Rating 30 Smart Home Devices, BEST and WORST!
Rating 30 Smart Home Devices, BEST and WORST!
I’m showing you everything in my smart home, and rating it rapid-fire from 1 to 10. Let’s find my favorites… and LEAST favorites.
LINKS (affiliate)
Schlage Encode Plus: https://amzn.to/45Ay9vy
Unifi G4 video doorbell: https://amzn.to/3JrzOdK
RATGDO garage door: https://paulwieland.github.io/ratgdo/
Weather station: https://amzn.to/3Qcdadj
Lutron smart dimmers: https://amzn.to/3UoBqv3
Inovelli Red: https://amzn.to/3U5fiEI
Rachio 3rd gen: https://amzn.to/3JtoX2U
Ecobee Premium: https://amzn.to/4aIKSPH
BOND bridge for fans: https://amzn.to/3JrA6kQ
Frame TV: https://howl.me/ckfR8hLsAW9
Apple TV 4K: https://howl.me/clKhACdS9y4
Tesla solar: http://ts.la/reed50987
Echo Show 15: https://amzn.to/44734js
Fingerprint locks: https://amzn.to/3UoRVr5
A lot of other links for my smart home here: https://www.amazon.com/shop/smarthomesolver
My shirts: https://smarthomesolver.big3creative.com/
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0:00 Intro
0:23 Smart lock
0:49 Video doorbell
1:26 Security cameras
1:37 Smart garage
1:54 Weather station
2:15 Lutron dimmers
2:30 Kasa dimmers
3:03 Lutron motion lights
3:20 Inovelli Red
4:04 Smart bulbs
4:24 Smart light strips
4:40 Echo
5:04 HomePods
5:35 Google Nest Display
5:46 Rachio
6:05 Smart thermostat
6:28 BOND bridge
6:47 Dashboard
7:14 Frame TV
7:29 Apple TV
7:52 Ring alarm
8:11 Motion sensors
8:29 Contact sensor
8:49 Vibration sensors
9:08 Robot vacuum
9:16 Smart outlets
9:31 Server rack
9:44 Smart buttons
10:00 Smart shades
10:24 Tesla solar
10:55 Echo Show 15
11:05 Fingerprint locks
11:18 NFC tags
11:30 Hub
12:02 1/10 š¬
———
MUSIC
Digifunk by DivKid
Ending song is The End by EVA.
https://open.spotify.com/artist/6UIs5b0zSXztIW5GHkCTkK
The ones i really liked was the C by Ge smart dimmer with motion sensor. Those are awesome. I also like my levoton automatic vent switch with humidity sensor for the bathroom vent, but thats not really a smart device. If it connected so you could see humidity or temperature and set manual on time, that would be a plus, but honestly works pretty much perfectly.
Great video! Just one question how did you get your Ecobee into home assistant since they stopped giving out the api key? I am now looking to change fromEcobee to a company that will work with Home Assistant.
Sonoff S31 Lite (Zigbee) smart plugs. I have them all over my house. I use them most heavily for controlling lights, misting systems, etc for my terrariums and vivariums. As will as plant lights for my house plants. 10/10
How many years worth of power bills could you pay for with what you spent on 3 Tesla powerwalls???
I am so glad you added your wifeās opinion on this. I also appreciate that you are in North America. What is with the other side of the world being totally cool with a 5v wire jungle everywhere? I watched your video on Lutron Switches and agree 100% Why is everything SMART so FUGLY?
I just spent $3K on switches for a complete gut on our home. Blank canvas. Pick a box size and run AC Mains wherever you wantā¦. do you think I can find a mains power (blanket slateā¦ lets say 24V) motion sensor that doesnāt look like (I am quoting a local home builder here) a āTinker Tot Trinket, with an ugly tailā? He went on to also eliminate the goofy stands, etc.
To be clear, I am a tinker Tot. To be even more clear, I agree with him 100% as a Tinker Tot.
As someone who *tries* to sell and install Smart Home devices using Home Assistant. The OVERWHELMING objection is FUGLY. The next objection (remember that 3K Lutron solution), is price. Now I know you live in the Southern US and AC is pretty much Standard Equipmentā¦ but up here in Canada (Edmonton, Alberta, the northern most metropolis) AC is something we use for a couple months in the summer. The reason I bring this up is simple;
When a Tinker Tot, or someone even remotely interested in a smart home, walks into a Home Builderās showroom and runs the numbers on what a Smart Home (just the switches folks) costs, and then looks to see that it is the same cost as installing A/Cā¦. Where do you think the decision maker (wife) goes? Then we add FUGLY factor, and the Smart Home is all but defeated, even in the Tinker Totās mind.
I want to hear more from your wife friend. HER voice needs to be heard, because itās HER voice that is KILLING smart home.
IMHO: Lutron is dead. Get regular switches and use Hue smart switches. Way more flexible and programable… $40 each. You spent the savings on hue bulbs. Same cost, way more flexible. š
Unifi vs eufy doorbell, which one do you think is better?
I have a Rachio smart spigot valve. I give it 8/10. It uses its own weird hub. It should have just been a Zigbee, Zwave, Matter over Thread, or even LoRa device.
Hey, regarding unifi doorbell, I have the same problem as her. When the feed finally loads it has over 20 seconds on the timer and courier or postman is long gone š
5:30 Shes got a Point š @smarthomesolver
Interesting that people use so much off the shelf stuff – well, everything. I understand. But personally its so much more fun to make everything from scratch – just so much more control and debugging is a joy (since you made it).
