Smart Hub and Remote Control.

When you’re thinking about home entertainment devices, one of the first things to consider is a Smart Hub, which connects all smart devices (lamps, light bulbs, smart locks, doorbells, etc.) within the home. Usually called “The Brain” is accessible through a centralized app that controls connected devices.

Instead of walking around the different smart devices like light switches, cameras, thermostat, etc., using a smart hub, you can schedule, command, and control everything from one central interface. In fact, the main benefit of a smart hub is so that you can control everything in a single app.

When you are thinking about Smart Hubs, there are three aspects you have to keep in mind, these are:

Supported Devices. Some Smart Hubs have a strict device limit, so pay close attention to how many devices you’ll want to fill. Protect your investment by choosing a hub with the major capacity support, so you can always keep your home on the cutting edge of smart home tech.

Compatibility (Integration). Many Smart Hubs include Mobile App Support so you can control the likes of temperature and music from the comfort of their mobile device.. While most hubs serve up both Apple and Android compatibility, check carefully that your hub of choice doesn’t lock one of them..

How is Managed. Most Smart Hubs provide an easy to use app or other interface offering streamlined control features. From voice commands to facial recognition, the future is brimming with novel ways to interact with machines, so  look to find the one that offers the widest range of options.

Let’s get inside the better solutions available this quarter (Q4 2021).

1.- Amazon Echo (4th Gen) Smart Home Hub.

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Premium Sound. Echo delivers clear highs, dynamic mids, and deep bass for rich, detailed sound that automatically adapts to any room. Voice Control Your Entertainment. Stream songs from Amazon Music, Apple Music, Spotify, SiriusXM, and more. Plus listen to radio stations, podcasts, and Audible audiobooks. Ready To Help. Ask Alexa to play music, answer questions, play the news, check the weather, set alarms, control compatible smart home devices, and more. Smart Home Made Simple.With the built-in hub, easily set up compatible Zigbee devices or Ring Smart Lighting products to voice control lights, locks, and sensors.  Fill Your Home with Sound. With multi-room music, play synchronized music across Echo devices in different rooms. Or pair your Echo with compatible Fire TV devices to feel scenes come to life with home theater audio. Connect with Others Hands-Free. Call friends and family who have the Alexa app or an Echo device. Instantly drop in on other rooms or announce to the whole house that dinner's ready. Designed to Protect Your Privacy. Amazon is not in the business of selling your personal information to others. Built with multiple layers of privacy controls including a mic off button. Rating: 4.7 of 82,205 Ratings in Amazon.

2.- Samsung SmartThings Hub (3rd Generation).

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Connectivity. Wirelessly connect and control a wide range of compatible smart devices from 40+ partner brands, including voice assistants, lights & switches, speakers, cameras, sensors and more. Home Automation. Teach the hub your Good Morning, Goodbye, Goodnight, and other routines to automatically turn devices on or off throughout the day. 24/7 Monitoring. Receive app alerts from connected devices when there’s unexpected activity in your home. Material: Plastic. Range (feet) - 50-130 feet. Voice Controls. Use voice commands to control connected devices using SmartThings and the Google Assistant. Improved DIY Solution. Improved guided on boarding for easier setup. Hub connects with Wi-Fi so does not need to be connected to an Ethernet cable. Compatible with Previous Versions of SmartThings Sensors and Outlets. Download New SmartThings (Samsung Connect) App for Initial Set-Up. (Tip: You can still use SmartThings Classic app once initial setup is completed). Requires Android (6.0 or later) or iOS (11.0 or later). Product Not Supported Outside U.S. Compatibility. Works with Google, Alexa, SmartThings, and ZigBee communication protocols. Rating: 4.4 of 8,384 Ratings in Amazon.

3.- Amazon eero 6 Smart Home Hub.

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Whole-home Wi-Fi 6 coverage. An eero 6 system covers up to 5,000 sq. ft. with wifi speeds up to 500 Mbps. Say Goodbye To Dead Spots and Buffering. eero’s mesh wifi technology adapts to your space—so you can confidently stream 4K video, game, and video conference across your home. Supports 75+ Devices. eero 6 uses the power of Wi-Fi 6 to increase the capacity—and efficiency—of your network. Set up in minutes. The eero app walks you through setup and allows you to manage your network from anywhere. Plus, free customer support is available 7 days a week. Connect to Alexa. eero 6 doubles as a Zigbee smart home hub, making it easy to connect and control compatible devices on your network with Alexa. Gets Better Over Time. Automatic updates bring the latest and greatest in wifi while also keeping your network safe and secure. Easily Expand Your System. With cross-compatible hardware, you can easily add eero products as your needs change. Rating: 4.5 of 5,894 Ratings in Amazon.

