Homey Launches $249 Portal Controller for 70,000 Smart Home Devices

3 articles · Updated · The Verge · Sep 1

$249 preorders opened for Homey’s Portal, a 2.8-inch touchscreen with a stainless steel dial built to control lights, music, climate, shades and automations from a desk or wall.
Homey is pitching the device as a simpler alternative to app-heavy smart homes, leaning on support for more than 70,000 devices from 2,000 brands plus Matter, Zigbee, Z-Wave and Thread.
Portal is not a hub, so buyers also need Homey Cloud at $3.99 a month, a $249 Pro Mini, a $449 Homey Pro, or a self-hosted server; shipments start in December.
The controller skips a microphone and instead ties into Alexa, Google Home and Siri Shortcuts, while local hub connections can keep compatible devices working even if the internet goes down.
At $299 after the introductory offer, outfitting multiple rooms gets expensive, but Homey is betting easier installation and broader interoperability will set it apart from display-equipped smart switches.