Best SmartThings compatible devices: Top tech for your SmartThings system

So, you’ve made the plunge and set up your smart home with SmartThings. Wise choice. While the smart speakers of this world get most of the ink in the smart home space, SmartThings is the go-to for a truly reliable, expandable, robust and widely compatible system.

SmartThings uses the smart home protocols Zigbee, Z-Wave, Thread and Wi-Fi; the latter through cloud-to-cloud integration, so there are a ton of SmartThings compatible devices (AKA ‘Works with SmartThings’).

You can useone of the original (now discontinued) SmartThings Hubs, the Aeotec Smart Home Hub or even a Samsung smart fridge, TV, soundbar or monitor; a number of which now come with a SmartThings hub built in.

The advantages of this setup over mostly Wi-Fi-dependent options are that there’s less congestion on your network, local control (so you can still turn on your lights when the Wi-Fi goes down), and much less swapping out of batteries (Wi-Fi is a notorious battery suck).

You also get an almost endless supply of compatible, and super cheap, Z-Wave and Zigbee gadgets that will let you outfit your smart home with everything from locks and lights to sensors and cameras and – most importantly – it will all work together.

Sound familiar? Well, yes, in case you were wondering, Samsung is also major player with Matter, as well, highlighting to The Ambient that SmartThings’ history of working across different protocols will stand it in good stead as the protocol develops in the next couple of years.

On top of all this, we’re beginning to see some useful integrations with smart appliances that no other smart home platform has really matched yet, as SmartThings is owned by Samsung.

Don’t worry, though, adopting SmartThings doesn’t mean doing away with a smart assistant. It plays well with an Amazon Alexa or Google Assistant smart home and actually gives those systems a much-needed Z-Wave and Zigbee boost. Plus, if you’re all-in on Samsung, there’s Bixby support, too.

We covered how to get started with SmartThings in this guide and that highlights some of the Samsung-made SmarrThings kit (muc of which is discontinued now), so here we’ll be looking at the best third-party brands and devices to pair with your system.

For ease, we’re only mentioning products here that are guaranteed to work with SmartThings, with an official integration.

There are numerous workarounds for devices that don’t have a ‘Works with SmartThings’ sticker on the box, but we’re keeping things simple with our top picks of devices to add to your setup.

Best SmartThings compatible camera brand: Arlo

There are surprisingly few solid, third-party camera integrations for SmartThings, but even if there were more, we’d still pick Netgear’s Arlo as the best.

Arlo has a wide range of cameras – battery-powered, weatherproof, wired, indoor, and outdoor. It’s a top-notch kit with resolutions of up to 4K and night vision, plus there’s the option of local backup. SmartThings works with all of the latest cameras.

SmartThings will work with Wi-Fi cameras and those connected to a base station. Handily, for cameras connected to a base station, you can have SmartThings turn them on and off individually, scheduling when you want them to work.

The integration means all of your smart devices can work together. For example, if your Arlo camera detects motion, your Aeon Labs siren can trigger.

Best SmartThings compatible doorbell brand: Ring

Although it doesn’t specifically mention support for all of the latest cameras and doorbells, the Ring add-on for SmartThings supports all video devices. Only the Ring Alarm is not supported.

Once in the app, you can integrate your Ring cameras into your life. Motion detection can be used to trigger other devices, say turning on a smart light on your porch to help your Ring doorbell see.

Or you can have a device turn on when someone presses your Ring doorbell. You can stream video footage through SmartThings, too, giving you a single app to view everything with.

Best SmartThings compatible smart thermostat: Nest

For a long time, the Nest Thermostat didn’t work with SmartThings. Then Google went and made things even worse and killed off the Works with Nest program, so that other third-party systems didn’t work, either.

Fortunately, there’s now an official Nest add-on for SmartThings, which works with your Learning Thermostat, Thermostat E – and Nest Thermostats are also Matter compatible too.

You can control your heating temperature and more from the app, and integrate your Nest Thermostat into your Automations. For example, when the Nest changes to Eco mode, you could have lights turn out.

If you’re after an alternative, the Ecobee SmartThermostat, which has Alexa built-in, as well as a presence sensor in the device itself, is a great choice.

Best SmartThings compatible door lock: August & Yale

For a long time, if you wanted a smart door lock, Z-Wave and Zigbee were your only options, but, with the advent of Wi-Fi-powered door locks, there’s a lot more choice.

If you have a SmartThings home, you want a Z-powered lock. Less battery drain, more reliability, and much more interoperability with the rest of your smart home.

Yale, Schlage and Kwikset all have a wide variety of full-deadbolt replacement smart door locks, we like the Yale Assure Lock SL with Z-Wave or Zigbee.

