Voice control is the most-wanted smart home product this year, according to a recent survey.
Nearly three quarters of respondents who have smart home products said they want voice control, according to Coldwell Banker’s survey with Vivint Smart Home. Almost half of the respondents already have it. Most Americans (57 percent) who use voice control use it to control their smart entertainment. One-third reported they use it to control smart lighting and/or smart security products. Those who want the products are also looking to control entertainment (43 percent), control smart lighting (43 percent) and to control smart temperature (41 percent).
Not surprisingly, millennials lead the pack with already having voice control in their homes. Fifty-eight percent of millennials have voice control features for their smart home products, followed by 50 percent of Generation X and 26 percent of baby boomers. However, Generation X are the ones who most desire voice control, according to 79 percent of them. Millennials are right behind, with 74 percent wanting voice control, and 63 percent of baby boomers want it.
Across generations, those with children want voice control activation for their smart home products, 81 percent of parents want the ability to control their smart home products with their voice, and 65 percent already have it.
The majority of respondents said they seek voice control for their smart home products to have hands-free control (30 percent), increased user-friendliness (17 percent) and to be flexible with their location (14 percent).
The smartphone is the leading product that has lead people to seek voice control in their homes. Seventy-four percent of Americans with smart product voice control have it on their phones already.