China-based Koogeek started out with a bang a couple of years back with quite a few great products, including a couple of smart plugs, power strips, colour bulbs et al, but have been relatively quiet for most of last year, despite various new devices appears online, like the proposed Koogeek L1 Door Lock for example, that Koogeek now say has been shelved, or the Koogeek KC01 Smart Camera, that has been floating around the internet for over a year, with ne’er a whiff of a release so far.

However, one such device that has been listed on the Koogeek site for a while, seems to be slowly emerging into online retail, with a listing for the A1 Smart Environment Monitor on Amazon.com and AliExpress.com, although at this time the Amazon listing states that the product is ‘currently unavailable’. AliExpress has two listings – one at the i3C Store for just under US$80, and Koogeek’s official AliExpress store – selling at almost double the price, at just shy of UK£120 – but listed as ‘sold out’.

If you’re not aware, this device measures the air in your home, reporting on PM2.5 and PM10, Humidity, temperature, VOCs, in addition to an ambient light sensor, motion sensor and sound sensor. So, with these kinds of specs, it should be a popular item. One odd thing we noticed with the Amazon listing is that the product image is slightly different from the one used on Koogeek’s own site. If you look at the light/motion sensor at the top of the front face, the Amazon image has a series of dots encircling the sensor. This could be for sound detection, or it could be merely decorative. There’s no way to tell at this time, and even which version is the current or official version. Either way, we’ll never know if Koogeek can’t let us buy it.

The KC01 Smart Camera isn’t listed on Koogeek’s public facing site, although it did appear on a hidden page within the site, that listed many of the yet to be released products. Interestingly, a manual for the camera has surfaced via the fcc.io website, which reveals that the manual was uploaded as recently as April of this year, so there may yet be hope for the camera after all.

The Koogeek FL1 Fingerprint Lock has had a similar history and has finally made its way to Amazon.com and AliExpress, but with little to no announcements or fanfare on Koogeek’s part, which is very odd. Nonetheless, we have one here and will be reviewing it soon. Maybe we’ll eventually be able to say the same for the A1…



