Review on Proteus AMBIO: Smart Wifi Temperature Humidity Sensor with Buzzer & Alerts by Justin Puranik

After reading positive reviews I expected MUCH better BUT VERY DISAPPOINTED with this product. In short, this is VERY POORLY designed hardware and software at this price point ($100). I'm not sure what the incentive was for those 5 star reviews or people just have low expectations of the technology. COMMENTS: Typical Chinese quality you would expect from a cheap plastic toy, not a $100 product. You get an inferior block of plastic and a separate 3.5mm cable (similar to an external speaker) with what is said to be a temperature sensor at the end (see image). Connect this to the bottom of the device. This already meant that the sensor was not really integrated into the device. The instructions were pretty basic but with no illustrations for non-technical types. Not terrible, but then again, we're talking about a $100 product. So let's move on to the pros and cons: - The device was quite compact and its interface allows it to be plugged directly into a wall outlet to avoid power cords. - The temperature readings were pretty accurate. So if they've been used for pets, you should be fine, assuming the device doesn't fail. CONS: - After plugging in, I heard a hissing/whining noise similar to a small fan or something. Not very noisy but enough to annoy you especially if you want to sleep nearby. It never went away. Not sure if it was a unique device or if they all do. - Mediocre instructions. - A sensor with a cable hanging from the device is just nonsense, and again cheap technology for this price range. Lose the sensor and I'm sure your readings will be very inaccurate. This traveling cable sensor reduces the development costs of an embedded sensor. I'm sure the development team will say that this allows longer sensors to be connected (i.e. plug them inside and the cable outside). Well this should be an option and not the norm to get accurate readings. If no cable is connected, you will get zeros everywhere. So if you lose/damage it, you will lose your $100.- NO developed (downloadable) device monitoring APP for iOS or Android. Revain's post and instructions would lead you to believe that it is, but it's just a workaround. Place an icon on your home screen that depends on your Safari browser for login and monitoring. Again, this is unacceptable for a $100 product. It's just lazy and cheap product/software development. I expect $25 not $100. Grandpa will most likely never figure out how to put this icon on the home screen. The web interface has browser limitations, is difficult to read on a phone, and is a pre-built HTML5 template with very basic dropdown functionality. For example, to insert your email notifications and text #s, they force the user to enter raw comma-separated values (CSV) instead of taking user input and using plain HTML to generate the CSV file (see fig. ). Lazy, lazy and cheap at the expense of users. Skip one space per line and good luck getting your notifications while your pet is cooking in the RV or at home. Finally, they actually have an "Advanced Mode" to try and squeeze additional (useless) features out of you that aren't included. Indeed? Overall, I would be very reluctant to spend $100 on this product or trust my pets with such cheap hardware and software technology. It works (for now), but I have doubts about its durability and don't trust the web monitoring platform it's installed on. It's definitely coming back! This is why I love Prime & Free Returns.