Blossom Smart Watering Controller Review
by Ganesh T S on August 28, 2015 8:10 AM ESTMiscellaneous Aspects and Concluding Remarks
Power consumption is an important aspect of home automation equipment. We hooked up the Blossom Smart Watering Controller to a Kill-a-Watt meter and recorded 4.3W as the power consumption at the wall during operation. The unit itself gets a little warm to touch, but nothing too worrisome, as the thermal photograph below shows. When the zones are in operation, there is an audible whine from the unit. Given that the unit is going to either be installed in a garage or outdoors, it is not much of an issue.
The following table summarizes the various home automation aspects / consumer checklist for the Blossom Smart Watering Controller and how it compares with the other systems that we have evaluated before.
| Home Automation Device Aspects - Summary Table | ||
| Aspect | ||
| Evaluated Devices | Blossom Irrigation Controller | mPower mPower Pro InWall Outlet InWall Dimmer Switch |
| Communication Technology | Wi-Fi (2.4 GHz) Powerline Communication (PLC) |
Wi-Fi (2.4 GHz) |
| Platform | Marvell 88MC200 MCU Marvell Avastar 88W8782 1x1 802.11n Wi-Fi SoC Qualcomm Atheros QCA7000 HomePlug Green PHY PLC |
Qualcomm Atheros AR9331 1x1 802.11n Wi-Fi SoC Host CPU: MIPS 24Kc, DRAM: 32MB |
| Power Source | AC Powered | AC Powered |
| Hub / Bridge Requirement | No | No |
| Control Center | Cloud (for setup and configuration) Local Device (stores backup schedule) |
Local Device (basic access, rules and scenes) Local Server (comprehensive access, rules and scenes) |
| User Control Interface | Mobile Apps | Web Browser Mobile Apps (basic control) |
| Open APIs | None | Yes (uPnP, HTTP, SSH) |
| Third-party / Hub Compatibility | None | None advertised |
| Cloud Reliance | Optional (compulsory only for initial setup and configuration) | None |
| Security Notes | Username / Password authentication at app level | Username / Password Authentication LAN Access Only |
| User Support / Discussion Forums | Blossom on Twitter | Ubiquiti Networks Community - mFi Forums |
| Street Price | USD 199 | USD 60 (mPower) USD 95 (mPower Pro) USD 59 (InWall Outlet) USD 59 (InWall Switch / Dimmer) |
Coming to the business end of the review, we have to say that Blossom has managed to bring out a unique home automation device. In our opinion, the inclusion of powerline communication (PLC) as an alternative path to the network in case Wi-Fi is not up to the task is a very good decision. This is something other home automation device manufacturers need to evaluate. In our opinion, consumer IP cameras (which rely on Wi-Fi right now) can also benefit from this dual approach. The IP54 rating allows users to install the unit wherever they see fit. The cloud-based 'Xona' intelligence seems to be effective in altering pre-set schedules based on weather conditions. We see no issues with the unique points set marketed by Blossom. There are multiple options in the market for automated gardening, and Blossom manages to stand out in the crowd.
Our main issue is with the cloud reliance aspect. While the Blossom does have a fail-safe schedule to fall back upon in case the Internet connection goes down, there is really no way to alter the schedule without going through the cloud. One of the main benefits of having smartphone control for the irrigation controller is the ability to turn a zone on or off immediately, even during operation. In the case of the Internet or Blossom's servers being down, this is simply not possible right now. Fortunately, Blossom recognizes the need for users to be able to configure the unit locally. I have heard that local browser access and control over the schedule is definitely in the roadmap. Till this feature comes about, we will not be able to recommend the Blossom Smart Watering Controller without reservation. To a lesser extent, we are also not comfortable with some alerts not being sent to the e-mail address associated with the unit. E-mail could also be used to inform the user about updates to the smart watering schedules.
Users not paranoid about being reliant on the cloud will find the Blossom Smart Watering Controller to be a great way to add automation to their irrigation needs. Ease of setup, usage and the 'it just works' aspects are the positives. We hope that Blossom will address the open APIs and local control capabilities as soon as possible.
