With SpaceSense, Wiz has a striking and interesting technology. With this go dThe smart lamps turn on and off when you walk through your home, and that is not done via a sensor, but via WiFi detection technology. Read in this review how and whether SpaceSense works well.
As a sister of Philips Hue, Wiz has been active in the field of smart lighting since 2016, including an app. The new WiZ V2 app now also includes the SpaceSense technology developed by Wiz, which is based on WiFi detection technology: with two Wiz lamps, the lamps switch on without the need for special (motion) sensors and batteries.
SpaceSense technology
SpaceSense uses WiFi signals that are already present in a space (room) to detect movement. These Wi-Fi signals are slightly disrupted when people move around a room. Because of these small deviations in the signal strength, the WiZ lamps can therefore determine whether an object (ie someone) is moving in the room. SpaceSense will then automatically illuminate your room when you enter and switch off again when no more movement is detected. You can adjust the sensitivity of the system, for example to prevent your pets from switching the lights on and off while they run in and out of the room. To use SpaceSense, you need to install at least 2 Wiz lights per room and connect them to the WiZ app V2. Incidentally, almost all lamps that Wiz has released since September 2021 should work with this, but that is not entirely certain.
SpaceSense pros and cons
A nice advantage of Spacesense is that you do not have to work with motion sensors in a room: you can simply place the Wiz lamps. You also don’t need a camera, hub, facial recognition, cloud (storage) or anything else, and that also saves costs. Another advantage is that you can set different time zones and light modes. In addition, you can set the sensitivity so that the lights do not come on when your pet walks in. Finally, Wiz wants to support the Matter standard, which you’ll read more about shortly.
Disadvantages of SpaceSense are that not all Wiz lamps are supported yet and that there are limitations if you use mesh networks or WiFi repeaters at home. It may then be that the two lamps connect to two different transmitters, repeaters or WiFi points in your home, with the result that SpaceSense does not work. The FAQ does provide more information on how to configure your network. It is also a pity that SpaceSense does not work with the products of big brother Philips Hue. It does work for most new WiZ products introduced after September 2021 and all Connected by WiZ products, Philips Smart LED and other brands that work on the WiZ connected app.
Set up and use SpaceSense
You can easily set up the new function in the WiZ V2 app. Select the tab in it Automation at the bottom and you will see the feature SpaceSense appear at the top right. Press that and then the circle with the plus sign in it. (article continues below the image)
Now you can specify a room that you want to react to motion and you can do that for more rooms afterwards. You can now indicate when SpaceSense should be active, how the lamps should be activated and after how much time the lamps should be off if there has been no movement.
It’s in my living room:
from 07:05 to 08:15 lights on True Color, 100%
from 17:15 to 18:30 lights on True Colors, 100%
from 18:30 to 22:00 lights on TV time, 100%
from 23:30 to 07:05 lights on Comfortable, 30%
Please note: I am therefore energy efficient, because the lamps automatically switch off again if someone does not move or is present for 4 minutes. If you are watching TV, you can easily set the timer to half an hour.
Privacy and security
Privacy and security are of great importance in WiZ’s smart lighting system. As mentioned, SpaceSense detects movement through the disruption in WiFi waves that is caused by the movement of the user. It does not detect the exact location of people, nor does it recognize faces. All detection data is processed locally without being sent to the internet or a cloud service. This feature is fully opt-in, so that all WiZ users can decide for themselves whether or not they want to use it.
Conclusion SpaceSense
SpaceSense is an innovative and beautiful technique from Wiz where you don’t need all kinds of devices to ‘turn on’ the lamp. Add to that the setting of different time zones, light modes and sensitivity and the price / quality, then you can safely come home with Spacesense.
Wiz SpaceSense
+ no sensor, camera, hub, face recognition, cloud service, etc. needed
+ setting different time zones, light modes and sensitivity
+ good value for money
– not all Wiz bulbs are supported
– mesh network and wifi repeater restrictions
– no collaboration with Philips Hue products