Best Smart Thermostats of 2025
Automate your air conditioning and heating with top-rated thermostats from Ecobee, Google Nest, Honeywell Home, Mysa, and Sensibo
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Tired of expensive heating and cooling bills? Consider giving your HVAC system an upgrade with a smart thermostat. It can save you time and money on home energy costs by automating adjustments based on your family’s temperature preferences and daily routines. You can also set temperatures and schedules remotely, perfect for taking care of your pets while you’re at work or preventing your pipes from freezing while you’re on vacation.
You’ll still need to create a heating and cooling schedule for these thermostats (other than Google Nest models), but their smartphone apps will help you do that without mashing buttons on a confusing display.
In addition to smart thermostats for traditional HVAC systems, Consumer Reports has started testing smart thermostats for mini splits, heat pumps, and window ACs. Instead of using thermostat wiring, these thermostats work more like TV remotes. You aim them at your heating and cooling units and connect them to your home WiFi network for smartphone control. As long as your mini split unit, heat pump, or window AC has an infrared remote control, it will work with these thermostats.
Below are eight top smart thermostats from our ratings, broken out by type and listed in alphabetical order. The list has models from Boldr, Cielo, Ecobee, Google Nest, Honeywell Home, Mysa, and Sensibo. CR members can click on each model name to see detailed ratings and reviews.
For the wired thermostats, we also note whether each comes with a wiring adapter, which allows you to install the thermostat even if you have an older HVAC system that’s missing a C-wire. (Most smart thermostats require a C-wire so they can receive constant power.) For more information on C-wires, plus advice on choosing the right thermostat for your home, see our comprehensive thermostat buying guide.
See Consumer Reports’ thermostat ratings for full results on all of the models we test.
Best Smart Thermostats for Boilers, Furnaces, and Central AC Systems
Wiring adapter included: Yes.
The Ecobee Smart Thermostat Enhanced is one of the company’s newer smart thermostats. It performs well in our tests for manual operation and offers an array of smart features, but it’s not as proficient at learning your routine and making adjustments automatically. It features a new radar-based occupancy sensor and works with Amazon Alexa, Apple Home/Siri, Google Home/Assistant, and Samsung SmartThings for voice and app control. It doesn’t come with one of Ecobee’s wireless temperature sensors (called SmartSensors), but you can buy them separately in a two-pack for $100 at Best Buy and Ecobee.
Wiring adapter included: Yes.
The Ecobee Smart Thermostat Premium is the company’s latest and most advanced thermostat. Its bells and whistles include a new radar-based occupancy sensor, a new indoor air quality sensor, built-in voice control with either Amazon Alexa or Apple Siri (which requires an Apple HomePod to work), and music streaming to its speaker via Spotify or Bluetooth (yes, really). In our lab tests, it receives strong scores across the board for its manual controls, automation of heating and cooling, and variety of smart features. This Ecobee thermostat works with Amazon Alexa, Apple Home/Siri, Google Home/Assistant, and Samsung SmartThings for voice and app control, plus it comes with one of Ecobee’s wireless temperature sensors in the box. You can buy additional sensors in a two-pack for $100 at Best Buy and Ecobee.
Wiring adapter included: No; sold separately for $25 at Amazon, Best Buy, and Google.
The fourth-generation Google Nest Learning Thermostat earns one of the top spots in our smart thermostat ratings. It stands apart with its sleek physical design and intuitive software interface. Its appearance and manual operation hark back to simpler times when you adjusted the temperature by turning the thermostat dial. Under the covers, the Nest thermostat aces CR’s lab tests for automated heating and cooling. Its smart features include an occupancy sensor, geofencing, and support for the Matter smart home standard. That means it will work with any major smart-home system and digital assistant, including Amazon Alexa, Apple Home/Siri, Google Home/Assistant, and Samsung SmartThings. Google also makes wireless remote Nest Temperature Sensors for the thermostat, which you can purchase separately for $39 each at Google.
Wiring adapter included: Yes.
