Key options
- Connectivity: Wi-Fi 5GHz /2.4GHz, Bluetooth, Zigbee, Z-Wave, Infrared 433MHz / 868MHz, Bluetooth, Thread (coming quickly)
- Ecosystems: Matter, Alexa, Google Home
With Samsung SmartThings shifting to a brand new platform that has killed off its extra highly effective plugins, akin to WebCORE, the place ought to the true smart home fanatic that likes to tinker go to? One choice is the Homey Professional, which mixes a robust hub, which helps Zigbee, Z-Wave and Bluetooth assist (and Thread incoming), with a robust guidelines engine.
The a lot anticipated 2nd-gen Homey Professional has lastly gone on sale, virtually ten months after the Dutch smart home specialist first introduced it.
A slick app and a few very highly effective instruments make this method an actual contender for individuals who like full management over automations.
The Homey Professional (Early 2023), to offer it its full moniker, is – as we talked about already – the 2nd-generation Professional mannequin however is definitely the fifth iteration of the model’s smart home hub; the primary Homey hub went on sale again in 2016.
Main {hardware} assist does lag behind the competitors, and the dearth of full Matter and Thread assist at this level is a bit disappointing however the Homey Professional continues to be a implausible multi-platform smart home hub.
Learn our full Homey Professional evaluate to search out out why.
Homey Professional vs Homey Bridge
Earlier than I get into the main points of the system, itâs price explaining the distinction between the Homey Professional thatâs on evaluate right here and the Homey Bridge, as each merchandise look related.
Each the Homey Professional and the Homey Bridge assist Zigbee, Z-Wave and Bluetooth gadgets, however itâs solely the Professional that’s getting the Matter replace and assist for Thread.
There are additionally massive {hardware} variations. Costing much more, the Homey Professional ($399 / £399) runs all of its apps and automations regionally, so there aren’t any subscription charges.
The cheaper Homey Bridge ($69 / £69), has to make use of the usual Homey cloud service, which implies a subscription price of $2.99 / £2.99 montly if you wish to add greater than 5 gadgets, which, after all, you do.
I ought to level out that you just donât technically want the Homey Bridge to get began: you’ll be able to run Homey solely within the cloud, with the subscription price, if you happen to donât need any direct-connected Zigbee/Z-Wave gadgets and need to use cloud integrations for main merchandise, akin to Hue.
In-depth assist: Zigbee information | Z-Wave information
For smart home customers which have a group of third-party sensors, akin to Zigbee movement sensors, the Homey Professional makes a variety of sense. Certain, itâs dearer than the Homey Bridge, however think about how a lot youâd spend on subscription charges over the productâs lifetime and it’s higher worth.
And, with the Homey Professional, you’ll be able to set up third-party Group apps alongside the formally supported apps for main merchandise, which expands {hardware} assist (to a level).
Lastly, the Homey Bridge can be utilized as an extender for the Homey Professional, so you’ll be able to enhance your Zigbee/Z-Wave protection by including the cheaper product afterward.
Design and set up
- Puck formed hub
- Powered by USB-C
- Non-obligatory Ethernet adapter
After all, this newest Homey Professional blows the previous-gen Professional out of the water: 1.5x Zigbee vary, 1.5x Z-Wave vary, 4x infrared vary, 1.2x 433MHz vary, a 3.5x extra highly effective CPU (1.8GHz quad-core), double the RAM at 2GB and double the storage at 8GB.
A pleasant-looking puck formed hub, the Homey Professional is powered by its USB-C port.
It connects through Wi-Fi by default, however an non-obligatory Ethernet adaptor ($29 / £29) that plugs into the USB-C port can also be out there, which provides an additional UBS-C enter for energy.
Itâs good to have the choice. Personally, I favor my hubs to make use of Ethernet, as itâs extra dependable, so itâs useful having this feature.
(Picture credit score: The Ambient)
As soon as powered on, the hub has a hoop of multi-coloured lights round its base. It appears fancy in images, however is a contact annoying after some time; fortuitously, the LED ring may be turned off within the app.
Connecting the Homey Professional to the app is simple and simple to do, following the easy wizard. As soon as linked, the system is prepared so that you can begin including gadgets.
Homey Professional Gadgets
Including gadgets is usually straightforward, however thereâs a alternative based mostly on the kind of machine that you just need to add. First, there are direct-connected gadgets, which speak to the Hub. These embrace Zigbee, Z-Wave, Bluetooth and Matter gadgets.
Presently, Matter assist is in beta, and solely Matter-over-Ethernet gadgets are supported, with Thread assist coming later in This fall of 2023.
Guides: Matter smart home / Thread smart home
Sadly, I struggled to get any Matter gadgets to attach. My Philips Hue Hub refused to attach, as did a SwitchBot Hub 2. It appears as if I’ll have to attend till the complete launch of the service.
Zigbee and Z-Wave machine assist is extra spectacular. There are lots of present gadgets out there, together with a raft of smart sensorssuch as movement sensors, door and window sensors, and so forth. These are usually fairly low-cost to purchase from shops likes Amazon, and may help make highly effective automations.
(Picture credit score: The Ambient)
Bluetooth assist is extra restricted, however it may be useful to have. For instance, SwitchBot Blind Tilt gadgets may be added utilizing Bluetooth, avoiding the necessity to purchase a SwitchBot hub.
IR gadgets are additionally supported, however there are fairly just a few limitations. First, the hub must be throughout the line of sight of the machine that you just need to management. Secondly, the Homey Professional canât study an IR sign; you’ll be able to solely decide gadgets from an present record, such because the Apple TV.
