Switchbot have officially launched their Hub 2. This new hub from Switchbot allows you to connect your Switchbot devices to the cloud, has a built in temperature and humidity sensor and lets you add Switchbot curtains and blinds to Apple and Google’s native Home apps thanks to matter. In our SwitchBot Hub 2 review we share our opinion on this device after using it for the last 3 weeks.
What’s new with the Hub 2?
Switchbot have had the Hub Mini around for a while now and, with it’s £35 price point it’s an affordable way to hook your switchbot devices up to the cloud, add voice control and control your remote controls from your phone.
With a higher price point of £80 the Hub 2 adds in some new features as well as improving the existing ones. Keep an eye out on our blog for a comparison post of the Hub 2 and Hub Mini in the next few weeks!
SwitchBot Hub 2 Review: Design
The SwitchBot Hub 2 has a new design with an all white body and rounded edges. You can wall mount it or it can be free-standing thanks to its built-in kick-stand. The USB cable has the temperature and humidity sensor built into the cable (a bit unusual!) and then the device has two action buttons and LED lights showing you the current temperature and humidity of your room. All of these lights can be switched off in the Switchbot app.
Ignoring the odd choice of having the sensors in the cable we really like this modern design.
Hub 2 Specification
The Hub 2 connects to your Switchbot devices via bluetooth and your internet using 2.4ghz Wifi. It’s mains powered and comes with a charging brick and the temperature/humidity sensors are really accurate.
The Hub 2 allows your Switchbot devices to work with external services. This includes Amazon’s Alexa, Google Assistant and Siri Shortcuts.
The addition of Matter support means that you can now also use the Hub 2 to add your Switchbot devices into your Goolge Home or Apple Home app. Currently only the blind and curtain devices are compatible but Switchbot will be updating more products as time goes on via firmware updates.
The Hub 2 also offers a remote control learning feature which can let you program your infrared remote controls to your Hub 2 and then control them via your phone, voice or with scenes/shortcuts. This is a feature present on the Hub Mini but the Hub 2’s range has been improved.
Setting Up the Hub 2
Setting up the Hub 2 is as simple as plugging it in, opening the Switchbot app and hitting the ‘+’ button. The app will then get it all setup for you.
Configuring the Hub 2 for Matter devices and programming remotes takes some more manual actions but is generally nice and easy to do. The only downside is that, for Hub Mini users upgrading there is no way to import your existing remotes, you need to start again!
Using the Hub 2 on a daily basis
The Hub 2 is one of those products that largely does it’s job behind the scenes so that when your automatic scene to open your blinds runs or you reach for your Home app to adjust your blinds these actions work perfectly every single time. This in itself is a tribute to just how good the Hub 2 is.
We love the addition of Matter support as it also means our blind and curtain devices can be part of Automations with other products within the Apple Home app.
The on-device buttons and display on the Hub 2 are things that are nice to have but not really things we find useful, it’s much easier to reach for your phone or yell at your voice assistant to run a scene than it is to walk over to the Hub to activate a button and actually, we’ve had the on-screen display off most the time and have been able to tuck the Hub away and still use remotes thanks to the improved infrared functionality.
SwitchBot Hub 2 Review: Our Verdict
The Hub 2 takes everything that was great about the Hub Mini and brings with it improved infrared, Matter support (which is excellent news for Apple users in particular) and some nice metrics data too. Other than the price which is much higher than the Hub Mini we can’t fault it!
You can pick one up below or read our other reviews here.