Facebook
Twitter
RSS
47 Comments
View All Comments
Pfm - Saturday, August 29, 2015 - link
As someone who did create his own smart controller, I am surprised by this comment.The hardware was easy enough: raspberry pi, relay board. I even found a way to "upgrade" my old controller by removing its logic board and connecting its triac board to another raspberry pi. With some experience the total cost goes down to around $75.
I wanted a web interface for ease of use, automatic weather adjustments and activity log. I also added automatic generation of soak periods to avoid runoffs. This eliminated the easy cron job edited with vi through ssh.
Even taking shortcuts (fetch an existing weather index from the Internet) this was much much more than a few hours of coding.. I guess the author of that comment most probably never built his own, or did not really read the article in full. Or both.
easp - Monday, August 31, 2015 - link
Or doesn't realize that even if one knows how to make something, knowing what to make is still a challenge. Getting someone else to make it in volume, at low cost? Another challenge, and selling it, yet another challenge.Samus - Saturday, August 29, 2015 - link
what the fuck ddriver, you act like every store should be a 1980's radio shack and we should just buy our own parts to assemble hair dryers, smoke detectors and light timers because...why should someone else conveniently make it and charge a few bucks profit?should we have no products and just parts for anything that can be made off-the-shelf? that's a ridiculous concept, some people are busy at their profession doing what they do best, no time to futz around building crap. it's the same reason I rarely even work on my own cars anymore. I make $150/hr. why would I take off work or waste time I could be spending with my kids when I can just pay a mechanic $85/hr to do it?
Samus - Saturday, August 29, 2015 - link
Sorry ryan for swearing in my above comment. I wasn't aware it violated the rules.easp - Monday, August 31, 2015 - link
Hmm, so I'm not sure that a newbie could design this in a few hours, but you seem pretty confident, so you must really know your stuff. So when can we expect to see you entering the market and kicking their asses? Personally, I think you are full of it, but if you pull it off, I'll will waste no time admitting I was wrong.hbsource - Friday, August 28, 2015 - link
Or, you could just live in the UK.puck - Friday, August 28, 2015 - link
I have been using a Blossom for about 6 months now. I love the hands-off nature of set-it-and-forgot-it but I have a few nit picks.No web interface, which has been detailed in the review.
Short power cord, had to relocate from my old controller location.
Cloud scheduling - leaves a lot to be desired. What are they basing the schedule on? My unit waters frequently when I just received a lot of rain. I had to turn off the whole unit for a week once because it just kept scheduling cycles when I was getting tons of rain. I have my smart watering needs set to realistic needs, and if I decrease it then seems to never come on and my grass gets brown. To me it's not really 'smart' enough and should have an option to take input from a local rain gauge.
Murloc - Friday, August 28, 2015 - link
yeah this is something that you set up and then leave running for years, so they should allow fine-tuning for the people who want it.Mondozai - Friday, August 28, 2015 - link
I really enjoyed this review. I don't need this kind of system as of now, I live in an apartment, but it's nevertheless cool to see Anandtech expand beyond the core tech of PCs. As IOT devices proliferate, I hope to see Anandtech keeping up with the trend. Covering both the terrabad devices you should avoid as well as recommending the ones you should buy.As you can judge by this comment section, everything that is new and unknown brings with it a reactionary knee-jerk response. That won't change for a few years, but as IOT devices become better and more affordable, even the reactionaries will slowly understand that they are behind the times.
Thankfully, AT isn't, and this review is a sign of that. KUTGW.
V900 - Friday, August 28, 2015 - link
Your comment reads as something from Popular Science in the late 40ies/early 50ies:"As you can judge by this readers letters section, everything that is new and unknown brings with it a reactionary knee-jerk response. That won't change for a few years, but as nuclear devices become better and more affordable, we will soon see nuclear airliners, nuclear trains and cars, and every neighbourhood powered by its own small, nuclear reactor. Then even the reactionaries will slowly understand that they are behind the times."
I'm afraid it's you who is behind the times. The idea of technology being an end unto itself, had its heyday almost a century ago. Today, experience has taught us that not every technological fad makes sense, and it takes more than buzzwords and an industry looking for an easy windfall to make a given technology a reality.