and the outlet, and the app\u2019s timer system worked as advertised (although all \u201cturn on\u201d and \u201cturn off\u201d actions must be managed separately). A thorough log of all events is also maintained, although all time stamps are recorded in Greenwich Mean Time, with no evident way to change this. The system also supports Alexa and Google Assistant, and after installing the Alexa skill, I was able to control all the devices via rudimentary voice commands.\n\nI found myself quite lost, however, when I tried to configure one of the three touch-sensitive buttons on the Klever Switch to control the Klever Outlet, a key feature advertised by Kleverness. The FAQ also refers to a geofencing mode that can shut off lights when you leave the home, but this was also absent in reality, as was a promised energy monitor.\n\nKleverness The Klever Hub requires an ethernet connection to your router.\n\nI asked Kleverness about all of this and their response was that these are features that are all \u201ccoming soon.\u201d Whether you consider their inclusion on Kleverness\u2019s website a question of over-eagerness or false advertising is a matter of perspective.\n\nAt $80 for the hub, $50 for the outlet, and $98 for either the switch or dimmer, Kleverness\u2019s products aren\u2019t cheap. Even a modestly outfitted home will probably run the buyer $500 or more. There\u2019s simply no other way to look at it: That\u2019s a huge investment in products that are a nightmare to install and which, apparently, are still mired in beta. Unless and until things change considerably, the system is a definitive pass.", "keywords": [], "meta_keywords": [""], "tags": ["Cord Cutting", "Garden & Garage", "Kitchen"], "authors": [], "publish_date": null, "summary": "", "article_html": "", "meta_description": "Smart light switches and dimmers are often superior to smart light bulbs, but the Kleverness system is most certainly not.", "meta_lang": "en", "meta_favicon": "/www.idgcsmb.th/favicon.ico", "meta_data": {"viewport": "width=device-width, initial-scale=1.0", "description": "Smart light switches and dimmers are often superior to smart light bulbs, but the Kleverness system is most certainly not.", "DC.date.issued": "2020-01-01", "date": "2020-01-01", "twitter": {"account_id": 499275959, "card": "summary_large_image", "description": "Smart light switches and dimmers are often superior to smart light bulbs, but the Kleverness system is most certainly not.", "site": "@TechHive", "image": "https://images.idgesg.net/images/article/2019/12/klever-all-100825697-orig.jpg", "title": "Kleverness Smart Lighting review: This hub-based lighting system is unfinished and expensive", "url": "www.techhive.com"}, "fb": {"app_id": 1566936830273000}, "og": {"type": "article", "url": "https://www.techhive.com/article/3512059/kleverness-smart-lighting-review.html", "site_name": "TechHive", "image": {"identifier": "https://images.idgesg.net/images/article/2019/12/klever-all-100825697-large.3x2.jpg", "width": 1200, "height": 800}, "title": "Kleverness Smart Lighting review: This hub-based lighting system is unfinished and expensive", "description": "Smart light switches and dimmers are often superior to smart light bulbs, but the Kleverness system is most certainly not."}, "displaytype": "article", "associatedproducts": "klever outlet,klever switch,klever hub", "source": "techhive", "category": "lighting,connected home,home tech", "storytype": "reviews", "google-site-verification": "GHmsZtoU3FlVFNZp6NaQob2y1ZBU9WoIhanodiETb2o", "msvalidate.01": "05F49F041AAA61528A0A3329A6C0C02D"}, "canonical_link": "https://www.techhive.com/article/3512059/kleverness-smart-lighting-review.html"}