How smart do you want your home to be? The current range of Eve gadgets from Elgato is wide and growing. So, whatever you want to do, well, you probably can. 

Let's start with the plugs, for many people the first contact they have with the smart home. The convenience of turning on the bedside light as you struggle upstairs with your book and glass of water can be enough for many to dabble their toes in the smart home world.  

 

What's more, unlike some systems, Elgato Eve doesn't require you to buy a home hub or bridge that's attached by cable to your router, say. It connects your gadget to your smart home network via the Eve app or the Apple Home app, say, but without other hardware in between. So, no starter pack, no bridge, no wiring.  And it's all set up with an exceptionally easy install process that's ready to go in minutes.

HomeHub is Apple Speak for the Apple TV. What's more, unlike some systems, Elgato Eve doesn't require you to attach a bridge to your router, say. It uses Bluetooth to enable direct control from the Eve app or the Apple Home app on the iPhone, say, without other hardware in between. Same for access from outside your home, where Eve uses your Apple TV or iPad as a hub. So, no starter pack, no bridge, no wiring. And it's all set up with an exceptionally easy install process that's ready to go in minutes. 

The way the Eve Energy will turn almost any gadget into a smart one is genius. That light, kettle, radio, coffee maker and so on becomes that much more useful if you can turn it on with a tap of a smartphone app or just saying, "Hey, Siri, turn on the kettle". Handy when you want to find the water's boiled by the time you get downstairs in the morning. And since Eve Energy monitors electricity consumption, it can let you know exactly how much power you're using and how much that appliance is likely to cost per year. Like other items in the range, the Eve Energy can be used in scenes that you set up, so your Morning scene turns off the light, fires up the coffee maker and warms the towel rail. 

If your morning routine works better with a light that's in the wall, not on a plug, Elgato can sort that with the Eve Light Switch. With this, those bulbs are similarly made smart by the elegant wall-mounted switch. No need for special smart bulbs. They can be automated to come on at sunset or a set time. You can remotely turn the lights on if you prefer, or if you know the porch light should be on this evening so your neighbour can see to drop back the DVD they borrowed. And with Siri voice control, you can achieve all this with a quick word to your iPhone, iPad or Apple Watch, for instance. 

Then there's security, and Eve has several products here. Eve Door & Window is a wireless sensor that attaches to your door or window and can tell you whether a door, cabinet, window or safety gate is open or closed, from wherever you are. If you're away from home, you'll get a notification if any of these sensors move and a door or window is opened. Or closed. Similarly, you can create an automated scene so that when the sensor on the front door opens, your hall and living room lights come on and your smart speaker starts your relaxing playlist.

Eve Motion is a motion detector that is wireless and entirely portable so you can move it when you want to. Link it with other products and as you walk into the bedroom, that Eve Energy-equipped bedside lamp turns on, without a word. Eve Motion will also let you know by notification to your phone if it spots movement when you're not expecting any. It's water-resistant, too, so you can put it outdoors as well. It'll keep a record of when it spotted movement which you can refer to afterwards in the Eve app. And it works for more than just security - you could set it so that all the lights in a room go off automatically if there's no movement for 10 minutes, say. 

A smart home can be a healthy home thanks to Eve Room which monitors the air quality, humidity and temperature. This way, if the sensor spots the air quality isn't what it should be, you will know to open a window, for example. If you find you're sneezing, then information from Eve Room can tell you the room's too humid, or too dry. Or if you just can't get to sleep, then the Eve Room could confirm what you suspected: that it's too warm in the bedroom.  

Then, there's Eve Degree, a connected weather station which is small and decidedly cute. It's similar to Eve Room but with a clear CD screen that shows the temperature in the bedroom, or greenhouse, or wherever - it's wireless, after all. You can even check the temperature in the wine cellar from wherever you are.

Speaking of temperature, you can control that to a very detailed level thanks to Eve Thermo, a radiator valve which controls what that individual radiator is up to. You can turn on the living room radiator from the comfort of your bed if you're rising earlier than usual for once. Or set a schedule that turns that radiator on or off exactly when you want it each day. And unlike a non-smart radiator valve, this one actually shows you the temperature in a digital display.

Finally, there's Eve Button, which lets you turn on a switch or activate a scene you've created, just by touching this portable, wireless button. Handy if a family visitor isn't sure about this new-fangled smart stuff but understands the principle of pressing a button. Great for the kids without them having to have access to your iPhone or iPad. And it's versatile because it responds to three different commands: a short press, a long press or a double-press. 

Overall, there's a lot a smart home can do to make your life easier, more seamless and more fun. And Elgato Eve has pretty much all of it covered.