Homey Portal puts a physical dial on your smart home, and it looks pretty good

One of the first and most interesting smart home announcements coming out of IFA this year isn’t another smart speaker, sensor, or connected appliance. It is something quite cool and easy to use.

Anthom, the company behind Homey, has announced a new device called the Homey Portal. It’s a €249 smart home controller with a small screen and a large dial that lets you control your smart home devices without reaching for your phone.

The physical controller is designed to sit on a desk or hang on a wall. It features a 2.8-inch round touchscreen with a stainless-steel rotary ring that lets you control various smart home features.

The problem Homey has always tried to solve is the fragmentation of the smart home. When you have devices from different brands, controlling them can mean juggling multiple apps and platforms. Homey Portal brings those controls into the physical world, so you can simply tap the screen or turn the dial instead of pulling out your phone, opening an app, and hunting down the right device.

Each Portal is assigned to a particular zone in your home, such as the living room or kitchen. Anyone in that room can then tap the display or twist the physical ring to control the connected devices in that zone. It can also trigger existing Homey Flows, so you don’t have to rebuild your smart home setup around the new controller.

Lights can be turned on or off with a tap. Users can also select different lighting moods or control an individual light. The rotary ring can then be used to adjust brightness, while dragging on the touchscreen changes the light’s color or temperature. Homey says it works with lights connected through its platform, including Philips Hue and IKEA.

The Homey Portal can also control music in the same way and shows the album art and currently playing track from compatible audio systems such as Sonos and Denon Heos. You can tap to skip tracks and twist the ring to change the volume.

Additionally, the same physical controls can be used to control connected thermostats. The Homey Portal can display the current and target temperature, while turning the ring adjusts the thermostat’s setpoint. Users can also switch between heating, cooling, and power controls with just a tap. The device supports thermostats connected to Homey, including Nest, Tado, and Honeywell.

It can also serve as an energy dashboard, showing real-time and historical electricity usage for the zone. Homey says this data can come from its Energy Dongle as well as energy meters from companies such as Shelly and HomeWizard.

Through Homey Flow, the screen can display custom notifications, yes-or-no prompts, and even live video feeds from doorbells and other connected cameras. And because the Portal is tied to Homey’s existing ecosystem rather than being a standalone controller, users can install multiple units around their house, though that would be a pricey affair for sure.

Price and availability

The Homey Portal is available to pre-order now for €249 (~$289) as part of the first production batch. Its regular price will be €299 (~$347), with orders expected to ship before the end of 2026. Every Portal comes with both a desk stand and a wall mount.

The device works with Homey Cloud, Homey Pro, Homey Pro mini, and Homey Self-Hosted Server. Athom says Homey itself works with more than 70,000 devices from over 2,000 brands.

We’re at IFA in Berlin, and we’ll be getting our hands on Homey Portal to see how well that tap-and-twist interface actually works in person. Because while controlling your smart home from a phone is convenient, there’s something very satisfying about having a little physical control panel that everyone in the room can just walk up to and use.