6 smart home office helpers that you would never have thought of {Trend! -Products}

Smart Home Technology is on the rise and is also finding its way into the home office. You discover tools that you would never have thought of.

1. eufy RoboVac X8 Hybrid & HomeVac H30: The perfect duo for a clean home office

Anyone who works a lot in the home office will soon find that they save time on the one hand, but on the other clear causes more dirt. What helps here is a convenient, automated cleaning system. The eufy RoboVac X8 Hybrid & HomeVac H30 complement each other perfectly.

Intuitive automation

Eufy is a brand from Anker, a Companys, which otherwise convinces with good and cheap robotic vacuum cleaners. An exception is the Eufy Robovac X8 Hybrid, which has been equipped with laser navigation, a map function and other extras in the app. The greatest specialty of the Robovac X8, however, is the design with two motors, which make the model very absorbent. Downside: Unfortunately, this process is not exactly quiet.

The vacuum cleaner is controlled intuitively via the app, here you can select different cleaning modes or edit the map that the practical household helper creates on its first trip. But it is also possible to operate it directly from the top of the robot, with three buttons here that you can use to make certain decisions Features can activate without an app.

The device also includes a charging station, to which the robot can find its own way back after work is done, and a wiping module. It is particularly practical that the Robovac X8 Hybrid is equipped with a 400 ml dust container and wiping function, so it not only vacuums excellently, but also cleans the floor at the same time. But there is also a model without a wiping function with a 600 ml dust container.

Easy handling and maintenance

For a long time I was skeptical whether a vacuum robot could really penetrate into all corners and maybe even make more work in maintenance. The Robovac taught me better: On its underside there is a brush with bristles and plastic lamellas as well as a side brush with bristles, which are also used to clean room and furniture corners.

Although my fear has partially come true, these brushes actually get caught fast sometimes hair and dust; but they are practically removable and cleanable. The device also comes with the appropriate replacement accessories, replacement filters, washable wipes and a replacement brush.

And exactly where the Robovac is no longer sufficient, the Eufy HomeVac H30 comes into its own: the hand vacuum cleaner is equipped with the TriPowerSystem equipped with a suction power of up to 16.000 Pascal (80 AirWatt). No wonder: Its motor (200 watts) works at up to 100.000 revolutions per minute.

The perfect complement to the automated suction power

The HomeVac comes with two suction levels, namely Eco (12.000 Pa) and Max (16.000 Pa). Of course, this affects the service life: the 2.500 mAh battery runs for up to 20 minutes Performance in Eco mode and up to 10 minutes in Max mode. It can then be charged in a charging station that can either be placed on the floor or mounted on the wall.

The two mini brushes can now be used to easily clean corners, edges, strips and furniture surfaces, but also the inner surfaces of cupboards, drawers and chests of drawers, which are otherwise difficult to access. Flat extension tube that allows you to clean heaters or suck away cobwebs, for example. The cleaning even works excellently on short-pile carpets and upholstered furniture.

All in all, the RoboVac X8 Hybrid & HomeVac H30 from eufy / Anker are a perfect duo to keep the home office clean quickly and easily at any time.

2. Powerline: Multifunctional sockets

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What to do if WiFi is not possible in the house, for example because the walls are too thick or the distance to the router is too great? This can be remedied by so-called Powerline or D-Lan adapters, with which Internet transmitted via the power grid. The plugs of the Internet-enabled devices are simply plugged into the socket of the Powerline adapter. With the FRITZ!Powerline 1260E, for example, data is distributed over the power grid at up to 1.200 Mbit/s.

connection options

The two adapters enable WLAN both on the 2,4 GHz band with up to 400 Mbit / s and on the 5 GHz band with up to 866 Mbit / s. I used the FRITZ! Powerline 1000 until recently, but what I missed here was the ability to continue using the corresponding socket.

The FRITZ! Powerline 1220E offers exactly this feature. It enables the connection of Network-Devices to the home network via the power line at a speed of up to 1.200 Mbit / s, the data transmission is encrypted (128-bit AES link encryption and key management). The Powerline can therefore be used extremely flexibly. In idle mode, it consumes less than 1 watt, in use approx. 3 watts.

No additional software required

The highlight, especially for me as a Linux user, is that the Powerline adapter can be used immediately at any socket without installing any software. This is its big advantage over the WLAN stick, which does not work without a driver. The powerline adapter enables the connection of smart TVs, set-top boxes, Blu-ray, NAS, Hi-Fi, game consoles and many other devices to the FRITZ! Box and the internet. The devices must of course already be internet-enabled.

