Honeywell Challenges Google's Nest With A New Smart Thermostat That Responds To Your Phone's Location
Honeywell's Lyric thermostat is designed to adjust your home's temperature based on your smartphone's location.
It goes on sale in August for $279. For comparison's sake, the Nest thermostat costs $249.
So, for example, if you're in your bedroom, the Lyric would be able to change the temperature in that room to fit your preferences while cutting back on other areas of the home.
You can also set certain presets based on events. Setting the thermostat to "Party," for example, will presumably tell the device to provide a temperature that would be comfortable for a room crowded with people.
Like Nest's smart thermostat, the Lyric works with an app that's compatible with iOS and Android, which allows the owner to manually control the device.
Honeywell claims that the Lyric automatically accounts for factors such as outside temperature and humidity to create a comfortable temperature in your home through a feature called Fine Tune.
Here's a look at the Lyric and its accompanying app:
Here's the main screen which shows the temperature inside and outside.
HoneywellThe Honeywell Lyric
And a breakdown of the outdoor weather for the day in six-hour increments:
HoneywellThe Honeywell Lyric
You can tell the thermostat how long you'll be gone so it can adjust the temperature accordingly.
HoneywellThe Honeywell Lyric
Here's app's home screen, which displays the temperatures in your house and lets you make adjustments based on certain events, the time you leave and return home, and other factors.
HoneywellThe Lyric's accompanying iOS app
The announcement comes just as major consumer tech companies such as Apple and Google are placing more emphasis on connected home features. Google purchased Nest Labs in January for $3.2 billion, and Apple just revealed it's smart home platform called HomeKit, which would enable you to control devices in your home using your iPhone.