INTRODUCTION

   One of the most important things I’ve been neglecting almost my entire life has been air quality and more importantly indoor air quality at both my house and office. I first became aware of this when i purchased the HP04 Pure Hot + Cool purifier by Dyson a couple of years ago which also happens to have a very useful built-in air quality sensor (reports the number of airborne particles and gases in real time). Of course, after finding out that air quality was not quite as good as i thought it was i took things a step further by going out and getting several air purifiers for both my home and office (multi-filter HEPA models). Still even though all these purifiers do have built-in air quality sensors they are all somewhat basic ones meaning none of them really reports on everything and this is exactly where smart indoor air quality monitors like the one manufactured by Netatmo come in.

   Netatmo is a leading smart home company that creates simple and smart products for a safer, more comfortable home. Since its launch in 2011, Netatmo has been committed to designing products that are: 100% inclusive: no subscription fees or extra costs, 100% secure: data protection and privacy guaranteed and 100% upgradeable: free upgrades and features added regularly. To date, Netatmo has launched 13 smart home devices and accessories. Helpful and easy to use, these products make everyone’s daily life easier while improving well-being at home. In addition to its consumer product lines, the company collaborates with key leaders of the building industry through its “with Netatmo” program to develop smart solutions that integrate into the home’s infrastructure. In 2018, Netatmo joined the Legrand Group, a global specialist in electrical and digital building infrastructures. Netatmo, same home, just smarter.

   The smart indoor air quality monitor is an aluminum cylindrical enclosure inside which Netatmo has squeezed numerous sensors capable of accurately measuring room temperature, noise, humidity and Carbon dioxide (CO2). Of course, the device also comes ready with WiFi (802.11 b/g/n) connectivity which allows it to communicate with your local network to make its results available on your smartphone via the Netatmo Android/iOS home coach app (you can pair an unlimited number of monitors with their app). To easier monitor air quality Netatmo has also placed a vertical LED light at the front of the enclosure (lights up when you tap the top button) which changes color according to the amount of CO2 in the air. Overall, the smart indoor air quality monitor by Netatmo seems like a very useful little device so let's see if that's really the case or not.

SPECIFICATIONS AND FEATURES

PACKAGING AND CONTENTS

Netatmo is very forthcoming about their air quality monitor since at the front they are very clear at what it measures and of course how it looks.

On the left side we find the main product features printed in 6 languages.

A quick look at the home coach Android/iOS app is placed on the right side.

The main product features are also listed at the rear right over a product picture.

Packing is more than sufficient with the air quality monitor placed between two pieces of cardboard.

Just the microUSB wall adapter and the user manual are placed inside the box.

THE SMART INDOOR AIR QUALITY MONITOR

Standing 155mm in height and 45mm in diameter the Netatmo device is a medium-sized air quality monitor.

Instead of an on/off LED the Netatmo device has a long vertical LED which turns on when you press the top button and changes color according to the current level of CO2 pollution.

At the rear of the device, we find the microUSB power port and a 2D barcode.

The top button is made out of plastic and since i do enjoy using the home coach app it's not something I’ve used more than 2-3 times.

Here you can see how the LED looks when air quality is within normal levels.

HOME COACH APP

The Netatmo home coach app is something everyone with their air quality monitor should be using and as expected it does require a quick signup.

Setting up the device is fast and also includes a quick check for a new firmware update (which is done automatically).

There are three profiles you can use with the app depending on the who it's meant for (i chose family for my test).

You also get notified as to what the colors of the app mean depending on the air quality measurements.

From the settings tab you can change the name of the device, switch between profiles, set the time zone, enable automatic light, add/remove users, configure the notifications, check the WiFi signal strength and see which firmware version is installed.

The app also allows you to recalibrate its sensors just in case they are not measuring things properly.

Some users may be glad to see that the app has both light and dark modes.

As expected, the main product screen (takes a while for all measurements to appear at first) lists everything including temperature, humidity, air quality and noise levels (pressing on each of them reveals easy to understand graphs).

CONCLUSION

   When i first took the Netatmo smart indoor air quality monitor out of its box the very first thing i thought was that i simply didn't like its color (honestly i think that color is mostly meant for women, not men). Still at the end of the day that comes down to personal preference so naturally i focused on its features and performance which is why in the end i did place it in my bedroom (opposite to the Dyson HP04 and one of my other air purifiers) and have left it there ever since. Now for the good news, the Netatmo device is quite reliable/accurate in terms of measuring temperature, noise, humidity and CO2 levels but it's far from what I’d consider a complete air monitor. The reason being that it doesn't measure other air pollutants like particulate matter (PM2.5-PM10), Carbon monoxide or chemicals like pesticides. For example, aside temperature and humidity the Dyson HP04 also measures PM2.5-PM10, nitrogen dioxide (NO2 - and oxidising gases in general) and volatile organic compounds (VOCs) so it's clearly a more "complete" air quality monitor (still that's one of its secondary features which means it’s not 100% accurate). On the other hand, all the other air purifiers i have here only measure PM2.5 so they are quite basic in that regard as well. What no other purifier I have here has however is a built-in audio/noise sensor and that’s something that some people may use as a secondary alarm device (someone entering the room and making noise for example or something happening just outside). Yes, this has nothing to do with an air quality monitor but it can come in handy so why not right?

   The smart indoor air quality monitor by Netatmo currently retails for USD99.99 inside the USA (Amazon.com) and for 99.95Euros inside the EU (Amazon.de) a price tag which is quite balanced for one such product. Again, however the Netatmo smart indoor air quality monitor is targeted towards people who have use for its sensors so before getting your hands on one you need to know exactly what you want to monitor (if for example you want PM2.5-PM10 or VOCs this is not for you). If, however you do have need for all the sensors Netatmo has squeezed inside i strongly recommend giving it a chance.

PROS

- Design
- Sensors (Temperature / Humidity / Noise / CO2)
- Front LED Indicator
- Home Coach App
- Easy To Use
- Price (For Some)

CONS

- Air Quality Sensors (No PM2.5, PM10, CO, VOCs, NO2 Sensors)
- Device Color (For Some)