

Smart buttons are still a fairly new idea and the market isn't exactly bursting at the seams with options. Smart buttons: What to consider before buying Plus, a lot of smart buttons - including the likes of Hue and Flic - can even act as triggers for routines and automations within your chosen smart home ecosystem nowadays anyway. Sure, you could ask Alexa or the Google Assistant to kick start these routines and control your smart devices, but sometimes it's so much easier to just push a button – especially as you can strategically place them (and move them) around the house to where they will be most useful. With a simple tap, double tap or long press you can trigger an array of smart home scenes and automations. That's where the current crop of smart buttons come in. Unless it's a smart light switch, of course, but that's a different story. Sure, you can turn your bedroom light on with the switch on the wall like your grandpa used to – but can that switch also turn off any lights you may have left on downstairs, turn on all of your security cameras, set your alarm and tune into some sleeping sounds on your smart speaker? It cannot. However, the brilliance of the best smart home buttons lie in their simplicity, and multi-functionality from a single press.

You may think that, as we move away from remote controls, switches and apps and towards a voice-controlled smart home, you'd have no need for another physical controller in your house.
