is a senior reviewer with over twenty years of experience. She covers smart home, IoT, and connected tech, and has written previously for Wirecutter, Wired, Dwell, BBC, and US News.
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Resideo’s newest thermostat looks like a compelling alternative to Nest or Ecobee if you’re looking for a premium smart thermostat. The Honeywell Home X8S is compatible with Matter, supports room sensors, and features a sleek 5-inch touchscreen that works as an intercom for Ring and First Alert video doorbells.
The $219.99 thermostat launches this week, and thanks to Matter compatibility works with Amazon Alexa, Google Home, Apple Home, and other smart home systems. It also includes indoor air quality monitoring, plus humidity and ventilation control.
The thermostat doubles as a screen for viewing your video doorbell feed. Image: Resideo
The EnergyStar-certified X8S supports dual-band Wi-Fi, comes in black and white, and uses Honeywell Home’s universal wall plate, which should make for an easy upgrade. It supports up to four heat and two cool stages for heat pumps and up to three heat and four cool stages for conventional systems. It does require a C-wire.
The 5-inch display shows indoor humidity, outdoor temperature, time, the current system settings, and thermostat controls. Customizable idle screens offer a five-day weather forecast, a digital clock, or IAQ info, and Residio says you can choose design themes and color combos to match your home décor.
The X8S’s new room sensors support temperature, motion, and humidity sensing. Image: Resideo
An onboard radar sensor feeds presence data to the system’s auto-away feature, which adjusts its settings to save energy when you’re away. You can also use the new X8S wireless room sensors to include temperature, humidity, and occupancy data from other rooms. The X8S is backward-compatible with newer T9 sensors.
Somewhat confusingly, remote control is through the First Alert app — because Resideo (which acquired the life safety company First Alert in 2022) is moving all its consumer products there. The Honeywell Home and Resideo apps still work for older products, but everything will eventually migrate to First Alert.
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