BGR Lists Five Smart Home Hubs Priced Below Apple HomeView

BGR has published a comparison naming five smart home hubs the outlet says cost less than Apple's HomeView, giving shoppers a budget-focused counterpoint as Apple's hub draws attention in the home automation category, according to BGR.

The outlet's framing puts Apple's entry at the top of the price range in the category, with the five alternatives positioned as lower-cost options for shoppers who want hub functionality without buying into Apple's hardware. BGR's full list and pricing detail are available at the link above for readers who want model-by-model comparisons.

What Does a Smart Home Hub Actually Do?

A hub serves as the central controller that lets lights, locks, thermostats, and sensors from different manufacturers talk to one another and respond to a single app or voice command. Price is one factor shoppers weigh, but so is which device ecosystems and wireless protocols a given hub supports — a detail that increasingly determines whether a cheaper hub can do everything a pricier one can.

How Does the Matter Standard Change the Calculation?

Interoperability has become a bigger part of the hub-buying decision since the Matter standard was introduced to let devices from competing brands work across different hubs and voice assistants without separate bridges, Smart Home Central reported in coverage of a recent Matter update aimed at simplifying device connectivity. For a shopper comparing a budget hub against Apple's HomeView, Matter compatibility can matter as much as sticker price, since a cheaper hub that fully supports the standard may handle the same mix of locks, sensors, and lights as a more expensive one.

That makes BGR's affordability framing only part of the picture. A hub listed as cheaper than HomeView is a meaningful comparison only if it supports the same device categories a household already owns or plans to buy.

Does Device Naming Complicate a Hub Switch?

Household device naming is another practical consideration when adding or replacing a hub. Smart Home Central previously reported on best practices for naming smart home devices so that voice commands and automated scenes stay readable as a household's device count grows, see the earlier report. Migrating devices to a new or additional hub — whether it's a budget pick from BGR's list or Apple's HomeView — can disrupt existing naming conventions and automations if the new hub's app handles device labels differently than the one it replaces.

That migration friction is a cost that does not show up on a price tag but factors into total setup time, particularly for households with dozens of named devices and scenes already configured.

What Should Shoppers Confirm Before Buying a Cheaper Hub?

Before switching based on price alone, shoppers can check three things: whether the hub supports Matter or the specific wireless protocols (such as Zigbee or Thread) used by devices already in the home; whether the hub's companion app allows the kind of device naming and scene organization already in place; and whether BGR's listed price reflects the hub alone or includes any required accessories, such as a separate bridge or subscription. BGR's report is the primary source for the specific models and prices it compared against Apple's HomeView, and readers evaluating a purchase should consult that listing directly for model names and current pricing.

Why Is Apple's HomeView a Reference Point?

Apple's HomeView functions as the benchmark in BGR's comparison, reflecting how Apple's hardware entries into a product category often become the price anchor other outlets measure against. Whether a lower-cost hub ends up being the better buy depends on whether it matches HomeView's device support and app features at a lower price, rather than on price alone — a distinction BGR's roundup addresses model by model in its full report.

Does a Lower Price Always Mean Lower Setup Cost?

Not necessarily. A hub's sticker price reflects only the hardware, not the time a household spends reconfiguring automations, renaming devices, or verifying protocol support after a switch. Shoppers comparing BGR's five picks against Apple's HomeView should weigh that setup cost alongside the listed price difference, since a cheaper hub that requires rebuilding scenes or re-pairing sensors may erase some of its savings in time spent. BGR's comparison does not quantify that setup cost, and the outlet's report is the primary source for the price figures themselves, so readers should treat the sticker-price gap as a starting point rather than the full picture of what switching hubs actually costs a household.