As the smart home revolution gathers pace, it seems there’s no part of the house that can’t be digitized or made smart. The latest addition to smart home integration is the bathroom mirror.
This article explains what a smart mirror is, what the benefits are of having one in your bathroom and describes the features, both basic and advanced, of smart bathroom mirrors.
The article lists the top five smart bathroom mirrors and describes their main features. I also give you a brief buying guide that explains what factors you should consider when buying a smart bathroom mirror.
I end the article by asking the question: are smart bathroom mirrors worth it?
But first, what is a smart mirror?
What Is A Smart Mirror?
A smart mirror is a two-way mirror with an inbuilt display behind the glass. It reflects light back like a standard mirror, but it also allows light to pass through the mirror.
It turns your mirror into a smart display where you can catch up on the news headlines, get a weather update, see your upcoming appointments, or read your emails.
Smart bathroom mirrors often connect with voice assistants, so you can tell Google or Alexa to turn the coffee maker on while brushing your teeth.
Some smart bathroom mirrors also turn into motion-activated night lights, so you’ll never again be fumbling around in the dark.
While not all smart bathroom mirrors have these advanced attributes, they nearly all have these two core features: 1) adjustable LED lighting with the ability to switch between warm light, natural light, and cool light, and 2) defogging that reduces mirror steam in a few minutes.
Benefits of Smart Bathroom Mirrors
Smart mirrors are still a relatively new concept, and to many, they might seem like an unnecessary addition to your home. But smart mirrors have some genuine benefits.
They add stylish sophistication to your bathroom and allow you to customize the lighting in your bathroom to create your own unique ambiance.
Smart mirrors have built-in speakers, so you can listen to your favorite music while taking a shower or bath.
A defogging function means you can defog your mirror in two or three minutes – no more wiping the mirror with a wet towel or pulling out the blow-dryer.
These are just some of the benefits of a smart mirror – the more advanced smart mirrors offer even more advantages, as we will see later in the article.
Features of Smart Bathroom Mirrors
The features available in smart mirrors vary enormously. Some smart mirrors offer more advanced features than others.
Basic Features
Nearly all smart mirrors have these basic features.
Demisting – a smart mirror can defog itself in about three minutes. Compare that with wiping your mirror with a rag after every shower.
Ambient lighting – a smart mirror has built-in lighting: you can adjust the brightness and the hue to create the effect you want.
Voice control – most smart mirrors have voice control, giving you hands-free control of all the mirror’s functions.
Magnification – some smart mirrors offer magnification that allows you to zoom in for up to 10x magnification (useful for tricky areas like eyebrows).
Bluetooth – most smart mirrors have Bluetooth connectivity, meaning you can connect your smartphone and play Spotify music through the speakers in your smart mirror.
Advanced Features
Some smart bathroom mirrors offer more advanced features.
Health – when coupled with a smart bathroom mat, a smart bathroom mirror can display your weight and your BMI. This can greatly benefit you if you track your progress towards a fitness goal.
Entertainment – smart bathroom mirrors come with speakers and displays that allow you to listen to your favorite music or even watch video clips. If you spend long periods of time in front of the bathroom mirror each day, this can be a real plus.
Face recognition – a smart mirror can recognize your face and load your own personalized settings and content preferences.
Motion sensors – embedded in your smart mirror, turn the mirror into a motion-activated night light (no more harsh lighting in the middle of the night and no more stumbling around in the dark).
Smart home integration – smart mirrors have built-in virtual assistants. That gives you hands-free control of your home’s smart devices from your bathroom mirror.
Top 5 Smart Bathroom Mirrors
Here are the five most popular smart bathroom mirrors, together with their main features.
#1. Gesipor Smart Mirror
Features of the Gesipor Smart Mirror:
- One-click defogging – effective 3 minutes after turning on
- Intelligent Temperature Control Defogging
- Bluetooth Audio – play music with 360 degree surround sound when you are taking a shower
- Warm Light and Daylight – change the color temperature between Warm Light and Daylight and use the Brightness Dimmer to get the best light you need.
