The Best Smart Sprinkler Timer (2024)

For a decade I covered smart-home technology at CNET. I’ve wrangled robot vacuums, jumped inside washing machines, hated on smart displays, and appeared in videos as a creepy electrician and Santa—for science.

These smart Wi-Fi–enabled devices replace existing irrigation-system timers and controllers and work exclusively with in-ground sprinkler systems. They’re a great upgrade from standard analog watering timers because they factor in details about your soil, the slope of your yard, and even the weather in your area to give your plants and grass custom care. Because they’re optimized to your needs, they can strike a balance between saving as much water as possible and giving your lawn what it needs to thrive.

Smart irrigation controllers also add a measure of convenience by moving most of the setup and control options to a smartphone app, which generally streamlines the process of managing your lawn and garden. From the app you can start and stop your sprinklers, view and modify existing Schedules or create new ones, share access with your family, neighbors, friends, or gardener (if you’re fancy like that), and get alerts about the status of your system.

These smart timers can integrate with voice assistants such as Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant to give you even more ways to control your sprinklers. The Rachio 3 also works with Siri Shortcuts, a limited version of Apple Home support available through the Shortcuts app on iOS devices.

The smart sprinkler controllers we tested are all WaterSense-certified by the Environmental Protection Agency; this label indicates that they use at least 20% less water than non-smart irrigation timers do.

Though these devices are intended to be DIY friendly, you should always enlist help from a professional installer if you have questions, especially concerning electricity. These devices must be hardwired. If you have an existing irrigation system—and aren’t installing your sprinklers fresh with a smart controller—the wiring works the same way.

To replace an analog timer with a smart timer, you should get a model with the same number of watering zones as you already have, typically four, eight, or 16 zones (sometimes called “stations”). Other irrigation timers, like the Hunter Hydrawise HPC-400 Outdoor Irrigation Controller, are modular and allow you to scale your system to anything from four to 32 zones. You then need to connect the wires from each zone valve to the correct terminal on the controller, along with a common wire (“C wire”). Some models also require you to hardwire the power adapter.

Depending on your current system and setup, some irrigation controllers can tolerate being mounted outside, while others require installation in a garage or utility room. Some companies sell weatherproof housings separately.

Like many other smart-home devices, most of these controllers support only a 2.4 GHz Wi-Fi network. Always check the quality of your Wi-Fi network where you plan to install your controller to confirm that the connection is reliable. No matter how good a device is, a spotty Wi-Fi connection will leave you with less-than-desirable performance.

Note that these devices will still continue to function should they lose connection to the internet; however, in that situation they won’t be able to get real-time weather data and thus won’t be able to optimize settings or skip watering during rain or cold temperatures.

If you don’t have an in-ground irrigation system but still want a way to automate your sprinklers, smart hose timers are an excellent alternative. Designed for above-ground hoses and sprinkler setups, these simple Bluetooth- and Wi-Fi–enabled devices give you a lot of the same functionality as smart sprinkler controllers do, with a much simpler (wire-free) installation. You can even buy a version with multiple valves to create zones for different parts of your yard.

We consulted both professional reviews and owner reviews in refining our list of the most important features of a smart sprinkler timer. Any model we decided to test had to offer the following:

In addition to that list of must-haves, we sought other useful features, including:

And when we tested smart sprinkler timers and controllers, we considered a number of factors:

To test smart sprinkler timers, I first had to build a makeshift irrigation system since I didn’t already have one. I used the Orbit Preassembled Sprinkler Manifold (I got the three-valve model, though I used only two valves for testing) and the Orbit All-In-One Sprinkler Kit to rig a working, if slightly janky-looking, setup (my dogs certainly didn’t know what to make of it).

Then, I connected each smart controller individually and noted how easy it was to install, including the wiring and the initial configuration in the app.

With two functioning zones with sprinkler heads attached in different sections of my yard, I tested whether the app would let me start and stop the zones on demand, individually and as a pair. I also created Schedules for the zones, individually and as a pair.

I tested each smart sprinkler timer with its compatible voice assistants to see what additional capabilities, if any, voice control offered.

I considered how consistently each device maintained a strong Wi-Fi connection, how quickly I received notifications, how accurately the history log tracked activity, and whether the app was intuitive and useful (or, as in some cases, whether it was a pain).

Factors that will require long-term testing include the general durability of the hardware and the effectiveness of each model’s claims to accurately skip, delay, or otherwise adjust a watering Schedule based on the local weather report.

Compatibility: Amazon Alexa, Apple Siri Shortcuts, Google Home

A well-designed app, an unrivaled list of features, and versatile hardware make the Rachio 3 Smart Sprinkler Controller the easy favorite of the models we tested.

