Recently on the IoT Podcast, we answered a listener question about which smart home hub we’d recommend that works with all of the major radio protocols: Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, Zigbee and Z-Wave. Essentially, Stacey and I came up with two and you won’t likely be surprised to hear that they were the Samsung SmartThings Hub and the Wink Hub 2.
Why does it seem like this market is really a two horse race?
Sure there are several other hubs on the market and the more technically-savvy could build their own using open source software and a small compute board, such as a Raspberry Pi. But most homeowners either don’t have the skills or the time to tinker on their own.
So where does that leave us? Let’s look at the market.
Amazon’s latest Alexa hardware, the Amazon Echo Plus, is a hub but it’s missing Z-Wave, so it didn’t make the cut for us in terms of the recommendation. And the Alexa software doesn’t have nearly the amount of features found in SmartThings and Wink products. Yes, you can create device Groups and Routines, but when it comes to event-based automation — like using a door sensor to control a light bulb, for example — you can’t.
In contrast, Fibaro’s Home Center 2 has fantastic automation support, as well as voice control (with Alexa or Google Assistant) but while it supports Z-Wave, it doesn’t support Zigbee products. The same goes for the NCube Home hub, a fairly recent entry in the smart home hub market that I recently discovered: Z-Wave support is there but Zigbee is not.
That’s a shame because the NCube works offline and doesn’t send or store any data to the cloud, which helps address data privacy concerns. It also has one of the more interesting automation software approaches I’ve seen in a while: Similar to IFTTT but more comprehensive because it supports multiple “if” (and even “or) conditions for trigger events.
Apple’s HomeKit hub is either an Apple TV, an iPad or a HomePod and it’s even more limiting when you look at the radios: Wi-Fi and Bluetooth are the only ones supported, which may be part of the reason there are relatively fewer HomeKit compatible devices. Apple’s security standards are another likely reason. And if you’re an Android phone user, HomeKit is pretty much a non-starter.
Insteon has been around the smart home market for years and I’ve used one of its headless servers as a home hub back in 2010. That took some smarts to use but the company now has a much simpler $80 hub on the market. But it’s a bit like HomeKit in that you’re locked in to a brand because Insteon uses their own protocol in addition to X10, which is ancient by modern standards. Put another way: You’ll have to buy Insteon-branded bulbs, sensors and cameras if you go this route.
The Lowe’s Iris hub has all four radios we look for inside, but the selection of compatible devices is limited and to get some advanced features, you need to pay a monthly fee. None of the previously mentioned hubs have any fees. Securify also offers its Almond routers that double as hubs with support for all of the major radios as well, but my guess is that anyone looking to make their home “smart” already has a router. Then again, if you don’t have a mesh Wi-Fi system Almond offers that as well.
Still, where does that leave us? Right back where I started, essentially with either SmartThings or Wink, both of which I have in my own home.
Thanks to having support for both Zigbee and Z-Wave, these hubs have the broadest compatibility with a range of bulbs, locks, cameras, and sensors. And although neither is perfect — they each have software or connectivity quirks from time to time — both support Alexa and Google Assistant voice controls as well as useful automation features you can take advantage of.
I don’t suggest you blindly choose one of these two if you’re in the market for a smart home. You should always buy the best device that meets your personal needs. Just make sure that if you have already invested in some Z-Wave or Zigbee devices, you get a hub that supports them. And if you don’t want to get into automation (here’s what you’re missing though) and you’re fine with Zigbee devices, the Amazon Echo Plus may be the one for you. If you’re an iOS user, then clearly, HomeKit is appealing, even though you can use SmartThings or Wink with iOS.
Still, when it comes to most people who haven’t yet added a smart home hub, they’re likely to be be best served with one of the “big” two for now. At least until Essential’s Ambient OS devices arrive: They’re supposed to bridge all of this technology together so it matters less what smart home device brand you buy.
The key word phrase is “supposed to”, though. Until we see an actual product ship and how it works, it’s too soon to say if we’ll see a third horse in this race.
Your podcast mentioned that you would not recommend getting the Wink Hub 2 as it’s future is uncertain since being acquired by Will.i.am. Do you still hold this opinion? Technically, do you see a significant difference between the Wink and Samsung Hubs?
I haven’t heard much from the Wink folks, but I do like the UI more than SmartThings unless you have some very specific ideas you want to implement. ST is more flexible, but it’s also a bit less reliable and more challenging to figure out. Wink supports fewer devices but is dead simple to work with.
No mention of Stringify in your article, I find it to be much better than IFTTT.
Hello Stacey,
I love your podcast and your opinions at Twig.
I have Sonos, Hue and Nest and want to see if I can use one app to control all. I also want to know if I need a hub to control future IoT gadgets.
