I meant the bit about being a worldwide standard. I didn’t have enough space available to get into power levels.
The article linked to compares and contrasts Z wave and Zigbee. The point being that they each have their pluses and minuses.
Although zigbee is a worldwide standard, it actually enforces much less commonality than Z wave does. Every certified zwave device is required to interoperate out of the box at what Zwave calls the “basic” level. That’s why you can take any Z wave contact sensor or light switch on the same frequency as your controller and know that it will work with your system at this basic level.
Zigbee doesn’t have the same requirement. Consequently zigbee devices sold side-by-side on the shelf may not be able to actually understand each other.
In addition, the fact that Wi-Fi can interfere with zigbee introduces many issues in DIY home automation. Fixed location devices like door locks and window covering controls that can’t just be shifted a meter to the left may be very difficult to install and operate in a Home with strong Wi-Fi.
The interoperability between brands and the ease of installation for fixed location devices are, I believe, why historically Zwave has been preferred over zigbee in both the EU and the US for inexpensive home automation for the last five years.
Even though zigbee uses the same frequency worldwide, if you’re outfitting a house in England with home automation devices you’re going to have a lot more Z wave choices than zigbee if you’re spending less than a total of £2500. (With the exception of smart bulbs.) It’s just a market reality: Zwave tends to be simpler to deploy, so the manufacturers have responded.
They are both good protocols, and they each have pluses and minuses.
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I think you’ve both missed and proved my point at the same time!
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With all due respect, this is not what I would call a review, but rather a rehash of SmartThings promotional booklet. I don’t know the intended audience and the context of the column, so don’t take it as offense though. 
I’m yet to see a thorough, in-depth review on SmartThings (and their competitors) in tech pubs.
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You said “zigbee is better because it is a worldwide standard.”
It’s definitely a worldwide standard, but that doesn’t necessarily make it better than Zwave for a low-budget do it yourself home automation project.
The typical person in England trying to select kit for their project will likely have a much wider selection in their budget if they go with Zwave. Is that “better”? It’s hard to say.
My point was only that I prefer to say both protocols have pros and cons rather than saying one is better than the other. It’s all about the specific details of the solution being sought. 
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I never claimed it WAS a review.
I write a monthly hands on column. My voice, not the magazine’s and not the PR agency’s. I write about things as I find them. If they are good I’ll say so, and if they are rubbish I’ll say so too. You wouldn’t believe the number of companies that I’ve fallen out with - famously Apple when I dared to write in print how they were demanding positive coverage in return for loan devices.
I tend to write about things over a series of months if not years. The two extracts above were just the start of a journey.
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Good luck to you! Knowing ST, you’ll never run out of stories to explore in future articles…
Update: I am being only halfway sarcastic here, you’ll find many good and not so good stories to write about…
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So CNET removed all doubt regarding their opinion of SmartThings yesterday…
We began building the home around SmartThings, the hub that promises an “open” philosophy that theoretically lets different developers, and even users, write their own software to connect various gadgets to the SmartThings hub. Once you link a bunch of devices to to the hub, you can program them to perform various automated behaviors, like having the lights come on when you unlock the front door.
Poor usability of the SmartThings app, and eventual stability issues still plaguing the system eliminated SmartThings as a long-term solution.
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Sad, but true. Stability may have marginally improved lately, but the mobile app is still an epitome of poor UX design.
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I am glad MyQ didn’t make top garage door opener 
One thing to note is they picked all point solutions with no central brain. Not the best approach to manage all your automation if you ask me.
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I saw that Corian low power induction counter top for cell phone charging, I couldn’t help but thinking that’s a pretty cool idea – sure, CNET hated it, but then my mind wandered and thought – if you need more charging power…put your phone on the induction stove top!
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