Top 9 Smart Home Hubs to Control All Your Devices

Because the Nest Hub Max can only connect via Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and Thread, it’s best suited to smart home systems made up of other Google Nest devices. The good news is that Nest makes pretty much any smart home device you could want, including the Nest Thermostat, Nest x Yale lock, and home security cameras. And if you have them, the Nest Hub Max is also compatible with Philips Hue lights, Arlo, Ring, Samsung SmartThings, and Wink smart home devices. It can also replace a tablet or a smart speaker, functioning as both while serving as the main control center for your smart devices.

A smart display like this upgraded Echo Show 10 is an especially great addition to your kitchen, since its built-in stand and voice control will allow you to operate it hands-free to play music and videos, stream TV, ask questions, video call, and watch home security clips from your Nest or Ring devices. Of course, the sound and video quality isn’t actually going to replace your TV, but its 10-inch screen is certainly a worthy upgrade to trying to balance your smartphone or old tablet with messy hands while cooking dinner or cleaning the house.

Echo Show's great advantage is its versatility and its range of models. The Echo Show 8, particularly the second generation, maintains a lot of the features of the 10, but in a smaller, more mobile size as well as a more affordable, under $130 price point.

With a simplified screen that displays only what it immediately needs to show you, you can still easily display your photos, video chat with family and friends, voice control your Alexa-compatible smart devices, and stream both music and videos with a remarkably quick set-up process. All of that for under $90 makes this smart hub an incredible value, too.

Along with the new spherical design, Amazon’s fourth-generation Echo speaker has updated features. Of course, the Echo can seamlessly connect with many other smart home devices with Alexa built-in, but now it can control Zigbee devices too. Amazon added better privacy measures with a button that can switch the microphone on and off. It also has manual buttons to turn on Alexa, adjust volume, and has a 3.5mm audio output. PCMag also noted that its audio performance is improved, which helped it earn their Editors’ Choice award. Though for the best audio on an Alexa speaker, you may want to opt for the $200 Echo Studio instead.

It makes sense to use mesh Wi-Fi routers to operate your smart home system. You already need strong Wi-Fi to connect devices to the internet, so why not invest in one with built-in speakers and integration with smart home devices to control them with a voice assistant or through one app? Companies like Amazon and Google are also integrating voice assistants with their mesh Wi-Fi routers, and it seems Samsung has also now replaced its third-generation SmartThings hub with the SmartThings Wi-Fi. While there are other powerful mesh Wi-Fi systems out there, the SmartThings is capable of controlling just about any smart device, including Google Assistant, Amazon Alexa, Philips Hue, Arlo, Honeywell, Ecobee, Schlage, and many more thanks to its Z-Wave, Zigbee, and Bluetooth connectivity. Because this Wi-Fi router is rated for up to a relatively small 1,500 square feet, you may need to combine multiple hubs for a larger home—but this is where mesh systems excel at creating seamless networks.

If most of your devices fall under the category of home entertainment, you may want to consider Logitech’s Harmony Hub, which uses an app that can turn your smartphone into an excellent universal remote. The small black box uses Bluetooth and Wi-Fi to connect to up to a range of eight devices, from your TV and wireless gaming consoles to smart speakers and lighting. You’ll need an extender to connect it to Zigbee and Z-Wave devices, but it is compatible with both Alexa and Google Assistant.

The Echo Dot is a more affordable version of the new Echo with just a few downgrades, like no Zigbee device connection and lesser quality audio speakers. However, it’s a great choice for smart home beginners on a budget looking to spend well under $100. With built-in Alexa, the Echo Dot can do all of the same hands-free voice control and has the same manual buttons and 3.5mm audio output as the standard Echo. It’s even got the same spherical design, though its dimensions are a bit smaller at under four inches.

Though it has a similar price and design to Amazon’s Echo, Apple’s HomePod Mini will suit you better if you prefer Siri over Alexa or if you’ve already invested in other Apple Home products. While Siri still isn’t the best voice assistant, Apple’s smart home devices are improving. The Verge described the HomePod Mini’s 360-degree sound quality as superior for its size—better than the similarly sized Echo Dot, but not quite as good as larger speakers. However, it also isn’t able to connect with a larger speaker system. Unfortunately, there’s also no manual switch to turn off the microphone like on the new Echo and Google Nest devices, so you either have to ask Siri to stop listening or turn it off from the app. Given all that—and that its functionality is on par with Amazon and Google’s smart speakers—it’s really only worth getting if you already own an iPhone or iPad, Apple Music, or already use other Apple HomeKit products.