Skip to main content
d

The Best Smart Home Hubs to Control All Your Devices

Share This Post

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.

Uncategorized
Google Play Music Data Will Be Deleted on February 24: Here’s How to Transfer to YouTube Music

Google Play Music has shut down, but it is still possible to download the library or transfer to YouTube Music. The music-streaming platform officially stopped working for users in December 2020. According to a report by 9to5Google, users have until February 24, 2021, to download, transfer, or delete their data from Google Play Music, after which it will all be wiped out. Google is urging users to transfer to its other music streaming service YouTube Music before the aforementioned date.

Google has started emailing users to inform them that all of their Google Play Music data will be deleted on February 24, 2021, as per the 9to5Google report. This data includes the music library with uploads, purchases, and anything that has been purchased from Google Play Music. The data will be deleted on February 24 and there will be no way to recover it.

Users can visit music.google.com or the Android or iOS app to see a Transfer to YouTube prompt. They will be redirected to YouTube Music, where the transfer will take place. The transfer includes playlists, songs, albums, likes, upload purchases, and billing information.

Leave a Reply