Subsequent, there are formally supported gadgets via Homey apps. These work with cloud connections and comprise all the common gadgets from massive firms, akin to Hue lights, Yale locks, Sonos gamers and the like.
Thereâs a wide variety in there, however this method does fall behind the likes of Amazon Alexa, which has far wider machine assist. Before you purchase this method, itâs price checking the web database to see if the gadgets you need to use are supported or not.
Homey tells us that it really works with greater than 50,000 gadgets from over 1,000 manufacturers.
Then, there are Group apps, which add further machine assist not out there to common Homey or Homey Bridge customers. Iâd wish to get extra excited by these, however the apps donât all the time do what Iâd like.
For instance, the Ring Safety app doesnât allow you to use the Ring Alarm inside Homey; it allows you to add Ring Alarm gadgets into Homey, such because the management panel and movement sensor. Thatâs maybe helpful if you wish to repurpose the prevailing package, however it’s not fairly what I anticipated.
Homey Professional Routines and In Use
Iâm a fan of how Homey organises itself. Relatively than having a flat structure of rooms, Homey allows you to organise by ground after which room. Itâs a small change from different smart home methods however a probably highly effective one. For instance, utilizing a Circulate (Homeyâs title for automations), I can flip off a whole ground with one command.
(Picture credit score: The Ambient)
Annoyingly, all added gadgets seem within the base degree of your home, after which every machine must be moved the place you need it to go, one by one.
Thatâs a prolonged course of: Iâve obtained greater than 50 Hue gadgets alone, which all needed to be moved individually.
(Picture credit score: The Ambient)
As soon as in a room, Homey teams lights collectively underneath one management.
Thatâs useful, as thereâs one swap to cope with all lights, though every particular person gentle nonetheless has its personal management.
(Picture credit score: The Ambient)
Every machine will get particular person management, most of which apes the management out there within the manufacturerâs app. For instance, I might change the fan pace and mode of a Dyson air purifier within the Homey app in a lot the identical means that I might within the Dyson app.
Not all gadgets have fairly the identical degree of management. Hue lights, for instance, donât get the identical high quality vary of scenes as they do from the apps.
And, there are some minor annoyances. For instance, if I add Hue to Alexa or HomeKit, I can use the Hue movement sensors in automations; with Homey, the Hue movement sensor doesnât seem, so I’ve to double up on movement sensors in some rooms to realize the automation that I need.
These issues apart, Homey excels at making the highly effective easy. Through the app, thereâs a easy Circulate builder that makes it straightforward to create advanced automations.
For instance, I’ve a Fibaro movement sensor, which I can use to show Hue lights on, when itâs between dawn and sundown and the luminance is under a sure degree. That implies that when itâs darkish in the course of the day, the lights will activate when movement is detected. Solely SmartThings has related ranges of energy.
(Picture credit score: The Ambient)
Use the net interface, and thereâs the extra highly effective Circulate builder, which let me create a chart containing a number of triggers, actions and circumstances.
Thereâs nothing else that gives this a lot energy this simply.
(Picture credit score: The Ambient)
For programming buttons and remotes, such because the Tradfri Distant, I like that thereâs a toggle choice. For instance, Iâve obtained a Tradfri Distant that I exploit to show a Dyson air purifier on and off utilizing the toggle command.
With HomeKit, thereâs no toggle choice, so doing one thing related requires two actions, akin to a single click on to show it on and a protracted press to show it off.
(Picture credit score: The Ambient)
Homey Professional additionally opens up HomeyScript, which is a JavaScript scripting language to realize much more difficult actions.
Customers can actually get granular management utilizing Homey Professional’s Internet API to create customized HomeyScripts and there is additionally stuff like Native Port Forwarding, Native API Keys, SSH Entry and Native USB Backups to maintain issues in a consumer’s management and out of the cloud.
The closest factor to this was WebCORE for SmartThings, however that now not works.
(Picture credit score: The Ambient)
Last ideas
In case you’re the kind of person who likes tinkering with their smart home system and protecting issues out of the cloud then the Homey Professional could be for you.
It is fairly costly and you may get the most recent SmartThings hub for round a 3rd of the value, which does round 90% of what the Homey Professional is able to.
Nonetheless, Homey’s new high canine is aimed squarely at these individuals who need to faucet into that further 10% and if that is you then you’ll be nicely served.
How we take a look at
Once we publish our critiques, you’ll be able to relaxation assured that they’re the results of âresiding withâ long run assessments.
Smart home hubs and bridges play a key half in controlling, a smart home ecosystem, or a variety of merchandise that â supposedly â all work in concord.
As a result of weâre testing smart home package all day, on a regular basis, we all know what issues and the way a specific smart controller compares to alternate options that you may also be contemplating.
Our critiques are complete, goal and truthful and, after all, we’re by no means paid on to evaluate a tool.
Learn our information to how we take a look at smart home hubs to study extra.
FAQS
Does the Homey Professional work with Matter?
Sure, the Homey Professional is Matter suitable and Thread capabilities can be added quickly.
Do you want extra hubs with Homey?
The thought is that you need to use hub-specific gadgets – assume Hue and Aqara – with out the native hub or bridge in place.
Does the Homey Professional have a subscription price?
No, common Homey (in your cellphone or utilizing the Homey Bridge) requires a subscription however Homey Professional is simply the up entrance price.
Is that this the primary Homey Professional?
No, that is the 2nd-generation Professional mannequin and is, in truth, the fifth Homey smart home hub.