About This Site

Why I Do This

My name is Lukas Novak. I live in Prague and I have spent the last several years testing smart home devices with an unreasonable level of attention to detail.

This started after a frustrating experience setting up what I thought would be a functional smart home. Several hundred euros later, I had a collection of devices that barely worked together, required constant maintenance, and were already losing software support. That experience made me want to understand what actually works before recommending anything to anyone else.

I started keeping notes. Then I started writing them up properly. When friends and colleagues kept asking for gadget recommendations, it made sense to publish what I had already documented.

My Background

I work in software development, which gives me a useful lens for evaluating technology products. I am comfortable reading technical specifications, but I am also aware of how little they predict real-world performance. Marketing claims and benchmark numbers are starting points, not conclusions.

My professional habit of documenting things systematically carries over into how I approach testing. I keep notes on specific issues, track firmware updates and whether they improve or worsen performance, and try to form opinions based on extended use rather than first impressions.

Testing Philosophy

I buy everything I test with my own money. This is not a policy I announce for credibility purposes; it is simply the only way to maintain honest opinions. The moment a manufacturer provides a device for review, the relationship changes in ways that are difficult to fully account for.

Every device gets at least six months of actual daily use before I write about it. Some get longer. The problems that matter are rarely visible in the first week. Firmware updates, long-term reliability, and how a device fits into a real household routine all take time to understand properly.

I test in a real Prague apartment, not a controlled environment. Czech internet infrastructure, local streaming services, and the specific conditions of Central European households all factor into my assessments in ways that reviews from other markets may not capture.

What This Site Is Not

This is not a comprehensive review site. I do not cover every product that launches. I write about devices I have personally used for long enough to have a genuine opinion.

There are no scores or rankings. I find them reductive. A device that is excellent for one household might be wrong for another. I try to explain the conditions under which something works well and the conditions under which it does not.

There is no affiliate programme. I do not earn money when you click a link or make a purchase. The external links I include point to resources I find genuinely useful, not to products I am incentivised to recommend.

Contact

If you have questions about specific devices, want to share your own experience with something I have reviewed, or have found an error in something I have written, I would like to hear from you. Use the contact page to reach me directly.