4.- Philips Hue Smart Hub.

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Voice Activated. With the Philips Hue Smart Hub, add up to 50 Philips Hue smart lights of your choice with this ZigBee-controlled hub necessary for voice control with Alexa, Apple HomeKit, or Google Assistant. Control Your Smart Lights From Anywhere: The heart of your Philips Hue system, this hue hub also enables you to control all of your Philips Hue products via the Philips Hue app, even when you're away from home Fully Automate Your Smart Home. Enhance your Philips Hue system by setting timers and alarms, connecting to a variety of apps, dimming the smart lights and more (cannot be used with conventional dimmers). Expand Your Ecosystem. Easily expand your smart lighting system with Philips Hue accessories (sold separately), such as a Hue Dimmer Switch, Hue Tap, or Hue Motion Sensor. Pair it for home automation with your existing Nest or SmartThings system. Control your hue lights by connecting the Hue Hub to your router with the included ethernet network cable. This box also includes one Philips Hue Hub, power adapter, manual, and two-year warranty for the full Philips Hue experience. Cross-device Compatibility. HomeKit compatible iOS 9 or later. iPhone:4, 4S, 5, 5S, 6, 6 Plus, 7, iPhone 7 Plus, iPhone 8, iPhone 8 Plus, iPhone X, iPhone Xs, iPhone Xs Max, iPhone Xr, iPod touch: 5th generation.Network Connectivity:Wireless A,Wireless B,Wireless G,Wireless N. Easily Expand Your Lighting System with Accessories (sold separately), such as a Hue Dimmer Switch, Hue Tap, or Hue Motion Sensor. Pair it for automation with your existing Nest or SmartThings system. Rating: 4.6 of 5,462 Ratings in Amazon.

5.- Logitech Harmony Companion All in One Remote Control.

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Works with Alexa for Voice Control. Performs activities like Lower the blinds, dim the lights, fire-up the TV for movie night—all with a tap of the finger. Use Your Smartphone (with available app) or included Harmony Remote for one-touch control of your entertainment system and home automation devices such as Philips Hue lights or Nest Learning Thermostat. Companion Remote includes full featured home entertainment controls including dedicated home automation controls. Included Harmony Hub. It lets you control devices hidden behind cabinet doors or walls, including game consoles such as PS3, Wii, and Xbox 360. Simple Setup on Computer or The Available Smartphone App. Works with over 270,000 devices, including your TV, satellite or cable box, blu-ray player, Apple TV, Roku, Sonos, game consoles, Philips Hue lights, and more. Model. 915-000239 (Control up to 8 Devices). Please refer to the system requirements mentioned in this page. Rating: 4.0 of 3,243 Ratings in Amazon.

6.- Hubitat Elevation Home Automation Hub.

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Built-In Automation Apps. Powerful built-in apps such as Rule Machine, Simple Automation Rules, Mode Manager and Motion Lighting let you build your own unique automations for all of your smart devices. No coding required–but custom coding is also allowed. Device Compatibility. Works with a wide range of smart devices, including lights, speakers, Amazon Alexa, Google Assistant, smoke/water detectors, locks, thermostats, sensors, Lutron (requires Lutron SmartBridge Pro) and more. Custom Dashboards. Dashboards can be customized for each room and user for remote monitoring and control of your home. Mobile App. Free iOS and Android mobile app includes device control, dashboards, presence sensor and management tools. New Z-Wave 700 Radio Supports S2 Security and SmartStart device inclusion (Model C-7 hub). Fast Automations. No cloud, no latency, no delays. Your devices turn on and off when they should. Reliable. Local processing means your devices and automations work even when your internet is down. Private. User data stored locally in hub for privacy and security; never sold to third parties. Rating: 4.1 of 1,617 Ratings in Amazon.

7.- Lutron Caseta Smart Bridge.

