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The Best Smart Home Hubs to Control All Your Devices

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If you’re thinking about or beginning to build a smart home ecosystem, you know that the most difficult thing is ensuring that all of your different devices are compatible with each other. While not all hubs will fully integrate with every device, they’re overall great solutions that afford you some control over things like smart lights, locks, speakers, cameras, and thermostats, all from one app instead of dozens.

Smart hubs used to be standalone devices, but now they mostly come in multipurpose models, such as speakers, displays, and even mesh Wi-Fi routers. So now you won’t necessarily need a dedicated hub to connect your smart speaker to your security system, for instance; the smart speaker itself can serve as the hub. We’ve included several hybrid options for you to consider below based on your home’s needs and your personal preferences.

Check out the quick info below on the top five smart hubs, then scroll deeper for buying advice and full reviews of these models plus other high-ranking options.SMART SPEAKER

Amazon Echo (4th Gen)

Amazon Echo (4th Gen)amazon.com$99.99BUY NOW

Total Expert Score: 86/100

A capable smart speaker with all the power and features you need in a hubWI-FI ROUTER

Samsung SmartThings Wi-Fi

Samsung SmartThings Wi-Fisamsung.com$119.99BUY NOW

Total Expert Score: 77/100

The mesh Wi-Fi system for controlling all of your connected devicesSMART DISPLAY

Google Nest Hub Max

Google Nest Hub Maxbestbuy.com$229.99BUY NOW

Total Expert Score: 83/100

One of the best screens to add to a Google Home ecosystemHOME ENTERTAINMENT

Logitech Harmony Hub

Logitech Harmony Hubbestbuy.com$99.99BUY NOW

Total Expert Score: 79/100

Replaces those physical remotes for smarter home entertainmentBEST VALUE

Amazon Echo Dot (4th Gen)

Amazon Echo Dot (4th Gen)amazon.com$49.99BUY NOW

Total Expert Score: 87/100

An affordable entry into home automation

How to Decide if You Need a Hub & Which One to Get

Because most smart devices come with an app or voice assistant for control, you may not need a smart hub. However, once you start adding many different devices to your smart home ecosystem, you may want to streamline your home automation by connecting them all to one device from which to control them all through a single app and voice assistant.

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Google Photos is ending unlimited free storage next week. Here’s what to know

Google Photos will end its unlimited free storage policy for photos and videos next week. After June 1, any new photos and videos you upload will count toward the free 15GB of storage that comes with every Google account. But don’t worry: Any photos or videos you’ve uploaded before that day won’t be part of the cap. And Google has added a new free tool to help you manage your storage quota.

The move, first announced in November, is meant to encourage people to sign up for Google’s storage subscription service, Google One. Google One plans start at $2 a month in the US for 100GB of storage and other features, like Google Store discounts.

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