Control4 has launched a new lineup of affordably priced smart-home controllers, dubbed the EA Series. The line includes the entry-level EA-1 (which comes bundled with the SR-260 remote for $600, shown here), the EA-3 ($1,000), and the EA-5 ($2,000). In addition to smart-home control functions, all three EA products support high-resolution audio, the ability to stream personal music from any iOS device, and integrated music services like Pandora, Rhapsody, Napster, TIDAL, and TuneIn. All products are shipping now; more details are provided in the press release below.
From Control4
Control4 Corporation announces and ships its EA Series, a new line of entertainment and automation controllers, which represents the next generation platform for smart home innovation, featuring high-resolution audio, high-performance automation, and Control4's broad interoperability.
With three separate models, the Control4 EA Series is designed and priced to deliver exceptional automation power, reliability, and high-impact entertainment experiences for any single-room or whole-home project. The new line is powered by the Control4 Operating System which manages entertainment sources from hundreds of the world's leading brands, streams popular music services, and controls and automates lighting, security systems, thermostats, door locks, cameras, and more, all with a single remote or app.
"The EA Series represents an all-new starting point for the next wave of smart home innovation and will enable our dealers to offer the Control4 experience to a broader set of homeowners and businesses," said Martin Plaehn, CEO of Control4. "Designed and priced to serve the needs of families just starting out with a single room solution, as well as for those automating massive residences with hundreds of connected devices, the EA Series solution can be personalized to match any lifestyle."
Entertainment is central to every smart home and controlling the sources of digital entertainment in the simplest systems can be complex. The Control4 EA family of smart home solutions delivers the clarity and fidelity of high-resolution audio as a standard feature of every Control4 Smart Home, the ability to stream personal music from any iOS device to different rooms in the home, along with native support for popular music services including: Deezer, Pandora, Rhapsody, Napster, TIDAL, and TuneIn.
The Control4 EA Series
Architected with generous processing power to deliver a quick, responsive smart home experience that's scalable and upgradeable, the EA Series features three models. For the one-room entertainment experience, the new Control4 EA-1 is bundled with a Control4 SR-260 remote and is designed to automate everything in a typical family room. With an advanced high-performance audio architecture, the new Control4 EA-3 is ideal to manage all of your music and TV content and has the capability of controlling an entire small-to-mid-sized smart home. For the ultimate smart home experience, the Control4 EA-5 delivers the horsepower to drive large homes with the capability of automating hundreds of devices and features whole-home high-resolution audio fidelity.
Family Room Entertainment
Designed as the ideal starter system for an exceptional family room entertainment experience, the Control4 EA-1 bundle delivers a fast and responsive on-screen experience and the ability to control the entertainment equipment for any TV in the house. The Control4 EA-1 can orchestrate over 9,500 connected products, including a wide range of entertainment devices comprising of Blu-ray players, satellite or cable boxes, game consoles, TVs, and any product with infrared (IR) control. It features IP control for Apple TV, Roku, or other network connected devices, and wireless control for lights, thermostats, smart locks, and more. The EA-1 also offers a number of advanced entertainment capabilities including integrated high-resolution streaming music services, and ShairBridge, native support for streaming personal music from any Airplay-enabled iOS device to different rooms throughout the home.
Feature-packed Multi-room Entertainment and Automation
The new Control4 EA-3 is designed to provide a premier multi-room music experience. Eliminating the need for a separate system to enjoy music, built-in multi-zone audio distributes music throughout the home. With the touch of a button, family members can access simultaneous streams of high-resolution music via streaming services or their own personal digital music collections. The EA-3 delivers audio with a signal-to-noise ratio of 110dB, three independent audio outputs including HDMI, and is compact enough to be mounted behind a TV. Architected with dual-core processor, the EA-3 delivers plenty of processing power to automate small to medium-sized homes.
The Ultimate Smart Home Experience
For the ultimate smart home experience featuring the highest quality audio and sufficient processing power to automate large homes that require connectivity to hundreds of smart devices, Control4 developed the new EA-5 entertainment and automation controller. The whole family can browse massive music libraries, distribute high-resolution music and control 4K video throughout the house, power and automate sophisticated home theaters, set up and manage complex interior and exterior lighting scenes, integrate with sophisticated security and communications systems, and control climate in multiple zones. The EA-5 features five independent audio outputs: HDMI, two Digital Coaxial, and two RCA stereo analog outputs with an audiophile-grade signal-to-noise ratio of 118dB, as well as an integrated five-port Ethernet switch, 2.4 and 5 GHz dual-band MIMO WiFi capabilities, plus, eSATA and USB ports for connecting local music and movie storage devices. The EA-5 ensures a reliable ZigBee wireless connection to smart home devices such as thermostats, door locks, doorbells, cameras, security panels, sensors, lighting, shading, garage door controllers, irrigation systems, and so much more.
Pricing and Availability
The Control4 EA-1 Bundle with Control4 SR-260 remote ($600 US MSRP), Control4 EA-3 ($1000 US MSRP), and Control4 EA-5 ($2000 US MSRP) all come with the latest Control4 Operating System 2.8.1, and are compatible with Android and iOS mobile devices including the Apple Watch, and are backed by a standard two-year warranty. The entire EA Series is available and shipping today through the Control4 dealer network of more than 3,700 certified dealers. Installation fees may vary.
Additional Resources
• For more information on Control4, please visit www.control4.com.
• Control4 Adds Denon to Its Online Store at HomeTheaterReview.com.
