Quirky + GE Aros Smart Window Air Conditioner

We purchased this device for a detached garage with a small room. At 8000 btu it was more than adequate to keep the room usable for long term storage of things. It was purchased in July 2015 but not installed until March 2016 due to remodeling. It is now August 2016 and the device no longer blows cold air!I had set up the unit with the Wink app to turn itself on 3 hours after sunrise to maintain an 83 degree room temperature, then turn itself off at sunset. It seemed to be running fine, then during visits to the room I noticed it was still quite warm. I didn't expect it to work miracles, but did expect temperature control. I added a second, non-Aros unit and controlled it with the Wink app and a smart plug (iHome SmartPlug) to turn on when the room temp hit 85 according to the Aros, to give a booster effect. Soon I noticed the second unit was running all the time. After using a thermometer to check the output if the Aros I found it was blowing 83 degree air in an 85 degree room :-( .

This air conditioner includes the price of what was supposed to be a lifetime subscription for remote access. Wink the company that provides it has changed that to now be a monthly subscription. They are currently pending a class action lawsuit. I DO NOT RECOMMEND purchasing this.

I have a pair of these, and they are slightly different (purchased half a year apart). I think Quirky is no longer in business, so hopefully the app will continue to function, but these solved our need for a very occasional use AC unit in our 1919 Bungalow. We live where we only want for AC a few days a year, and this is a great way to add that for little cost, and still be able t control it with the rest of our "smart" home. The app is buggy, and the unit doesn't always do what the app tells it to (or show on the app what the unit is doing) but for only a few bucks more than a "dumb" window AC, it was well worth it. I think we paid way less than what they are currently selling for, so the cost analysis may be different, but personally I am happy with having bought these.

As so many others have said, this is far, far from ready for prime time. Absurdly loud (I know GE say's it's roughly as loud as equivalent A/C's, but it's not true. Perhaps to a decibel meter, but not to the ear). Doesn't really cool very well. Controls are as bright as klieg lights. And, perhaps the most frustrating, the unit disconnects from the wifi router regularly, requiring "rebooting" (unplug it) of the AC before it will reconnect. Kind of defeats the purpose of an app-enabled device, eh?Probably the most disappointing piece of technology I've ever purchased, and I'm a tech junky. If I could return it for a refund I would in a heartbeat, but I bought it during a heatwave last July and didn't have a lot of options. Should have just suffered through the heat.Update 7/6/15...I contacted Quirky about the A/C disconnecting from the wifi. I was told that it is a common problem for people with strong routers (I have an Asus RT-N66U, it's like a wifi cannon). The explanation was since most people have their A/C far from their routers, they used a very sensitive wifi chip, and if the signal is too strong it can knock the A/C off-line. The solution suggested to me was to remove one or more of my router's antenna's, thus reducing the power. Hardly a reasonable suggestion, I bought a powerful router for a reason, namely, old house with plaster and lathe. It's kinda ridiculous to hobble other equipment to make up for a shortcoming in the A/C.However! I asked where the wifi chip was physically located and was told it was smack-dab in the center-front. I cut out a 2 inch square of aluminum foil and taped it directly beneath the chip, over the air intake. It's been a solid week and no loss of connection. That's something, anyway.

As many of the other reviews state, this unit is great in theory. In actual execution, not so much.Believe the other reviews when they tell you it's loud. I have it in my living room near my TV and it's almost impossible to hear the TV over the fan. It does cool the room down fairly efficiently, but the noise is a big trade-off.Customer service is literally a joke. I went to install the unit this summer and couldn't get the unit to connect to my router, so I called customer service for help. The representative I spoke to told me to reboot the unit and try again. Having at least a modicum of intelligence, I had already tried that but I did it again just to humor him. When it still didn't work, he told me to reboot the unit and try again. Somewhat incredulously I gave it one more shot, and of course, nothing. Then he told me to reboot the unit and try again. I asked him if there was anything else we could try, and he admitted to me that the only solution he had been taught to give customers was to reboot the unit until it worked or the customer hung up, whichever came first. I very politely told him to go fornicate with himself, hung up the phone, and finally got it working myself after approximately twelve more reboots.But the big reason for giving it only two stars is that the Aros app, this unit's whole raison d'être, is complete crap. Once I got the unit set up properly, my router tells me the Aros is connected to my home wi-fi all the time, yet more often than not the app on my phone will tell me "Aros is offline". The "smart away" function seems to turn the unit off when I leave just fine, but rarely turns it back on when I come home. And the widget inexplicably makes you use two separate buttons for "on" and "off" despite the actual app having a single power on/off button. But no matter, the widget buttons usually don't work until you open the app anyway.This will probably be a great unit once the third or fourth version comes out. As of now, pass.EDIT: The Aros app now functions zero percent of the time, so I am taking away the last star of this review. Complete crap. Do not buy.