Homey Launches A $200 Smart Home Hub

They said smart location hubs were dead, but 2024 has seen a resurgence of these multi-protocol machines that activity pinch each smart location powerfulness retired there. Case successful point: this week, Homey announced nan motorboat of nan Homey Pro Mini.

The Mini is simply a cheaper and pint-sized type of nan $400 Homey Pro smart location hub, offering built-in support for Ethernet, Zigbee, Thread, and Matter. It runs nan aforesaid Homey OS package arsenic nan Pro but ditches a less radios and cuts nan processing powerfulness to trim nan price. It’s disposable for pre-order coming for $199 successful nan US and Canada, pinch Europe pursuing later successful 2025 and shipping slated for April 2025.

A smart location hub is nan brains of your smart home, and third-party options from companies for illustration Homey, Home Assistant, Hubtiat, and others fto you group up and negociate your connected devices locally successful your location without relying connected proprietary platforms, specified arsenic Apple Home, Google Home, aliases Amazon Alexa. Athom, nan institution down Homey, was precocious bought by LG. The Korean electronics elephantine plans to usage Homey package to tally its ThinQ smart location level connected its ain precocious announced smart location hub. However, LG has said Homey will proceed to tally independently.

The Pro Mini runs connected Homey OS, a smart location level for controlling your connected devices, specified arsenic smart lights, locks, robot vacuums, and thermostats. Similar to Apple Home aliases Amazon Alexa, you usage an app connected your telephone to group up automations and routines (called Flows successful Homey) that nexus your gadgets. Homey claims complete 1,000 integrations pinch devices and services, including Ikea, Sonos, Lutron, Roomba, Nest, Philips Hue, Aqara, and Yale. However, conscionable nether 300 are “official” integrations; nan remainder are community-generated.

Adding a Homey hub for illustration nan Pro Mini to Homey lets you tally smart location automations locally, without relying connected unreality connections, arsenic bully arsenic bring devices that usage circumstantial radios, including Thread and Zigbee, into nan platform. Unlike nan Pro, nan Mini doesn’t spot Z-Wave, BLE, aliases IR support, but you tin nexus it to a Homey Bridge ($69) to adhd those.

The Pro Mini is too small powerful than nan Pro, and Homey recommends it for moving up to 20 integrations, which Homey calls Homey Apps. The institution says nan emblematic personification runs 14 integrations, truthful 20 should beryllium tin for astir people. If you personification a overmuch analyzable smart location setup, though, Homey recommends upgrading to nan Pro.

I’ve tested Homey utilizing nan Homey Pro and recovered it intuitive for beginner smart location users while offering plentifulness of features for powerfulness users. However, immoderate integrations are limited, and galore community-created smart apps whitethorn not do precisely what you want.

Athom, which was founded successful nan Netherlands successful 2014, released caller Homey OS Dashboards, designed to make it easier to powerfulness your smart location devices, affirmative a new Home Energy Management System to thief support measurement of powerfulness use. With these additions — affirmative nan powerfulness of LG down it — Homey is shaping up to beryllium a important subordinate successful nan smart home.