Brilliant Smart Home Control Panel (Plug-In) mounted with command strips showing the main page on the screen.
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SCORE
Brilliant Smart Home Control Plug-In Panel
Pros
Great hardware
Works with multiple smart home brands
The sliders are fantastic
Simple installation
Chris Wedel/CNET
Brilliant Smart Home Systems has been working to offer an open solution that can connect a wide range of devices and brands into a central device and companion app. The new plug-in model is just as sleek and capable as the company’s hardwired options, which makes it much easier for more people to make use of the impressive product’s features — that is, if you’re willing to pay a pretty penny for it.
What it is and how to get started
The panel has a motion sensor and camera with a physical slider to cover the camera. This pill-shaped section also houses the ambient light sensor.
Chris Wedel/CNET
All of these hardware features are neatly packaged into a slim 4.76-by-5.31-inch panel, which attaches to a wall mounting plate. Installation is as simple as determining where you want the Brilliant Smart Home Control Panel located, using the supplied screws to secure the mounting plate to your wall, placing the smart panel onto the plate, and plugging the unit in. You can also do as I did if you don’t want to put holes in your wall or you aren’t sure where you want the panel to permanently live and just use some command strips. You do get a 13-foot-long USB cord and outlet adapter in the box, so you have some wiggle room as to where you install the panel.
The Brilliant companion app lets you control lights, cameras and climate, all from your phone.
Screenshots by Chris Wedel/CNET
With the Brilliant Smart Home Control Panel installed and set up, the device becomes a central location that allows anyone in the home to feel confident in making adjustments to the connected devices. This is a real testament to Brilliant to make the UI and product itself feel approachable and intuitive to use. I have the panel mounted by my home’s main door and it’s great to be able to simply tap a few buttons on the screen or use the sliders to quickly make changes as my family and I come and go from the house.
What’s the catch?
The motion sensor page shows you the level of motion detected.
Chris Wedel/CNET
The main issue I had while using the device, minus the missing integrations, has been the inconsistency of the motion sensor. The Brilliant app has multiple settings that allow for a range of adjustments to fine-tune the sensor to get it set just the way you want. That would be helpful in reducing the number of false positives that could cause devices not to work the way you intend. However, no matter how I adjusted the settings, I could never get it to reliably work for me.
