The Best Smart Home Automation Hubs of 2015

The whole point of digital home devices is to make simple tasks even easier. But that can be easy to forget when you can't remember which app dims the lights and which one turns on the Crock-Pot. Luckily, there's a fix for this problem, but it requires an additional piece of hardware: a hub.

Smart home automation hubs are a one-stop solution for unifying your connected gadgets and controlling them from one simple app, instead of many. But not all hubs are created equal; different hubs support different connectivity protocols, so it's important to look for a hub that supports the devices you use. Bluetooth LE, Lutron ClearConnect, Wi-Fi, Z-Wave, and ZigBee are all popular ways to connect, so you want a hub that supports as many of these standards as possible. Support for IFTTT (If This Then That) is also useful, as it adds even more ways to configure and trigger your connected devices.

Another important thing to consider: a good app. If you're going to be controlling all of your connected devices from a single place, you should make sure that it's an app you actually want to use. We take this into careful consideration when reviewing hubs, and look for apps that are smartly designed, attractive, and intuitive.

So if you have a number of connected gadgets in your home, stop paging through home screens, trying to find the app that closes the shade. No matter which devices you own, you're sure to find a hub below that works for you. And if you're looking for something to automate, check out our list of The Best Smart Bulbs.