What's a smart home hub?

What's a hub? A smart home hub makes sure all smart products at home work together. The hub connect everything together. This way, a smart light communicates with your phone and other smart devices. A smart home hub controls everything via a platform like Google Assistant. That's why it's useful if all your devices are compatible with the same platform. An advanced smart home hub can also connect devices from different platforms and communication techniques with each other.

Because you can connect a smart home hub to dozens of devices, it's called the heart of your smart home. You don't need separate smart home apps to control your smart thermostat or IP camera. Instead, you can give voice commands or use the screen of the hub. The more smart devices you have, the more convenient it is to control them in a central place. With a hub, your home is ready for the future.

You can control some smart home hubs with your voice. With these hubs, you don't have to use the app on your phone. When you give a voice command, the hub plays music or turns on the light for you. Common platforms with voice controls are Google Assistant and Amazon Alexa. Not all hubs that connect to Google Assistant have voice controls. For example, you control the Athom Homey via the app, not with your voice.

A smart display is a smart home hub with voice controls and a built-in screen. With a smart display, you can also control your smart devices in a central spot, but you have more options. For example, the screen shows who's at the door with a smart doorbell. In addition, you can use the screen to read recipes, plan a route, or check your calendar. Some smart displays have a built-in camera for video calls.