Should you use a tablet as a smart home hub?

With any new tech interest, there’s always the temptation to max out your configuration, and smart home shoppers are especially prone. I’ve seen multiple Reddit posts where folks have tricked out their whole home with smart bulbs and I have some techie friends who have smart speakers and displays in practically every room, which can be excessive and hard to manage.

Using a tablet as a dedicated hub is a way users enhance and consolidate their smart home. It’s something you may have seen on YouTube, or even in movies and TV shows, and it makes sense — who wouldn’t want a permanent graphical interface? Practically speaking, however, I actually think a tablet hub only makes sense in select circumstances.

Barriers to entry

Convenient, but can cost you lots of money and time

One obvious reason to skip the idea is cost. While you can convert old tablets into hubs, they won’t always perform well, and any new tablet is an added expense — potentially a high one if you like HomeKit, since you’ll need an iPad to run the Apple Home app. Multiple hubs can also cost you hundreds or thousands of dollars, money that would probably be better spent elsewhere. A smart thermostat, for example, can actually save you money in the long run.

Speaking of conversion, setting up a tablet hub often involves not just software but a little home renovation, such as installing a mount and dedicated power. The work itself shouldn’t be a deterrent — yet I’m always leery about buying custom mounts or putting holes in my wall, since those are potentially pricey or complicated things to change if I want to upgrade an accessory or move it. You may not even have the space or outlets for your plans, and of course, renters will inevitably have to remove their tablet(s) when they leave.

A lot of people are better served by smart displays — they’re less powerful, but cheaper and easy to relocate, unless perhaps you get an Echo Show 15.

Will you actually use a tablet hub?

Consider your use cases, especially automation

Assuming cost and installation issues are irrelevant, tablet hubs can still be redundant. At a minimum, you’ve already got a way of controlling your accessories, whether that’s your smartphone, a speaker, or a smart display. Many homes are littered with these options, and your phone isn’t tethered to a single location. No one is going to wander down the hall to turn on the lights if they can do that from their couch or bed.

There is a case to be made for having a hub for guests, particularly kids and the elderly. A hub isn’t always the best solution for that, though. Companies like Lutron and Philips Hue offer dedicated remotes and switches, which are not only immediately intuitive, but a superior way of preventing people from accidentally disabling accessories by flipping a “dumb” switch. I’ve had to tape down switches in the past.

Arguably, the greatest reason to skip a tablet hub is automation. If you set up the proper routines, you’ll rarely need to touch or talk to anything. In my own house, all the Hue lights are set to schedules based on family routines — the kitchen and dining lights are always on in time for breakfast for instance, and the whole house goes into nightlight mode around midnight. If we need manual control, I’ve got a few Amazon Echo speakers with group and devices names that everyone recognizes. Making my family toggle individual accessories on a touchscreen would be unnecessarily complicated.

Heck, I could potentially make things even simpler with motion sensors. Those are available for every smart home platform, and can be set to toggle a variety of accessory types based on presence. The only reason I don’t use them is because my existing setup works well enough already.

Should you use a tablet as a smart home hub?

Carefully consider control and budget

My view is that most people should save themselves the money and trouble. Other control schemes tend to be simpler or more affordable, and the former is the main point of a smart home. The experience is even better if you know your way around the automation options in smartphone apps.

I’d recommend a tablet hub mainly if it’s a trivial expense for you and a central, omnipotent control panel has daily utility — say if you have a sprinkler system you need to both control and monitor. Similarly, it’s often possible to view multiple security cameras simultaneously on a tablet, whereas a phone or smart display will normally show one. That peace of mind is worth it for some people.

Ultimately, it’s up to you. Some people enjoy the idea of having as many control options as possible and have the budget for it. If both of those statements apply, it could be a good fit for your smart home.