Roku, one of the most familiar brands in the media-streaming business, is expanding into the smart home market. The company now offers a line of products—with a focus on smart lighting and home security—that will be sold at Walmart stores as well as at Walmart.com and Roku.com, starting today.
To help it get off the ground, Roku is putting its brand on smart light bulbs and lighting strips, smart plugs, video doorbells, and home security cameras manufactured by Wyze Labs. News about this development leaked on Monday after Zatz Not Funny’s Dave Zatz spotted a discussion of the new product line on Reddit.
Roku will offer its white LED smart bulbs, manufactured by Wyze Labs, in 1-packs for $6.88 each and in 4-packs for $23.99
Roku
Users will set up and control the new Roku smart devices using the Roku Smart Home mobile app for Android and iOS. Roku will also offer a subscription service that includes cloud storage for video recordings, smart alerts, package delivery notifications, and more. Roku says its new cameras, including its doorbell camera, will integrate with the Roku TV Operating System so that live streams from the cameras can be seen on a connected TV.
The Roku Smart Home product line will consist of 1- and 4-packs of a 60-watt-equivalent white A19 LED smart bulb, 1- and 2-packs of a color A19 smart bulb, 16.4- and 32.8-foot color LED light strips, 1- and 2-packs of an indoor smart plug, an outdoor smart plug, wired and wireless video doorbells with chimes, indoor and outdoor security cameras, an indoor pan/tilt security camera, and an outdoor wired floodlight camera.
Roku
The new gear will come in familiar-looking purple boxes with Roku branding, but there will be no mistaking them for anything other than re-branded Wyze Labs smart home devices. Not that that’s a bad thing—we’re consistentlyu impressed with the value that Wyze can deliver for the dollar.
Speaking of dollars, none of Roku’s new smart home products will cost more than $100. Here’s the complete price list:
- Roku Video Doorbell & Chime SE: $79.99
- Roku Wire-free Video Doorbell & Chime SE: $99.99
- Roku Outdoor Wired Camera SE: $49.99
- Roku Outdoor Camera SE: $73.99
- Roku Floodlight Camera SE: $99.99
- Roku Indoor Camera SE: $26.99
- Roku Indoor Camera SE: $49.99 (2-pack)
- Roku Indoor Camera 360 SE (pan/tilt): $39.99
- Roku Indoor Smart Plug SE (1-pack): $8.88
- Roku Indoor Smart Plug SE (2-pack): $13.99
- Roku Outdoor Smart Plug SE: $14.99
- Roku Smart Light Strip SE: $22.99 (16.4 feet)
- Roku Smart Light Strip SE: $44.99 (32.8 feet)
- Roku Smart Bulb SE: $6.88 (white, 1-pack)
- Roku Smart Bulb SE (white, 4-pack): $23.99
- Roku Smart Bulb SE: $9.88 (color, 1-pack)
- Roku Smart Bulb SE (color, 2-pack): $17.99
Author: Michael Brown, Executive Editor, TechHive
Michael is TechHive's lead editor, with 30+ years of experience covering smart homes, home networking, and home audio/home theater. He holds a BA in Multimedia Journalism, authored the book Desktop Video Production, and was awarded Best Online Review by the Computer Press Association. Michael built a smart home in 2007 and used it as a real-world product-testing lab. Now living in the Pacific Northwest, he is converting his 1890 Victorian bungalow into a modern smart home. Michael has worked at CNET, PCWorld, Electronic Musician, and Maximum PC. As a freelancer, he contributed to New Media, Camcorder, MacWeek, and more.