If you dream of a futuristic smart home with motion sensing smart lights, a smart thermostat that learns your habits or a smart security system that can tell the difference between your dog and a stranger, there’s a good chance you’ll need a smart home hub to get everything connected seamlessly.
Smart home hubs can act as a central point of control for all of your smart home devices. Many are also smart speakers, which can answer voice commands, play music and more.
If you only have a handful of smart devices, you probably don’t need a smart home hub. But if you have more advanced smart devices, think home security systems, window sensors and temperature sensors, you may need one. To find the right smart home hub for your space, we spoke with an expert to better understand what these hubs do. We also share Select staff-favorite options to shop.
SKIP AHEAD The best smart home hubs of 2025 | How to shop for a smart home hub | Why trust NBC Select?
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What is a smart home hub?
A smart home hub is a device that can connect and communicate with the smart devices in your home. Think of it like an air traffic controller, fielding communications and requests from all your devices to keep everything functioning smoothly. Hubs can connect to your phone via Bluetooth and the rest of your home via Wi-Fi or a specialized sub-network like Thread, Zigbee or Z-Wave (more on those later). Some smart home hubs can also play music, stream video and more, making them similar to smart speakers or tablets.
How we picked the best smart home hubs
Our team tried different smart hub models and kept the following expert-guided criteria in mind while using them:
- Compatibility: Smart home hubs are controlled with a screen, app or voice assistant — typically either Amazon Alexa, Google Home and Google Assistant, or Apple Home and Apple Siri. We tried hubs from all three of these brands.
- Connectivity: We only included hubs that are compatible with at least one advanced connectivity network outside of Wi-Fi, such as Thread, Zigbee or Z-Wave. These are sometimes necessary to connect gadgets like motion and temperature sensors.
- Price: Smart home hubs generally cost between $40 and $230. We focused on products around $100 — they provide similar functionality to more expensive hubs, in our experience.
Related
The best smart home hubs of 2025
Our top picks come from established brands in the smart home and voice assistant space: Amazon, Google and Apple. We include details on connectivity and compatibility below each recommendation.
Best Google hub: Google Nest Hub (2nd Gen)
- Voice and touchscreen controls
- Wide smart home compatibility
- Nothing at this time
NBC Select editorial projects manager Rebecca Rodriguez has this hub on her kitchen island and uses it as the control center for all of her smart home devices. She likes that the screen always shows her useful information like the weather and the latest news stories. When cooking, she uses it to watch her favorite TV shows or pull up a recipe — either way, her hands are free for messy kitchen tasks.
It’s compatible with a wide variety of devices, plus touch screen and voice controls make it very versatile.
Works with: Android, iPhone | Voice Assistant: Google Assistant | Display: 7-in. touchscreen | Connectivity: Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, Thread, Matter
For Amazon Alexa users: Amazon Echo (4th Gen)
- Great sound quality
- Wide smart home compatibility
- Solely voice controlled
NBC Select reporter Zoe Malin uses Amazon Echo hubs throughout her home — they are easy to set up and work seamlessly with her other Amazon devices. Malin has used Echo hubs for years to set kitchen timers, listen to news briefings, jam out to music and control her smart lights and smart plugs using Amazon Alexa voice assistant. You can control it with your voice using Amazon Alexa or your phone using the Amazon Alexa app and an Amazon account.
This model, while slightly older than other Echo devices, is a great option because it is compatible with advanced sub-networks like Thread and Zigbee (newer models like the Amazon Echo Pop are not).
Works with: Android, iPhone | Voice Assistant: Amazon Alexa | Display: no | Connectivity: Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, Thread, Zigbee, Sidewalk, Matter
Best Amazon Alexa hub for large homes: Amazon Echo Hub
- Large touchscreen display
- Easy to control many devices
- Pricey
If you have a lot of Amazon smart devices but would rather use a touchscreen to control them all, the Amazon Echo Hub is for you. It’s a smart home panel you mount to a wall and use as your one-stop-shop for controlling all your smart devices. Like Amazon’s Echo Show tablets, it can play music and stream videos, but it’s more intended for smart home control than entertainment.
The Amazon Echo Hub is a good fit for larger homes as it makes it easier for other family members to control your devices. It also helps that the more visual, widget-based display is a lot more intuitive to control than knowing exactly what to say to a voice assistant, in my opinion.
Works with: Android, iPhone | Voice Assistant: Amazon Alexa | Display: 8-in. touchscreen | Connectivity: Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, Thread, Zigbee, Sidewalk, Matter
Best Apple homekit hub: Apple Homepod Mini
- Works with Apple households
- Attractive design
- Limited compatibility
If you generally stick to Apple products in your home, consider the Homepod Mini. Apple’s Homekit protocol isn’t compatible with as many smart home gadgets, but syncs easily with your Apple devices and Apple account.
I’ve used this hub in my kitchen to ask Siri questions, play music and control my Kasa smart plugs and Nanoleaf smart bulbs. Smart devices are easy to sync with the Apple Home app — it never took me more than five minutes to set up a device.
The design is what won me over. I like how the touch panel on the top of the Homepod lights up when I ask Siri a question — a good visual cue that lets me know the Homepod Mini is listening to my request. Plus, similar to the spherical shaped Amazon Echo Hub, the Homepod Mini fires audio in all directions, easily filling a space with sound.
Works with: iPhone | Voice Assistant: Apple Siri | Display: No | Connectivity: Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, Thread, Matter
Related
How to shop for a smart home hub
Most smart home hubs let you do the same things — control your smart gadgets, play music and ask questions. Hubs with a screen add a few extra tricks like streaming videos and showing local news. Regardless, there are a few things to keep in mind as you shop for a smart home hub.
Consider your smartphone
Some hubs, like Apple’s Homepod Mini, can only be controlled with an iPhone. Others, like the Amazon Echo and Google Nest Hub, can be used with both Apple and Android devices. Consider who will be controlling your smart home most of the time, and what smartphone they have in their pocket.
Compatibility is everything
Picking the right smart home hub is less about the hubs themselves and more about the smart gadgets you own and use. If you only use Apple products in your daily life, you should look for smart home products that work with the Apple Home app and Apple Homekit, says Carl Prouty, the technologist at Abt, a national electronics and appliances retailer based in Glenview, Illinois.. If you use a mix of products and want smart gadgets from all kinds of brands, a smart home hub that’s compatible with multiple protocols will let you more easily control all your smart gadgets than just using your phone, in my experience.
Meet our expert
At NBC Select, we work with experts who have specialized knowledge and authority based on relevant training and/or experience. We also take steps to ensure all expert advice and recommendations are made independently and without undisclosed financial conflicts of interest.
- Carl Prouty is the Technologist at Abt, a national retailer of electronics and appliances based in Glenview, Illinois. He has over 20 years of experience in consumer electronics sales. (Since Abt sells smart home hubs, we only spoke with him about technical shopping guidance, and did not ask for specific product recommendations.)
Why trust NBC Select?
I am a reporter at NBC Select who covers technology and fitness including recent stories on TVs, running shoes, streaming devices and more. For this piece, I leveraged my and other NBC Select staff experience using smart home hubs. I also spoke with a consumer electronics expert to better understand the technical aspects of smart home connectivity.
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