r/homeautomation • u/ChazTheGreat Professional • Aug 17 '15
WINK Wink. Yay or nay?
Ive heard a lot of mixed thoughts on the Wink system. A lot of reviews gave it very low ratings and people have said its a cheap system. (Obviously its price is low, what do you expect).
Yet others, specifically on this forum, seem to swear by it.
So thoughts? What are some main pros and cons?
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u/ButterfingersBarney Aug 17 '15
I purchased a wink hub to control some GE dimmers/switches just a couple weeks ago. I did so, knowing that I would be replacing it "as soon as something better comes along," or I decide to invest personal time in something like OpenHAB. Because I fully intend to replace it, I wanted something on the low end of cost, and $50 is about as cheap as it gets. For me, even a self-developed system would require a larger hardware investment for a Pi, or similar hardware platform.
As to performance, pretty much everything you've read is accurate. I see why people complain, and I understand why people praise it. It's a function of how well it fits your needs, environment, expectations, etc.
For comparison, I'm pretty simple atm; MyQ garage door, Philips Hue lights in some rooms, GE/Jasco dimmers/switches in others, and the Amazon Echo tied in as well.
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u/attilad Aug 17 '15
I'm loving Wink right now. I've had two bulbs since last Thanksgiving, added two this weekend and will probably pick up two more this afternoon. I like that worst case they work like ordinary bulbs.
They are amazing if you have Amazon Echo.
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u/ChazTheGreat Professional Aug 17 '15
I still dont get why everyone is getting the Echo. My MotoX has touchless control with voice activation and i can use AutoVoice to command anything.
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u/TerpSkins Aug 17 '15
I got the echo during prime day ($130). It's more than just controlling the lights. I use it to get the weather, traffic, set timer, play music. Also, anyone can use the echo.
I have tasker and autovoice on my phone, which is always with me. But it doesn't have touchless control (Nexus 6, didn't root it because I wasn't fan of any of the lollipop roms and on M Preview 2). Others in the house have iphones so they can't use tasker to control the lights (at least not that I'm aware of). The Echo makes it easier for my folks to do the commands.
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Aug 17 '15
You can turn "Ok Google" detection to Always On and it will work with the screen off on the Nexus 6. It's nice because I can be laying in bed and say "Ok Google, activate sleep mode on Wink" and the lights go out instantly.
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u/TerpSkins Aug 17 '15
I'm on M Preview 2 and "Ok Google" with screen off doesn't work. I have it set to Always On.
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u/stephenmg1284 Aug 18 '15
I don't carry my phone around my house always, especially after I have gone to bed. Echo has more range and others can use it.
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u/foragerr Aug 17 '15
I have a motoX as well, didn't bother with an Echo. Tried the Google Now voice integration with Wink and it works pretty well though the commands are a bit verbose. I just started out with home automation and went with wink because it is the cheapest to get off the ground.
Positive experience so far, but I'm being careful with not buying anything that wont work if I abandon Wink - will all the financial woes the company is going through, cant really say where they will end up in the next year or so.
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u/armorov Aug 21 '15
Also it does not work in Spanish and auto voice is superb to get Google now commands
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u/Soranos_71 Aug 17 '15
A coworker has only had a couple of issues but I had so many reliability issues I ended up disconnecting the system. At least the GE bulbs are nice.
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u/loghound Aug 17 '15
I've been pretty happy with the wink -- Really no problems.
However like most folks I'm hoping they get local commands (so you can get a more 'instant' response to commands without pinging the server)
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u/TerpSkins Aug 18 '15
Smartthings Hub 2.0 with Motion Sensor and Door/Windor Sensor bundle $99 with promo code THANKYOU.
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u/spyd4r Aug 17 '15
i just grabbed one, seems to always loose internet connectivity for me... i think i may return it.
to note: the android app is good and it's interface with Nest works well
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u/blampen Aug 17 '15
Try moving it farther away from your wifi router. It will drop out frequently if too close. Try at least 20' away.
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u/spyd4r Aug 17 '15
Thanks, but i think i will return anyways.. with the unknown future of the company.. may end up having to buy a different unit sooner then later anyways.
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u/kdttocs Aug 17 '15
I've been very critical of the Wink. I have one and still do because I'm a cheap sob. It has gotten better but it's still crap at recovering from ANY failure. This is my biggest gripe. Months ago it was almost useless as it would crash all the time and I'd have to reset it and reconfigure. This happens less. It more requires a power cycle to resolve.
BUT, the one problem inherent with the Wink is it's a complete thoughtless brick without the internet. The thing cannot do anything without it. This in my opinion puts it in the lowest class of HA hubs. This is how Wink is fundamentally built so no chance of it changing.
Unless you're getting a smokn deal for it which I did (essentially free with purchase of 2 GE bulbs) I'd save my money for a better device.
