There are thousands of home automation products that get announced every year. Some of them are brilliant, and some of them are frankly useless. We need first-generation ideas and rehashes of old ideas. There are even some stupid ideas for your smart homes. What makes most of these silly products stupid is not that they don't work (although some do not) but because they don't make your home smarter - they make you work harder.

At BRAVAS, we want to start highlighting some of the products that we see that make your home smarter and your life easier. Not all these solutions will make sense to all homeowners, but they may solve a specific problem or spark an idea. Some of our focus products may not fit your home automation platform, but we may solve an issue with a product that does. Let us know if we can help with that.

January Product of the month: Savant Smart Audio WiSA Soundbar 55

The Savant Smart Audio WiSA Soundbar 55 is a different type of soundbar and was recently feature in The Rolling Stone Essentials 2020 list at number 12. The interesting elements here is that it’s more than just a sound bar – it’s a mini-home automation system. More of that in a moment, but let’s discuss the sound.

The base system includes a pair of surround speakers, and a solo sub. They added a second subwoofer to bring out the intensity in everything from music to action flicks to gaming. Everything is controlled through the Savant Pro Remote X2 and, but you can of course use Savant Pro app if you are a Savant user.  The Soundbar 55 is also WiSA compliant, giving them wireless capability that delivers superb sound quality anywhere in the home for 2-channel or multi-channel entertainment systems. The scalable WiSA wireless platform transmits high-resolution 24-bit digital audio at 48 kHz/96kHz with less than 1/10th the latency of a Bluetooth audio device, keeping movie soundtracks and music content in perfect sync.

The bar can also play Dolby Digital and DTS stereo/multichannel processors onboard. When it receives a 5.1-channel multichannel input, each channel array gets the straight audio signal as it would from a more expensive receiver, with no spatial processing to enhance imaging or otherwise mess with the sound. The only accommodation in that regard is the addition of a side-firing, 0.75-inch cloth dome tweeter on each endcap that's intended to subtly widen the soundstage.

All of that is great but it’s not the reasons why we made this our product of the month.

Of course, what makes the soundbar different is that behind the grill is a home automation engine – the smart part. Included with the soundbar is powerful Savant home control processor, what Savant calls a Host. This processor, equivalent of the company's mid-level S2 Host, allows you to run the Savant Pro App on your smartphone or tablet or use Pro Remote X2 handheld touchscreen remote to control not only your A/V system but much more. If installed in a media room or private cinema, it can create a one button system to close the shades, turn down the lights and set the spaces for maximum emersion.

So even if you are not a Savant home, you can still get an all-in-one stand-alone system. If you do not have a control system in your home, then it is worth remembering that Savant supports interfaces for lighting, shades, climate control, door locks, security cameras, and niche devices like pool heaters, garage door openers, etc. For existing Savant users, this soundbar will become part of your whole home solution.

 

For many people, Savant's smart soundbar may be a gateway to home automation, but it distinguishes itself first through its excellent sound quality.