The Samsung SmartThings Hub (opens in new tab) is down to $49.98 on Amazon. This is part of a greater sale on SmartThings devices, which includes the motion sensor (opens in new tab) and the water leak sensor (opens in new tab).
There's even the full SmartThings Home Monitoring Kit (opens in new tab) for sale at $150. It normally sells above $200. It comes with a Hub and several other accessories, so you can just skip right to this bundle if you want to go all in.
Hubs like this act as the "brain" of any smart home. As you start adding more smart features, like a motion sensor or smart plugs, you want to be able to control all of them at once. The hub lets you connect everything to it and then control them from one single place. The $150 home monitoring kit (opens in new tab), for example, can use that hub to connect all of your appliances, monitor your home and notify you when anything unexpected happens. The SmartThings Hub works with Wi-Fi networks and wireless protocols like ZigBee and Z-Wave. It has a Bluetooth radio but apparently, that hasn't been activated.
The Samsung SmartThings Hub is one of the best reviewed smart hubs out there. Tom's Guide called it the Best Smart Home Hub in 2017. PC Mag named it their Editor's Choice, gave it 4.5 stars out of 5, and called it "one of the most versatile home automation hubs around."
Add a smart bulb or two (opens in new tab) to the kit to control your lights or a motion sensor (opens in new tab) if you need to cover more rooms.
