Use Smartthings Without Hub

Smartthings is both hardware and software. The Smartthings hub is hardware, while the Smartthings App is the software part.

The Smartthings Hub V3 allows you to control Samsung Smartthings devices such as your smart TV and other internet connected smart home devices from anywhere.

You will use smart hubs mostly when controlling multiple smart home devices, even if they’re from other manufacturers.

And that’s because the Smartthings hub is compatible with smart home devices supporting Z-Wave and Zigbee wireless protocols. 

You can use Smartthings App to control smart home devices without necessarily using a smart hub of the same brand.

For example, you can use the Smartthings App to control your smart light, such as Philips Hue. You will add these smart home devices to your Smartthings platform and control them.

If you’re looking for more information on using Smartthings without a hub, read on to learn more!

Smart Home Devices That You Can Control with A Smartthings App

The Smartthings App is available for Android and iOS smartphone users. That means you can use it even if you own an Apple smartphone.

It is incredible how you can control smart home devices via this App regardless of their brands.

That means even smart home devices unbranded with the Smartthings logo can benefit from efficient control via the Smartthings App.

And some of the smart home devices you could control via the Smartthings app include the following:

Philips Hue Smart Light

The Phillips Hue smart lights are a perfect example of smart home devices you could control with the Smartthings platform without using the Smartthings hub.

Instead of connecting these smart lights to a hub, you can just add your Philips Hue to the Smartthings App and control them using your smartphone.

You will launch the Smartthings App and tap the Plus (+) icon on the Home page. Then, you will tap Devices and choose to sort by brand. And then, you will navigate to Phillips Hue and tap on it.

From here, you can choose to connect your Philips Hue without a Smartthings Hub. 

After this step, you will log in to your Hue account within the Smartthings App. Once you’ve signed in, you will grant Smartthings App permission to access your Hue account. Then, you will set up location and room, then tap Next. 

The Smartthings App will take you to Meethue.com, where you will log into your Philips Hue account permission.

Then you will grant the Smartthings App permission to control the connected Philips Hue smart lights. Finally, you will tap Done.

You can then use the Smartthings App to control your smart lights through automation and routines.

SAMSUNG SmartThings Wi Fi Plug

This is a smart plug from Smartthings. It is another smart home device you can control without a Smartthings hub.

The smart plug connects to Wi Fi 2.4GHz, so you want to ensure your router transmits signals at this frequency.

Once you’ve connected this Smartthings smart plug to your Wi Fi network, you will connect your smart speaker to the same network. These smart plugs work with Alexa smart speakers such as amazon echo.

But even other virtual assistants such as Google Assistant work with this smart plug. So, you can also connect smart speakers using Google Assistant to the same network as your smart plug.

Alexa is a cloud based virtual assistant, and so are Google Assistant, Apple HomeKit, and IFTTT. That means Alexa smart speakers rely on the internet connection to control other connected devices.

So, you will connect your Smartthings smart plug to the same internet as your preferred smart speaker to control it by voice.

As such, you can control some Smartthings hardware through voice control. As you might have expected, a smart speaker will do most of the work a Smartthings Hub does.

But even smart speakers have their shortcomings. One shortcoming you want to know is smart speakers work with a limited range of sensors and room sensors.

Therefore, you might not use smart speakers to control some of your smart home security sensors.

Smart Thermostats

You could also control some smart thermostats without requiring a Smartthings Hub. You can connect your smart thermostat to your Wi Fi network.

Then connect a cloud based platform like Alexa or Google Assistant to the same network.

That means you will connect your smart speaker with virtual assistants such as Alexa, Google Assistant, and Apple HomeKit to the Wi Fi network to control your smart thermostat through voice commands.

Google Nest smart thermostat is an excellent example of a smart thermostat that connects to your Wi-Fi network.

Therefore, it requires no smart hub to control it remotely. Smart thermostats like Ecobee Lite also connect to your internet to grant you remote control over them.

If a smart thermostat is compatible with Smartthings, you could control it efficiently without a hub.

Robotic Vacuum Cleaners

The Samsung R7040 is a robotic vacuum that you can control remotely via the Smartthings App. You can even schedule it to clean at specific times.

And this improves home automation since your vacuum cleaner will clean at specific times without your input.

You can also find other vacuum cleaners that you can automate with the Smartthings App on your smartphone.

So, if a robotic vacuum cleaner is compatible with Smartthings, you could control it through voice control devices or Smartthings App without the hub.

Final Thoughts

Even though you could control smart home devices without a Smartthings Hub, you will need the hub to control multiple smart home devices at once.

Smart speakers do most tasks that a Smartthings hub does, but they have shortcomings. 

Some sensors in your smart home might not work with voice control devices like smart speakers.

As such, you might consider adding them to a smart hub, especially if you want to automate them or schedule them. So, consider adding a Smartthings hub for smart devices you can’t control without a hub.

Otherwise, you can control some smart devices compatible with Smartthings without a Smartthings hub.