But most of the options here are pretty basic: lock and unlock remotely and connect to Routines is pretty much the extent of the smarts.

If you want a lock with some more intelligence – including auto-unlocking as you approach the door, the August Smart Lock Pro is a great option. Plus, you can still check your front door status, initiate a lock or unlock and sync your August smart lock with other devices through SmartThings. One complaint about August is it’s a bulky device, but the smaller WiFi Smart Lock solves this.

Another potential issue with August is it’s a retrofit lock, if you’re looking for a whole new lock with August’s capabilities, Yale – August’s sister company – now has a range of its Assure locks and Lever locks (for interior doors) that have August’s smart’s built-in.

For UK users, the Yale Conexis L1 connects via Z-Wave (provided you buy the adaptor) while the newer Conexis L2 and the Yale Linus connects via its own Wi-Fi bridge and cloud integration with SmartThings.

Best SmartThings compatible smart speakers: Sonos & Bose

We covered how to connect your Google and Amazon smart speakers to SmartThings in our guide to setting up your SmartThings home, but, if you want to use your high-end speakers, your best options are Sonos or Bose’s SoundTouch range.

These speakers integrate more tightly than the smart assistant speakers, as you can do fun stuff like add your speakers to Routines, have them turn on or off at certain times of day, and get them to play short audio files such as doorbells and text-to-speech announcements triggered by other devices.

These can include the likes of, “Front door is open,” or “Living room is on fire,” and you can even choose custom audio tracks such as dogs barking if an outdoor motion sensor detects motion.

Best SmartThings compatible smart bulbs: Innr

Any Zigbee or Z-Wave bulb will work with SmartThings. Some of our faves include our best smart lighting system pick, Philips Hue, and the inexpensive Sengled Element Plus line. Other options include Sylvania Smart +, Lifx, TP-Link, Ikea’s Tradfri line, and pretty much any other Zigbee or Z-Wave bulb.

Our top pick however is Innr. Innr has placed itself as a brand that offers a lot of the great features of the popular Hue, but with a smaller hit to your wallet, with a basic color bulb costing just $29.99.

Zigbee-based, Innr bulbs connect directly to the SmartThings hub and both the bulbs and the smart plug worked seamlessly in our testing, plus the plug (which costs just $39.99 / £34.99 for a 2-pack) also acts as a Zigbee repeater.

Innr offers a wide range of bulb options – see our full review of them here – including white bulbs, color bulbs, candle-shaped bulbs, filament bulbs, light strips, spotlights, recessed lights, puck lights for kitchen cabinets and more.

Best SmartThings compatible smart switch: Flic 2

Rather than relying on automation or voice control, sometimes it’s better just to have buttons and switches to control SmartThings, and the Flic Button 2 is one of the best. Each tiny button can be placed where you want it, connecting via Bluetooth to the Flic Hub.

Thanks to a recent(ish) update, Flic buttons can now be set to control SmartThings Automations. So, tap your button, and you can have your bedtime routine start automatically.

This makes Flic fare more powerful than when it first launched. Plus, it can be integrated into HomeKit and it can launch Alexa Routines, so you can really take care of a lot of home automation with one device.

If you want something that’s native SmartThings, then Aeotec Button connects to your SmartThings Hub via Zigbee.

Best SmartThings compatible smart plug (Zigbee): Innr

As well as turning dumb appliances smart, smart plugs can act as repeaters for your Z-Wave and Zigbee devices, so it’s worth choosing a Z-Wave or Zigbee one if you need to “plug” any gaps in your system (i.e. if you have some devices that are having connectivity issues). Remember, Zigbee will only repeat for Zigbee and the same for Z-Wave.

Our favorite Zigbee plug is the Innr (see Smart Lighting), but Ikea’s Tradfri plug is another excellent very inexpensive Zigbee option ($9.99 / £9.99) and you don’t need the Tradfri Gateway to connect to SmartThings.

Best SmartThings compatible smart plug (Z-Wave): Aeotec

For Z-Wave, we like Aeotec’s Smart Switch 6. It’s a bit pricey, but the LED light around the edge is a great visual indicator and it’s a solidly made Z-Wave Plus plug that won’t block any other outlets – even on a power strip.

It also acts as a surge protector so you can feel comfortable plugging in your high-end equipment, and it monitors power consumption.

Best SmartThings compatible smart sensor: Aeotec

Smart sensors make your smart home sing. Small, battery-powered devices that can detect triggers such as motion, contact (something opening or closing), temperature, vibration and light levels – they’re excellent for linking devices together (open this door and that light turns on) and for setting up a DIY security system using SmartThings (if any contact or motion sensor is triggered activate that siren).

