I’m a smart home enthusiast and have invested considerable effort and money to automate and smart-ify a lot of things at home.

Yet, I’ve never looked at the air freshener in my room and expected it to be ‘smart’. But here we are!

The Godrej Aer Smart Matic is an air freshener diffuser that can be controlled via a smartphone app. It’s similar to Godrej Aer Matic in what it does, but it’s the how it does that changes in the smart variant of the room freshener.

The Smart Matic is a medium-sized pod with a functional design. It’s all plastic (and doesn't look like it can take a fall) but looks just fine sitting on a corner table or a shelf in your room (the company recommends placing it at least 2 meters from the floor level). It won’t win any design awards, but that’s also not what it is going for. On its side, the unit has a power button and the ability to select the gap between the automatic sprays - 10 minutes, 20 minutes, or 40 minutes.

Just like a regular air freshener, right?

But then, there’s an app for that. The Godrej Aer Smart Matic app, available for both iOS and Android, connects with the unit via Bluetooth and then allows you to control the diffuser better. The ‘smart’ of the Smart Matic is limited to the mobile app – it does not work with Google Assistant or Alexa, for example.

The setup is quite seamless although the registration process requires needless array of personal details that could’ve been skipped. A brownie point for Godrej since the Smart Matic comes with batteries already inserted. You just need to remove the circuit breaker strip from the battery to activate the machine.

The app, of course, lets you set up multiple Smart Matic units in the house and give them appropriate names. There are three presets for the frequency of the sprays and you can pick one basis the conditions. There’s also a ‘Spray Now’ option on the app to spray right away which is handy when we have a poop emergency with our three-year-old. You can also turn off the freshener if you're heading out.

The standout feature is the Smart Scheduler which lets you schedule the periods where it dispenses the freshener. You can keep it off for most part of the day on weekdays if you stay at work till evening, and set it to turn on just before you come back. In my case, I keep it off for a few hours stretch at night when we're sleeping. A little bit of judicious scheduling will help you keep the running costs low.

The app gives a low battery alert and also indicates the quantity of liquid inside the can. The app alerts when the refill is running out and offers an option to order one directly. Each refill costs ₹275 and the company promises 2,200 sprays in each can.

The Godrej Aer Smart Matic is priced at ₹799, but is mostly available for less than 700 bucks. In comparison, the Godrej Aer Matic is priced at ₹499. You can pick from a variety of fragrances to get started, but also try more fragrances with each new refill if you so desire.

I didn’t know I needed a smart air freshener but it’s handy to have one. It’s affordable, so an upgrade from the usual Godrej Aer Matic doesn’t hurt. Mind you, except for the scheduling, the functionality of both the non-smart and smart variants is exactly the same. The app just makes it convenient to use.

IF YOU'D LIKE TO SUPPORT MY WORK, BUY ME A COFFEE?