The SmartThings Station works over Wi-Fi and is powered via USB-C, giving you flexibility with where you put it (it doesn’t have to plug into your router).

This means you can create more intricate and specific automations than those offered by Apple Home and Amazon’s Alexa platform.

It works with a long list of companies and integrates with popular devices from Ring, Nest, Ecobee, Philips Hue, Lutron, and Nanoleaf, as well as with a lot of obscure and geeky gadgets.

While you can control some Samsung devices and those from other manufacturers with Amazon Alexa or Google Home, the experience is rarely optimal.

Yes, the smart home is getting simpler to use and set up, but even with Matter’s multi-admin feature(which lets you use devices across ecosystems), you will still want to pick a primary platform.

But we started counting exactly how many times you have to hit “agree” to use devices when we review them since these are agreements most people don’t read and definitely can’t negotiate.