Tech review: These two gadgets are all about compatibility

Jim Rossman, Tribune News Service on Apr 1, 2026

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Smart home equipment can work with various home automation ecosystems.

What does that mean?

There are plenty of devices, like smart deadbolts, cameras, light bulbs and smart plugs, and a host of other gadgets, but unless you’re buying them from the same company, getting them to work together used to be a hassle.

Then some larger players, like Amazon, Google and Apple started allowing devices from other companies to work in their systems.

If you’re serious about using smart home devices, you’ll probably feel better about one ecosystem over the others.

If you’re an iPhone/iPad/Mac user, you’re likely to start with Apple’s Homekit-compatible devices.

If you have Amazon Echo devices at home, you’re more likely to buy bulbs or switches that are “Works with Alexa-certified.”

The same goes for Google. If you use an Android phone, it would not surprise me to find you’re building your system with devices that advertise “works with Google Home” on the label.

Now your better smart devices will work with more than one ecosystem.

I’ve been testing a couple of things from XThings, a smart device manufacturer that does its best to work with pretty much everything.

Ultraloq Bolt NFC home key smart Wi-Fi deadbolt ($199.99, ultraloq.com)

This deadbolt from Ultraloq has a lengthy list of home automation platform compatibility.

It’ll work with Xthings Home, Apple Home Kit, Alexa, Google Home, Samsung SmartThings and IFTTT.

The Bolt NFC is on the smaller side when it comes to smart deadbolts. It lacks the biometrics found on a lot of other models. This means you can’t use a fingerprint or palm to unlock.

The Bolt NFC Home Key unlocks with a numeric code, or tap to unlock via NFC, which includes Android phone NFC and two included access cards, or Apple’s Home Key, which can automatically lock or unlock with your Apple iPhone or Apple Watch. Finally, there is a traditional key to unlock the deadbolt.

The lock talks to your home Wi-Fi, so you can lock and unlock it when you are away from home.

The Bolt NFC looks very much like a traditional deadbolt, and its size means it will fit on most door situations. Installation is not difficult and the lock runs on eight AA batteries (included). The alkaline batteries in the box should last up to 8 months. If you want to upgrade to AA Lithium batteries, you’ll extend the battery life to one year.

Setup via the app is quick and easy and you can configure access, make virtual key codes, view access logs and receive alerts when the door is open/closed or locked/unlocked.

The Bolt NFC has two models, one with Apple Home compatibility for $199 and one without it for $20 cheaper.

Ulticam Dot wire-free security camera ($69.99, ulticam.com)

Ulticam is a full line of wired and wireless security cameras, and the Dot is one of their most versatile.

The Dot is a wire-free camera that connects to your Wi-Fi and runs for two to three months on four AA alkaline batteries. Switching over to Lithium AA batteries extends run time to four months (averaging 10 event recordings per day).

It’s physically the size of a tennis ball and mounts to a small base via magnets.

You can mount the base to most flat surfaces, either with screws or with double-sided tape.

The Dot has 8 gigabytes of on-board storage for videos and it offers a rolling seven days of free cloud storage of events. It captures 2K video at a resolution of 2,560 by 1,440 pixels and had a 170-degree field of view. It has infrared night vision up to 10 meters away.

It has a siren you can sound and it also had a microphone and speaker so you can speak to people remotely through the app.

The camera is water resistant and it connects via Wi-Fi (2.4G or Bluetooth. It uses AI to help identify motion events.

The Dot is capable of recording even if its offline if you switch over to use the local storage.

The app allows for total control of the camera settings and access of the clips. Including sharing camera access with others.

I love the Dot’s design. Its round shape lends itself to easy placement and it still has room on the inside for the batteries.

If you’re looking for a very portable camera you can literally stick almost anywhere to record motion and events, the Dot is hard to beat for size, clarity and ease of installation and use.