So I have to connect my somewhat older multifunction printer to the Fritzbox, for example via a USB port, in order to be able to use it as a network printer. It does not work via powerline. And a television set also has to be smart. Another drawback is that my different Powerline types cannot be connected to each other. According to the manufacturer, however, the 1220E should be compatible with IEEE P1901 and all powerline devices in the 200, 500 and 600 MBit class. And finally, when using the powerline, there are always disconnections; overall, the powerline setting proves to be significantly more error-prone than other network settings.

Intelligent power outlet with splash protection

Therefore, one should not use the Powerline adapter in a multiple plug and this is for me the advantage of the 1220E opposite various previous models: There is no plug lost.

Because the smart homeIdea I liked it so much that I also tested the FRITZ!DECT 210, a so-called intelligent socket for the home network. It automatically or manually regulates the power supply for connected devices up to 3.450W, measures and records the energy consumption and thus helps Costs save.

Unlike the FRITZ! DECT 200 already tested by me this past year, this model is specially designed for outdoor use or in damp environments. Thanks to splash protection and an extended temperature range from -20 ° C to + 40 ° C, the socket can also be used in the bathroom, on the terrace or in wash-rooms. It masters two-pole switching and switches both lines of the 230 Volt connection simultaneously, which increases the safety factor.

3. Feelgood office oven: control kitchen appliances with your smartphone

For me, the DECT 210 is particularly interesting because you are familiar with a PC, notebook, Smartphone or tablet can be conveniently controlled - and on the go via the Internet. The prerequisite for this, however, is that you have downloaded the relevant FRITZ! Apps (for mobile devices) or have navigated the somewhat confusing FRITZ! Box interface of the browser on the mobile phone. You can also switch the socket on and off directly on the device using a push button.

Kitchen as the center of networking

This type of Internet remote control makes it possible, for example, to operate the light switch at any time - and thus simulate being at home while in reality one is overseas. But it also makes it possible to switch off technical devices such as an oven while one is already in bed. The DECT 210 consumes between 0,4 and 1,5 watts, depending on the operating status, and can be used at practically any 230 volt socket.

Because the kitchen is not only the focus of networking among employees, it is also indispensable for healthy eating in times of feel-good and health management. In very many Office -Kitchens still have a microwave for heating up ready-made soups and frozen meals, but they no longer meet health standards in any way:

Nowadays, more and more employees are paying attention to healthy meals even at work. And that's exactly where a mini oven like the Klarstein Omnichef 30 2G is recommended instead of a microwave.

Design wins

This is similarly compact to a microwave - 46 x 33 x 38 cm (WxHxD) - but offers much more sophisticated uses: from quick casseroles on the grid to oven-roasted vegetables on the baking tray to rotisserie roast chickens. The prerequisite for the food to cook quickly is provided by the 1500 W power, which reaches the temperature of up to 230 degrees. With a lot less you should look at the Choice neither does a mini oven satisfied give.

The Klarstein Omnichef 30 2G is very easy to operate thanks to the function selection with 5 different settings and a temperature controller. Another advantage: the timer. It helps if you have to make a quick phone call during preparation or if you get distracted in some other way. In the meantime, the food will still reach the ideal degree of cooking or browning. By the way: Due to its stylish appearance with the shapely handles and in bright red, the Klarstein Omnichef significantly enhances any office kitchen. You can find more information about the oven from the manufacturer.

4. Minimalism and time savings in the household: Braun MultiQuick 9 hand blender in the test

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For years I had in my kitchen a classic blender in use. When I recently looked around for a new blender, I decided to go for a high-performance blender in the future. The reason for this change is quickly explained: efficiency and time savings.

Stabmixer vs. Blenders

For me, a hand blender offers clear advantages over a blender: it saves a lot of space, can be quickly pulled out and quickly put back in the drawer - pure minimalism, indispensable especially for small kitchens.

However, the prerequisite is the choice of a high-quality device. The 1.000 Watt strong Braun MultiQuick 9 MQ, which the manufacturer gave me free of charge for test purposes, fulfills these requirements undoubtedly:

With it, the various ingredients can be chopped, cut, crushed, blended, foamed and mixed together in a short time. This is especially true for hard materials such as nuts or frozen fruit.

Special knives and accessories

Because the Braun MultiQuick 9 has a special knife, the so-called ACTIVEBlade technology: the three knives form an additional angle, which moves up and down like a milling cutter and thus shreds all objects faster and better - and with significantly less energy expenditure than at other devices, which also protects the engine. In this way, even hard midday can be chopped up very quickly evenly.

For the Braun MultiQuick 9, there are also all sorts of practical accessories: for example, a measuring cup with a capacity of 600 ml, in which various food can be poured; the height of the measuring cup is adapted to the bar mixer so that even the ingredients lying on the floor can be easily reached with the cutting unit.

For example, a shredder with a capacity of 500 ml crushes vegetables and herbs as well as nuts. A potato jam top potato to flaky puree; it is necessary because with the normal blender, too much starch escapes during comminution. A whisk for egg whites or cream replaces me finally the handmixer - again a device saved. The only thing missing is an essay for crushing ice cubes.

