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As of this update, however, it still hasn’t shown up. I’ve reached out and they tell me the US version is still coming and should have hit in Q1 2021. Athom announced the US version at CES, but the pandemic has slowed things down (maybe this is to do with US regulatory certification, but Athom hasn’t been specific). The biggest issue here is that it’s available in all regions except North America right now. The user experience is important for something you’re going to be using a lot, and Homey is simply way out in front of many other brands on this point. Even if you aren’t thinking about complex automations now, as you build out your smart home you’ll start exploring smarter behaviors and having the capabilities in the hub will ensure you don’t run into limitations.įinally, I like the very slick mobile and desktop apps with clear, easy to use dashboards, notifications, and deep analytics driven by up to 10 years of sensor data in local data storage from your devices. On top of this is a class leading rules engine they call Flow, which not only allows conditional rules with multiple and/or conditions, but the ability to easily create branching rules as well with condition driven if/then/else behavior. Taking an approach similar to Amazon’s Alexa, Athom has created an open developer interface allowing third parties to easily add support for new devices and services, both local and cloud connected devices, which can all be installed by end users directly through the app. This is thanks to Homey’s modular device support and extensive developer community. I’ve also ranked it highly for it’s huge number of supported smart devices. If you don’t have need of a third party voice assistant, Homey includes it’s own, which also allows you to have it give spoken messages as part of automated actions, something that I’ve often wished I could do with some other smart home systems. What is also important for me is support for all three major voice assistants and their associated platforms, also for reasons of flexibility and choice. I think this is an important consideration because you don’t want your options limited when looking for smart devices to add to your smart home system. This makes it a perfect candidate for being the all-in-one hub for any smart home by allowing the use of a huge range of devices. More than that, though, is the inclusion of internal radios for every significant home device protocol and even infra red for those less smart devices. The Homey is an attractive modern device that can sit comfortably out in the open, which is handy as it has the more practical benefit of enabling flexible placement for optimal signal strength and voice recognition. Best Z-Wave Hub OverallĮuropean company Athom has come up with arguably the holy grail of smart home hubs.
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We’ll take a look at several options that cover each of these bases beyond the best overall, including more enthusiast focused offerings. You’ll want to consider ease of use, how hands on you want to be with getting devices working, how much flexibility you want going forward, and whether you want to include other smart home protocols in the one solution, which I always recommend for greater versatility down the road. While the Athom Homey is my choice for best overall smart hub, there are cheaper alternatives depending on what your priorities are. This includes things like the breadth of supported devices, the user experience, reliability, the availability of support, and ultimately value for money.
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To try and make sense of this I’ve focused on what I consider to be the most important factors in choosing a hub. The variation in capability, ease of use, and price is significant, which makes choosing one for your situation a bit of a minefield.
#Zwave home control professional#
I’ve had many years of professional experience working with complex networks and control systems, and I’ve applied this to dig into the capabilities of all these hubs, and the companies behind them to narrow this field down. I’ve spent weeks researching every smart home hub on the market that supports Z-Wave and have found the Athom Homey to knock it out of the park on features and device support, but at a price. This device is required to form the heart of your Z-Wave network and allow for connection to your normal home network so your smart phone or computer can talk to your devices. If you’re looking to get into Z-Wave devices for your smart home you’ll need a certified Z-wave hub (officially called a Z-Wave Controller). When you buy through links in this article, I may earn an affiliate commission.