I am an Iris customer. I am thinking of switching over to ST. They new V2 Iris product is getting stable however I am frustrated by lack of some key functionality. I am also frustrated by the fees. They want to charge $10 a month to set up rules and alerts - which seems like a basic free feature to me.
Has anyone here switched over from Iris and would they do it again? I have a bunch of devices that may or may not be compatible.
Devices
V1 Contact Sensors
CT-101 Radio Thermostat
V1 motion Sensors
V1 Camera RC8221
V1 Security Keypad
GE Iris Switches
V1 and V2 Smartplugs
V1 zigbee devices are not compatible with SmartThings. Most zwave devices and V2 zigbee devices will be compatible.
As far as your questions, you’re going to get a skewed result, as people who changed over from Iris, tried SmartThings, and didn’t like it will probably have moved on and will no longer be participating in the forum.
But you should get some answers from the people who switched and liked it, and that information may be helpful to you.
Every system has its own pluses and minuses, so different things work for different people. If you want really complex rule structures, SmartThings offers much more. SmartThings’ greatest strength is its versatility.
One of the drawbacks is that it just hasn’t been reliable. When SmartThings works well it is absolutely my favorite home automation system. But since last November I have yet to go 10 days without an impactful SmartThings failure.
The company is very aware of this, and a couple of months ago the CEO posted in the forums that they were making improved reliability their top priority. But they aren’t there yet.
Hi James,
I was a Iris user. I had the v1 system which was very stable and did everything that I required. Then along came v2 very unstable lost functions, loss of some device uses. Then they force everyone to drop v1 without the having v2 fully functioning. Which blows me away. That is what lead me to smartthings. Smartthings has its hiccups. I’m sure you will hear and read a lot about that. But I love it. Between all the different devices and this community. If it’s a device in question just take look on this forum and if you can not find it, there is plenty of people more than happy to answer. I have now trashed v1 (not heavy enough for boat anchor. Lol). Boxed v2 hub and switched all v2 devices to smartthings. If you can deal with a few bumps and don’t mind tinkering. The switch is worth it.
The switch is absolutely worth it James. I’ve written about the experience on my blog at irisusers.com although I have yet to publish part 3.
Right now you can return all of your Iris equipment for a full refund or store credit. That makes the attractiveness of switching unbeatable. I migrated a system with over 220 devices to SmartThings. You can too!
Thanks all. I am just about to make the move. Iris started charging me $10 per month for the privilege of setting rules and notifications. Really tics me off. I have only about 20 devices and I assume half won’t convert over. V1 Iris contact sensors. V1 camera. Ct101 thermostat. But willing to take the loss or return them to Lowe’s.
My basic feeling is that someone like Samsung can pull this off versus a home improvement store who just does not seem to care.
Will wait for summer to be over and switch in the fall.
The CT 101 should work. There are number of community members who have it. Most zwave devices should be fine.
At the moment, the people running SmartThings are still the people who ran it as a start up before it was acquired by Samsung. Not much Samsung DNA yet.
Samsung is a brand that can manage a technology product vs a company that sells nails. I am just tired of how Lowe’s has handled the migration and have lost faith. I started using Iris when it first came out and am a very loyal customer. But no longer
One question. I have about 10 GE Link bulbs that worked flawlessly with V1 Iris. However don’t work and in fact screw up my V2 Iris network. Do these bulbs work with ST?
The GE Links Will work with SmartThings, but they are not on the official compatibility list because they have a known firmware flaw that can cause them to lose connection with the network. It’s not every bulb every time, but it’s a higher percentage than most other brands. I originally had eight of these and at least one would lose connection once or twice a month. But if the ones you have are working well now with the iris they should also work well with smartThings.
