The best smart home hubs of 2026, tested by our editors
Control all your smart home gadgets with one device.
Google Nest Hub (2nd Gen)
$undefined
$99.99
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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.
Our team has tried many different smart home hubs over the years. Combining our experience with expert-guided criteria, I chose my recommended hubs keeping the following in mind:
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Our top picks come from established brands in the smart home and voice assistant space: Amazon, Google and Apple. I include details on connectivity and compatibility below each recommendation.
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 displays 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.
The Nest Hub (2nd Gen) is old: it launched in 2021. Google plans to launch a new Google Home Speaker sometime in 2026, which I see easily taking over as the Hub to buy.
While she hasn’t tested this latest Echo Show 8, NBC Select reporter Zoe Malin uses other 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 latest model is compatible with advanced sub-networks like Thread and connectivity protocols like Matter, meaning it will stay useful for years to come. It also uses Amazon’s newer, AI-powered Alexa+ voice assistant.
If you want something more minimal, consider the sleeker, wall-mounted Amazon Echo Hub.
If you stick to Apple products in your home, consider the Homepod Mini. Apple’s Homekit protocol historically isn’t compatible with as many smart home gadgets, but that’s been changing recently. Plus the Homepod 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, the Homepod Mini fires audio in all directions, easily filling a space with sound.
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 one.
Some hubs, like Apple’s Homepod Mini, can only be controlled with an iPhone. Others, like the Amazon Echo Show 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.
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.
No, but the two can look very similar. A smart speaker has a voice assistant like Amazon Alexa or Google Assistant built-in, and can answer questions like “what’s the weather” and “what’s the news today?” You can also usually play music using your phone over Bluetooth, similar to a portable Bluetooth speaker. But a smart speaker cannot control advanced smart home devices that use sub-networks like Thread, Zigbee and Z-Wave.
This depends on what types of smart devices you have in your home, and how many, says Prouty. If you only have simple gadgets from one brand, say a few Kasa smart lights, your phone may be the easiest way to control them.
If you have a large smart home with a mix of products from multiple brands, say, Philips Hue lights, Aqara motion sensors and Ring security cameras, a smart home hub can help consolidate control into one place, making it easier to use all your devices, says Prouty.
Thread, Zigbee and Z-Wave are low-energy networks, separate from your Wi-Fi, that are commonly used for smart gadgets like light bulbs and switches, says Prouty. Most smart home hubs have specific radios built into them that project Thread, Zigbee and/or Z-Wave signals, similar to how your Wi-Fi router projects an internet signal across your home.
There are a few advantages to connecting your smart home gadgets to these sub-networks instead of just using your phone and Wi-Fi:
Compatibility: Some smart home devices do not connect over Wi-Fi, and require a sub-network like Thread to operate.
Speed: Sub-networks like Thread can be faster than Wi-Fi, says Prouty. My Nanoleaf smart lights, for example, respond to voice and app commands almost instantly when connected to my Homepod Mini using Thread. If I am just using Wi-Fi, requests take a couple of seconds, and occasionally don’t work at all.
Congestion: If you have an older Wi-Fi router, having dozens of smart devices connected over Wi-Fi can not only slow your internet speeds, but hamper the performance of your smart home gadgets. A modern Wi-Fi router should handle all your smart home needs, but, depending on the size of your home, you may benefit from a wide-ranging mesh network, says Prouty.
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.
I am a reporter at NBC Select who covers technology and fitness including recent stories on TVs, running shoes, streaming devices and more. I’ve been covering and testing smart home gadgets for years. 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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