When comparing Honeywell Lyric vs iDevices Thermostat, the Slant community recommends Honeywell Lyric for most people. In the question“What are the best HomeKit thermostats?” Honeywell Lyric is ranked 3rd while iDevices Thermostat is ranked 5th. The most important reason people chose Honeywell Lyric is:
The Lyric can turn on and off based on your location (or, more specifically, your phone's location). By default, this geo-fence is 7 miles, giving the thermostat enough time to get the back to a comfortable temperature. This can be changed, all the way down to 500 feet if you have a short commute.
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Pros
Pro Can turn on/off automatically based on your location
The Lyric can turn on and off based on your location (or, more specifically, your phone's location). By default, this geo-fence is 7 miles, giving the thermostat enough time to get the back to a comfortable temperature. This can be changed, all the way down to 500 feet if you have a short commute.
Pro Futuristic design
It has a clean white front, with basic controls and large fonts. All the edges are trimmed with a stylish black, and the device produces an attractive glow behind it which helps make it stand out.
Pro Easy installation
The Lyric app provides step by step instructions, starting from removing your old thermostat all the way through until the end. There is just 1 small typo - the app says you don't need to connect the power wire (Rh) when indeed you do.
Pro Affordable price for a basic HomeKit thermostat.
This thermostat is priced about $100 cheaper than any other option that currently integrates with HomeKit. For users who don't want/wouldn't use any fancy features but just want great Siri integration, this thermostat will suffice and at a more wallet-friendly price.
Pro More features in the works
While this thermostat is very feature-light at the moment, Bluetooth hardware is present which will allow for more features in the future. Geo-fencing and pattern recognition software are two features currently in development, however the other thermostats already offer these features and more.
Cons
Con Not compatible with all routers
Your router needs to have DHCP (Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol) otherwise this thermostat won't connect to your network.
Con Specific (more expensive) battery requirements
In order to provide longer battery life, the Lyric requires a AAA lithium battery - regular AAA batteries won't provide sufficient juice.
Con Buggy
The geo-fence feature can sometimes set the thermostat to 'away' while you're still in the house.
Notifications also don't always make it through, as sometimes all you get are generic looking error messages.
These bugs are likely to be fixed through future software updates, however currently they come as part of the product.
Con Multiple touches required for simple actions
Because the screen is so small and pixelated, very little can be displayed on the screen at one time. This forces the menus to be longer, which requires more button presses to scroll down and then select the action, and then finally adjust it. It would also be helpful if text was used instead of just icons, as then you'd never have to guess what an icon represents.
Con Lacks any standout features
As of right now (future updates could change this), the iDevices thermostat doesn't provide any compelling reason to choose it over any other HomeKit thermostat. It doesn't add any features of its own - instead it only has features provided by HomeKit itself which are present on many other thermostats. The screen is small and pixelated, and it still uses buttons instead of a touchscreen. It also looks more like a standard thermostat than the others.
Overall, the iDevices thermostat may be the cheapest option, but it's very uninspiring.
Con Installation is harder than it should be
Wiring the iDevices Thermostat requires a small precision screw driver (not included), and unlike many other smart thermostats it doesn't automatically detect which HVAC system you have (you will need to look that up, whether it's gas or electric fired, and potentially what kind of pumps and valves are used). The whole installation process is a lot more involved than other smart thermostats.
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