So if you’ve been to the Apple store looking for Apple Home gadgets, chances are you’ve seen Elgato’s Eve smart home Lineup which includes the Room, Door & Window, Outdoor, Energy and Motion. I am generally impressed with the overall lineup that Elgato has come up. However, there is one or two products that I’m not sure how useful they are in real life. If you’ve been watching enough of my videos, you’ll know that I’m particularly fond of the Eve Room.

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Check out the Elgato Eve lineup on Amazon!
Amazon US: https://shreh.ca/2vjraZZ
Amazon CA: https://shreh.ca/2vjCsh0
Amazon UK: https://shreh.ca/2vjtMHm
Amazon DE: https://shreh.ca/2vjtLDi

Or get it on eBay: https://shreh.ca/2vk5qNL

So lets start with the Eve Motion sensor which detects motion up to a distance of 9 m or 30 ft in a 120 degree arch. The Eve Motion sensor can be mounted outside since it has an IPx3 rating but that doesn’t mean it can handle a torrential downpour. You’re still going to need to mount under an overhang or somewhere with a bit of cover.

Like all Elgato Eve products, the Motion sensor is powered by two Double A’s which is a little annoying but it does allow it to be quite portable. I personally haven’t found much use for the sensor indoors since the FOV is too wide. If you’re looking for something to use indoors with a finer FOV, consider getting the more expensive DLink Omna which allows you to be specific with which area to detect motion in.

For my home, the only place I can really find a use for the Eve Motion is to set it up outside, near my garage so that every time I walk towards the house, lights can come on. This is done through an Apple Home Automation so if you like walking into a lit house at night, you'll need the Eve motion. If you need a bit more information on the different types of Automations, check out that intro video.

I will note that the sensor will not work behind a window you will need to find a place to mount it in the room or area that you want to track motion in.

The Elgato Eve app will track all the times the Eve Motion gets triggered which might be handy for some people but I can’t think of why I would use it my home.

Next up we have the Eve Outdoor Sensor. This is one of the sensors that I’m not sure how useful it is. The Eve Outdoor sensor provides environmental data on temperature, humidity and air pressure. Now personally, I have never paid attention to outdoor humidity or air pressure when I’m home but some people might need the information. My biggest issue with this sensor is that it is easier for me to look at the 7 dollar thermometer than it is to pull out my app and wait for the device to sync.

Being able to access the temperature data remotely is neat but again, why would I need that?

The Eve Outdoor is powered by two Double A batteries and like the Eve Motion, has an water resistance rating of IPx3 which means it can’t handle heavy rains so again, put it somewhere protected.

Onto the Eve door & Window. This is a wireless contact sensor that will tell you if something is closed or open. So put it on a door, on a sliding door, your pantry and window. I personally don't have much use for this type of sensor but that may change since I'm just about to become a dad and I've been told little human beings get into everything. So knowing if a door is open remotely is probably going to be handy at some point in time.

You can set the Door& Window sensor in a couple of different ways as the contact do not have to be 100% lined up in order for the sensor to trigger.

The Eve door & Window isn't powered by Double A's but rather a tiny 1/2 AA. This sensor has been in use for about 5 weeks now and the battery is still good. You can use the open/close information to trigger an apple home automation. With this sensor type, you can set it up so that anytime it is triggered, you're iPhone gets a notification. That's quite handy.

Onto the Eve Room sensor which is my favourite out of this group and is the most expensive. With that being said, I'm not sure how useful continuous air quality monitoring is to me because in my whirlwind of reviewing products and testing, I removed the Eve Room from last Apple Home setup and have no data on my air quality for the last month.

What surprised me the most about the Eve Room when I got it was discovering how poor the air quality was in my office. It wasn't because of poor air circulation but because of my laser printer. Apparently that was killing me slowly?

The Eve Room sensor will also measure temperature and humidity which is less interesting to me than the air quality. One of the things that the current Apple Home app is missing is the ability to trigger off of data provided by these sensors. For example, if the humidity got too high or the temperature got too low, I should be able to trigger Apple Home to turn on a heater through a smart plug. It can't do that just yet.