There are a lot of Z-Wave sensors on the market, and the beauty of SmartThings is that you can mix and match brands to fit your needs and your budget. But our top pick are those made by Aeotec.

The German company is continually innovating in the sensor space – we love its slim line contact sensor that doesn’t stick out into your living room – but the best devices from Aeotec are its multipurpose sensors. While again a little on the pricey side, these all-in-one devices cover almost everything you might want to detect (other than water and contact).

The MultiSensor 6 monitors motion, vibration, temperature, humidity, light, and UV levels – plus, thanks to a recessed ceiling mount, adjustable mounting arm, and the option of powering it with a USB cable, there are multiple ways to fit it into your home.

The Aeotec TriSensor is a slightly less expensive option with the same mounting options, and it measures motion, light, and temperature.

Best SmartThings compatible Samsung appliances

Okay, Samsung isn’t really a third party when it comes to SmartThings, but these aren’t SmartThings branded devices, so we’ve decided to cover them here.

SmartThings is one of the few smart home ecosystems to integrate with smart appliances. While Alexa has a microwave and a couple of ovens, and Google works with GE’s smart range hood, SmartThings works with an entire product line of appliances, assuming they have a Samsung label on them.

This includes washing machines, dryers, air purifiers, air conditioning units, fridges, vacuums, TVs, and pretty much anything Samsung sells these days that has Wi-Fi connectivity.

In general, this means it will connect to your SmartThings app to notify you of its status, and problems or provide updates through the SmartThings app, or on any connected screen with a SmartThings interface – such as a SmartThings TV or Samsung’s Family Hub Fridge.

For example, the Samsung Smart Oven can be controlled through the SmartThings app where you can adjust the time, temperature and power of the oven.

With the SmartThings Cooking app, you can create shopping lists and send settings to your range cooker or oven, to make following recipes easier.

The Samsung Family Hub will notify you on your Samsung Smart TV if its door has been left open, too. And a few products have extra smarts built-in, as well. If you want a super smart home these are worth considering:

Samsung’s Wi-Fi-controlled washing machines have a Laundry Planner that lets you schedule when your load will finish cleaning and drying – handy when you need to get out the door in clean clothes.

A Laundry Recipe feature lets you input details about your load material, color and dirt levels, and it will then recommend the best cycle for your load.

If you have a connected Samsung tumble dryer, it can have its program set automatically based on the washing load you’ve just done.

The HomeCare Wizard, a feature on all connected Samsung appliances monitors for problems with your machine and make’s recommendations through the SmartThings app for taking good care of your pricey appliance. You can also control it via voice with Bixby using your Samsung phone.

The Cube air purifier is a device from Samsung that works through the SmartThings app. Control it remotely and monitor your air quality using SmartThings, plus the Cube is also voice-enabled for voice assistants and comes with Filter Life notification, alerting you to when it’s time to change your filter.

Best SmartThings compatible smart fridge: The Family Hub

The Family Hub Fridge, once the butt of many IoT jokes, has taken huge strides forward. In our review of Samsung’s flagship smart fridge, we conclude it’s a genuinely useful addition to your kitchen. Essential? Not yet. But a definite upgrade from a non-smart fridge.

The fridge is designed to manage everything from your groceries and your cooking to your family and your smart home – thanks to the SmartThings app being built into the fridge’s impressive 21.5-inch screen. From here you can control all your devices, as well as get notifications and view the live feed from your Ring doorbell. You can also use the fridge’s built-in Bixby voice assistant to control your devices with voice – such as asking your fridge to turn on your living room lights on, if you’re into that kind of thing.

A personalized Alexa-style Morning Brief gives you all the deets for your day including calendar, weather and top news. And Bixby knows who is asking thanks to voice ID tech, so each member of the family gets the info they need. All of this appears on the Family Hub screen so they can see as well as hear it.

SmartThings compatible Samsung smart TVs

A number of Samsung’s smart TVs now have a SmartThings hub and dashboard built in, accessed through an app on the TV. This lets you use the SmartThings app to control and automate your TV, view the channel guide, configure ambient mode settings, and mirror your phone’s screen, as well as include it in Routines, such as setting the TV to turn on automatically when you get home from work and turn it off at night.

You can also use Amazon Alexa or Google Assistant to control the TV if the smart assistant is connected to your SmartThings system, and say things like: “Alexa, turn on Living Room TV,” or “Hey Google, Pause TV.”

At IFA 2023, Samsung also showed off new map view features for SmartThings on its TVs as well as a new Quick Panel that pops up on the side, overlaid on what you are watching, to give you the info you need at a glance.