Wink Hub - Homejell

Best Z-Wave Smart Plugs

Smart Plugs are a great addition to any home as they have the power of turning your ordinary vintage table lamp, into a fully automated smart device!

Which you can then operate remotely, enjoy creating schedules and even use the voice control feature with some Smart Plug models.

The Smart Plugs we will be talking about today also feature Z-Wave, a form of wireless communication that’s developed in order to have control over home appliances such as lights, cameras, locks and more.

The way it differs from your own WiFi or Bluetooth connection is that it offers a more reliable and secure connection, easy installation, the advantage of both local or remote control and the useful ability to have your Z-Wave devices communicate with each other creating the ideal smart home ecosystem.

You can read more about Z-Wave here on our take on Z-Wave vs. Z-Wave Plus — What’s the Difference?

But now let’s get right to it and see which Z-Wave Plug fits best into your home!

Feel free to use our navigation system to skip down to any part you prefer.

Wink vs. SmartThings Gen 3

Smart technology is more prevalent than ever before, and products that were once reserved for the wealthy techie have become accessible to pretty much any homeowner. Now more than ever before, it’s a real possibility to have a home that is connected, convenient, and that responds to your whims.

There are hundreds of smart products on the market that offer utility or entertainment to your home, but what really separates a smart home from a jumble of technology is the smart home hubs. These bases communicate with your different technology and allow them to work together seamlessly, providing a cohesive experience rather than forcing you to deal with a bunch of self-contained devices.

Below we take a look at the Wink vs. SmartThings Gen 3 to help you get a sense of which smart home controller might be best for your home. Each brand offers their own take on the connected home, but is one better than the other? The answer might not be so simple.

Read on below for a detailed breakdown of what each device has to offer.

Wink vs. SmartThings

Choosing between Wink vs. SmartThings is like choosing between iOS and Android — they’re both great and offer a lot of smart features. But, there are a few minor differences between the two that we think are worth being mentioned.

Wink vs. Hue

If you’re like most homeowners, once you start upgrading your home to include smart home devices, it’s incredibly hard to stop. The idea of complete remote control over your home is fascinating. And smart home lighting is one of the easiest ways to start with smart home automation. Both Philips Hue and Wink offer great features when it comes to lighting, and most likely you’ll end up getting both of them. But for now, let us guide you into smart home automation by helping you choose between Wink vs. Hue.

Insteon vs. Wink

Every year that passes, more smart home devices get released. And it’s incredibly important to have a great hub that lets you easily control them all. So, when it comes to choosing between Insteon vs. Wink, for us the choice is obvious. And to make it easier for you, let’s guide you through the differences between these two smart home hubs.

To begin with, let us clarify that as of now Insteon offers 3 types of hubs: original Insteon 2242, Insteon Pro hub 2243, and the new Insteon hub 2245. The original one and the new one are very similar, and even though the original Insteon hub is officially discontinued, you can still buy it from Amazon. To learn more about the differences between the old and new Insteon hub, please refer to this article: Insteon 2245 vs. 2242 — What’s the Difference?

And then there’s a Pro version 2243. The Pro hub is very different from the original and the new one. The Insteon Pro hub is designed to be used specifically for Homekit devices. You can still control a few Insteon devices, but you’ll need to sacrifice Insteon cameras, motion and leak sensors in favor of Homekit. For a comparison with the Wink hub, we’ll take the most complete and absolute version of the Insteon hubs — the new Insteon hub 2245.

Wink WNKHUB-2US 2 Smart home hub, White

Wink hub also has two versions which are the Wink hub and Wink hub 2. As it usually happens, the newer version has better features and aspects, plus it’s been around for a while already. So, for our comparison with Insteon, we’ll take Wink hub 2. And if you’re interested in reading the differences between the two Wink hubs in detail, feel free to check out our Wink Hub comparison article: Wink Hub vs. Wink Hub 2: What’s the difference?.

Wink Hub vs. Wink Hub 2

So, what is the difference between the Wink Hub vs. Wink Hub 2? Both hubs are great at connecting all your smart home appliances together in one app. But there are a number of differences that set the newer model ahead of the older one.

Now, when we first saw the Wink Hub 2, our first impression was that it just looked sleeker and slimmer. But there’s more to it than that; so let’s go over whether or not the upgrade is worth the price!

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