Do you have a robot vacuum buzzing around your living room? A voice-controlled smart display that turns on smart lights? A thermostat you control from your phone? You're not alone. It's hard to find a device that doesn't include an internet hookup these days, and in this month's Readers' Choice survey, we asked PCMag readers to rate the smart home device brands they use most to see if they deliver as promised.
(Stay tuned for a deep dive on security-related smart home devices. We'll ask about surveillance cameras, smart locks, and security system brands in a future survey.)
The Best Smart Plug/Power Brands for 2021
Smart plugs and power strips let you set intricate schedules for when devices should be turned on and off, as well as let you use your voice to control devices, turning whatever's plugged into it into a smart device. Kasa Smart has been the PCMag Readers’ Choice Award winner in this category every year since we first started surveying the category in 2019.
As with its smart lighting products, readers are very satisfied with Kasa Smart’s value but also its array of features and ease of use. Kasa Smart had the highest overall satisfaction rating (8.9), half a point higher than its closest competitor, Amazon. (As it does in so many categories, Amazon offers products under its own brand in addition to selling competing devices.)
Kasa Smart also earned 9.0s for satisfaction with value, reliability, and ease of use—three important categories. Respondents were happy with how both Kasa Smart and Amazon let you use your voice to control electrical devices, giving both companies a rating of 9.1. The companies also tied in satisfaction with mobile apps at 8.8. Belkin's WeMo, the other qualifying brand in our survey, was far behind most measures, but slightly ahead of Amazon for value.
For more, read our roundup of The Best Smart Plugs and Power Strips for 2021.
The Best Smart Bulb/Lighting Brands for 2021
Kasa Smart wins our PCMag Readers' Choice Award in the smart lighting category for the second time in the last three years. When it won in 2019, we listed it under its parent company's name, TP-Link, and it shared the award with Philips Hue, an early entrant in the smart lighting arena. Last year, Wyze edged out both brands, but this year, Kasa Smart is back on top with its best overall satisfaction rating ever. (Wyze did not receive the minimum number of responses needed to be included in our analysis.)
Kasa Smart received an overall satisfaction rating of 8.8 on a scale from 0 (extremely dissatisfied) to 10 (extremely satisfied), a nice improvement over the 8.5 it received the prior two years. The company had a better rating than Philips Hue on every measure of satisfaction for which both companies received enough responses.
The most notable rating was value, where Kasa Smart received an 8.8 compared to Philips Hue’s 7.6, which was the lowest rating Philips received on any measure. However, it wasn’t just about money. Kasa Smart rated higher on setup, reliability, ease of use, voice control, mobile app access, and likelihood to be recommended.
Aside from the value rating, Philips Hue’s ratings were solid and its excellent score of 9.1 for satisfaction with color choice tied for the highest rating either company received on any question from our readers. Kasa Smart received a 9.1 for satisfaction with reliability.
For more, read our roundup of The Best Smart Light Bulbs for 2021.
The Best Smart Thermostat Brands for 2021
In the three years our readers have been rating their smart thermostats, Ecobee has never received an overall satisfaction rating below 9.0, an impressive feat. The company, which won the Readers’ Choice Award in 2019, was knocked out of the top spot by Emerson last year, but it's back on top. (Emerson didn't make the cut.)
Ecobee received the highest satisfaction ratings on nearly every measure in which it and the other companies that qualified (Honeywell and Google Nest) received enough responses. Ecobee also received a 9.0 for satisfaction with reliability, ease of use, and automatic temperature control. Its setup rating of 8.8 was more than half a point above its two competitors.
Honeywell’s overall satisfaction improved from 8.5 last year to 8.7 this year. It received the highest rating for satisfaction with scheduling (8.9) and tied Ecobee for satisfaction with energy savings (8.3). Interestingly, while Ecobee had a higher likelihood to recommend rating, Honeywell had a higher Net Promoter Score, which is based on the distribution of ratings that make up the likelihood to recommend, because Honeywell had a lower percentage of detractors than Ecobee. (Detractors are individuals who rate the brand a six or below on the 0 to 10 scale.)
Google Nest had the largest number of responses, but it finished in last place on every satisfaction measure, including a value rating of 7.7, far behind Ecobee and Honeywell.
(A quick PSA: Check with your utility company to see if it’s offering rebates on smart thermostats or other power-saving devices. Many utility companies are encouraging customers to get smart thermostats by offering incredible discounts. For instance, as of this writing, PSE&G in New Jersey is offering rebates of $100 or more on nearly every popular smart thermostat. The utility company may use its connection to the thermostat to make small temperature adjustments during periods of high demand.)
For more, read our roundup of The Best Smart Thermostats for 2021.
The Best Smart Display Brands for 2021
Smart displays serve so many functions: photo frame, kitchen timer, and alarm clock, as well as smart home controller, shopping assistant, video phone, and oracle. Google Nest and Amazon both want to be your smart display of choice, but for the third year in a row, Google Nest edges out Amazon to win our PCMag Readers’ Choice Award.
Overall satisfaction ratings in this category aren’t quite as high as in the smart lighting, thermostat, and power categories, which isn’t surprising. Smart displays do so much more than these other devices and that adds complexity which can detract from overall satisfaction. Google Nest’s overall satisfaction rating of 8.3 was slightly higher than Amazon’s 8.2, and most of the other ratings were similarly close. The two companies tied for likelihood to recommend (8.2), as well as satisfaction with reliability (8.6), controlling the smart home (8.6), streaming audio (8.3), sound quality (8.3), and smart assistant (8.1).
Google Assistant—the virtual assistant that powers the Google Nest Hub-branded smart screens—received higher ratings than Amazon's Alexa assistant for tasks that required smarts, such as searching for facts (8.7 to 8.2), searching for information (8.7 to 8.4), and understanding requests (8.2 to 7.9).
On the other hand, respondents found Amazon Echo devices somewhat easier to use. Amazon had slightly higher ratings than Google Nest in satisfaction with setup, ease of use, streaming audio, and setting timers and reminders. It also held a slight edge in satisfaction with value.
For more read our picks for The Best Smart Displays for 2021.
Best Robo Vac Brand? The Roomba Stands Alone
Only one brand, iRobot, received enough ratings to qualify for our analysis and thus there's no top robot vacuum brand award—we don't give one out when there's nothing available for direct comparison. But it's worth mentioning that iRobot's overall satisfaction rating was fairly low at only 7.7, down from last year's 7.9. iRobot received ratings of 8.0 or higher for satisfaction with scheduling (8.4), setup (8.3), ease of use (8.3), mobile app control (8.2), and reliability (8.0), but it only earned a 7.7 for satisfaction with cleaning, a 7.5 for satisfaction with navigation, and a 7.0 for satisfaction with value. For more, read The Best Robot Vacuums for 2021.
Full Results
The PCMag Readers' Choice survey for Smart Home Devices was in the field from August 2 to August 30, 2021. For more information on how our surveys are conducted, read the survey methodology.
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