Wyze Thermostat Review (2024)

Wyze has been steadily building out its portfolio of affordable smart home devices, so it comes as no surprise that the company is now expanding into the smart thermostat segment. The new Wi-Fi-enabled Wyze Thermostat ($70.99) lets you control your home's heating and cooling system from your phone or with voice commands. It offers interoperability with other Wyze devices, and produces usage reports with tips on how to conserve energy. It costs a little more than the $59.99 Amazon Smart Thermostat, but is slightly more versatile and performed just as well in testing, earning it our Editors’ Choice award as the top budget-friendly smart thermostat we've tested.

Simple Controls

The oval Wyze Thermostat sports a glossy black and matte white finish, measuring in at 4.7 by 2.5 by 1.2 inches (HWD). The front sports a 2-inch color IPS display, as well as a dial for adjusting your heating or cooling set-point and configuration settings. The display background turns orange when the heat is on and changes to blue when in cooling mode.

Press the dial to display the various controls. The default screen, Current Temp, lets you change the set-point and see an estimate of how long it will take for the room to reach your desired temperature. From the State screen, you can enable Home, Away, or Sleep modes. The HVAC Mode screen lets you switch between Heat, Cool, and Off modes. On the Settings screen, you can lock the thermostat controls, run system tests, and view device information such as Wi-Fi signal strength and the MAC address.

The thermostat works with most low-voltage (24VAC) heating and cooling systems including multi-stage forced air, hydronic, heat pump, oil, gas, and electric systems, but doesn't work with electric baseboard or high-voltage systems. It requires a C-wire (common wire) for power, but if your electrical system doesn't have one, Wyze includes a C-wire adapter in the package. You also get a wall cover, a back panel, mounting screws and anchors, two screwdrivers, wire labels, and a quick start guide in the box.

Whereas the Amazon Smart Thermostat only works with Alexa voice commands, the Wyze Thermostat supports both Alexa and Google Assistant. It doesn’t support HomeKit or IFTTT applets, but you can configure it to interact with other Wyze devices such as the Wyze Cam V3, the Wyze Lock, the Wyze Plug, and the Wyze Cam Floodlight. For instance, you can set the thermostat to go into heating or cooling mode when a connected camera detects motion. You can also use the Auto Switch (geofencing) feature to enable the home or away mode based on your phone’s location.

The Wyze Thermostat doesn't yet support remote room sensing, but Wyze is planning to release a wireless companion sensor that is capable of monitoring temperature, humidity, and motion at some point in 2022.

Mobile App Options

The thermostat integrates with the same Wyze mobile app (available for Android and iOS) as every other Wyze device, and shows up in a dedicated panel on the app’s home screen. Tap the panel to open a screen that says Welcome Home; this section displays the current room temperature, humidity level, and set-point. A virtual dial for adjusting the temperature set-point and a control panel for configuring the State (Home, Away, or Sleep) and Mode (Heat, Cool, or Off) sit toward the bottom of the screen. As with the physical device, the app background glows orange when you enable heating mode and blue when you turn on cooling mode.

A graph icon in the upper right corner takes you to the Insights screen where you can view daily, weekly, and monthly usage reports. The gear icon next to it opens the Settings screen. Here, you can enable notifications that tell you if your monitored room reaches a certain temperature or when the app has any Insight tips on how you can conserve energy based on your usage history. The Behavior setting offers a slider that lets you set the balance between savings and comfort. The leftmost option (Savings) enables frequent tips for energy saving and sets the thermostat to heat and cool on time, while the rightmost option (Comfort) enables tips for a more comfortable environment and ensures that your home reaches the heating or cooling set-point before you arrive.

You can use other settings to create heating and cooling schedules; set Home, Away, and Sleep Temperature Preferences; and enable the Auto-Switch (geofencing) feature. You can also lock the thermostat so that you must use the app to control it; set filter replacement reminders; and enable the Coast to Cool setting, which shuts off the furnace or AC and uses the system fan to reach the desired set-point. A Safety Temperatures option ensures that the temperature always remains within a set range even if the thermostat is off.

Easy Setup and Reliable Performance

Installing the Wyze Thermostat is simple. I already had the mobile app installed from previous reviews, but if this is your first Wyze device, you need to download it. Tap the plus icon in the upper left corner of the home screen, choose Add Device, and then pick the thermostat from the Home menu.

Next, I tapped Begin Preparation and followed the instructions to turn off the power to my heating system. I took a picture of the wiring, removed the existing thermostat, and selected the terminals used by my previous device when prompted in the app. I then attached the wires to the correct terminal on the Wyze mounting plate, affixed the plate to the wall, and snapped the thermostat into place before restoring power to the circuit. (If you aren't comfortable working with wiring, you should have a professional do this part.)

I verified that the thermostat's screen showed the Wyze logo, then followed the instructions to add the thermostat to my account. The app detected the device immediately and asked me to select my network SSID and enter my network password. After a few seconds, the thermostat showed up in the app and on my Alexa device list. I gave it a name, entered some basic system information such as the type of system (gas, oil, furnace, radiant heat), ran a quick test, and updated the firmware to complete the installation.

The thermostat performed flawlessly in testing. It never failed to respond to app commands to change the temperature set-point, the mode, or the state, and followed my heating schedule without issue. The temperature and humidity readings were right in line with those from an Eve Room monitor in the same room.

The Auto Switch feature functioned as intended; the thermostat switched into the Away mode when I left the house and automatically switched back to Home mode when I returned. Alexa voice commands also worked without a hitch, as did my rule to have the thermostat switch to Home mode when a linked Wyze Cam Floodlight detected motion.

The Top Affordable Smart Thermostat

If you're looking to affordably control your home’s heating and cooling system with your phone or voice, the $70.99 Wyze Thermostat should be at the top of your list. It's simple to install, connects directly to your home network, and interacts with other Wyze smart home devices including cameras, door locks, smart plugs, and switches. It may cost a bit more than the $59.99 Amazon Smart Thermostat, but it offers Google Assistant support and will soon be able to pair with remote room sensors. As such, it's our Editors’ Choice winner for affordable smart thermostats.