If you’re looking to automate your home, you must have heard about Apple Homekit or Samsung SmartThings. This is because they are by far the most popular smart home automation platforms in the market.
These two brands have managed to stay at the top of the smart home industry for this long is because they bring to the automation table something that other brands don’t.
However, since any homeowner looking to automate their smart homes only require one protocol to achieve that, it might prove to be a dilemma choosing one between the two.
For that reason, this article will provide details on what these two home automation platforms get right and wrong in the various categories.
The Necessity of a Smart Hub
The biggest benefit you’ll get if you decided to switch to Apple Homekit for your smart home automation solutions is that it’s not a must to get a smart hub.
For any homeowner, this is great news since that means that it is one device you won’t need to purchase or take space in your home.
For Apple Homekit, if you have any iOS-powered device such as Apple TV or an iPad to create your own Homekit hub while also using it for other purposes.
On the other hand, home automation with Samsung SmartThings requires you to purchase the SmartThings hub, which might set you a few hundred dollars behind.
However, even though you might end up spending for a smart hub when you go the SmartThings way, you’re bound to have simpler and neater control. This is because you can control hundreds of smart devices by simply controlling your SmartThings hub.
For this reason, if you have few smart devices for your home automation, Apple Homekit is the suitable choice. But, if you plan on investing heavily in your smart devices, you might need to opt for Samsung SmartThings.
Smart Home Security
If you choose Apple Homekit for your smart home automation needs, one thing is clear; your data is bound to be very secure. Apple takes the ‘Works with Apple Homekit’ badge very seriously, and they do not award it anyhow.
For any brand to gain that certification, their smart products have to undergo thorough testing to ensure no loopholes in their security protocols. This is why there are very few brands compatible with Apple Homekit.
On the other hand, Samsung SmartThings isn’t that vested in security and authentication protocols. Samsung SmartThings has reported several cases before about people hacking into its systems and changing homeowners’ settings. If you value your data security so much, Apple Homekit is a clear choice here.
Compatibility with Other Smart Products
Due to Apple focusing too much on creating impregnable authentication and encryption protocols for their smart devices, it has offered less compatibility with other smart products. Also, these smart products with the ‘Works with Apple Homekit’ badge are often very expensive for buyers due to the added components they offer.
Samsung SmartThings, on the other hand, is one of the best automation brands for compatibility. SmartThings has focused more on incorporating more smart devices into their automation to the extent that hundreds of smart products are compatible with it.
Samsung SmartThings also offers compatibility with brands that use Z-Wave and Zigbee networks.
Companion Smart Home App
Since the start, Samsung SmartThings has been focused on providing their users with much more freedom when it comes to controlling their smart devices. With the SmartThings app, there is a lot you can do in terms of automation and control.
You can create schedules, scenes, and other complex automation integrations for your smart devices in whichever way you see fit.
On the other hand, Apple Homekit hasn’t given their Home App that much thought until recently. Before iOS 10, Homekit users could only perform basic integrations to their smart devices.
To get more control, you had to use Siri, and this became very inconvenient for most homeowners. Nowadays the Home App is known to incorporate more automation that you can set up in a matter of seconds.
Smart Home Voice Control
While Apple Homekit comes with Siri to help in providing more convenience for users, Samsung SmartThings has to rely on third-party voice assistants such as Google Assistant and Amazon Alexa.
Final Thoughts
Both Samsung SmartThings and Apple Homekit provide a wide range of functionalities depending on your needs and preferences.
For this reason, before deciding on any of the two automation protocols, it’s good to know about the number of devices you’ll need and how you wish to control them.