If you are a regular reader at Smart Home Geeks you will remember we reviewed Lithe Audios ceiling speakers.

They have now released a new WiFi ceiling speaker, so we were eager to see how it compares to their impressive Bluetooth ceiling speaker.

What does the Lithe Audio WiFi Speaker do?

These speakers sit in your ceiling, hidden out of sight. You connect to them wirelessly with the Lithe Audio app, using 2.4 GHz WiFi.

Up to 30 speakers or zones can be connected giving an impressive multi-room experience.

LITHE AUDIO Wireless WiFi Multroom Audio Ceiling Speaker

The speakers pack a punch with 60W RMS and inbuilt Apple AirPlay – the only certified AirPlay Ceiling speaker on the market.

They don’t stop there also having in built dlna and UPnP for direct streaming from a media server.

How easy are they to setup?

Setup was simple, as you would expect from Lithe Audio.

First cut the hole, using the supplied template. Then work out how you plan on powering them. They can either be wired into a lighting circuit or can be plugged in, a plug is supplied.

Once powered up you need to install the free Lithe Audio app. Connecting the app is easy, press the reset button for 5 seconds and connect to the speaker via WiFi. The app is simple and intuitive to use.

You can then connect it to your home network and give the speaker a name. To setup AirPlay you use the apple setting and it automatically finds the speaker.

Next the fun part of connecting to a source and playing music!

How much do they cost?

£329.99 for a single speaker
£399 for a pair with a master and a slave

This is very comparable with market leader pricing although at the top end.

What’s it like living with it?

Wow! We are big Sonos fans at Smart Home Geeks, with one in every room. However we can happily say the sound quality and connectivity of Lithe audio surpasses Sonos.

AirPlay is great and ’just works’ – the app never dropped or had frustrating connectivity issues or lag.

Sound quality is superb, both treble and bass sound exceptional.

They however do not support Apple Music – for us no issue but for some it might be a deal breaker.

What are our final thoughts?

If we were looking for a whole home audio solution this is the one we would now choose. The speakers can be easily fitting in the ceiling , out of the way and effortlessly controlled and used.

Watch out Sonos – Lithe is here!!

We love British design so when we heard about the British smart mug we needed to hear more!

What does the GlowStone mug do?

The GlowStone mug aims to solve the age-old problem of tea, or any drink, going cold before you have finished it.

This super smart, bone china, mug can do this thanks to an inbuilt heating element and temperature detection tech.

The mug monitors the temperature of the drink and maintains the perfect temperature of between 60°C to 65°C for an hour!

If you finish the drink before the hour it turns off when you take the last sip. Despite the tech it can go in the dishwasher, it just needs to be upside down.

It currently only comes in one design, honeycomb but other designs are available for pre-order.

The mug capacity does look a little smaller than some mugs, but the capacity is a pretty standard 370ml.

How easy is it to setup?

There is not really any setup, you just need to charge the internal lithium ion batteries. The inventor, Thomas Gostelow, previously commented:

“New technology should enhance life, not make more problems and things to learn.”

Charging is done with a beautifully designed glass Qi wireless charger coaster.
Wireless charging was used as it allows it to be fully sealed and watertight. It takes 5 hours to fully charge the mug and automatically cuts off once fully charged.
Once charged you fill it with your drink, it flashes to let you know its detected. When the mug is maintaining temperature the GlowStone light appears magically through the mug.

How much do the GlowStone mug cost?

One mug – £129
Pair of mugs – £229

This is not cheap but for the cutting edge tech and something truly unique its almost worth it.

However we do have an exclusive 15% discount code to use on their site:  smarthome15

Glowstone Ultimate Honeycomb Self-Heating Smart Mug

What’s it like living with it?

It really works!! We tested it with tea and hot chocolate and both times the drink stayed hot for over an hour. It is one handy mug, perfect for when you are getting ready in the morning.

What are our final thoughts?

