Sensi Touch Smart Thermostat ST75: Versatile and Affordable

Smart thermostats make it easy to control your home’s heating and cooling system from just about anywhere, and the Sensi Touch Smart Thermostat ST75 is no different. But in addition to phone and voice control, it offers a responsive color touch-screen control panel. Easy on the eyes and simple to install, the ST75 is a bit more expensive than our Editors’ Choice winner for affordable thermostats, the Nest Thermostat ($129.99). That said, the Sensi model adds support for Apple’s HomeKit and Samsung’s SmartThings home automation platforms, as well as native Siri voice control, making it an excellent alternative to the Nest Thermostat for those who use any of those systems.

- JOHN R. DELANEY

ST75 DESIGN AND FEATURES

Available with a glossy-black or glossy-white finish, the ST75 is an attractive thermostat. It has a very thin, clear bezel around its 4.2-inch full-color touchscreen control panel, and it measures 3.4 by 5.6 by 1.0 inches (HWD). The device comes with mounting hardware, a welcome guide, an installation guide, and labels to identify your HVAC wires, and it’s equipped with an embedded Wi-Fi radio for connecting to your home network.

The ST75 is compatible with single-stage and multistage oil, gas, and electric HVAC systems and systems with central air and heat pumps. It requires a “C” (common) wire, so if you live in an older house, make sure your thermostat wiring uses a common wire for power. The thermostat works with Apple’s HomeKit platform and Samsung’s SmartThings home automation system, and it can be controlled using Amazon Alexa, Apple Siri, and Google Assistant voice commands. But it doesn’t work with IFTTT applets that allow it to interact with other IFTTT-compatible smart home devices.

The thermostat supports geofencing (it sets the thermostat temperature back three degrees when you leave a certain perimeter) and will adjust your heating/ cooling settings based on your location. You can have the thermostat send push alerts when your home’s temperature and humidity levels reach a certain threshold and have it alert you to heating and cooling issues. You can create a custom seven-day heating and cooling schedule using the intuitive touch screen, or you can use the Sensi mobile app for Android and iOS devices. Like the Nest Thermostat, the ST75 lacks the remote room sensors that you get with more expensive thermostats, such as the Ecobee Smart Thermostat With Voice Control ($249).