Honeywell has announced a new version of its Lyric smart thermostat, and this time it comes with Apple HomeKit support.
The original Honeywell Lyric launched around 18 months ago, not long after Apple announced HomeKit, and was evidently an attempt to take on Nest for style and ease of use.
Now the Honeywell Lyric Round has been unveiled, and it continues to take the fight to the Google-owned smart home company. It looks identical to the original Lyric (and so pretty similar to the Nest thermostat), with a round body and a pair of curved central displays. It can be controlled using a ring dial around the edge.
It appears to have all of the same key features as the original Lyric, too. You can use a related iPhone or Android app to change the temperature, set programming schedules, inform the thermostat when you leave the house and arrive home, and more.
But the biggest addition this time around is HomeKit compatibility. Apple’s smart home platform enables separate products to work together in combined ‘scenes,’ all of which are controllable from your iPhone.
To use Apple’s own example, you could create a scene that turns off the lights, locks your doors, and lowers the thermostat – all with a single iPhone command.
Related: What is HomeKit?
Unfortunately, the second generation Honeywell Lyric is a US-only product for now. Indeed, you still can’t even get the original Honeywell Lyric here in the UK – we’re stuck with the affordable Single Zone Thermostat instead.
In the US, however, the new Honeywell Lyric Round is available for preorder at $249.99, which works out to around £170.
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