Summary of positive and negative points (the station before analyzing in more detail further below):
Positives:
- Manufacturing and design quality
- Reliability of measurements and quality of internal sensors (designed especially by STMicroelectronics)
- Single connectivity (wifi) and accessibility of data nimporte where (at home or the outside) + downloadable historical data
- Ergonomics, functionality and design of the iOS-Android
- Android Application in progress and, since late January 2013, the same quality and functionality (including historical charts in landscape mode) The application that iPhone-iPad
Negative points:
- No display on the tubes themselves (personally it does not bother me because I can see the action almost instantaneously on my smartphone, my tablet or my PC, but it can be a problem for some people)
- Only two modules for now (measures only: inside: temperature, humidity, CO2, noise, pressure, outside temperature, humidity) but new sensors are announced for 2013 (other indoor sensor, anemometer , rain sensor)
- Price (actually not that expensive when compared to outdated stations La Crosse, Oregon or other)
Detailed analysis:
Station description
The principle of the station is: two aluminum tubes, the first connected to wifi inside, the second connected to the first radio waves to the outside (or inside if you want to collect dune second play data example). The data measured by the two tubes are:
- (Internal Module): temperature, relative humidity, CO2 levels, noise, atmospheric pressure
- (Outdoor unit): temperature, relative humidity.
Data are collected by Netatmo servers continuously and made available via a dedicated application on-iphone ipad or android. The consultation is also available on their website with dedicated personal login and password. It is therefore possible to check the measurements carried home from anywhere which is a really interesting and unique functionality. All historical data can also be downloaded to rework them in Excel.
The app for iPad and Android-iPone
The application for iphone ipad and Android-friendly and clear. The application for Android is updated regularly and has since late January, equivalent in terms of quality and functionality than iOS (read instant news, by historical graphics when you turn the tablet / the phone in landscape mode etc.). I lai tested on several devices (Asus / Google Nexus 7, Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 10.1 etc.) and it works fine.
And where we go
This weather station is unique in terms of functionality. Compared to conventional models Weather Stations liquid crystal display type Oregon Scientific and La Crosse Technology (which seem really outdated by comparison), we enter a new dimension. The price may seem a bit expensive, nest in fact not so high that it precisely when compared to conventional weather stations mentioned, for those who may be connected to a computer (typically wired) are between 100 and 300 .
Netatmo dailleurs plans to sell another sensor within this year (2013), as well as other external sensors to other measures (anemometer, rain gauge), which will effectively complement the measurements for weather enthusiasts.