The best smart home hubs you can buy
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The smart home hub is a great way to pull all of your smart home devices together. The hub with the best intersection of connectivity, coupled with a good app and relatively low price tag is the Samsung SmartThings hub.
The smart home is becoming increasingly popular, and it seems like every day there are more products that can be connected to your Wi-Fi network, giving you control over your home. But how do you pull all those devices together into an easy-to-use, frustration-free interface? Through a smart home hub, of course! With smart home hubs, you can set up home automation, so that your devices react based on your routine.
There are quite a few hubs out there, and they’re not all created equal. In fact, some are built for very specific purposes and only work with select smart home products. Many smart home hubs now serve multiple functions, working as smart speakers or Wi-Fi routers, so that you get more bang for your buck.
The smart home is still very much in its infancy, and there’s no single hub that’s the ultimate device for smart home control and automation. Still, hubs are getting better over time, and if you’re ready to seriously dive into home automation, there are some great options for you. We've tested and researched the best ones to bring you the five best options you currently have. Before we get to our picks, here are some things to consider.
Things to consider when choosing your hub
- Compatibility: The most important thing to consider is device compatibility, and that will require a little planning. Smart home hubs are built specifically to work across different standards, but that doesn’t mean they all work with every single smart home device. The most common standard is probably Wi-Fi, but some devices also use Z-Wave, Zigbee, Bluetooth, and more. You’ll want to look at the smart home devices you’re planning to connect to the hub and list out the standards you need before you buy a hub.
- Voice control: Smart home hubs have started evolving into smart speakers that also connect to a range of smart home devices. The most common of these smart speakers is Amazon Alexa, which connects to smart home devices and allows you to control them using only your voice. Google Home is another option, and Apple will soon release the HomePod, which will work with HomeKit products. You can read all about the smart speakers in our buying guide.
- The app: Smart home hubs are generally controlled through a smartphone app, and if you’re going to control your home from an app, you’ll want that app to work well. If you find that multiple hubs offer all the standards you need, and you’ve decided whether or not you want voice control, your next determining factor should be how easy the app is to use and how much that app can do.
We've tested a number of the most popular smart home hubs and researched expert reviews to come up with the five best smart home hubs you can currently buy. Read on to see which one is best for your needs.
Although the Samsung SmartThings hub is our top pick, for various reasons laid out in the slides below, you should also consider the Wink Hub 2, the Amazon Echo, the Samsung Connect Home, and the Logitech Harmony Elite.
The best smart home hub overall
Why you'll love it: The Samsung SmartThings hub offers a ton of connectivity options, has a pretty good app, and costs less than $100.
Samsung's SmartThings hub is a tried and true hub with a ton of great connectivity options and a pretty good app. Samsung has jumped wholeheartedly into the smart home game, not only building a hub, but also a range of sensors and trackers for your home, too, and all of those devices work together pretty well. That’s why the Samsung SmartThings hub is our top pick.
The hub is able to connect to hundreds of different devices, including the motion trackers, smart power outlets, and multi-use trackers we got in our Samsung SmartThings Home Monitoring Kit. It supports a huge range of smart home standards, including Z-Wave, Zigbee, Bluetooth, and, of course, Wi-Fi. It also works with Amazon Alexa, so you can use the hub in conjunction with the Amazon Echo to control your home with your voice.
The Samsung SmartThings app is pretty good, and while it definitely takes some tinkering to get it right, you will get used to using it. Perhaps the main downside to the app is setting up home automation, which is a little tricky. For example, we wanted to set up the motion tracker to turn our lights on and off. Instead of being able to use the same motion tracker to do so, depending on whether the lights were on or off at the time, we would have had to use two motion trackers.
Still, the slightly convoluted app aside, the Samsung SmartThings hub was our favorite of the bunch we tested. We weren’t the only ones who liked it, though — PCMag gave it 4.5/5, while Trusted Reviews gave it a nice 4/5.
Pros: Great connectivity, relatively inexpensive, decent app
Cons: App could use some better automation controls
Buy the Samsung SmartThings hub on Amazon for $91.90 (originally $99.99)
The best smart home hub for compatibility
Why you'll love it: The Wink Hub 2 is inexpensive and easy to use, but the best thing about it is its wide range of connectivity options.
The Samsung SmartThings hub has pretty good connectivity options, but it doesn’t have every connectivity option. The Wink Hub 2, however, comes pretty close. Not only does it have all the connectivity that the SmartThings hub has, but it also offers support for Lutron Clear Connect and for Kidde, so if you’re looking to implement a range of devices with a number of different standards, this might be the one for you. You can check out all the compatible devices here.
When you take the hub out of the box, the first thing you’ll notice about it is its design, specifically how big it is. While it looks good, it’s a little bigger than the other hubs on the list, which is something you’ll want to keep in mind when you’re buying. The size makes sense, though, because Wink had to put all those wireless radios somewhere.
When it comes to the app, the Wink Hub 2 is decent, but those who are looking to get serious with the smart home might get a little frustrated with its limited functionality. That’s not to say it’s bad – it’s not. In fact, it’s very easy to use, but the trade-off there is functionality.
Still, most agree that the Wink Hub 2 is a great hub in general – PCMag gave it 4.5/5, while TechHive gave it a nice 4/5.
Pros: Tons of connectivity options, well-designed, easy-to-use app, inexpensive
Cons: App lacks some advanced features
Buy the Wink Hub 2 on Amazon for $89.95 (originally $99.00)
The best voice-controlled smart home hub
Why you'll love it: The Amazon Echo is compatible with a range of devices and looks great, but people love it for its above-par voice recognition.
Amazon launched the original voice-controlled hub, the Amazon Echo, way back in 2014, but the device has gone above and beyond to stand the test to time. While others have followed suit, like Google with the Google Home, and Apple with the upcoming HomePod, the Echo’s head start has allowed hundreds of developers to build Alexa support into their products. Not only that, but it has also given Amazon time to iron out the kinks and add new features, which it does all the time.
Beyond its excellent voice recognition and control, the Amazon Echo is able to connect to a great range of devices. You can find a full list of compatible devices here. Support for new devices is added all the time, too, so if there’s a device you want to use that isn't supported yet, chances are it will be in the future, provided it works through Wi-Fi or Bluetooth, or you have another hub to connect it to.
Now, controlling the Echo is all about using your voice, but there is an app to use as well. From that app, you can add and remove devices, but you won’t be able to actually control individual devices themselves like you can in other apps. On top of that, the Alexa app is limited when it comes to automation, though you can use a third-party app like IFTTT instead.
Pros: Excellent voice recognition, tons of compatibility
Cons: App is a little limited for hardcore smart home users
Buy the Amazon Echo on Amazon for $179.99
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