The Best Smart Home Hubs in 2024

If your New Year’s resolution is to make your home a little more comfortable to live in by bringing in more automation, you cannot go wrong in selecting the best smart home hub.

So, here’s a little help from us to you. We have compiled the best smart home hubs for 2024,

• Aqara Hub
• Dirigera Hub
• Google Nest Hub
• Wink Hub
• Logitech Harmony Hub
• Aeotec Smart Hub
• YoLink Hub
• Vivint Smart Hub
• Amazon Echo Hub
• Samsung SmartThings Hub

Let’s dig in to know more!

Aqara Smart Home Hub

Aqara has a range of smart home hubs that are compatible with many of the smart home platforms including Amazon Alexa, Google Home, Apple HomeKit and Samsung SmartThings. They support WiFi, Zigbee and Bluetooth where you can control most of the smart home devices through them.

They also give the ability to control the devices remotely through the app. Hubs like Aqara M2 are equipped with a built-in speaker that can be used in many ways. The best part is that the newest hubs from Aqara such as M2, and M1S can automatically control smart home devices.

Aqara Hub M2, Aqara Hub and Aqara Hub E1 are the best suggested smart home hubs for the next year.

IKEA Dirigera Smart Hub

This Matter-ready smart home hub can be used to control any type of smart home device. With this, you can easily connect and control all the smart home devices from a single app. It also gives the possibility of creating scenes and gradually developing them into routines.

The UI of the app is also convenient and easy to use. It supports Amazon, Google, Apple and many other device brands. For a beginner who is looking for an affordable smart home hub with many functions, this would be a great choice.

Google Nest Hub

If you are a fan of the Google Nest Hub 1st gen, it’s time to replace it this new year with a smarter one: Google Nest Hub 2nd gen. This new hub is also 30% cheaper compared to the first-generation Google Nest devices. And it comes with a few fantastic new features.

Sleep sending is the newest feature that you can experience with the Nest Hub 2nd gen. It uses the miniature radar technology, Soli to detect small movements of a person sleeping close to the display. You just cannot pretend that you are sleeping as it also tracks sounds, light and respiratory rates.

This technology also gives you the ability to gesture control for streaming media. It’s something that can make your living more convenient. The big display lets you watch photos and videos while the speaker can be used to listen to music or any other updates. With its built-in microphone, users can give voice commands.

The hub supports Matter and Thread protocols which makes connecting third-party smart home devices simple.

Wink Hub

Wink Hub 2 is a flexible hub that lets add a wide variety of smart home devices to a smart home ecosystem with zero mess. And if you are new to the market of smart home ecosystems, this is a good choice to start up.

This hub has a sleek design with a thin LED bar light along one side which glows in blue if everything is working fine. It flashes in different colours when there are errors. This will make it easy to find errors.

Wink requires a monthly subscription for its use. You can add the account on many devices once you subscribe.  This subscription allows controlling the smart home devices remotely.

Wink Hub 2 connects to the home network through an ethernet cable or WiFi. It supports Bluetooth, Zigbee, Lutron and Z-Wave. It can be used as a Lutron Caseta smart bridge to control the Caseta gear.

Logitech Harmony Hub

Are you looking for a universal remote control for all your smart home devices? Harmony Hub will be great for that. This is a universal remote that can connect any kind of smart home device. It simply connects with your mobile device via Bluetooth or WiFi to pair up. Once you have done this, you can control any of the devices remotely.

It comes with the IR mini blaster, which is a wire that can extend the coverage of devices that this hub detects. So if you have smart home devices installed in faraway corners of your room, this will be helpful. This is an ideal option for those who don’t want to stick to a single option.

Aeotec Smart Hub

The newest Aeotec smart hub V3 works as an intelligent brain in a smart home ecosystem. It allows connecting a wide range of smart home devices wirelessly. This hub is small and simple. So it fits perfectly into a home.

Security is also a top priority for its manufacturers and therefore, it is assured to protect the data and privacy of the users with high security measures.

Aeotec is specifically made as a SmartThings hub where you can create scenes and automate routines. The SmartThings app can be used to do these activities. It also supports Matter, Zigbee and Z-Wave.

YoLink Hub

YoLink hub acts as a bridge between LoRa devices and WiFi. The setup and connecting process is easy and takes just a few minutes. YoSmart is working on its range of smart home devices and the hub is limited to their own devices as well.

The hub can communicate and stay connected with devices that are up to 1000 feet away. So if you have a really big apartment or a house, this would be a better  choice. Based on these clues, the decision is yours to take!

Vivint Smart Hub

The Vivint smart hub is a touchscreen display that serves as a command centre. Apart from working as a hub, this has other special features too.

The hub can live stream footage from security cameras. It can also involve voice communication. Which means that you don’t have to pick up the phone to check all the time. Vivint smart hub also comes with a cellular chip and built-in battery. All these features allow the ultimate protection.

It supports Z-wave and Zigbee. This means that the Vivint smart hub can work seamlessly with low-energy devices. For those who love the smart home concept, but don’t want to use many apps and make it complicated, Vivint smart hub offers the best.

Amazon Echo Hub

If you have a smart home equipped with a lot of Alexa-supported devices, the Amazon Echo hub is the best option to bring everything together. It supports different protocols including Matter, Zigbee and Thread.

The best thing that this hub has is the widgets. These quick access and customizable widgets can be used to access easily and view the details immediately. And since Alexa is integrated into this system, you can control it through voice control as well. The 8-inch screen displays everything including the status of devices and notifications. Once mounted to the wall, it’s easy to look at everything and use it.

Amazon Echo hub will be very useful for smart home users who have a lot of smart devices scattered around the home.

Samsung SmartThings Hub

If you are planning to build up a smart home system based on Samsung, the Samsung SmartThings Station, Samsung SmartThings hub V4 and V3 are the best recommended. It helps to connect many devices wirelessly as well as other apps and the cloud. Samsung also offers a series of other smart devices that can be used easily with these hubs.

It currently supports Z-Wave, Zigbee, WiFi and Matter. Multiple users can log in and use the same account to control the devices at home. If you are comfortable with the SmartThings home assistant app controlling, Samsung SmartThings hubs will work for you as they don’t have any voice control facilities.

When choosing a smart home hub, testing them in a real-world scenario is important. It has to be determined how easy it is to use. For new users, a smart home hub should be simple to understand. With the number of smart home devices and the dimensions of a house, one should be able to determine what kind of smart home hub will be suitable for them.

FAQs

• Can we use multiple smart home hubs?

Yes. You can control multiple hubs within a single account.

• How fast can a smart hub be?

It can be up to 25 Mbps, 50 Mbps or 100 Mbps.

• Do all smart home hubs work with all smart home ecosystems?

No. It depends on the smart home hub itself.

• Do I need a smart home hub for a smart home system to work?

Smart home systems can work either with or without a smart home hub. But for the easiness of controlling all the smart home devices under a single ecosystem, a smart home hub can be helpful.