Bosch Smart Home Controller II, gateway controlling the Bosch Smart Home system, Smart Hub

Being the kind of nerdy bloke who loves faffing around with electronics, home automation and engineering it's inevitable that you'll look at something like this. There are of course many ways to achieve home automation - which really just boils down to turning lights on and off really. There are the internet based ones such as She Who Cannot Be Named which rely on using the internet to control your device and there are hub based ones that allow internet access for control but have local control. I've used a few versions and loads of Chinese cheapo stuff thanks to getting them to review. And over time I've come to feel that this isn't ideal. I wanted a system that is home centred and not internet based and thus I arrived here at Bosch. What attracted me came down to two things. It's Bosch not a no name Chinese or other Far Eastern company that was probably harvesting as much information as possible. Secondly the Bosch system is based on local control. You do not need to be connected to the internet for this to work once set up and that means your data is yours, stored at home. It means that if your internet drops out for a second or two when an automation is due to start it will still work. Happy days. The build quality is very good as you would hope and the setup is easy peasy. Range is likely to be fine for a up to a medium sized estate house but not if you have a bigger house with solid walls. However, this isn't too much of a problem because the more Bosch devices you add the better the range because they daisy chain the data stream. In other words if you have a plug in range of the hub but another plug further away the first plug will communicate with the last out of range plug to pass on the hub data. Basically the more things you add the better the overall data coverage. The app is excellent. It's excellent because it's simple. The downside is that if you are the kind of person that wants a gazillion options (most of which never get used) then the app might be limited. However, if you want simplicity, robustness and an easy to set up routine, I've never seen anything easier. Top marks from me for sure. Overall, I'll be changing over everything to Bosch over time - at least as much as I can. Which is the negative in that the range of auxiliary devices is limited compared to some manufacturers. However, the security of not using Chinesium systems and locally stored data is a winner for me.

You need the Bosch Smart Home Controller to be able to install any Bosch smart home device. The setup itself is very easy - you download the Bosch smart home app, plugin the controller into mains and into your home router, scan its code through the app, and that's it! The smart home controller requires a bit of patience to set up because it updated during the setup process - I hope Bosch try to fix that time soon (this can really take half an hour!) But once set-up, this device has rock-solid reliability. I could easily add three smart Thermostats to it and they are all working as expected. The app is very reliable and so is the communication between the app and the controller (and the controller and the thermostats). The UI of the app is also user-friendly and rich. Overall this justifies the "smart" in its name.

This is a review for the Controller II - I didn't own the first version but I believe these reviews represent a mix of both versions. I couldn't be more impressed with the Bosch Smart Home devices and this new controller. It's all so simple and just works - automatic updates including firmware updates for linked devices (I have a smart plug compact, motion detector and door contact II). The app is also very good. All well thought out and intuitive. Recommended.

Some home smart speakers also work as hubs for your devices, so this is quite expensive for the functionality it brings. I am not sure I'd buy one again. I'd read up and try to do the job using a smart speaker alone as I don't use all its functionality and a smart speaker is more customisable. It does do what is supposed to do though, there's no doubt about that. I am happy with it. I just think it's a bit expensive for what it is.

I had high hopes for this controller due to Bosch’s reputation but sadly I was disappointed. It took forever to setup the controller for the first time as it insisted on updating the software and this took over 30 minutes. Once updated I easily configured it and added the sensors (in my case water detection). All was well for a few days before the controller underwent a mandatory update again and afterwards didn’t come back on line. I unplugged it and reconfigured it. It worked for a week or so and then did the same again. So far it has gone off line 4 times in as many weeks and the only way to bring it back on line is to be physically present to reset it. What’s the point of having smart controllers if you can’t rely on them and can’t fix them when you’re not at home? Totally useless.

Facts. Plain white box. Power lead and Ethernet cable. It works and works well. I have fitted Bosch smart TRVs to radiators in a B&B with smart door/window contacts on entrance and patio door. All integrate well. Bosch app is simple and effective. Most importantly this controller can connect with TRVs some 50ft away and with several partition walls in between. Automation whereby radiators are set to off when door is left open is very simple to setup. Down side -I haven’t gotten this to work with Alexa. Not an issue as I simply use the app.

Works well. Easy to install and configure.

Brilliant hub. Now supports matter!!