The Rachio app is simple to use right from the initial configuration. In addition to receiving prompt, reliable alerts from the app, you can easily start and stop the sprinklers, share access with others, and set Schedules—or let the app design a Schedule for you via its Flex Daily mode.

You can set up a variety of watering options based on your needs. I especially like how the app offers the choice of Fixed, Flex Monthly, or Flex Daily watering. Fixed watering, according to Rachio, is best for gardens, newly planted grass, and other needs that call for a set routine; the Fixed option sticks to a specific Schedule without modifying anything based on the weather or the time of year.

Rachio’s Flex Monthly mode automatically adjusts how often and how long your sprinklers run based on the time of year. It’s the middle-of-the-road option, as it best balances a reliable watering frequency with savings of both water and money.

Flex Daily adjusts the Schedule for you according to the weather and changes on a daily basis. This option, the mode most customized to your yard and local weather, gives you the best possible chance of savings. When using Flex Daily during testing, I noticed that the Rachio 3 controller skipped watering on a rainy day without any additional input on my part.

In addition to automatically skipping cycles, as necessary, based on the local forecast, this smart sprinkler timer worked consistently with Amazon Alexa and Google Home in my tests. You can control things manually on the device itself if you don’t have your phone.

If you experience a Wi-Fi outage, this sprinkler timer will continue to run Schedules; without that connection, however, it won’t be able to adjust your watering, including during rain or a heat wave.

Sold in four-, eight- and 16-zone configurations, this Rachio controller works just as well on small lawns with a handful of zones as it does on properties with more ground to cover. Install it inside or buy the optional weatherproof housing separately for use outside.

The app is best-in-class. The Rachio app takes its software-design cues from modern, minimal smart-home apps. It holds a ton of information and options for customizability but never feels cluttered or difficult to navigate.

Given that most of your interactions with the Rachio 3 are bound to happen in the app, this is a pretty significant positive in the Rachio app’s favor, especially stacked up against Orbit’s comparatively cluttered B-hyve app (more on that below).

After you download the app and create an account, the initial configuration starts when you tap the plus sign at the bottom-right corner of the home screen; you then select Sprinkler Controller from the list of options and follow the steps to get your controller online. I took screenshots as I went through this process, and I can confirm that only three minutes elapsed from when I tapped the plus sign to when the app confirmed that my Rachio 3 was online.

From there, the app asks you to name your controller and set up your zones. Depending on how many zones you have, the time this process takes will vary, but it’s simple. It asks you questions about the type of vegetation, sprinklers, and soil you have, as well as the amount of sun or shade the area gets and how flat or hilly it is.

That simplicity thankfully continues once you start using your controller to start and stop the sprinklers, set Schedules, share account access with others, and receive alerts.

It comes in multiple versions to accommodate a wide range of system and yard sizes. Available in four-, eight-, and 16-zone configurations, the Rachio 3 suits a lot of different yards and watering needs. Only our upgrade pick, the Hunter Hydrawise HPC-400 Outdoor Irrigation Controller, offers a wider range of options.

Though Rachio sells the controller as an indoor-only device, you can buy an optional weatherproof housing for an additional $40. If you’re installing your timer in the garage, you don’t have to pay extra for a weatherproof case. This accessory gets the controller mostly, but not entirely, ready for outside use, as Rachio says that you also need an “electrical pigtail” for the housing, so keep that in mind if you plan to install your smart sprinkler timer outside. Again, hire an electrician to handle this step if you have questions or concerns.

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Flaws but not dealbreakers

It’s pricey. The Rachio 3 typically costs $150 for a four-zone system, $200 for an eight-zone model, and $250 for a 16-zone version. The Orbit B-hyve XR Smart Indoor/Outdoor Sprinkler Timer usually costs $30 less for an eight-zone system and $50 less for a 16-zone system, while the Orbit B-hyve Smart Indoor Irrigation Controller saves you $70 on a four-zone system or $100 on an eight-zone system. However, the Rachio 3’s performance, features, and ease of use make it worth the extra investment.

Compatibility: Amazon Alexa, Google Home

The B-hyve app doesn’t approach the excellent Rachio one, and we found it clunky and sometimes confusing to use. However, it does provide all the standard features we expect, plus a rain-skip function that relies on local weather data along with detailed information about the soil and other conditions for each individual zone.

Available in eight-zone and 16-zone versions, the B-hyve XR is suitable for a larger yard or irrigation system. Because of its weatherproof design, you can install it anywhere without having to buy a separate enclosure, and it works on both 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz Wi-Fi bands.

It offers a ton of customization options. Orbit’s B-hyve app asks many of the same questions about your property as Rachio’s app does but expands on them with a particularly in-depth Advanced Details section that allows you to get even more specific.

