Ezlo vs SmartThings - Video series

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Nice!

I do hope there is no man behind with a switch. LOL

I look forward to the future.

The “Scene” in SmartThings is a cloud command.

Using Smart Lighting instead within SmartThings will run local if your devices are also locally controllable.

I will agree that using the Smart Lighting features are more complicated, though.

Edit: Originally I provided a caution in my post that stated it was a misleading test. After all the additional details came out, it is not misleading and quite helpful.
I appreciate the openness of Ezlo showing what’s behind the doors in this comparison!
While SmartThings offers local control, it’s more “advanced” user material to get it working that way. 99% of those using it will never dig past the simple app commands.

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the video was done by creating scenes on both platforms just like ordinary users would and execute it. We would be happy if you want to run different tests and share your videos with us. We are happy for everyone to test every capability we have and compare it against anyone in the market. That’s how we can improve.

I think to help build a comparison, we should know what we’re using for this test.
What bulbs were used? I think there’s 50 there. Models numbers matter.

To perform a true comparison with SmartThings, you have to use their Smart Apps setup within their app and build your scene in Smart Lighting. The catch, you’re going to need to setup a virtual switch to call on the Smart Lighting scene to run.

Alternatively, you could setup a lighting group which would be MUCH faster, but doesn’t provide logic like Smart Lighting.

I’m not meaning this to be negative to Ezlo or their hubs. Just wanting to get a true comparison to see some actual facts. I’ve read many “comparisons” between SmartThings and Hubitat and find in many cases the local control options are being ignored, so yeah, it’ll be slower on SmartThings.

The newest equipment from SmartThings is their V3 hub (2017). I would expect Ezlo’s best stuff to be faster. It would be a complete failure if it isn’t, to be brutally honest.

I’m in the process of moving to a new house that has 30+ can lights. I’ll be using Sengled BR30 full color Zigbee bulbs there, which are unsupported by Vera or Ezlo right now. I have 13 of them now and using a motion sensor as a trigger, I can get them on in under a second. The app, not close because it uses the cloud and has no local control.

If Ezlo gets their app in better shape and supports Zigbee the way SmartThings does, I’ll be inclined to switch back. I don’t need an app for control, but it should work on LAN with no cloud. That’s a current failure of SmartThings.

What exactly do you want to test? Tell us we’ll test and do a video for you.

The nature of tests should be “as an ordinary user would use it”. Of course if we want to get more technical and test a very specific functionality and compare, lets do it! Like I said before, we love testing to see where we can improve or shine.

The above test was done using same bulbs for both, using the standard functionality that both offered as an ordinary user would. We did not tweak one or the other to make them look good.

But please tell us all your test ideas and we’ll keep testing and sharing the videos.

It’s important to know which bulbs were used. Can you let us know? A few bulb brands are known not to work well with SmartThings, similar to the old Vera. Include whether Zigbee or Zwave. Guessing Zwave because I don’t think Ezlo has their Zigbee hubs out yet. Correct me if I’m wrong there.

I agree with this. SmartThings has overcomplicated this. So, unfortunately, it’s an apples to oranges comparison with Ezlo winning the simplicity contest.

Of course. Bulbs are “NOT” smart, but simple ordinary LED light bulbs. What is smart is what they are connected to.

here is the behind the scenes picture of what they are connected to:



And here is the list of all the switches for both brands
image

and more details with how many each etc.


Btw: yes Ezlo plus is the zigbee version.

We make everything that can work local work local!

Will what you are suggesting about “smart lighting” in Smartthings work with all these switches?

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From what I can tell, the majority of the devices linked to the Ezlo unit will work with SmartThings depending on region, but I’m not thinking they will all work locally. A quick check for me in the USA does not show a couple brands officially compatible (ZWP, MCO Home), but they may still connect as generic devices.
SmartThings works with nearly everything, especially Zigbee, but only officially published device handlers (firmware driven) will function locally. Smart Lighting works with anything connected to the SmartThings hub, but just 1 cloud device will wreck the performance. As we all know, local control is best.

You’re correct in thinking I was assuming these were smart bulbs. Seeing the behind the cabinet setup is extremely helpful and important in validation of the performance testing. Thank you for that!

Nice done for Ezlo, nice comparison and I think it is fair to set it up the way a regular user will set it up. It at least shows Ezlo’s hub works local and is does its job fast.

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