Yes, it is expensive but a quirky and different gift for any tea lover or anyone who hates a cold hot drink. The design is superb, the way the light glows through the mug is very impressive.

Looking for a gift for someone who has everything – this could be your answer!

For more information or to buy a mug visit their website: https://glowstone.tech/shop

Robots are supposed to make our life’s easier doing the tasks no one likes to do. A perfect example is hoovering and mopping.  ILIFE’s V8s does exactly that, robot vacuuming and mopping automatically – but just how good is it?!

What does the ILIFE V8s do?

ILIFE is a robot manufactures based in, yep you guessed it, China. They manufacture robot vacuum’s and mops for the budget end of the market. If your familiar with Robot robot vacuum’s you will be aware these can easily cost thousands, most ILIFE’s robots cost hundreds but are still packed with features.

The ILIFE V8s is their latest model. It is a 2-in-1 robot that can automatically vacuum and mop your floor.  The robot is best suited to hard floors or short pile carpets.

Robot vacuum often jam or get tangled by pet hair, not the V8s. The brushes and nozzle have been specially designed to prevent tangling.

It has an internal HEPA filter and includes a spare filter. ILIFE recommend regularly changing this.

The v8s is packed with sensors to overcome issues:

• Obstacle to move around furniture or items on the floor
• Cliff detection to detect edges where it could fall
• Corner sensor to adapt its movement for corners
• Recharge sensor to return home when it needs a recharge

It has thick wheels to overcome uneven floors and change between floor type without issue. They claim up to 12mm obstacles.

The V8s has four different cleaning modes:

• Automatic to automatically clean the full room
• Max a super power mode
• Edge mode to clean the edges of the room
• Spot mode to spot clean, great for mopping

Navigation is done by an internal gyro.

ILIFE V8S Robotic Vacuum Cleaner With Floor Mopping

How easy is it to setup?

Simple assembly is required, clicking the brushes onto the body and inserting the filter. No complicated setup or instructions to follow.

What’s the connectivity?

It comes with a simple remote control allowing you to control all the functions you need.

It does not have any other connectivity however at this price point its not very surprising.

The interface does however allow scheduled cleaning. The drawback with this is you cannot schedule a vacuum then a mop as the head unit needs to be switched.

However if you have a smart hub that can send IR you can easily clone the remote codes and add connectivity. We easily added it to our home hub Homey and then Alexa.

How much does it cost?

The RRP is £299 direct from Amazon – this is a great price for a gadget that does so much.

What’s it like living with the ILIFE V8s?

Great! The hoovering function is very good, especially if you set the mode to max mode – it easily compares to a standard upright manual hoover. One drawback is the size of the container, 750 ml, however if you set it to come on daily it should not get full.

Navigation wise it does an impressive job of covering the entire room. A system they call i-move.

The mop function is also good, we tested it on tile and wood floor. On both it did a good job of cleaning the floor. The mop head contains 300 ml water, good enough to clean a few rooms. One big innovation in the V8s is the way the water is dripped onto the pad, making it wet enough but not to soak the floor. This is aptly named the ‘i-Dropping intelligent water dispensing system’.

It is slightly annoying the head unit needs to be changed to allow moping but understandable. The robot would need to be very large to allow them both at the same time and probably cost a lot more.

The size of the unit is a plus, it can easily glide under the sofa, chairs and cabinets. Unlike a lot of robot vacuum’s that are too tall. The wheels do an impressive job of changing between floors surfaces and even over mats and rugs.

Like most vacuum’s it does make a fair amount of noise, especially when on max mode – 68 dB normal mode / 72 dB max mode. However, as it is easy to schedule you don’t need to be in so will not hear it.

The battery lasts for up to 2 hours depending on the mode being used – in testing we got just under this. When the battery is low it automatically returns home to charge, however we found sometimes it can take a while for it to get home. Almost as if it got slightly lost.

What are our final thoughts?

This is smart tech to make your life easier! The hoover does an impressive job and for the price the best robot vacuum we have seen.