Amazon Smart Air Quality Monitor – Know your air, Works with Alexa

Using to monitoring indoor midwest air quality for sinuses and allergies
The Air Quality Monitor (AQM) market is horrible for consumers. I settled on the Amazon branded AQM as it was affordable, it seemed relatively decent in regard to what it can monitor, and of course it works with Alexa so there is some added convenience. I should mention that I do not overly rely on digital assistants, I don’t really have a smart home but I do have a few devices that have Alexa. I also did some research (mostly on YouTube)on AQM’s and most of the affordable options, especially on Amazon, were inaccurate and manipulative. During the fall and winter months in the mid-west something strange happens to the air (there are also a ton of farms within a 10 mile radius of where I reside). It’s nice to have more localized idea of what’s going on with the air quality. The Amazon AQM does not give many details but it gives you some valuable insight and that’s what I want as I do have some troubles with sinuses and allergies. I’ve only been using it for a few days now and I plan on getting a few more of these AQM’s as it has been picking up some air quality anomalies. I’ll admit that when these were first released I thought they were gimmicky and another way for Amazon to make money but I kept hearing great things about these little units so I decided to get one to try it out. As for how accurate it is, I really have no idea so I’m trusting Amazon and the unit. The temp and humidity levels seems to be spot on though as it is spot on with my analog and digital weather stations. I would recommend this unit but you have to have Alexa so you can set it up and get updates. If you don’t use Alexa, I believe by default it will alert you with light color changes (green, yellow, and red) as to the current air quality. It does not have any other capabilities other than monitoring temp, humidity, particulate matter, CO, and VOC’s and then it gives you a air quality measurement based on those five readings.

It really works well AND allows for triggering routines.
It works very well and is insanely easy to set up. So far as I’ve been able to find, it’s the only sensor that can trigger a routine based on temperature (or other environmental factors) without involving IFTTT or a Zigby device with a hub. Yes, it’s more expensive than most but it just WORKS and that makes me happy.I use this to trigger the fan speeds on my window AC. Above a certain temp it kicks it into high. Below, it kicks it to low. The ECO setting on most window AC units, including mine, rely on the temperature sensor that is right up against the unit. I’ve found there is generally a 3-4 degree difference between that and the actual room temperature. This means that it often doesn’t work properly for me. I tried a few other sensors and discovered that while they worked and showed up in Alexa, you couldn’t actually DO anything with them except get Alexa to tell you the interior temperature. This device solved that problem.Now for the bad stuff. First, the light. I was happy to see that you can turn it off. I was unhappy to find that even if it’s off, if the temperature, humidity, CO2 level, etc., gets too high it turns on a red light you CAN’T turn off. It’s very bright and very annoying. I mean, yay for looking out for me but maybe the alarm on my phone is better suited as a warning…? The red light is just annoying.Next we have the Alexa integration. Like I said before, it sets up super easy and that’s awesome. But after a bit I noticed a few things that started to annoy me. Once working, you have to constantly find the icon/button for the device. You cannot add it to favorites or anything like that. Once you’re in it gives you a number that is an overall air quality score. Cool. However, the icon/button also has this score so it feels repetitive. It would be great if you could select which number you want the icon to show so you don’t need to open it to find the temperature or whatever is most important to you.That brings me to another point. You HAVE to use the Alexa app. There’s no widget or anything. Now, I realize that I wanted it to work with Alexa and I’m glad it’s so seamless but the Alexa app is kinda clunky and a PITA if all you want is to know what the temperature in the room is. Sure, I could just ask Alexa but then I have to turn the volume up or something in order to hear it, assuming it understands what I ask for and doesn’t try to play me “Temperature” by Sean Paul for the billionth time… and if you have your volume up, leads to loud music suddenly and a whole bunch of attempts to get it to shut up, etc.. So yeah, it’d be nice if I could just look at the Echo Show screen (you think they’d find a way to use it) or at my phone quickly since it doesn’t have a screen on the device.For me, the worst thing is that you can’t turn any of it off or tell what information it may be collecting and to whom it may be sending it. There’s no information readily available about it. Now, maybe that’s because it doesn’t actually collect anything but it’s be nice if they would just say that. As to the turning parts off, I’m a smoker so every time I smoke a cigarette, it lets me know that my Particulate Matter score is getting bad. After a while I feel like it’s just mothering me. Yes, you can turn off the notifications but that turns off ALL the notifications. See the problem? There’s also the issue of does it know how much I smoke? Is it keeping track? Who might get that information? Can it tell what the individual particulates or VOCs are?! (Volatile Organic Compounds-glues, pesticides, fruits, scented candles, cleaning supplies, paints, etc.)This lack of information and/or transparency is either a serious oversight or purposeful obfuscation. To be clear, I’m not that paranoid but I know people who are and it feels like something Amazon should get out in front of before someone does it first. Honestly, if Amazon knows what I’m doing, the worst I think will happen is I’ll get more ads for snack cakes and other junk food.I’m going to keep using this and hope they make some changes. To be fair, this is a pretty new device so I’m sure they’ll be looking at making some updates to it. And it really DOES work very well. Most importantly, you can trigger routines based on the temperature, humidity, CO2, PM and VOC information without having to become an expert in home automation.