The nCube is a compact, light, blue and simple design for making the management of your smart home simpler in a very crowded smart-home space. The tidy little box quietly sits on your network either through WiFi or directly into your router within your home. It connects all the smart home devices with different communication protocol (WiFi, LAN, Z-Wave or Bluetooth) together.
The nCube is different to your typical smart hubs that manage internet traffic and parental controls, a good comparison is a hands-on version of IFFTT for smart devices. Create automation “cubes” for your devices just like IFFTT recipes.
The box it arrived in was a simple as the unit itself and it was not difficult to see what needed to be done but sadly I was wrong to try to jump straight in. My first attempt was to connect the iOS app to the WiFi signal direct from the box, however, after numerous attempts, the application could not connect regardless that I was connected through the WiFi settings on my iPad. In hindsight, I wish I tried my Android phone which later worked first time.
Next stop, I plugged the nCube unit directly into my AmpliFi unit using the supplied Ethernet cable. I stopped using the iPad application due to continuous problems, but the Android application worked smoothly once connected. Once the nCube can be seen on your network, the application on your phone guides you through the next steps and you are required to enter an activation code to get through the registration process which is hidden under a rubber flap under the nCube unit, this was slightly annoying due to the placement of the unit but we got up and running quite swiftly after that.
Once you enter the menu system of the nCube, the next step is to discover all your assets (or smart toys) to begin managing your smart home and to begin your journey creating your own cubes.
For the purpose of the review, I setup a couple of mobiles, Sky box and an Amazon Echo which were all in my front room at the time but a full list can be found at https://ncubehome.co.uk/pages/in-the-groove-with. The application also gave you options to setup cubes and loads of automation options. The application enables you to connect devices you don’t normally associate together but to serve a purpose for example lights and pumps in a fish tank.
The box does have access to lots of smart devices which can be typically managed by the likes of Alexa and co, but for those who are quite visual and hands-on, it is a nice solution. The options for making your house very smart isn’t limited to a particular brand but it is only limited by your imagination and the size of your pocket!