Thanks,
Stefan
I think Yonomi works with all of those. That’s a free app that can be used to control all of the above. You won’t need a hub unless you want to buy ZigBee or Z-wave sensors that don’t “speak” Wi-Fi or Bluetooth. Otherwise you’ll be fine with what you have.
I’ve been very happy with the Vera. It supports all the major standards, works offline – and has all the automations locally based.
Hi Stacey,
Valid points in the above article , but what is missing is consideration for the non-DIY hubs being provided by property managers in rental properties to give residents the home automation they want in an experience where everything is preinstalled, preconfigured and all controllable from a single UI (app or voice).
Agreed with @garthj. The Vera is the most underrated and often ignored product on the market. Very usable by most competitive standards and a HUGE ecosystem by comparison.
SmartThings simply doesn’t hold a candle.
Beautifully bridges the gap between average homeowner and power-user.
One of the best articles I’ve read on smart hubs. Thanks.
Thanks for the kind words!
@DrewCovi I loved my Vera. Until Google Assistant became very useful. Vera needs Assistant integration before I would recommend it to an average user.
Kevin,
It looks like Lowes is discontinuing the Iris line of products. Current users have a time frame until their hub will no longer work. The funny thing is most of their products besides the hub will work with the wink two hubs so you get a deal buying their sensor and switches at such a low price if you already have a wink hub. Ours in Orlando had door sensors for 4 dollars.
Well written article. I completely agree. I find it odd that people constantly recommend lutron or other limited hubs when ST does it all. Huge community, tons of cross platform handlers, open ended to write handlers for future devices.
I’ve had my insteon ISY hub for 5 years now and while insteon is pretty great, and has a ton of great devices, I find myself leaning more to zwave+ST for adding new devices. Both are compatible with all the major players but I feel there’s more future proofing with ST and zwave. But there’s no reason they can’t coexist. Insteon on the first floor and ST+zwave on the second floor and basement.
Only recently started to get into all the user made add-ons for ST and it is simply amazing what it let’s you do. Haven’t tried wink yet but agree it’s the only other viable mainstream.
I have had Wink for a couple years and just upgraded last week to wink 2 which is so much faster at reponce time.
It has been a great product and no reason to change. I also have a hue bridge but still control everything through wink.
Honestly Wink is junk. Still cannot reliably turn light on/off.
See Lutron Caseta for definition of reliable
I have multiple switches (Ge Jasco Leviton ) as well as over 40 Hue bulbs (via Hue hub) on my Wink 2 hub with no issues. Occasionally one will prove troublesome to pair but a quick call to Wink support has always resolved this quickly. Once paired mine has been rock solid.
So… This was just posted on Facebook by an employee of Wink, in an unofficial capacity (even though he works in a Communications Specialist role). This kind of unsanctioned, well-meaning, but terrifically naive rant is just more evidence that Wink is in serious viability trouble.
https://www.facebook.com/groups/WinkUsersGroup/permalink/1870914169680628/
>>Greg Banks
3 hrs
Hello World,
Some of you know my name, others just my shadow. I am Greg, I work for Wink. This is not an official company statement, this is not a fireside chat. These are my thoughts.
A lot has happened in the last three weeks and I on behalf of the support office just want to start off by thanking everyone. I know the comments have gone from rough to nuclear, and trust me I have to read every single one of them, but there are also those who have taken a moment to step back and appreciate the hard work we actually do. I’m especially thankful for the moments of humor or even general empathy you have given because it reminds myself and the team that we’re people working for other people.
I am a user too, and while I can shrug it off and be thankful for Hub 2 local control and wall switches, I wouldn’t try to downplay the significance of the impact this has had on any of you. It’s easy to say “you should have used smart switches” or “you should better understand how the technology you buy works”, but really it just shows that there is so much more we need to teach. What I’ll always tell you is that you should find what works for you and your needs above all else, and that your needs may not be the same as everyone else’s.
I’ve literally said it 1000x today, Wink is not going out of business. There is a lot of work to be done and change is never easy. Yes things will get better. When? -I’m not going to make up some ETA which is bound to become a missed milestone. For some consumers, any minor inconvenience is more than enough to change their opinions on the system as a whole. I believe that this is about hearts and minds; you change hearts by what you do and you change minds by how you do it. What I know we will do is that we will keep working on more updates to the Hubs and server, but the question I can’t answer is if it will be in time to change some minds.
It was a rough run up to the previous weeks outage and there was never any plan to pop a flare and call for extraction, my absence here was a side effect of the tsunami of backlogged cases and the circumstances we found ourselves in. What has happened has been especially hard for me. For one it has eroded probably all of the effort and rapport I tried to build here, and it really knocked me away from my goals of actually becoming your real Community Manager.