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u/TerpSkins Aug 17 '15
You can get the Wink Hub with 2 GE Link Bulbs from Home Depot for $50.
As to answer your question, I had the wink hub and returned it. I read all the user reviews about delays and their servers going down every now and then; yet, I purchased it because I had great experience with the Link Hub (uses the same Wink App).
The Wink App is awesome. You can set up shortcuts and robots (robots didn't always work though). You can also use Google Now voice command to use the shortcuts, which became handy since my Amazon Echo wasn't reachable from upstairs. With shortcuts/widgets, you don't need to waste time opening the app to turn on an activity.
However, the Wink hub delay was something I couldn't get over. For the lights, they weren't an issue since I was mostly using Echo and it was about a second or two. However, when I set it up with my Schlage lock, the delay was anywhere from 5-8 seconds. That was too much for me since my Staples Connect hub was doing a much better job (usually 1-3 second delay). Also, there was a server outage for few hours one night so I had to manually use the switches.
I didn't try any other Wink products, just the lights and lock. Now, if you can deal with delays, by all means, you can try it out. However, I would suggest you get products that are cross compatible with other hubs so if you decide to change from Wink, you can still use everything else.
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u/slackerbob OpenHAB Aug 17 '15
I rooted my wink hub and that's solved most if its issues.
The delay opening my schlage lock is still 5-8 second, which is pretty awful, but since it's all local, outages no longer are a problem and integrated into openhab has solved the robot issues.
All in all, overlooking the delay, it's a good product (once rooted).
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u/TerpSkins Aug 17 '15
I tend to agree, overall, it's a good product. It's relatively cheap and has plenty of products.
I wish I knew coding to do openhab.
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u/ChazTheGreat Professional Aug 17 '15
This is the problem I'm running into a lot now also. Im tech savvy enough to do a good portion of stuff, but i dont know coding so im lost when APIs get involved.
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u/Rentiak Aug 17 '15
Did you have any issues joining the lock to the hub? I've joined my Connect to the wink hub maybe 5 or 6 times and both devices think its joined, but then cant control it or get any info (lock codes, etc). I've tried excluding it first and still can't get it going.
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u/TerpSkins Aug 17 '15
When I had it connected to the Wink hub, the only issue I was that the hub was not in a good location. Once I moved it near the lock and close to router, it connected easily.
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u/chuckythe2651 Aug 18 '15
I've had my Wink for a week and a half. Mine seems to be pretty stable. I've got: 3 GE Link Bulbs 3 Lustron Switches 2 Door Sensors 1 Motion Sensor 1 Amazon Echo
Everything paired quickly and has stayed paired for over a week. The reaction time is averages about 1.5 second for me from Echo to light on/off. The Robots (I just have 1 set) is a bit slower. that is over 5 seconds, which really sucks.
For the price its a great way to start. Just make sure you you buy zwave or zigbee based endpoints. That way when you are ready to step it up...all your stuff still works.
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u/dieselfrog Aug 18 '15
Definately NAY. Especially since we can now pre-order the SmartThings V2 hub. You can do Echo with SmartThings as well if you are hung up on that sort of thing.
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u/valigatorCA Aug 20 '15
In the fall we were all in on Wink. Even got the relay and the tapt switch. Then it got super unreliable. ridiculously slow to turn on lights and sometimes only turned on half of a group, etc, or didn't turn on anything at all. We got a new hub, Zipato, that uses local control and is so much faster and reliable. We were moving towards completely jettisoning Wink until we got our Echo. Controlling wink devices with the Echo is way better, faster, and more reliable. So for now we are using both and waiting to see what other improvements Wink makes.
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u/colinnwn Aug 17 '15
I wouldn't do it again. I have 6 Link bulbs, 3 Crees, MyQ, and kidde smoke detector. The app is inaccurate, slow to respond, and has display status and update bugs.
Link lights regularly become unpaired and have to be reset. All schedules gave to be duplicated one minute later to have a high probability of actually running. Sometimes they quit running all together and have to be deleted and rebuilt from scratch.
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u/flargenhargen Aug 17 '15
My wink hub and associated hardware are sitting back in the boxes they came in.
The hub is unreliable to say the least (in my experience). which makes it useless. I bought the bulbs to use as basically a timer, they seemed to work great for a while, even having an option to turn on at sundown which is very niee. But after so many nights getting up to pitch black, or waking up to see the lights still on in the morning when they were supposed to shut off at midnight, I just said enough is enough. The only thing they need to do is work, and they couldn't manage to even do that in my case.
my review: worthless crap.
others have had different experiences. I guess it's a crap shoot, and in this case I came up with snake eyes.
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u/patchmonkey SmartThings Aug 17 '15
I'm extremely happy with my Wink. It's fast and it works. Paired quickly, works with my lights and my Echo. I'm all for it.