Dimensions: 28 x 36 inches
Price: $249.00
Image credit: GesiporBath
#2. Byecold Smart Bathroom Mirror
Features of the Byecold Smart Mirror:
- Connects with WiseMirror App
- Real-time weather conditions shown on the mirror
- Screen shows weather forecast, time and date, and indoor temperature
- Backlit bathroom mirror for makeup
- Switch between 3000k/6000k colors
- Anti-fog function – takes 5-10 minutes to completely defog
- Armored glass
- IP54 waterproof rating ensures safe lighting in wet bathroom
Dimensions: 32 x 24 inches
Price: $259
#3. Hauschen Smart Mirror
Features of the Hauschen Smart Mirror:
- Change color temperature
- Adjustable brightness
- Anti-fog
- Two built-in led strips, give enough lighting for makeup or shave
- Super-slim mirror depth – only 1.4 inches
- Excellent led front light, CRI 95 brings super bright illumination to your bathroom (no need for other lighting)
- Light can be adjusted from 20% – 100% of brightness
- Select 3000K warm white, 4200K neutral white light or 5500K daylight, as needed
- Works With Alexa, Echo & Google Home
- Dimmable switch on the mirror
Dimensions: 36 x 36 inches
Price: $469.99
Image credit: HauschenHome
#4. Kohler Verdera Voice Lighted Mirror
Features of Kohler Verdera mirror:
- Integrated stereo sound system fills the room with complete sound quality
- seamless integration of Amazon Alexa
- Built-in microphone for voice control interaction
- Voice control for lighting on/off and brightness, as well as sound volume
- 2200 lumen brightness ensures consistent lighting with no hot spots or dark spots
- Built-in dimmer
- Pivoting side panels allow you to direct light for specific tasks
- Syncs via Bluetooth with smartphones, MP3 players, tablets, and laptops located up to 33 feet away.
- Motion-detecting night light to guide you through the bathroom in the dark
- Sensors beneath the mirror also raise light levels when someone stands in front of it
- Voice assistant enabled
Dimensions: 33.25 x 34 inches
Price: $1,399.02
Image credit: Kohler
#5. Capstone Thin Cast Smart Mirror
Features of the Capstone mirror:
- Elegant design and stylish features
- Four integrated speakers
- Full Touch Screen Control
- WiFi & Bluetooth enabled
- Browse the web, watch videos, download apps, listen to music
- Android calendar, clock, contacts, email, files, music, video, and weather apps are preloaded
Dimensions: 32.5 x 22.5 inches
Price: $799
Image credit: CapstoneConnected
Buying Guide for Smart Bathroom Mirrors
When buying your smart bathroom mirror, there are some key considerations you should keep in mind.
Style
The first thing to consider when buying a smart mirror is style. Try to match the smart mirror to your bathroom style. An important aspect of style is the shape of the mirror. Smart mirrors come in a variety of shapes: rectangular, square, oval, round, and even hexagon.
A rectangular smart mirror will give your bathroom a modern look, but if you want a more retro look you might want to go for an oval-shaped mirror.
Size
Most smart mirrors are between 24 and 36 inches wide. Measure carefully the area you have available before buying your smart mirror.
Touchscreen
Most smart mirrors display information on the mirror surface, but some smart mirrors also have touchscreens, which makes them interactive.
Decide whether you want a smart mirror with touchscreen or without.
Compatibility
The more advanced smart mirrors can connect with a whale range of smart devices. So it’s important to check that the smart mirror is compatible with other devices in your smart home.
For example, some smart mirrors are compatible with Alexa but not with Google Home, and vice versa.
Does the smart mirror have Bluetooth and Wi-Fi compatibility and if so will it connect to the specific devices in your home? These are questions you need to ask when buying a smart mirror.
Features
What features are you looking for in a smart mirror?
Some smart mirrors just have the basic functions: lighting, demisting, and the ability to display the temperature, the time, and the date on the mirror surface.
But you can get smart mirrors with many more functions than this. Some smart mirrors act as information hubs, displaying weather, news, stocks, calendar, etc.
These are impressive features. But ask yourself: will you actually use them?
Budget
Smart bathroom mirrors range in price from $230 to $1500. Obviously, there’s a link between price and features: the more features you want in your smart mirror the more expensive it will be.
Determine your budget and choose a smart mirror that fits within your price range.
Conclusion
In this article, I have covered what smart bathroom mirrors are and what the benefits are of having a smart bathroom mirror. I also looked at the basic features of smart bathroom mirrors, as well as their more advanced features.
I listed the five most popular smart bathroom mirrors and gave you a brief buying guide that sets out the main factors you need to consider when buying a smart bathroom mirror.
I ended the article asking whether smart bathroom mirrors are worth it. I gave my own personal view, but the answer to that question will obviously depend on you.
I hope this article has helped you understand smart mirrors a bit better and helped you reach a decision on whether a smart bathroom mirror is right for you.