When things started looking bad it was all hands on deck, including me. I have a full time job internal to Wink as a Communications Specialist. I help with reviews, reporting metrics to leadership so they know what is going on, writing our support documents (wiki type pages for thousands of products), and helping manage the many reps who work in our office on how they can best assist our customers. There was always caution of having me engage externally with customers here, that I may end up in a situation such as.. Well like right now.
I’ve wanted nothing more than to go back to something normal and just help with troubleshooting. We can make that happen with some patience and time. Today was the first day back in the office and I just spent nearly 12 hours today between the office and sitting at home responding to your messages on Twitter and Facebook alone. It was only after my wife went to bed that I could even sit down and type this.
On a personal side note: some of you started sending me and even other people who haven’t worked for the company in years PM’s for info about ‘what’s going on?’ or ‘what should I do?’, and those had to go unanswered and will continue to go unanswered. You have to understand how that crosses a line… I’ll give you the same advice as if you were buying a car; be patient, do the research for what concerns YOU and not other people, and do not make impulsive decisions (I would hope that would include NOT ditching Wink at this time unless you felt you really had to for your needs). I really really really need you all to just send those types of messages to the support office using a DM on Facebook, a DM on Twitter using @WinkSupport, or in email to [email protected]. Those have to be documents and seen by the company leadership and the supervisors.
There are also many Wink employees here in this group watching, including supervisors. I’m sure tomorrow this post will earn me a ‘talking to’ and it certainly wouldn’t be the first time. My belief is that you change a system from the inside and not by going rogue and getting fired. On a similar note, this is a users group and not a place where I’m going to make unilateral unofficial comments on behalf of Wink, just my personal ramblings and hopefully some good troubleshooting advice. If I’m given a statement, I will absolutely be happy to post it on the blog, here, and Twitter.
My goal has not changed in terms of trying to find ways to keep you all informed and to inject community ideas and sentiment into the leadership above. I have a lot of work ahead for the weeks to come and I’m sure you all still have questions. All I can say is ‘Thank You’ for reading, even if you disagree. Good night.<<
FYI, I just received this email from wink, Beware if you are interested in one of their hubs, there is a mandatory monthly fee to use the product now, I think I am going to donate mine to a Linux home automation hacker group and be done with the buggy POS.
==============================================================================================================================================================
Wink Subscription Signup
Dear Lance,
Wink’s mission for the past 5+ years has been to provide users with a ‘Simpler, Smarter Home,’ while maintaining privacy for our customers. Our approach to simplicity and security has driven our design from the user experience to the technology behind the scenes.
We understand that a smart home is something that needs to be trusted and dependable, and we recognize that recent events have created some uncertainty around the reliability of the system. We apologize for these inconveniences and want to share some background information as well as the path forward.
Since 2014, Wink has grown to support more than 4 million connected devices. During this time, Wink has relied solely on the one-time fee derived from hardware sales to cover ongoing cloud costs, development and customer support. Providing users with local and remote access to their devices will always come at a cost for Wink, and over the years we have made great progress toward reducing these costs so that we can maintain that feature.
Wink has taken many steps in an effort to keep your Hub’s blue light on, however, long term costs and recent economic events have caused additional strain on our business. Unlike companies that sell user data to offset costs associated with offering free services, we do not. Data privacy is one of Wink’s core values, and we believe that user data should never be sold for marketing or any purpose.
We have a lot of great ideas on how to expand on Wink’s capabilities and satisfy the many requests from our user base. In order to provide for development and continued growth, we are transitioning to a $4.99 monthly subscription, starting on May 13, 2020. This fee is designed to be as modest as possible. Your support will enable us to continue providing you with the functionality that you’ve come to rely on, and focus on accelerating new integrations and app features.
Should you choose not to sign up for a subscription you will no longer be able to access your Wink devices from the app, with voice control or through the API, and your automations will be disabled on May 13. Your device connections, settings and automations can be reactivated if you decide to subscribe at a later date.
Our user community is integral to Wink, and we want to continue to be your trusted smart home provider. Visit subscription.wink.com to subscribe.
Smartthings is no fun when your ISP is down. I have been using SmartThings for about 5 years in our retail operation. It works. The time the app takes to connect and sync up with current status is terribly slow. I mean almost 30 seconds to figure out who is on and who is off. And pressing of the button for a scene can take forever long to complete.
The worst thing for us is, we have our power shut off regularly by SoCal Edison for fire danger. When they shut off the power, our ISP in our village (Spectrum) shuts down their internet, phone and TV services. Power outages can be onwards of two days, but this is why we have a generator. I could also invest in a LTE gateway as backup. But why?
I think my goal is to go for a “locally automated” hub. I’ve been eyballing the hubitat. Do we have a separate blog post on that product?
Yes we do! https://staceyoniot.com/hubitat-elevation-review/