Nabu Casa Home Assistant, Green

After years of relying on Alexa for basic smart home control, I wanted something more capable - better integrations, real automation, and full control over my setup. Home Assistant delivers all of that and then some. It’s incredibly powerful (more than I expected), with a huge range of tools and customisation options - including raw configuration and advanced editors. I can see why some people say you need a degree to use it. I’m fairly technical, but still needed some help from ChatGPT to set up certain integrations and write custom configurations. Important: Make sure your Home Assistant Green is running Home Assistant OS, not Home Assistant Container. Mine arrived with Container, which is a stripped-back version intended for advanced users running Docker. It lacks add-on support and makes setup more complex. Home Assistant OS provides the full experience, including access to add-ons and much easier management. Since the Green is designed for HA OS, it’s a bit odd that mine came with Container. Fortunately, Home Assistant OS was very easy to install via a microSD card loaded with the correct package. The "Green" hardware itself is excellent - completely silent and runs very smoothly One of the biggest advantages is device integration and centralised management. I’ve been able to bring everything together in one place, including lighting, smart plugs, and even my Annke IP cameras (using Hikvision integration). Having everything unified in a single system makes automation far more useful than managing devices separately across different apps. The one integration I had some difficulty with was Eufy. I’m using the E340 video doorbell on battery power, which means you can’t leave the stream running continuously without draining it. To work around this, I manually call the camera.turn_on and camera.turn_off services so the camera only activates when needed. It works well once set up, but it’s something to be aware of if you’re using battery-powered devices. The only caveat is that remote access and voice assistant integration typically require a Home Assistant Cloud subscription. However, if you’re willing to invest some time, there are free alternatives. I set mine up using Cloudflare and a custom Alexa skill, so the only ongoing cost is a domain (around £8/year). I was initially planning to use Cloudflare Zero Trust option for additional protection, but it breaks too many Home Assistant integrations. Fortunately, Home Assistant has robust MFA built in. It’s been a learning curve, but absolutely worth it.

Well made with enormous amount of software available. Requires a good IT knowledge to operate. I have found that asking Google usually provides detailed answers. Good value for money.

Absolute simplicity for a new starter with Home Assistant (as I am). Plug it in and connect the network cable. That's it no other connections required. Log into it from whatever you have handy and follow the prompts then away you go. No noisy fans. It runs cold. It just works. Happy days.

Works perfectly, easy setup. Running multiple products, vendors, ZigBee dongle

Great product. Works as advertised straight out of the box. No surprises. Will do exactly what you paid for and do it well. It is a tad expensive here though and there are cheaper places to find it. Would have got 5 stars if the price was £30 less.

Great device for starters. Plug in and play once paired with dongle for zigbee/ matter etc

Exceeded… But very geeky, be ready to be confused HACS allows more devices but comes with lots of headaches “Get HACS” Doesn’t I needed to use Terminal, always concerning

Couldn’t set a user name and password

Excellent product as described!

Home Assistant Green est devenu le cerveau de ma maison connectée. Je voulais pouvoir réunir dans un même environnement des appareils de marques et de protocoles différents plutôt que de dépendre d’une multitude d’applications séparées, et c’est exactement ce qu’il m’a permis de faire. Au fil du temps, j’y ai intégré mon éclairage, des détecteurs de présence, des capteurs de fuite d’eau, des prises intelligentes, des données sur la qualité de l’air, différents appareils de la maison et même certains équipements utilisés pour mes projets de culture. Ce que j’aime surtout, c’est la liberté de créer des automatisations qui correspondent réellement à ma façon de vivre. Une lumière peut réagir à une présence, je peux recevoir une alerte lorsqu’une batterie devient faible ou lorsqu’une fuite est détectée, suivre mes données dans des graphiques et regrouper l’information importante dans mes propres tableaux de bord. Le Green est une excellente porte d’entrée parce que le matériel est déjà prêt : pas besoin de construire soi-même un serveur pour commencer. Par contre, il faut être conscient que Home Assistant peut devenir un véritable passe-temps. Les fonctions de base sont accessibles, mais les possibilités sont tellement vastes qu’on peut aller très loin si on aime apprendre et expérimenter. Après plusieurs mois, mon système est devenu quelque chose que j’utilise tous les jours et que je continue encore à améliorer. Je ne voudrais plus revenir à une maison connectée composée d’une série d’applications indépendantes.

Love it, it’s just plug and play

Conforme à la description, look plutôt sympa et l’implémentation de smart home est aussi paramétable que la version logicielle. BAckup prévu, mise en route rapide. Détecte facilement les appareils matter (prises, multiprises) et affiche bien les consommations énergétiques (si le matériel interfacé le fait) mois j’ai interfacé avec Merros et aucun soucis…

I paid it 194 euros. I am very happy with it, but it is not for everyone because it requires a lot of fiddling into the settings. It took me two days to make it tell the weather and the time. Still so much worth it for me. I also bought the "Nabu Casa Home Assistant Voice Preview Edition Intelligent Speaker" and it works well with this.