Eve, known for its line of HomeKit-enabled smart home products, recently came out with an accessory called the Eve Extend, a Bluetooth range extender designed to work with existing Eve products.
Many of Eve’s HomeKit devices work via Bluetooth, and while this often works well, in larger homes, Bluetooth connectivity can be problematic as it can be limited in range. The iPhone needs to be within range to control Bluetooth products, so in situations where Bluetooth connections are spotty, Eve comes with the Extend.
Not every household will need Eve Extend, and it’s a product specifically designed to work with existing Eve devices so it’s a bit more niche, but something worth exploring for those invested in the Eve ecosystem.
Eve has multiple Bluetooth products, so the Eve Extend, which costs $50, works with devices like Eve Aqua, Eve Motion, Eve Flare, Eve Door, Eve Room (new model), Eve Energy, Eve Weather, Eve Degree, and Eve Button. Eve says it works with all Bluetooth Eve accessories except the 2015 Thermo and 2015 Eve Room.
Eve Extend is a small square-shaped white plastic box that can be placed in a central location in the home to add WiFi connectivity to Bluetooth-enabled Eve accessories, so they can be controlled from anywhere. You can also use multiple eave extend boxes if a house is particularly large.
Eve Extend requires constant power to operate and comes with a micro-USB cable and a power adapter. I wasn’t a big fan of the Eve Extender’s cord and I would have preferred a built-in plug for the device.
Because the Eve Extend uses a cord and power adapter (I plugged it into an iPad adapter), it can go anywhere in the house. For example, if you have an outdoor Eve product that is often out of range, like the Eve Aqua, you can place the Eve Extend closer to the outside, improving connectivity.
Eve Extend is easy to set up by connecting to a 2.4 or 5GHz WiFi network. Like other HomeKit products, it can be added to your setup by scanning the HomeKit QR code with your iPhone.
I’ve had no problems setting up the Eve Extend, but I’ve had some reviews from people who haven’t been able to use it with Google WiFi systems, so there may be some setup issues that should be investigated before purchasing.
Eve Extend runs in the background so it doesn’t need to be controlled and is not available in the Home app. You can access it in the Eve app, which needs to be downloaded to set it up.
In the Eve app, you can view the accessories connected to the device and add any additional Eve accessories you’ve purchased after setting up Eve Extend. Other than setting it up and assigning accessories, once something is attached to the Eve Extend, there’s nothing else to do.
Eve has always had one of the more comprehensive HomeKit apps on the market, and the app has recently improved since the launch of iOS 13. There’s dark mode support and a redesigned navigation bar that makes it easy to navigate to all your favorite devices. The Eve app is for all my HomeKit products at a glance, even those that aren’t Eve devices.
The Eve Extend can connect to up to eight devices, and in my testing, it successfully extended the available Bluetooth range of every Bluetooth Eve accessory. I don’t have a very large house and the Eve products are centralized in my office, but to test it I moved them to other areas of the house that are further away.
In addition to the longer range, response times also seemed a bit faster, with the Eve Flare responding quickly to color changes and the Eve responding even more quickly to Siri requests for room temperature.
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The Eve Extend costs $50 so it’s not a perfect solution, but it’s an ideal way to build on the Bluetooth Eve accessories you already purchase reliably day in and day out.
If you have an Eve setup and are experiencing connectivity issues due to Bluetooth limitations, the Eve Extend will solve the problem by allowing those devices to connect to WiFi for access anywhere.
It’s worth noting that devices like the newer iPad, Apple TV, and HomePod models are capable of acting as home hubs and performing similar functions of relaying Bluetooth commands, so even with an elaborate Bluetooth setup there’s a chance you won’t need the Eve Extender. .
It’s a device specifically designed for people who are having current problems with their Eve devices and want a simple solution that doesn’t involve buying an additional Apple product.
how to buy
Eve Extend can be purchased from the Eve website or from Amazon for $49.99.
