I turned my iPad into a Smart Home Hub and have no regrets | Tech Reddy

I’ve been looking into smart home improvements for a long time now (on the verge of being a renter). I’ve got Nanoleaf tiles, smart bulbs, Google Assistant speakers, and Android TV, but the piece that ties it all together is a 10th generation iPad.

Well, I turned the tablet into a glorified light switch. At $750, the 10th generation iPad makes for an amazing smart home screen, even though it’s not that expensive compared to other tablets.

It basically sits next to my desk to control the lights, check the weather, respond to voice commands, and take video calls. But it has portability and added benefits a complete app storeincluding social media apps, games, and much more that isn’t available on smart home screens.

Smart home screens in particular were something I considered a novelty for a long time … until I saw it done right.

Tablets make the best smart home screens

Let’s put it to the test: the $349 Google Nest Hub Max or the $399 Echo Show 15, for example.

Under $400, these screens offer basics smart home. Calendars, time, weather, temperature, everything you can fill your tablet home screen with widgets.

Of course, these are all useful things and it’s nice to have them connected to your smart home because they add visuals to your smart home, but these devices don’t have anything. They’re not very fast, they have limited portability (as they rarely rely on batteries), and they’re bogged down by the small set of apps available on their platforms (mostly streaming apps like Netflix and Disney+).

Meanwhile, the closest thing Apple has to a smart home screen is the iPad, which you can buy from Amazon for $449 or Apple for $549.

It’s definitely more expensive, but for the added benefits, it’s worth it (though you should also factor in the cost of the stand). Not only is it a choice for users who prefer Apple’s iOS (or iPad, in the case of iPad OS), but its features are much deeper than the aforementioned smart screen.

I can literally do anything I can do on the iPad’s smart screen with full access to the Apple App Store (as long as the apps are iPad compatible). Apple’s Homekit app has deep functionality for your lights and connected systems.

The benefits of using a tablet as a smart home display are no surprise to Google. The Pixel Tablet, which is expected to ship next year, has been revealed to have an app that will allow it to become a smart home screen.

But let’s take that back. Where do these devices come from? With voice assistant.

Siri and Google

In my tests with Google Assistant on the Nest and Google Pixel 7 Pro on an iPhone 13 Mini and 10th-generation iPad, Siri was faster, but Google Assistant still followed directions well.

Much of this is due to Siri developing native suggestions on iPhone and iPad, resulting in faster speeds, and Google supports this if you have Google Nest in your home internet. You don’t need to unlock your phone to turn the light on and off.

Google deserves some leeway here. Google Assistant often produces much more in-depth answers than Siri, especially when asking for information on the web.

For this reason, I’m happy with the Pixel tablet, and I think most tablets can solve my smart home screen problem. So this begs the question…

Which tablet makes the best smart home screen?

Your price will vary depending on how much you use your tablet.

For me, the 9th generation iPad makes the most sense at $549, which is still a very good price for a powerful tablet that Apple is supporting and selling. If you want this year’s model, the 10th gen (the one I used), it will set you back $749.

And, of course, there are cheaper iPads than these. iOS 16 currently supports the standard iPad 5th generation to 10th generation, iPad Mini 5th generation and 6th generation. You can get these devices second hand and they are perfectly capable of what I describe.

Additionally, there are Android tablets worth checking out, including the Oppo Pad Air ($379) and the Samsung Galaxy Tab S6 Lite ($549). For the most part, it all comes back to what you’re trying to achieve with your smart home and your budget.

But I hope I’ve convinced you to skip the smart home screen and get a tablet instead.