Indeed, HomeKit certified devices have not been always very affordable compared to their Google Assistant / Alexa counterparts, but I would argue that you can now find some HomeKit devices with excellent price-value ratio. Here are three examples of devices that I own and that I would put in this category.
1. Thermostat – Ecobee
Price: $165-$250 (depends on the model)
I think the thermostat is a home automation device that beginners should look into first. The entry cost of $165+ is not exactly a bargain, but you need to do the math of how much saving you will get our of smart thermostat vs. your current device. Ecobee claims that their smart thermostats can save you up to 23% of your energy bill (in my experience, it is closer to 10-12%, it all depends on how aggressive your settings are) which is not insignificant. You can also get a new thermostat at a significant discount if your local utility provider partners with Ecobee (partner utilities are listed here).
Many automations such as smart home/away and humidity temperature adjustment are enabled out-of-the-box using Ecobee’s eco+ program. Ecobee can even pre-heat and pre-cool your house when electricity is less expensive. It will also learn from your habits and suggest additional improvements over time. You can also link Ecobee pretty much to every other home automation platform and set up other rules such as:
- Checking weather forecast in the morning and adjusting target indoor temperature based on forecasted daily high temperature
- Pausing heating and cooling when windows and doors are open
- Tracking your location and starting your home program when you get close to your home
I have been using Ecobee for 3+ years and it has paid for itself many times. It has also been really stable on my network, so I pretty much just set it up and forget it.
2. Sensors – Aqara Hub
Price: $55 (hub only) – $129 (starter kit)
If you are looking for a HomeKit compatible system with a number of different sensors and accessories, the always growing Aqara ecosystem seems to be the best way to go. I like the fact that I can have the whole setup working in “HomeKit only mode” on my local network. In fact, I even banned the Aqara hub from accessing external networks and everything still works without issues. The hub uses Zigbee for connectivity and in my experience, the coverage and stability have been nothing short of superb.
You can either start with the hub and buy additional accessories or get a starter kit bundle. The options for sensors are great and constantly expanding – temperature, humidity, vibration, door/window, water leak, etc. The hub also functions as a multi-colored night-light and an alarm system, so you can easily cover most of your house needs for <$200. As far as home automation goes, you can set your rules in the Aqara app, HomeKit, or set up an integration in Home Assistant (not natively supported though, so you will have to make some trade-offs here).
3. Camera – Eufy Indoor Cam 2K
Price: $39
Cameras used to be HomeKit biggest gap with most selling in the $150-$250 range. However, thanks to recent new releases from Eufy and Aqara, that is no longer the case. The entry level Eufy Indoor Cam 2K is everything you will want from a basic home camera and in my opinion it performs better than some more expensive models from Logitech and Arlo.
It comes with a really solid 2K chip, excellent night vision, sound/motion detection and local recording. You can choose to store your recordings on an SD card or leverage RSTP protocol for external recording devices (e.g., Synology NAS). HomeKit support was added only recently, but in my 2+ months of testing, I have not encountered any issues. The camera is responsive, event notifications work well and it is possible to have multiple people streaming at the same time. Eufy also supports HomeKit Secure Video if you want to pay for the extra level of privacy. The only issue I have encountered so far was when I tried to ban the camera from accessing external networks – for some reason, the camera still tried to contact Eufy servers and keeps rebooting, but it looks more like a bug that should be easy to fix. I would also like to see 2FA authentication in the Eufy app for extra security. But these are just two small incremental issues that will very likely get fixed by a software update.