When you set up each zone, the B-hyve app asks you about the type of soil, the grass, and the sprinkler head. It also asks how much sunlight and rainfall the area gets, how flat or hilly it is, and how many sprinklers are in the zone.

For example, your basic choices for soil include sand, sandy loam, loam, clay loam, clay, and unknown. Depending on the selection you make, the app estimates the intake rate in inches per hour. If you select loam, for instance, the default intake rate is 0.35 inch per hour, but you can adjust that number anywhere from 0.10 to 0.60 inch per hour.

How you adjust these settings can have a major impact on how the app determines the current water-saturation level of any given zone and how often you might need to water.

The B-hyve app even has a spot for you to note the drought conditions in your area and another where you can specify whether your locale has any restrictions on water usage.

The app needs work. Though the B-hyve app allows you to deeply customize each of your irrigation zones, it is in need of a design refresh to make it more user-friendly.

The main layout consists of tabs, labeled Calendar, Program, Home, Zones, and My B-hyve, at the bottom of the screen. Confusingly, they contain a lot of the same information; they could easily be reduced to fewer tabs or at least offer different enough details to better justify their existence. For example, the Calendar, Program, Home, and Zones tab all tell you when your controller will run next. Surely, this information could be condensed and simplified to avoid redundancy.

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Compatibility: Amazon Alexa, Google Home

It’s functionally the same as the more expensive Orbit B-hyve XR. This lower-priced model works with all of the same advanced settings in the B-hyve app as the B-hyve XR does, and it includes the ability to automatically adjust how much and how often it waters based on rainfall and the temperature outside.

The cost savings of this B-hyve model versus the B-hyve XR largely come from this model’s lack of weatherproofing, its omission of the XR’s small status displays, and its limitation to four or eight zones. This model also requires you to take additional steps to wire the included power adapter into 24-volt ports (the B-hyve XR’s adapter comes preinstalled).

Still, in our tests this model performed just as well as the pricier B-hyve XR, so if you need only four or eight zones, it’s worth considering.

It offers excellent value at a great price. The four-zone system we tested is just $80, and the $100 eight-zone system is half the cost of our top pick, the Rachio 3.

The app needs work. The same issues with the B-hyve app that I noted above for the B-hyve XR are true for this model, too: The app’s redundant info can make it confusing and frustrating to use.

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Compatibility: Amazon Alexa

The Hunter Hydrawise HPC-400 Outdoor Irrigation Controller is by far the most scalable system we’ve come across in our testing. Out of the box it’s a four-zone timer, however it can be scaled up to run as many as 32 different zones. The app handles all of the basics you need, though oddly it’s missing the common option to send an alert whenever the system starts and stops watering (and not just if the controller skips watering due to the weather). Its touchscreen is responsive and intuitive to use, if you want to control the system on the device itself rather than relying on your phone.

It’s able to handle yards of any size (for a price). The flexibility of the HPC-400 is unmatched by any of the other picks in this guide. Whereas those systems offer some combination of four- up to 16-zone models, the numbers are fixed. (So if you plan to water only six zones, you’ll still be on the hook paying for an eight-zone controller.) If you think your watering needs might exceed 16 zones, none of the other timers will work.

The HPC-400 base model is four zones, and with the use of optional modules it can expand up to an impressive 32 potential zones, though it’s not completely straightforward. A Hunter representative, Mara McCartney, clarified: “You can add modules to conventionally wire up to 23 stations. The HPC controller is also compatible with our EZ decoder two-wire system, so if you use both conventional wiring and the EZ decoder it can support up to 32 zones.”

These modules run $40 to $50, and the EZ decoder starts at $80, making the expansion potential pricey.

Weather fail-safes are included. If your internet goes down or the Hydrawise loses its Wi-Fi connection, it will continue to water your yard based on the existing schedule. However, it won’t be able to skip a watering cycle based on the weather, which means you run the risk of flooding your plants. Thankfully, Hunter sends an alert within a few minutes of your device going offline.

Unlike many controllers, which have to be installed indoors or require the purchase of an outdoor housing, the Hydrawise comes in a sturdy weatherproof casing with a built-in lock for additional security.

Smart home control is limited. Amazon Alexa is the only major smart home platform Hydrawise supports, though fortunately it worked well during my testing. I asked it to “start Zone 1,” and it quickly responded with “starting Zone 1 now.” It was similarly consistent with other Alexa commands.

The HPC-400 is also compatible with the professional smart-home system Control4 and local storage smart-home platform HomeSeer.

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Review Hunter’s website and app privacy statements for more information.

For previous versions of this guide, we tested and dismissed several other smart sprinkler timers and controllers for a variety of reasons; some models have been discontinued. This group includes the following:

This article was edited by Jon Chase and Grant Clauser.