When I started my smarthome about 2 years ago, I knew nothing about it.
a week of researching I realized that many different brands, many different options were available.
With that, I saw that compatibilty issues, battery life questions, signal problems etc were present in crossplatforms.
Along the way I wasted some money on not so good products and spend money on some really great products.
Every home is different, every system is different and I’m sure everyones exeperience will be different but maybe this topic can help some people before they start buying in bulk.
If you like, please share your favorite and least favorite devices/brands and the reasons.
Disclaimer : I have no affiliation(s) with any of the products I’m listing here.
My system:
ST Hub.
PH Hue Hubs (2)
Action Tiles (wall panels)
Webcore (duh)
No Automation with any apps everything webcore.
Here is my list:
RING PRO DOORBELL
I’m somewhat happy with it.
Battery life is around 2 months in my house (depends on how many times action detected etc)
I bought 2 spare batteries. Easy to change.
CONS
- What I don’t like is, warnings are delayed most often. If someone comes to the door, I get the notification 7-8 seconds later. And the unit is very close to wifi router.
- Talking to someone through the app is not that great. You can have a very basic conversation like - ok I’ll be there in five or leave it at the door etc they can barely understand you… But don’t expect a nice talk with your friend etc. (and trust me it’s not my accent LOL)
SCHLAGE DOOR LOCK
Very good lock. ST home integration is not that great.
If you use it manually no problems. Great lock.
But I wouldn’t trust with automation.
I’m not sure if this is STHUB problem or the LOCK’s problem but two way communication is not good.
CONS
- The phone App is not seeing the lock. My understanding is you need to buy another device to make App-Lock connection happen.
PH HUE RGB BULBS
Very happy with the bulbs.
Not perfect but STHOMES are not perfect yet.
I believe Ph hue bulbs are one of the best on the market.
The limit is 50 bulbs per hub. I went up to 60 and so far so good.
OPEN/CLOSE SENSORS
Visonic MCT-340 E
Nope, not happy. The main part is too long and doesn’t look good.
I got false open or close too ofter.
Samsung Multi Purpose Sensor
I like them a lot. Battery life is very good (but again, depends on the usage)
Even if door is not used for a while (weeks sometimes) connection with the hub remains solid.
CONS
- Watch out, the sticker comes with it WILL DAMAGE your wall or your door frame:))))
MOTION SENSORS
IRIS MOTION SENSOR
I really liked how small it was. But performance was not good in my experience.
Two different motion sensors in a single room - so they work the same amount.
Iris needs 3 battery changes by the time the other only uses one.
The signal drops a lot. I had to take out the bettery and put it back in at least a couple of times a month to reconnect. When it’s just one sensor this might be okey but when it’s 20, it’s annoying.
Samsung SmartThings Motion Sensor
Much better option. Better battery life.
The company claims the range up to 15 feet BUT at 15 feet range the sensor remains non reactive SOMETIMES. The best performance is within 10 feet.
I have high ceilings in the living room and I placed one ot the ceiling, not a good idea. Now they are all on the floor level (like laser tripping alarms) and works great.
LIGHT STRIPS
Since Ph Hue strips are the most expensive I started with different brands and ended up replacing all of them with Ph Hue…
Yes expensive but the best.
If you don’t care about controlling them with your phone app you might be fine with another brand BUT for automation just go with PH HUE.
SMART PLUGS
Inovelly Smart Plug
I had 7-8 of them and ended up replacing all. In my system, 2-3 out of 10 times they failed to work.
Either didn’t turn on or off.
Wifi Outlets
I’d say stay away. They DO WORK but somehow after a power outage they were just OFF by default. They don’t go back to the state they were in before the outage.
Finally SYLVANIA SMART + ZigBee Indoor Smart Plug won the race:))
I have about 20 of them and they are just great. I replaced everything with Sylvania about 3 months ago and I yet none of them failed to receive signal.
SMART WALL OUTLETS/DIMMERS
I started with GE outlets and dimmers and very happy about it.
The only bump I had was resetting them. It’s like a combination lock :)))))
(just check the internet you’ll be fine if you need to reset)
I have more devices and I’ll keep adding into this list.
Have fun.