von Today we are testing another SmartHome device for you, but this time not a lamp or switch or something like that, but a sensor. Eve Degree is a HomeKit compatible weather station. But what it can do and if it is worth buying, we will find out together today.
What can a HomeKit weather station do?
Eve Degree offers a variety of possibilities to get information about the weather on your own doorstep. The device communicates via Bluetooth, just like other devices from Eve. On the one hand this has the advantage that the battery life is relatively long. Unfortunately, this also means that the most current information is not always available. In addition, the range is relatively limited as known. It is therefore advisable to mount the sensor close to an Apple TV or HomePod.
The device has a very simple design, at the same time it looks very high quality. The front is completely black, the display is inverted compared to normal ones. The device itself only shows the current temperature on the display. The frame of the device is made of aluminium.
Two values are transferred to the HomeKit protocol, on one side the temperature, on the other side the current relative humidity
The Eve App is worth it
However, HomeKit itself cannot display the temperature curve. However, this is possible via the Eve app. Here, the current air pressure is also displayed.
In the Eve App the temperature of the last days, hours or weeks is displayed in a nicely prepared graph. This also works when no Bluetooth device is connected, because Eve Degree saves the data itself and only deletes it after retrieval. In addition, the app can be used to set the very important information whether the temperature should be displayed in Fahrenheit or degrees Celsius.
Siri, how hot is it?
Of course, the current temperature can also be queried with Siri. By default, however, you have to ask the following, rather cumbersome question: “Hey Siri, how warm is it in the room “Garden”? There is also the possibility to shorten the question a bit by developing a corresponding short command.
Siri only answers with whole degrees, the digits after the comma are simply ignored. We haven’t found a solution for this yet either.
Eve Degree is designed as an outdoor weather station. It is of course protected against rain and snow. Further values than those mentioned are not recorded, however. For indoor use, Eve offers Eve Room, a sensor that can measure not only the temperature but also the air quality.
Of course, Eve Degree can also be used in other short commands, e.g. temperature-dependent automations can be created.
Conclusion on Eve Degree
Eve Degree is an addition to the SmartHome, which also makes the weather station smart. The test showed that depending on the position, Eve Degree unfortunately does not replace a normal weather station, because a glance at the thermometer is still faster. In addition, it often happened that Siri read an old temperature reading and only called up the current temperature again at a second or third time. Unfortunately, the HomeKit app does not show when the value was last updated.
The temperature curves on the other hand are very exciting, here you can see exactly how many degrees it was when for your own garden. And of course, thanks to automation, you can also create warnings if, for example, the temperature falls below 0 degrees at night for the first time in autumn. Whether the purchase is worthwhile, everyone has to judge for himself, this also depends on how you want to integrate the device. The weather station itself does a very good job.
