SwitchBotHub 2 (2nd Gen), work as a WiFi Thermometer Hygrometer, IR Remote Control, Smart Remote and Light Sensor, Link SwitchBot to Wi-Fi (Support 2.4GHz), Compatible with Alexa&Google Assistant

This has actually been really handy. I bought this primarily to connect some SwitchBot Bots (essentially remote button-pushing robots) to Apple HomeKit. This use case works like a charm! I just downloaded the SwitchBot app, set it up, and hit “Matter” in the app to get it going smoothly. Even beyond that, though, we have found the temperature display extremely useful in monitoring how comfortable we and our pets will be remotely (even from outside the home). We may even buy another one of these! The app design itself is a little over-complicated for my tastes, with several tutorial pages for every little details, but, as implied here, I do not expect to use the app often, given how smoothly it all works with Matter and HomeKit.

Update:Company was quick to reach out and send a replacement unit.So far everything has worked flawlessly and connection issues seem to have been resolved.The downside to a mini split is that a normal "smart" thermostat does not work with it, and there is no real scheduling options.Not only does this device allow control of the AC from your home automation system (Alexa, Google Home), but it also allows you to set up profiles and themes to control it to warm up before you climb out of bed, drop temperatures when you leave for the day, and again cool or heat your house prior to arriving home again.It has been running flawlessly now for about 2 months, was easy to set up, and perfect for remote operation or monitoring.UPDATE: After running for several months now, this unit seems to have issues maintaining a wifi connection (and disconnected "remote" no longer works).Wifi disconnects a minimum of 2 times per day, often throwing off the heat schedule (ie: it is cold when we get home from work), rebooting often results in bot being able to connect to ANY wifi network.My desire to recommend this is quickly waining!

I ordered the Hub 2 because I have several of the Switchbot outlets and now that I'm adding temperature sensors I needed a better way to wrangle all the devices.The Hub2 is a brand new device that bridges Switchbot bluetooth devices to your wifi and adds some Internet based backend services. The Hub2 includes built-in temperature and humidity sensors, an IR controller, and a couple of function keys that can be programmed to serve as scene controls.Out of the box it works with the Switchbot app on your phone, but a firmware upgrade will enable Matter 2 support (still in beta) allowing it to work directly with Apple Homekit. The firmware upgrade was easy, I just went to "Matter Configuration" and the app automatically upgraded the Hub2 after I accepted the prompt. Getting it to connect to Homekit was another matter. It didn't work initially but after resetting the Hub2 per the fine online doc it paired right up and the Hub2 connected accessories appeared in Homekit.I have all my outlets on wifi currently but will probably move them over to the Hub2 to centralize everything at some point in the future.So far I'm very happy with this device. This gadget wasn't cheap (currently $70 on Amazon) but I think it'll do everything I need it to.

There's was a lot of buzz last year about the HomeKit compatible infrared blaster the Nature Remo Nano. It looks like a great product but unfortunately it is only for the Japanese market. The Switchbot Hub 2, however, beat it to the American market! And I have to say it's great! The update to change the IR blaster over to Matter was seamless and easy. The blaster works like a charm too!If there is anything to nit-pick about, I'd say that the Switchbot's phone app simply doesn't have very many pre-programmed templates to control various devices. Not that they are necessary. The Switchbot's ability to learn IR codes and button from current remote controls is fantastic and easy. As long as you have the remote, Switchbot can learn it! For all the devices I wanted to control, I ended up just creating my own templates using the "Others" category under "IR Appliances". Works great!A note note Apple TV users. Although Switchbot support will tell you it's impossible to control an Apple TV with Switchbot, that's just not true. It controls it fine. ALL Apple TVs can be controlled using IR signals from IR remote controls. You don't even have to mess with settings in the Apple TV. It just works out of the box. The hurdle to overcome, however, is to get a IR remote control for the Apple TV. Only a bluetooth remote comes with the Apple TV 4 and later, not an IR remote. Apple TVs gen 1-3 had IR remotes. You can still buy these older model remotes and Switchbot can learn them just fine, but the gen 4 and later Apple TVs added a new Home button which is not on the older remotes. The new Home button is how you put the Apple TV 4s and later to sleep. Luckily, there are many cheap ($10) 3rd party IR remote controls for the Apple TV 4 and later that have the new Home button. Just buy one of those, and you can use it to teach Switchbot how to control your Apple TV.Switchbot uses Siri Shortcuts to allow Siri to control an Apple TV. Would be nice if it had built in support for Siri, but using Siri Shortcuts works fine. Amazon's Alexa voice assistant can also control the Apple TV with Switchbot. So best of both worlds!I highly recommend Switchbot if you want to use it with Apple's HomeKit. It's not like we have much of a choice in any case. As far as I could tell, Switchbot is currently the ONLY smart home IR blaster in the American market that is compatible with HomeKit. But at least you know it works, and works well! :)

Simple set up, works as described

I should have bought two of them. I had one for the upstairs to control the blinds in the bonus room and an extension unit down stairs. Now they have swapped locations and i am missing the additional features of this unit. I have this tied into my Hubitat sysem.