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Connects with More Leading Smart Home Brands (including Amazon Alexa, Apple HomeKit, the Google Assistant, Serena shades and Sonos) than any other smart home lighting control brand to manage lights, voice assistants, cameras, temperature, shades and music. Works with Alexa To Support dDmming or Switching the lights on/off through voice control (Alexa device and Caseta dimmers/switches sold separately). Easy to Use and Simple To Set Up. just connect to your router and follow app instructions. Clear Connect Technology does not interfere or compete with Wi-Fi connected devices. Supports up to 75 Caseta devices so you can personalize your home and expand at your pace. Easy Installation. Simply plugs into a wall outlet for power, and plugs into your Wi-Fi router. The Lutron Caséta Smart Bridge. Can be used in place of a Wink hub to control all your Lutron Caseta devices. Includes (1) Smart Bridge. Coordinating accessories sold separately. Rating: 4.5 of 1,424 Ratings in Amazon.

8.- Sengled Smart Hub.

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Connect your Home. The brains of the Sengled system, the hub enables you to control up to 64 Sengled Smart lights and accessories with the hub. A hub is necessary to use a voice assistant, like Alexa, Google Assistant and HomeKit. Easy To Install. Connect the Sengled Smart Hub to your router using the included Ethernet cable and use the in-app guide to set up. Home Automation. Easily extend your smart home system across every room by connecting Sengled Smart LEDs and accessories to the hub, then automate  Voice Control, Connect the hub to Alexa, Google Assistant or HomeKit-enabled devices and use your voice to control your Sengled Smart LEDs and accessories. One Simple App. Control all your Sengled smart devices using the Sengled Home app (iOS/Android. ) Set schedules, group devices and more to control all of your home's Sengled smart products Rating: 4.2 of 729 Ratings in Amazon.

9.- BroadLink RM4 All in One Hub.

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High Compatibility. Support RF (433MHz) controlled devices such as curtain/shades motor, projector and light switch; Support 50,000+ IR controlled devices such as TV, STB, Air conditioner, Fan, Video Recorder, DVD and more; Does not work with Bluetooth. Supported devices library is constantly being updated by the cloud, so your RM4 pro is always compatible with newer devices. Option to program your devices and learn buttons if certain cloud data is unavailable. New Broadlink App Control. New App named BroadLink is available now in App Store and Google Play. New App has better user experiences in configuration and creating scene than IHC. Besides, if you have an Android phone integrates IR emitter itself, you can use it to control your IR devices from BroadLink App as a test, before you decide to buy our product. Note: RM4 pro only supports 2.4 GHz (NOT 5 GHz) Wi-Fi to configure in the App. Voice Control and IFTTT. Compatible with Alexa to voice control your TV, STB, Air Conditioner and Fans, compatible with Google Home to voice control your Air Conditioner. Make sure the devices can be remotely controlled from external networks. In Amazon Alexa/Google Home/IFTTT Apps, enable the skill/service named BroadLink, link account and discover devices. New Features. Supports external Temperature and Humidity Sensor USB Cable (purchase separately), connect it to the RM4 pro, BroadLink App will show room’s temperature and humidity. Zero Configuration, powered by FastCon technology, add the first FastCon device to the App as usual, after that, when you power on other new FastCon devices, they will be automatically discovered and shown in App. Tech Support. One-Year Warranty, 24/7 Technical Support. Video Guide are available on our Amazon Brand Store and YouTube. Find our Global Hotline on product manual. Now you can get help and make feedback directly through BroadLink Community in the App. Rating: 4.0 of 533 Ratings in Amazon.

10.- Google Nest Hub Max.

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Keep Your Family Connected. Whether you’re across the house or across the country, Nest Hub Max helps everyone stay in touch. You can make video calls or leave video messages with Duo. It’s hands-free, so just say, “Hey Google, call Grandma.” Google Photos automatically shows off your latest and greatest shots so family is never too far away. Your Home Looks Out for You and Vice Versa. Look out for home when you’re away with the built-in Nest Cam. Check in for a live view. Get alerts if motion is detected. With a Nest Aware subscription, you’ll get continuous video recording and familiar face alerts. Make Your Smart Home Even Smarter. Nest Hub Max works with thousands of smart home devices, like lights, TVs, and locks. And you can easily control them all from one place. You can also control compatible TVs, speakers, and game consoles from Nest Hub Max with your voice or from one dashboard. Turn them on and off, control the volume, play, pause, and search. So Many Ways To Stay Entertained. Everything looks and sounds great on the 10-inch HD screen and stereo speakers. Enjoy videos on YouTube. Watch live news, sports, and TV shows with a YouTube TV subscription. Stream from your apps with Chromecast built in. And listen to music with YouTube Music, Spotify, Pandora, and more. Hands-Free Help from the Google Assistant. Nest Hub Max helps your busy family stay on track. Everyone can see their own reminders, calendars, commute, and more. Leave each other video messages. Share to-dos and quick reminders. See answers from Google. Watch how-to videos on YouTube. And get the info you need, right when you need it. Add a Nest Aware Subscription. Starting at $6 a month for all your Nest cameras, speakers, and displays. Nest Aware gives you more video history and alerts that matter. Rating: 4.1 of 452 Ratings in Walmart.

