In past posts about the Amazon Echo and GE Link bulbs, we have referred to the Wink Hub. If you want to have a smart home, you will most likely need a hub of some kind that connects all your smart devices together. Apple is a notable exception, using something it calls HomeKit. Instead of a physical central hub, HomeKit is a platform that allows your existing Apple products to talk to each other. If you want to automate elements of your home beyond your iOS devices—and you almost certainly do—you will need a hub. There are a few competitors to the Wink Hub, including the D-Link Staples Connect Hub (approximately $80), the SmartThings Hub (about $100), the Harmony Home Hub by Logitech (about $90), and the Insteon Hub (about $73—but don’t get it! AVOID!). But for the functionality and the price—a mere $50 at Home Depot—we think the Wink Hub is a winner.
The Wink Hub promises to let you connect a number of smart home devices, from thermostats to air conditioners to door locks, and control them using a sharply designed app on your smartphone. The Wink Hub supports a huge variety of protocols, including ZigBee, Z-Wave Plus, Bluetooth, and of course WiFi. Most likely, you’re just going to use WiFi; these other protocols are characteristic of older home automation devices and may be trickier to connect. There is also a nice catalogue of Wink-compatible items available directly from their website, which may make you more convinced that a Wink Hub is the way to go. You’ll find garage door controllers, irrigation system controllers, Nest, Dropcam, Bali and Lutron motorized window shades, Schlage locks, and the Amazon Echo. Some of these devices, notably the Nest thermostat and Dropcams, don’t require the Wink Hub. You can still use the free Wink app to control them. If you make a visit to Home Depot, you should be able to see a list of devices that require the app and ones that don’t, so be sure to check it first before going ahead with the Wink Hub purchase. The list of brands with Wink-compatible products is impressive, and includes the following heavy hitters. Look for a Wink Compatible seal on products before purchase to make your life easier.
- GoControl
- Nest
- Quirky
- Bali
- Kidde
- Honeywell
- Cree
- GE
- Dropcam
- Kwikset
- Lutron
- Rachio
- Philips
- TCP
- Schlage
- Chamberlain
- Rheem
- Leviton
Setting up devices to work with the Wink Hub is relatively painless. After you download the app (available for iOS or Android) and get the hub itself set up, you’ll see a big button that allows you to add your devices. The app interface is extremely well designed and very straightforward, allowing you to pick your devices by category. Wink lets you create “scenes” where multiple devices are activated at the same time; they call these “Shortcuts.” For example, a scene could involve drawing down your blinds and dimming your lights to create a setup perfect for watching a movie in your living room. Wink also integrates with IFTTT, an app that lets you set up a series of events to occur when triggered (or to choose from their library of “recipes” for such series of events). When you use the Amazon Echo to add voice control, the Wink system gives you a powerful ability to automate your home. (The app does have voice control, but Echo integration would allow you to make voice commands without firing up your phone.) There are some complaints that the Wink app is too simple, and doesn’t give you full access to the smart features of your various devices, but we feel confident that it’s a fair trade-off for how easy it is to use, and we feel confident that the app will improve over time. That’s why apps exist, after all!
Another feature we like is Wink’s “Robots.” Wink Robots let you customize the way your smart devices talk to each other. Theoretically, you could make your Kwikset SmartCode Deadbolt tell your lights and air conditioning to turn on every time you unlock the front door, or set schedules to turn everything off when you go to bed at night.
In short, the pros are that the app is extremely well designed and easy to use, the price is considerably lower than other hubs, and the devices that work with it are the ones you want to use. The cons: some people complain that, though it does support smart home devices with protocols other than WiFi (like Z-Wave and Zigbee), it’s not as easy to connect them. Others have an issue with the fact that you can’t necessarily control ALL the features of your smart devices. It’s always difficult to balance simplicity and functionality, but we think the Wink Hub—and the Wink app—do a good job of it.
Want to talk about smart home tech? We’re here for you. Contact us or leave us a comment!