The processing

The difference to cheaper hand blenders is evident in the processing: the handheld weighs 1.004 g and the power cable has a comfortable length of 120 cm. The puree foot, for example, is made of stainless steel and the housing is made of plastic. The handle with a diameter of 6,5 cm is rubberized on the back so that it can be used even with wet hands for sure can be held.

Practical for cleaning individual parts, for example in the dishwasher: You can easily remove the mashing foot by pressing the two unlocking buttons on the side. However, like all accessories, it can then be reassembled by simply snapping it in (“EasyClick +”).

Child safety and regulation

Parents will be pleased with the built-in child safety device, which must be solved in order to be able to start with the appliance at all: the button is on the top of the blender bar. A red LED indicates that the child safety device is active. When pushing the button, the LED is green and you can get started.

The speed can also be regulated using the “SmartSpeed” button. The more pressure, the faster the knife turns. After a two-second break, however, the child safety device is active again and has to be unlocked again - personally, this annoys me a bit during operation. All in all, the Braun MultiQuick 9 is a great work tool that has completely replaced the blender for me in a much more space-saving way. I use it a lot for fruit, smoothies and also to chop nuts and other vegetables.

5. Fruitberry Slow Juicer vs. Smoothies and Centrifugal Juicers

Smoothies and healthy juices are an unstoppable trend in the office too. But instead of buying them, you can also press them yourself. When it comes to smoothies and fresh juices, you basically have different options: Mixing smoothies, buying a cheap centrifugal juicer - or a slow juicer.

With a centrifugal juicer, fruit and vegetables are chopped up with a grating disc – at up to 15.000 revolutions per minute. Thanks to the high rotation speeds, fruit and vegetables are juiced quickly, but heat is also generated, which deprives the juice of valuable nutrients such as vitamins and enzymes. In addition, oxygen gets into the juice, which also damages its quality and shelf life. The same Problem logically you also have it when you make smoothies with a blender or puree stick.

In a juicer such as the Fruitberry Slow Juicer from Klarstein, kindly made available to me by the manufacturer permanently free of charge, the fruits and vegetables are mechanically obtained by the pressed material is crushed eg by slowly rotating screw press - in this case with only 68 revolutions per minute. And leftover pomace is comparatively dry and can be disposed of faster.

The design

The fruits can be put through a 8,5 cm wide filler pipe in large pieces in the juicer and are then almost completely fed. Shell or seeds are sieved thanks to a fine stainless steel micro sieve, so that in the end you really only get fresh juice - this is very convenient if you are too lazy to cut the parts.

Convenient is the small footprint of the device, which has a composite dimension of 16 x 52 x 21 cm (WxHxD). The containers for pomace and juice, each with a liter capacity can be placed separately - you can in this way the juice also run directly into a pot. The device is delivered either in metal optics or stainless steel red.

juice yield

I was thrilled by the high juice yield, it is many times higher than cheaper presses and juicers. The topic of safety is also very important: the engine starts exclusively with the supply port mounted and the safety lock engaged. Four suction feet give the juice machine a stable footing.

Positive is that the pressing mechanism can be completely dismantled in just a few simple steps and cleaned accordingly. A brush is also supplied for this purpose. The design of the device is also well thought out in this respect, so that even the smallest crack can be reached.

Crack point cleaning

A tricky point, however, is the run-out mares for the pomace, not only that it is quickly clogged with fibrous fruits, so that you have to clean it in the middle of the juicing process.

Cleaning the device is a bit time-consuming due to the complicated assembly and disassembly: Each part has to sit correctly and click into place, otherwise it will not start in the end, which is why it needs a few more even after repeated use exercise and be careful not to break anything, especially with the plastic parts. According to the operating instructions, the plastic parts are also not suitable for the dishwasher.

Nevertheless, a highly recommended device that has convinced me by the result of tasty, fresh juices fully - with a good price-performance ratio, because there are also much more expensive devices.

6. Save time with the Klarstein Country-Life bread maker: do it yourself instead of buying it!

Bake bread next to yourself instead of buying it and save time at the same time? Sounds absurd, but that was actually the reason why Klarstein CountryLife as a Time managementtool to test. The result: a good idea!

To understand why a bread maker is an effective time management tool for me, you have to know that fresh bread is for me the staple food I eat for almost anything - and that I have to get it fresh every day.

So for me it was on the Handto make the bread yourself: Thanks to the delivery service, you can always have the ingredients available at home and have them delivered, and the practical thing about a bread maker is that it practically makes the bread itself after it has been filled in.

Clear stone Country Life

The Klarstein Country Life, provided to me by manufacturers for free permanently, comes in the dimensions 32 x 37 x 25 cm therefore (H x W x D) - so it is quite large, edgy, but overall visually very appealing, because he is made of plastic and stainless steel elements.

