Need a smart home hub? Here's how to choose one

If you’re like me, and you’ve gradually built up a collection of smart home devices and gadgets, you’d likely benefit from a dedicated smart home hub. But there are a few things to consider before parting with your money.

What is a smart home hub?

Many modern home electronics – from lights to vacuum cleaners – now come with integrated smart technology, meaning they can be operated from a dedicated remote control or specific app on your smartphone or tablet.

One of the problems with smart technology is that connectivity varies by brand. Some may use your home Wi-Fi or Bluetooth, while others rely on radio waves like Z-Wave and Zigbee. Simply put, a smart home hub allows you to manage and operate all of your smart devices automatically from a single control point.

Choosing between an independent and third-party hybrid center

A first-party hub is an all-in-one platform that typically includes a voice assistant — such as Amazon Alexa, Google Assistant, and Apple Siri. These systems require a central control unit, usually a speaker, that connects to your smart devices and lets you control them via voice commands.

Additionally, these types of home platforms can be accessed from your smartphone when you're away from home, allowing you to monitor your security and change your settings remotely.

A standalone hub, on the other hand, is a standalone device that can be programmed to communicate with any of your smart devices. This type of controller is also known as a hybrid hub because it supports multiple communication protocols, such as radio, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and infrared.

The great thing about having a standalone hub is that you don't need to commit to a service package or monthly subscription, and you're not limited to the range of smart devices that that company offers.

Can any of your existing devices act as hubs?

You may be able to use an existing device such as a smart TV, old tablet, or smartphone to control some of the smart devices in your home. However, the main drawback of this solution is that they can only be connected using Wi-Fi or Bluetooth.

Alternatively, there are different types of hybrid hubs with multiple connection methods available depending on how many smart devices you have and the level of control you need. For example, a simple panel with programmable buttons, like this one from Sonoff, might be enough if you have a few smart lights.

What to Consider When Getting a Smart Home Hub

If you decide you want a central hub to control your smart home devices, here are the most important things to consider…

Compatibility

If you're torn between whether to choose the ease and convenience of a first-party platform, like Google Home, or opt for a standalone hub, your first consideration should be connectivity.

What smart devices do you already own? Do they work together effectively? If you already own a Google Nest smoke alarm, doorbell, and security camera, or an Apple Mac and iPhone, it may be wise to stick with those platforms for your control methods.

But if you have multiple devices and systems running, remember that one hub may not be able to connect to everything. Additionally, some smaller smart home manufacturers are developing devices that are only compatible with their own controllers, or have already stopped offering support, so it’s also a good idea to think about any future purchases and choose a system that allows for compatibility.

Choose the system that reflects your needs.

Once you have identified all of your smart devices and their connectivity requirements, there are a few additional points to consider. Most first-party contact centers need to be connected to the internet, and may even use your Wi-Fi connection to communicate with your devices.

This poses several problems. First, if you live somewhere with unreliable internet access, you may find yourself unable to control your devices remotely, or even when you’re at home.

Since most native platforms include a voice assistant, some of their functions and features depend on the cloud services provided by the manufacturers. This can lead to reliability issues if the server experiences a downtime.

But more importantly, this also means that your home security is in the hands of third-party servers and could be vulnerable to hacking or privacy breaches. Using an independent center allows you to decide whether and to what degree you want your system to be available online, and allows you to fully operate your connected devices during an internet outage.

Keep your budget in mind.

In addition to the initial cost of purchasing a hub, many proprietary platforms require a monthly subscription. For example, Google Nest will cost you between $60 and $120 per year, while Apple One Premier’s plan costs $37.95 per month. By choosing a standalone hub, you can say goodbye to monthly subscription fees and gain more freedom to connect to non-proprietary smart devices.

A recently developed open source communication protocol called Matter aims to be the new standard in smart device connectivity, and has already been adopted by companies like Apple, Google, and Amazon, along with a host of smaller companies. So choosing a controller that includes this technology is a good hedge for the future.

The Homey Pro is a next-generation hybrid home hub that retails for an affordable $399. It uses Matter as a standard and can also connect to your devices using Thread, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, radio waves, or infrared. It also handles managing and scheduling your devices locally instead of relying on cloud services, helping to protect your data and keep your devices up and running even when the internet goes down.

Ultimately, the right choice for your home is a system that fully meets your current and future needs. As advances in smart technology and automation continue to shape our lives, how we interact with these devices will need to continually improve and evolve. But for now, a hybrid smart home hub may be the smartest option on the market.