[Adam Matlock]

“I am the Genie of the lamp!” – This is an iconic phrase from one of the greatest, totally true movies ever created, Aladdin! Aladdin was a real class act kind of guy, a “diamond in the rough” if you will. He even had a cool pet monkey, Abu. Along his journey of mystical wonderment and daring adventure, he found a Genie – not just any Genie though. The Genie that he found was played by the super awesome Robin Williams and granted Aladdin three wishes. On the third wish, Aladdin wished for the Genie to be free. Well, this is where Aladdin messed up. Since he gave the Genie his freedom, there was never any chance of anyone getting anymore wishes… and it took over two decades for eufy to solve the great cosmic mystery and create a Genie of their very own, and this time you get unlimited wishes! Say hello to the eufy Genie, you very own personal home assistant of wonderment!



What is it: The eufy Genie is a voice-activated personal assistant that fulfills your wishes and answers life’s questions. You can ask the Genie to play music, find out what the weather is, or even buy something off of Amazon – it’s powered by Amazon’s Alexa. It’s so nifty you can even add other smart devices to it like eufy’s smart plug, that can be plugged into an outlet and connected to your favorite lamp or power strip, which can then be activated by voice command. Really, the Genie is like a personal information center that you can have perform lots of menial tasks or figure out the answer to important questions, without leaving the comfort of your bed, chair, or room. It’s very similar to the Google Assistant, but is powered by Alexa instead of Google, which I will elaborate on down below.




How does it work: The eufy Genie works just like any other voice assistant… you give it commands – after you set it up of course. Personally, I have mine connected to the one smart plug I have, which is connected to my lamp. All I have to do is say “Ok Alexa, turn on/off the lamp” and it will turn my lamp on or off. You can program any name for any device as well, using the eufyHome app, and Amazon Alexa app on your tablet or phone. For instance, I could name my lamp “Mr. Roboto”, and I could say “Ok Alexa, turn off Mr. Roboto” and it would turn the lamp off – it’s really quite nifty. Other cool things you can do are set alarms, timers, or find out the weather just by simple voice commands, which start with “Ok Alexa.” The “Ok Alexa” command is pretty much the starting point to accessing the all-powerful eufy Genie and activates it so that you can deliver the question or command. It may seem a little odd at first, but after you get used to your personal Genie turning on lamps and setting your alarm before you go to bed, you’ll be hooked!




Ease of use: The eufy Genie is fairly easy to setup. All you have to do is download the eufyHome app on your Android or Apple phone or tablet, and then follow the simple prompts to connect the Genie. That is the most basic instructions for setting it up, and it works well. However, once you start adding other devices it gets a little bit more complicated. There are instructions in the manual for adding additional devices and setting them up through the Alexa app. Unfortunately, it’s like a two-layered system. There is the basic Genie framework, but since it’s powered by Alexa, you have to double setup everything through Alexa to get the voice commands to work. For instance, even if you have the eufy Genie and Smart Plug connected, in order to tell the Genie to turn the switch on or off, you have to download the Alexa app and connect everything through that app as well. It’s a bit redundant and I feel like it slows it down a little, but it does work.

Connectivity: The connectivity of the eufy Genie is a little bit better than Amazon products like the Echo Dot, because it also has connectivity to eufy’s products, like the RoboVac, Smart Bulbs Smart Plugs, and Smart Switches. You can use the eufyHome app to control them manually, or you can take things to the next level to operate them through the Alexa feature. Additionally, Alexa has a wide assortment of wonderful connectivity (over 10,000+ individual skills), such as thermostats, turning on ESPN, playing music on Amazon Music, Spotify, Pandora, etc… activating lights, making phone calls, ordering pizza, adjusting TVs, and controlling pretty much any other smart device you can think of – which is cool. I only have a few smart plugs in my house, but it’s really nice to be able to connect different models and brands of smart accessories to the Genie using Alexa, making my life easier and more convenient.




Is it worth it: The eufy Genie is a novel device, that does lots of novel things at an excellent price – only $17.99 on Amazon, which is nice. When smart home devices first started popping up, they were much pricier, which was a bit of a barrier to most people integrating them into their home. Well, not anymore. Eufy saves the day and offers a great compliment of smart accessories to pair with your eufy Genie, as well as connectivity to tons of third-party accessories, compliments of Alexa! I think it’s entirely worth it, even if it is something simple like controlling a few lamps or lights around the house. You’d think it’s a not worth it, until you save yourself the headache of walking across the living room to turn the lamp on and off all the time or adjusting the thermostat (if applicable). I think it’s a great entry level product that helps you get your foot in the door to making your house a smart home. It’s convenient, inexpensive, and easy to use!

If you’re interested in picking up one of eufy’s Genies, you can find them on Amazon for the low price of $17.99, complete with free Amazon Prime 2-day shipping (if you’re a prime member). Here’s the link: https://www.amazon.com/eufy-Speaker-...UvbUpU13334969 - As always, if you have any questions or comments, please leave them down in the comments section.