Review:
Aeotec Smart Home Hub - Smartthings
Competition:
If we compare this hub to the competition, where should we place it and what are the differences? The power of this controller lies in its simplicity, but this makes it just a bit too limited for the diehard Smart Home user. If you're looking for this, you'd better look at a system such as the Fibaro Home Center 3 or the Homey from Athom. These systems are more powerful and the support for devices is better with the Homey. It is also better to look at these systems for creating complex rules. Keep in mind that you are talking about other amounts, because these systems cost around 500 euros.
Is it nothing at all? Well certainly not! Because if you compare it with Philips HUE or the Ikea Hub, the Smartthings is a bit more powerful. In this comparison, more devices are supported and the section where you create rules is more extensive in the Smartthings hub. In terms of purchase costs, the hub is a bit more expensive, but the 50 euros more is worth the investment.
If we look at whether the system can work without the Cloud, that is not quite the case. Also for this it is better to look at Fibaro or the Homey. It must be honestly stated that these systems cannot do without Cloud/internet.
Do you really want to be completely free and have endless possibilities? Then you can, for example, look at a system such as Home Assistant. You can get in here fairly cheaply, but you will have to find out a lot yourself. In addition, this system is not as user-friendly as Aeotec's Smart Hub.