What do you use as your smart dashboard?
People have no idea how easily all these can be hacked and how vulnerable they are.
What are the automated patio shades you’re using?
Love your vids, and including the family!!! Ill look at the Ecobe
So if the bond is controlling a device that uses IR such as ceiling fan that means I have to have one in every room with a fan?
LOL my wife and I are the exact same way on the Frame TV – she thinks it’s gorgeous and love it, but the laggy UI is absolute garbage. It’s a shame really for such an expensive high-end TV
Samsungs new smart tvs are way better then the older gens but Iām sticking to Sonys google tvs they just work so much better and integrate better with google home and home assistant
Lmao he slammed it 9:01
Can you help me? I have a second Home i visit ad hoc. I would like to say Alexa Home is on and then my automations run while I am occupying it when I leave Iād like to say Alexa turn home off and automations stop how do I do that? I have Hue bridge and lots of Wi-Fi devices.
Aqara Matter over Thread Door & Window sensors are my 10/10.
Hhahahaha Been there man. HA is 10/10 for me, would probably be a 7/10 for my wife for the same reason Ally gave yours a 7. I am constantly tinkering! š i blame you! š
Wow. I had a stroke looking at all your stuff. A server rack.. aaand a hub. Is that really necessary? I’m a noob at smart home and i have a Homey Pro since 10 months back, without a single flow. I really don’t find anything useful. š I guess i suck.
I want to like NFC tags more and this is more of an iPhone thing than an NFC thing but I donāt like using the NFC tags because I have to accept a pop up prompt before the automation runs. 4/10
I love your kids and wife, you’re a luck man, hey by the way I totally agree with your wife š š š š
What device are you using for your Home Dashboard?
Maybe I should be watching her videos… because if it isn’t ease of use, seamless, and can operate with presence perfectly throughout the day. It’s not really smart, more like semi trainable. Multiple conditions is 100 percent needed because not everyone is on the same hour by hour, minute by minute schedule. Nor is their behavior the same on days off verses when they work. Just not on tv suggestions.
If one is wanting to go with budget light switches (and dimmers) I recommend going with GE SYNC rather than Kasa Smart. I have found Kasa Smart to be highly unreliable and it seems like practically any Kasa device starts going completely unresponsive after about 6 to 12 months.
Maaaan! This guy is swimming in some serious tech toys. It’s like a dream for most people. Wonder how many were sponsored vs. paid for? I guess with more than a half million subscribers he can afford to buy any kind of sheet he wants.
Would really love to incorporate any of the inovelli line but you can never get em.
I love how straight to the point this video is. š
Also here in AZ. Any opinion on Vivint or Control 4 for home automation, security, thermostats, etc.? Other options? We just want simple, reliable, and fewest apps. Thanks!
How do you solve your outdoor things not getting stolen? cameras. video doorbell, sensors …. Quite alot of money. I want to get a outdoor camera for my porch, but I havent foud one in castiron or stainless steel. Have you got a solution for that.
I was looking for a response several people had regarding the dashboard. What smart device is that, you do not say in the video? How did you set that up?
Garage door question. Why not use the My-Q that you have in the garage door openers?
Your Tempest problem doesnāt make sense. We have a few of these in New Hampshire, snowy, rainy, gray for weeks with no sun. Iāve never had the battery go dead ever. Tempest Bridge issues sure, but never a battery/transmitter problem.
Need a new video like this !!
awesome setup, basically everything that I have and rated exactly how I would rate.
Watching your channel with my wife and we loved you got your wifeās ratings perspective. Way to go!
I havenāt met a doorbell yet that I really love. I had the UniFi. It bricked itself after a little over a year. When it was working, Home Assistant integration was great (HomeKit wasnāt supported). It did take a long time to bring up footage. Scrubbing through footage could crash the app. Upshot though: it can record 24×7. And it can offer RTSP feeds. So it has a lot going for it. But maybe more like a 7/10 for me.
Samsung smart tv OS is horrible and it doesnāt have all the apps
I had Home Assistant on a Raspi Pi4 with USB SSD just like you and recently upgraded to a Pi5 with the NVME HAT.
For somebody with that many devices, I can only urge you to test it out and see how much more snappy the dashboards will get
Also, thanks for the video. A lot of good inspiration š
You may have done this but it may be helpful to offer up alternatives for the items you rated lower! Great video. We just built a house and I am looking forward to integrating some of these.
We’re just down in Tucson and never had a problem with the Tempest battery. Might want to look into it.
6:16 I loved Ecobee until they dropped support for my thermostat and I can no longer control it remotely, log my temps, etc.
Let’s hear it: what device is a 10/10 in your smart home?š
I want to use a mix of unify and reolink cameras too, how do manage it in terms of NVR or storage?
Every kasa device i have tried has been a bad experience. They woud keep losing connection and require restart or sometimes factory reset and re adding them than even working in the app, i would have to unlink them with alexa and relink them. Had the same problem with the wemo switch. I have honestly had better experience with cheap nameless tuya junk, just wish they had more features, but that can be fixed with software or possibly home assistant.
3:02 just bought lots of kasa, glad they works well š
Will the Kasa light switches work if wifi is down as a standard switch?