Cloud-connected smart homes have been the standard for more than a decade. While cloud technology has made smart devices easier to set up and access remotely, it also comes with a major concern: privacy<\/strong>. Your cameras, sensors, voice commands, and other smart-home data may depend on remote servers to function.<\/p>\n\n\n\n UGREEN is now taking a different approach with HomeAgent<\/strong>, a new turnkey smart home platform designed to keep more of your data and processing inside your home.<\/p>\n\n\n\n UGREEN\u2019s HomeAgent combines several technologies into a single system, bringing together a NAS, local AI platform, smart home hub, and NVR<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The company is building on its experience in network-attached storage. UGREEN entered the NAS market in 2020 after establishing itself primarily through chargers and mobile accessories. Since then, it has expanded its NAS lineup with increasingly powerful systems.<\/p>\n\n\n\n With HomeAgent, however, UGREEN is moving beyond storage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The company envisions the platform as the central brain of a local-first smart home<\/strong>, handling smart-home controls, video surveillance, AI processing, and data storage without relying heavily on the cloud.<\/p>\n\n\n\n HomeAgent isn’t simply a standalone hub. UGREEN is also developing its own ecosystem of compatible smart-home devices.<\/p>\n\n\n\n At launch, the ecosystem includes:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Because these devices are designed specifically for the HomeAgent platform, they can interact with one another natively.<\/p>\n\n\n\n For example, a voice command through the UGREEN smart speaker could trigger a camera to capture an image, which could then be displayed automatically on the E-Ink photo frame. This kind of device-to-device interaction is designed to happen within the local ecosystem.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The ecosystem is still relatively small, but UGREEN is also supporting Matter<\/strong>, giving HomeAgent the ability to work with a wider range of compatible smart-home products. The company has also indicated that some level of Home Assistant support<\/strong> should arrive before launch.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The biggest difference between HomeAgent and many traditional smart-home hubs is its emphasis on local processing<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Rather than sending every request to a remote cloud server, HomeAgent is designed to perform AI processing locally. The same local-first philosophy applies to video recordings and smart-home control.<\/p>\n\n\n\n UGREEN plans to offer three HomeAgent models: HA100, HA100 Pro, and Master Agent<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The models differ significantly in their AI capabilities:<\/p>\n\n\n\n This gives users the option to choose a system based on how much local computing power they need.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The move toward local smart-home processing could be particularly important as homes become increasingly connected.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Security cameras can generate enormous amounts of sensitive information. Voice assistants can hear conversations. Smart-home systems can reveal when people are home, when they leave, and even their daily routines.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Keeping more of this information inside the home can reduce dependence on cloud services and potentially give users greater control over their data.<\/p>\n\n\n\n UGREEN’s HomeAgent is therefore more than another smart-home hub. It represents an attempt to combine local AI, home automation, surveillance, and personal storage<\/strong> into one centralized platform.<\/p>\n\n\n\n If UGREEN can deliver on its promise, HomeAgent could signal a shift away from the cloud-dependent smart homes that have dominated the market for years\u2014and toward smarter, more private systems that do more of their work right at home.<\/p>\n\n\n\n There is, however, one major drawback: price<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The flagship Master Agent<\/strong> packs an impressive 2,070 FP4 TFLOPS of computing power and 128GB of RAM, making it an extremely powerful machine for running AI locally. But that performance comes at a steep cost. Its retail price is $19,999<\/strong>, although UGREEN is offering a significantly lower $9,999 pre-order price<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n For most consumers, that’s still far beyond what they’d be willing to spend on a smart home hub. There’s no denying, though, that the Master Agent offers an extraordinary amount of local AI processing power.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The more affordable options are the HA100 and HA100 Pro<\/strong>, priced at $1,799 and $5,999<\/strong>, respectively. Their pre-order prices start at $899 for the HA100<\/strong> and $2,999 for the HA100 Pro<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n For the average smart-home user, the HA100 or HA100 Pro should provide more than enough performance. The HomeAgent platform is now available for pre-order, with UGREEN planning to launch its Kickstarter campaign in October.<\/p>\n\n\n\n There is still one important question that UGREEN hasn’t fully answered\u2014and we may not know the answer until HomeAgent begins shipping.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Does any user data actually leave the HomeAgent ecosystem?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n UGREEN describes HomeAgent as a local-first platform<\/strong>, promising local AI processing, local video storage, and local smart-home control. But “local-first” doesn’t necessarily mean “100% local.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n Until independent hands-on testing can examine how the system handles data and whether any information is transmitted to external servers, it’s too early to say that HomeAgent is completely cloud-free.<\/p>\n\n\n\nOne Hub for Your Smart Home<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
A Growing UGREEN Smart Home Ecosystem<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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Local AI at the Center<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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Why Local Smart Homes Matter<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Powerful, But Not Exactly Affordable<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
How Local Is “Local”?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n