Amazon’s latest smart home device is the $69.99 Smart Air Quality Monitor, a small puck around half the size of the latest Amazon Echo that’s designed to keep an eye on the quality of the air in your home. It can track your home’s temperature and humidity, and the presence of dust, carbon monoxide, and volatile organic compounds (VOCs).
A key selling point of the Smart Air Quality Monitor is its Alexa integration. It lets you ask compatible Alexa-enabled devices for an update on the air quality of the home at any time or view trends via the Alexa app or an Echo Show device. Importantly, the Smart Air Quality Monitor’s temperature sensor can also integrate with Alexa Routines. That allows it to function as a trigger for things like smart thermostats, ceiling fans, and blinds to help control a room’s temperature. If there’s a problem, it can issue warnings via Echo devices or the Alexa app to let you know you might, for example, want to open a window.
Outside of the Alexa integration, one of the biggest appeals of the Smart Air Quality Monitor is its relatively affordable price. It’s cheaper than the $89 Awair Glow C air quality sensing smart plug we tried out in 2019, and almost half the price of Netatmo’s popular Smart Indoor Air Quality Monitor, which usually retails for $119.99.
Air quality is an increasing area of focus of smart home manufacturers. Dyson’s latest fans include air filters to remove pollutants like smoke or pollen, and earlier this year Google updated its Nest Hubs in parts of the US to show data on outdoor air quality. Even Ikea’s gotten in on the action with a smart air purifier that’s built into, of all things, a side table, and it offers a standalone air quality sensor. The ideal smart home has traditionally been one that’s well-lit and efficiently heated, but increasingly it’s one with good air quality as well.
Amazon’s Smart Air Quality Monitor is available to preorder today in the US, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, and the UK for $69.99 / £69.99 / €79.99 and is scheduled to ship in December.