Oval is a tiny all-in-one smart sensor that monitors your home, alerting you as conditions change

A properly smart home responds to what’s going on around it, rather than you bellowing at pieces of kit to turn on a light or fire up Bananarama’s greatest hits. At least, that’s the idea behind Oval (from $99). It’s a combination of app, gateway hub and thumb-sized sensors you stick to objects. These ping your phone when you’ve asked them to detect changes in light, motion, temperature, humidity or water, and there’s support for IFTTT, Google Home, and Amazon Echo. The system’s flexibility makes it useful for all kinds of monitoring, such as: doors, windows, and cupboards being opened; dodgy water pipes that might spring a leak; and the temperature in a youngling’s nursery. But probably avoid the Kickstarter video’s suggestion of having Oval rat on your kid when they’re reading at night and shouldn’t be, because you won’t get an alert saying: “Help! I’m being smashed with a rock!”