REVIEW – We are in an era of smart things. Smartphones. Smartwatches. But smart furniture? I didn’t even know this was a thing that I needed. But it turns out that I did! There is this chair in our family room that the kids love to sit in. Because of that, it usually has a pile of laptops, iPads, and chargers on the floor or on the stool that sits next to it. When the opportunity to review the Sobro Smart Side Table came up, I jumped!
What is it?
The Sobro Smart Side Table is a side table or night stand that has wifi, speakers, a fridge, wireless charging, cable management, AC outlets, lights, alarms, and USB ports. And it has an app!
What’s in the box?
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- The table
- Table legs
- Power cord
- Aux audio cord
- Dimmer switches
Hardware specs
Height: 24 inches
Width: 23.5 inches
Depth: 19.3 inches
Weight: 76 pounds
Assembly
Assembly is really quite simple. Screw on the legs, plug in the plug, and snap on the dimmer switches. And put it where you want it. The manual has a QR code that takes you to some videos on how to set the table up, but one of the videos was unavailable, which was a bit disappointing.
Design and features
Oh boy… Who knew that a simple side table could have so many features. The easiest way is just to list them all.
- Refrigerator
- Bluetooth speaker
- Noise generator (light rain, ocean waves, white noise)
- Front and back LED lights (front can be motion-controlled)
- Two wireless charging pads on top
- USB-A, USB-C, and 120V Power Outlets
- Sleep mode with alarm
- Storage drawer
- Storage slot
- Connects to your wifi for app control
Performance
My first impression of the Sobro smart side table occurred when I saw the UPS guy struggling to get it up to my front porch. It’s heavy! I was really not expecting it to weigh almost 80 pounds. My second impression occurred once I unboxed it and attached the legs – it’s big! Bigger than I was expecting anyway. But that’s OK – bigger is better, generally.
Once I got it all put together and plugged in, it was time to “turn on the smart.” This is a simple process of getting the Sobro app from the Google Play or Apple store and pushing a small button on the back of the table. This activates the wifi and you just step through the process in the app to get it on your network.
Once that was done, I stocked the fridge with some drinks and started to play with all the features. First, I cleared the pile of devices and chargers on the floor and used the ports on the back of the table and the cable organizing features, and was much happier.
Then I connected my phone to the Bluetooth speakers. The sound was OK, but for a piece of furniture upwards of $700, I think they could have put better speakers in it. Perhaps even a subwoofer, since the space is there. Unless you don’t have any other option, I don’t see many people using this table as a primary speaker, which is a bit disappointing.
The Sobro Smart Side Table’s lighting features are quite nice. You can have the lights on all the time, off all the time, on a timer, or motion-sensitive. I chose to have the front light on the motion sensor, and the rear light off. But if I had it installed as a nightstand in a bedroom, the rear light would be very nice, especially since you can completely adjust the brightness and color.
As a nightstand, the Sobro Smart Side Table’s motion-sensitive light is a really nice feature too. Imagine getting up in the middle of the night to use the restroom, and a soft white light comes on at foot level as soon as you swing your legs over the side of the bed. If I didn’t already have nice bedroom furniture, I would use this as a nightstand just for that feature.
The Sobro Smart Side Table’s fridge works better than I expected. The manual states that the fridge is more of a “cooler drawer” and will cool beverages to 20 degrees below room temperature. Our house does not have air conditioning, so it’s about 80 degrees or so during the day. That would put the drinks at around 60 degrees, which is not very refreshing. They were much cooler, so this “cooler drawer” was exceeding expectations there. If you don’t want to use the cooler drawer as a fridge, you can turn the fridge off in the app and just use it as a drawer. Another nice feature of both the fridge and the regular drawer next to it is that both have lights.
The Sobro Smart Side Table’s charging ports and wireless charging pads worked well. I was able to charge two devices at once, and there are LEDs that let you know which pad is working and if the device is positioned correctly.
The design of the Sobro Smart Side Table is very mid-century modern. It has rounded edges on top and skinny but sturdy legs. The full-black design would look good in most decours.
What I like
- Looks good, lots of features
- A lot of control over the lighting
- Wireless charging!
- Cold fridge
What I’d change
- Better speakers, maybe with a subwoofer
Final thoughts
Who knew that smart furniture was a thing, but I definitely found a use for it. Our daughter is leaving for college in a few weeks and she really wants to take the Sobro Smart Side Table with her. I think I may have to do some bargaining…
Price: $799.00
Where to buy: Wellbots, or Amazon
Source: The sample for this review was provided by Wellbots.