Depending on the size, you can bake bread from 700 to 1.000 g. At a glance, the Klarstein Country-Life comes with the following features:

• 12 various baking programs, including one for normal bread, a Quick and an Ultrafast program. In addition, there is a timer function of up to 13 hours (run the breakfast bread).
• An LCD display that is also illuminated when the light is switched on.
• A large viewing window with interior lighting, so you can look during the baking process, as the bread looks (because if possible, the lid should not open after the program start).
• Dough hook and baking pan with non-stick coating. According to the instructions, both parts are dishwasher safe, which I would only partially confirm after a first test.
• As an additional accessory, a measuring beaker and a measuring spoon for measuring the ingredients are delivered, as well as a kneading hook to remove the kneading hook from the bread before baking.

The handling

In principle, handling is easy: First you fill in liquids, i.e. water and oil, add salt and flour. The dry yeast is on top. The best baking results are achieved with wheat flour or a mixture of wheat and rye flour, depending on taste Combination with spelled flour.

When sourdough is used, however, sourdough is necessary and it is important to turn on the longer people's program. Even then the rising of the bread does not always work smoothly. The baking time varies according to the selected program and the selected bread size. For a bread of 1.000 g, for example, the baking time is 3 hours and 40 minutes.

The baking result

To selection of the program you only have to click through the menu, determine the bread size and the degree of browning and finally press the start button for 2 seconds. Then you can let the bread maker work for a few hours.

Something annoying for me - especially if you run the program late at night - that the device announces the various stages of its program by loud beeps. But the result is definitely tastier, wholesome and fresher than any bought bread from the supermarket. My conclusion therefore: Highly recommended.

6. Tivoli Art-Cube: Listen to music with the multiroom function

Smart Home is also possible when listening to music If you are looking for a practical, waterproof and inexpensive device with which you can play music at parties, at the table, on the computer in the kitchen or outdoors, and with the practical stereo function, then you should look out for a portable speaker.

After all, such devices are available as standard or optionally with a lithium-ion battery, so that the speakers, which are already very light, can be recharged. One battery charge can take the device with you for a day Energy and thus make it possible to enjoy music outside of your own four walls. However, the Tivoli Art Cube and the two Numan devices are not recommended for this due to their high sensitivity.

If you want to listen to music at home and stay in different rooms, multiroom technology can be helpful. Because you do not necessarily need a large stereo for streaming music or podcasting today, sometimes several small loudspeakers are sufficient to allow you to hear music and sound in every corner of the apartment, and you can easily do so via WLAN or Bluetooth with a mobile phone and PC control - all of course wirelessly. In my setting can even access via Wi-Fi to a NAS connected to the router storage.

The Tivoli Art-Cube could captivate with its size, design and sound. Unfortunately, the multiroom process doesn't work as easily as you might imagine: The Technology is not yet at the point that the advertising would have us believe: turning the music on and off by snapping your fingers or gently tapping on the device - unfortunately it's not that easy yet. In my opinion, the main problem is the connectivity between the individual devices and between devices and the app.

Enjoying music only via app?

You are used to wired devices that you can simply connect speakers from different manufacturers to each other or connect them to any amplifier: This doesn't work with wireless technology: To control the devices wirelessly, you need the app from the respective manufacturer, with which the music can be played via Bluetooth or WiFi. The volume is usually controlled via smartphone or the physical buttons attached to the devices.

With Tivoli only with the app is Multiroom possible, ie the music and podcasts can be played on speakers in different rooms. But the multi-group configuration usually also allows the simultaneous playback of different audio to different speakers. Conversely, this unfortunately means for many devices that via the AUX input no stereo or multi-room function is possible: One can then connect via AUX cable exactly one device to the PC.

Frickeln comes before the music pleasure

It may be practical that the app can also be operated via services such as Spotify. For anyone else who doesn't use Spotify, however, it would be better to simply use the phone's music player or the podcast app to play local audio files. In my opinion, it is also difficult that such devices can hardly be disconnected from the electricity:

Once the speakers have been disconnected from the power, the setup process is set in motion every time - and that means more cumbersome chattering on the devices. After some time, the setup process was even hung up, so I had to do a cumbersome software reset. It was this handling that made me not just cheap speaker then return in the end.

Conclusion: how well does the smart home and office work?

Smart Home Solutions in the household can be extremely exciting, but have their limits: making an old printer or an old washing machine internet-capable is not yet possible with this technology setting. Precisely because the development of smart work equipment, smart home features and the Internet of Things is still in its infancy.

The present technology setting only allows a first glimpse of how a fully networked Workplace or household could be if all devices could be controlled by smartphone in just a few simple steps. It will definitely remain exciting.

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