The sleek Honeywell Home T9 RCHT9510WF holds up Honeywell’s impressive standards for manual operation and also scored near the top in automating heating and cooling. This thermostat comes with a wireless remote temperature sensor for more precise heating and cooling throughout your home and offers a number of other features, including geofencing, a built-in occupancy sensor, a touchscreen, vacation scheduling, and voice and app control via Amazon Alexa, Apple Home/Siri, Google Home/Assistant, and Samsung SmartThings. Additional temperature sensors cost around $40 each or $75 for a two-pack, and they’re available at Amazon, Best Buy, and Honeywell Home.
For the contractor version of this thermostat, which can also control whole-home humidifiers, dehumidifiers, and ventilators, consider the similar Honeywell Home T10 Pro THX321WFS. We haven’t tested it, but we expect it to perform similarly to the T9.
Best Smart Thermostats for Mini-Splits, Heat Pumps, and Window ACs
The Boldr Klima Smart Thermostat looks a lot like the latest Google Nest Learning Thermostat, but they have very different functions. In our tests, we found the Boldr app to be robust and easy to set up and use. The thermostat has decent manual controls, and the app is also easy to set up and use. The Klima’s features include geofencing (to turn your system on or off when you leave and return home), as well as a smart-home app and voice control via Amazon Alexa and Google Home/Assistant. The Boldr Klima comes with a wall mount; a tabletop stand is sold separately.
The Cielo Breez Max provides a simple LCD display and robust, easy-to-use controls for heating and cooling, both on the device itself and in the Cielo Home app. The Cielo Breez Max offers a built-in humidity sensor, geofencing, and an AI-powered Comfy Mode to make temperature adjustments on its own. It also works with all four major smart-home systems: Amazon Alexa, Apple Home and Siri, Google Home and Assistant, and Samsung SmartThings. Cielo offers two smart thermostats for traditional HVAC systems, the Cielo Smart Thermostat and Cielo Smart Thermostat Eco, which you can use with the Breez Max to control multiple heating/cooling systems in the same home.
If you’re interested in more cost-conscious versions of the Cielo Breez Max, see our test results for the Cielo Breez Eco and Cielo Breez Lite. The former features an on/off button but lacks physical temperature controls and a display, while the latter lacks a display and physical controls.
The Mysa Smart Thermostat features a dot-matrix LED display and physical controls. In our tests, the Mysa smartphone app receives a high score for setup and ease of use. The Mysa includes a humidity sensor, proximity and ambient light sensors to turn on and adjust the brightness of the display, geofencing, and energy monitoring. It works with Amazon Alexa, Apple Home and Siri, and Google Home and Assistant. The Mysa comes with a tabletop stand and can also be wall-mounted.
The Sensibo Air is very easy to set up and use, and features robust app controls, but it offers no physical controls on the device. It features a humidity sensor, geofencing, and compatibility with all four major smart-home systems (Amazon Alexa, Apple Home and Siri, Google Home and Assistant, and Samsung SmartThings). The Sensibo comes with rubber feet to sit on a flat surface, but it can also be wall-mounted.
How CR Tests Smart Thermostats
In our smart thermostat tests, we evaluate several key elements, such as app features (including voice control via digital assistants), automation and geofencing (which adjusts the temperature based on whether you’re home or away), and ease of WiFi setup. We also assess how easy they are to adjust manually using the thermostat itself. This is in addition to factors common among all types of thermostats, such as ease of physical installation and setup.
Our lab tests show that some models offer far better automation than others and that the most expensive models aren’t necessarily the smartest. “We find that the best smart thermostats are the ones that use or take advantage of the latest technology, like touchscreens and sensors and GPS,” says Kathleen Halevah, CR’s test engineer for thermostats. “Combining this with a well-designed user interface and the ability to sense and learn by itself is what makes a great smart thermostat.”
For mini-split smart thermostats, we evaluate their smartphone app functionality (including ease of setup and ease of use) and their manual controls.
For more information on our testing process, see our thermostat buying guide.
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