11.- Logitech Harmony Home Hub.

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Controls up to 8 Home Theater Devices Controls Many Smart Home Devices. Supports Over 270,000 Devices | Works with Alexa & Google Assistant.  Enables Phone & Tablet Control Via App. iOS & Android Compatible. Rating: 4.0 of 362 Ratings in Amazon.

12.- Aeotec Smart Home Hub.

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Easiest Way to Make Your Home a Smart Home. Wirelessly connect and control a huge range of smart devices - over 5,000 are available from dozens of brands - including voice assistants, lights & switches, speakers, cameras, sensors and more. Automate Connected Devices. Any device you connect can be included into automations which can be intelligently managed. Control Via App and Voice. Monitor and control connected devices, and run automations, using the SmartThings app on Android, iOS, and iPad OS, or voice user interfaces Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant  Requires an Internet-Connected Wi-Fi Router (available Ethernet port recommended), plus a smart phone or table running the SmartThings App. Compatibility. Certified to work with Google, Alexa, SmartThings, Wi-Fi, Z-Wave Plus, and ZigBee protocols. Not compatible outside of the USA. Rating: 4.2 of 256 Ratings in Amazon.

13.- Starling Home Hub.

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Starling Home Hub Allows You To Connect Your Apple Home App or Siri on iPhone, iPad, Apple TV or Watch to Manage Your Nest devices. Stream music to any Nest smart speaker using AirPlay. Starling Home Hub allows complete Nest device control; Nest Thermostat, Nest Protect, Nest Audio/Mini/Google Nest Hub, Nest Cam/Doorbell/Hello, Nest Secure & Nest x Yale Lock. Including August 2021 model cameras and doorbells. Take Smart Home Integration To The Next Level with Powerful Automations. Starling does not have a cloud service, and no home data, usernames, or passwords are ever shared with us. Starling Home Hub accesses the Internet only to connect to Google/Nest's service, and to receive firmware updates. Simply Connect Starling Home Hub To a Spare Ethernet Port on Your Home Internet Router or Switch. Then, configure your hub using your web browser on your iPhone, Mac or any device on your home network. You'll be ready to go in under 5 minutes, and no apps or downloads are needed. What's in The Box. Starling Home Hub, Quick Start Guide, Micro-USB power supply (US plug), & 3 ft Ethernet cable to connect Starling Home Hub to your router Rating: 4.7 of 195 Ratings in Amazon.

14.- Apple HomePod Mini.

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Fills the entire room with rich 360-degree audio. Siri is your do-it-all intelligent assistant, helping with everyday tasks. Easily control your smart home. Designed to keep your data private and secure. Place multiple HomePod mini speakers around the house for a connected sound system.  Intercom messages to every room. Pair two HomePod mini speakers together for immersive stereo sound. Voice Recognition gives each family member a personalized experience. Seamlessly hand off audio by bringing your iPhone close to HomePod. Accessibility features help people with disabilities get the most out of HomePod mini. Features Include: Touch Accommodations, Siri, VoiceOver, Home app and HomeKit, Intercom transcriptions Rating: 4.6 of 53 Ratings in Walmart.

15.- TP-Link Smart Hub.

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Whole Home Coverage. Cover up to 4,500 sq. ft. with seamless, high-performance Wi-Fi and eliminate dead zones and buffering. Faster Tri-Band Speed for More Devices. Three Wi-Fi bands with dynamic backhaul by TP-Link One Mesh support 100-plus devices and keeps all of them running at top speed. Intelligent WIFI Network. Deco M9 Plus unites your home under a single Wi-Fi name and password while delivering the best connections as you walk from room to room. Built-In Smart Hub. Connects your ZigBee, Bluetooth and Wi-Fi smart home products, saving you the cost and space of extra hubs and control them all from the intuitive app. Protect Your Smart Home. Safeguard your home network and every connected device against intruders, viruses and malware with advanced Wi-Fi encryption and comprehensive antivirus by Trend MicroTM Rating: 4.5 of 54 Ratings in Amazon.