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/
FOLLOW ME
Subscribe to Smart Home Solver: https://bit.ly/3joO1dZ
Subscribe to Reed’s Smart Home: http://bit.ly/3EulO02
Twitter: https://twitter.com/SmartHomeSolver
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/smarthomesolver/
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@smarthomesolver
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 😬
———
MUSIC
Digifunk by DivKid
Ending song is The End by EVA.
https://open.spotify.com/artist/6UIs5b0zSXztIW5GHkCTkK
Unifi vs eufy doorbell, which one do you think is better?
I love how straight to the point this video is. 👍
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.
What are the automated patio shades you’re using?
Hey your frame tv looks so much more flush on your wall than mine. Can you explain how you did that?
Thank you!
Lmao he slammed it 9:01
Let’s hear it: what device is a 10/10 in your smart home?👇
What is the second product in your smart garage portion? I’m very intrigued and love your insight! Thanks!
Need a new video like this !!
What are those filament bulbs?
We’re just down in Tucson and never had a problem with the Tempest battery. Might want to look into it.
Garage door question. Why not use the My-Q that you have in the garage door openers?
Now how do I get enough money to afford all of this?
I am so glad you added your wife’s 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 want…. do you think I can find a mains power (blanket slate… lets say 24V) motion sensor that doesn’t look like (I am quoting a local home builder here) a “Tinker Tot Trinket, with an ugly tail”? 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 Equipment… 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 Builder’s 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/C…. 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 Tot’s mind.
I want to hear more from your wife friend. HER voice needs to be heard, because it’s HER voice that is KILLING smart home.
Would really love to incorporate any of the inovelli line but you can never get em.
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?
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. 😉
I think your wife rates way better than you do. CRapple products SUCK!!!! And so do Amazon products. I can’t believe some of the ratings you gave those, which are way too high. I got rid of all my CRapple and Amazon stuff years ago. My sister still has them in her home, and I hate them. So glad to not use any of them anymore. I mean, an Echo Show??? Really? And I’d give CRapple TV a three out of ten!!! Lol. As I’m just getting into the Home Assistant environment, and I’m NOT a programmer or coder, SO I’m a little worried about your wife’s comment at the end of you having to debug HA for several hours…? I hope I’m not going down the rabbit hole for nothing. Fun vid to watch.
What do you use as your smart dashboard?
3:02 just bought lots of kasa, glad they works well 😂
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.
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.
Ahh I can’t find the video you did where you showed viewers home automations. In particular one where vibration on the counter caused lights to turn on. What was the sensor?
Your Tempest problem doesn’t make sense. We have a few of these in New Hampshire, snowy, rainy, gray for weeks with no sun. I’ve never had the battery go dead ever. Tempest Bridge issues sure, but never a battery/transmitter problem.
What is the device in garage sounds like “rat gpo”?
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.
Sir, at the 11:08 mark you called those door handles something and I can’t hear what you called them. My son is very autistic and I have to flip the handles around to lock them so he can’t get into the rooms. And a thumb scanner would be perfect so I don’t have to switch my house around every year when I get my son in the summer
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?
5:30 Shes got a Point 😭 @smarthomesolver
Great video idea
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.
0:35 so the only way an american exits their house is inside a vehicle? 😂
Amazon Echo advertising pushed me to switch to Apple. Still have a couple of items that aren’t compatible but I’m slowly phasing those out. Much happier with Apple HomeKit.
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).
Hey I noticed you have a BAF SenseMe wall remote. How does yours work? Mine the wifi died after a few years but randomly has started working again. Wondering what others experience has been.
Samsungs new smart tvs are way better then the older gens but I’m sticking to Sonys google tvs they just work so much better and integrate better with google home and home assistant
Watching your channel with my wife and we loved you got your wife’s ratings perspective. Way to go!
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 🙂
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 🙁
How many years worth of power bills could you pay for with what you spent on 3 Tesla powerwalls???
I’ve had my Tempest here in Ohio for about a year and the battery never really drops at all. We’ve had about 3 months of gray at this point with very little sun and it’s fine. I think you either have a positioning problem that is shading the solar or your unit has a battery issue.
I love your kids and wife, you’re a luck man, hey by the way I totally agree with your wife 😅😅😅😅
6:16 I loved Ecobee until they dropped support for my thermostat and I can no longer control it remotely, log my temps, etc.
My house house a washer and some Flex wash a marble floor which is really nice and I love it to refrigerators to dishwashers stuff
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
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! 😀 i blame you! 😜
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. 😀 I guess i suck.
I like these type of videos seeing how you setup your house. im going to try a few of these
awesome setup, basically everything that I have and rated exactly how I would rate.
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.
Good https://is.gd/tpjNyL