Athom’s Homey Pro Mini is a privacy-first smart home hub

Athom unveiled its newest smart home hub at CES 2025 Monday morning. Like its full-sized sibling, the Homey Pro Mini doesn’t rely on the cloud for operation, a feature that allows homeowners a truly local and private experience. With a price tag of $199, this compact yet powerful hub promises to bring privacy-first, highly compatible smart home management to a broader audience.

The Homey Pro Mini is not just another entry in the increasingly crowded smart home market. It stands apart by delivering full functionality without requiring an internet connection, ensuring faster performance, greater reliability, and a robust layer of privacy. Athom, now under LG’s wing following its acquisition in mid-2024, has doubled down on its commitment to creating solutions that empower users to control their homes locally.

This news is part of TechHive’s in-depth coverage of the best smart home systems.

The Homey Pro Mini operates entirely on-premises, leveraging a quad-core ARMv8 processor and 1GB of RAM to deliver smooth automation for up to 20 Homey apps. The average household installs only 14 apps, according to Homey, so this device promises to hit a sweet spot for performance and scalability.

Embedded Zigbee, Matter, and Thread radios ensure compatibility with over 50,000 smart devices from more than 1,000 brands. Athom’s proprietary Homey Flow and Advanced Flow automation systems allow users to create seamless routines, including energy management and custom notifications. For users who need additional compatibility with Z-Wave, Bluetooth LE, Infrared, or 433 MHz devices, the Mini pairs with the Homey Bridge ($69), extending its capabilities without compromising its local-first philosophy.

Athom delivers privacy without sacrificing features at a low cost

Most smart hubs require a constant internet connection to work, but the Homey Pro Mini’s local-first design ensures that all operations remain within the home. This eliminates the delays and vulnerabilities associated with cloud processing while delivering the speed and reliability users expect.

Despite its local focus, the Homey Pro Mini also includes optional cloud services including the Homey App Store, remote access, and voice assistant integrations with Google Assistant, Alexa, and Siri. All these features are free of charge. This hybrid approach caters to users who value their privacy but still want the convenience of remote control and broader ecosystem integration.

The Homey Pro Mini’s $199 price promises to make it one of the most accessible, full-featured smart home hubs on the market. Easy setup and standalone functionality offers renters and homeowners alike an alternative to hubs that require complex installations or expensive subscriptions. Athom has also included local backup options with cloud backups available for a modest 99 cents per month, ensuring that users can maintain their automations effortlessly.

Available for pre-order in the U.S. and Canada, the Homey Pro Mini is set to ship in April 2025, with a European rollout planned shortly thereafter.