Sensibo Air Smart AC Controller

The Sensibo Air is a smart controller for your air-conditioner (AC). Basically, it enables you to control your air-conditioner via the Internet and/or home assistants like Amazon Alexa, Google Home and Apple HomeKit. You might be wondering why do people need a smart air-conditioner controller? Do you prefer coming back home to room that is warm or one that is feeling cool? If it is the latter, you can switch on the AC just five to 10 minutes prior. That would give it sufficient time to cool the room. I got the Sensibo Air off Amazon.sg for S$154 after the recent S$15 off S$99 promotion.

Don’t you have an Ambi Climate 1 and 2?

Yes, I’ve been using the Ambi Climate 1 and 2 until the Ambi Climate service refused to work. Earlier this year, I changed my air-conditioners from Panasonic to Mitsubishi Electric. The Ambi Climate devices refused to learn the new remote. As a last resort, I factory reseted both of them (i.e. Ambi Climate 1, Ambi Climate 2). From then on, I cannot either of the Ambi Climate devices to be added to my Ambi Climate account despite seeing both of them on my wireless network and the devices contacting Ambi Climate servers at connect.ambiclimate.com. I reached out to Ambi Climate support and they told me that both my devices are faulty and I need to get new ones. Informed them that I could see the devices on my network but they insisted me getting new ones.

So here I am, trying out other smart air-conditioner controllers in the market.

Unboxing the Sensibo Air

How is Sensibo Air so far?

The Sensibo Air has been working fine for the past few days (and nights). Like most smart AC controller nowadays, a handful of the useful features are locked behind subscriptions. Below are some of the features that requires subscription:

• Scheduled Auto Off
• Scheduled Climate React
• Data points of temperature and humidity for the past week and month

If you need the mentioned features, the annual subscription works out to be around S$4 monthly.

Personally, I find Climate React feature to be useful. You can instruct the Sensibo Air to perform some actions when temperature, humidity or feels-like (i.e., combination of temperature and humidity) crosses the upper or lower boundary. For example,

• if the feels-like temperature exceeds 26 degrees celcius,
  • Turn on the air-conditioner
  • Set temperature to 20 degrees celcius
  • Set air speed to high
  • Set swing to auto
• If the feels-like temperature is below 24 degrees celcius,
  • Turn on the air-conditioner
  • Set temperature to 26 degree celcius
  • Set air speed to low
  • Set swing to high

With this, it will maintain the room’s temperature to be between 24 and 26.

This feature would be perfect if it takes into account the current power state of the AC. It triggers whenever the conditions are met. Hence, it has been turning on my air-conditioner when it isn’t supposed to be on. As a result, I disabled the upper bound condition. At least I won’t wake up in the middle of the night feeling chilly. On one rare rainy evening, the ambient temperature of the room without the AC actually dropped below 24 degree celcius and it triggered the lower bound condition, turning the AC on.

Would I recommend it?

Yes, if the price is right. The Sensibo Air retails for S$169 and I got it with a S$15 discount recently. Personally, I would prefer it to be priced at S$119 since there are features locked behind subscriptions. Well, if the device works for a year, the total cost of ownership would then be S$167 (S$119 + S$48) instead of S$217. Well, that is if you need the advance features.