If you use Zigbee, there are 2 lists
and
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It’s easy to get overwhelmed. The possibilities seem endless, and they all sound exciting.
Take a deep breath. You’ve already narrowed it down to the types of functionality you need. Good. Stay focused on those until you’re ready to branch out into more complex areas.
Now consider some core design criteria. The one hinted at in most of the threads above is “local control.” Don’t buy anything which wants to communicate with the manufacturer’s “mother ship” server across the WAN. Just because there’s an integration for it, doesn’t mean it’ll continue working if the manufacturer updates the firmware, changes their API, starts charging for access to their servers or goes out of business.
Finally, keep it simple. This is a very dynamic field. The fewer integrations you use, the fewer changes you’ll have to manage going forward. And as was pointed out, if you go with Zigbee or Z-Wave you’ll find they’re largely plug and play. They’ll build their own mesh network and the communication protocols are standardized so you won’t have things changing at that level.
Once you’re comfortable with HA, it won’t be much of a leap to pick up ESPHome. That will allow you to build your own solutions. It’s amazing how much you can do without learning any new programming languages or picking up a soldering iron.
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Indeed, as you want to be local then cloud polling and cloud push are no choice anyways. 
You are left with local push (
) and local polling which you probably want to avoid as it typical isn’t very resourceful and and the other hand might even lag (state updates might be delayed). 
It’s easy to check what integrations do use to communicate with HA. For example if you open the zigbee integration you see that it is “only” local polling 
In theory all zigbee devices should work with HA as well in theory all matter devices should work with HA. The problem is in reality not all devices work equally and to use all functions of a device the manufacture can actually force you to use their/some sh!tty (cloud) app 
If you interested in completely owning your devices (not only pay for a black box which might work locally in the moment but forces a cloud account in the future) then go with something were you have full control over the software part of the device - like esphome. 
Exactly. I can only imagen how many hours some HA users spend only for “onboarding” devices for example. Just think you have a 50 Z-devices and they all require you to push and hold buttons to pair them to your new/changed router - it probably takes hours for that simple task! 
I’m sticking to esphome (~100 devices) and the management is a treat as things can done in batch (like update all etc.). I’m not forced to touch any of my devices and they all work the same - have same naming convention (doesn’t need to work/fix in ha with template sensors etc.) and expose everything “correctly”/ready to use in HA (things like total daily energy etc.). 
You can also get devices which are already preloaded with esphome (or tasmota) and a “ready to own”
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I’m a big fan of ESPHome, too. But I also like Zigbee (ZHA).
If I were building my system today, it would be primarily Zigbee (or Z-Wave) for most things, and ESPHome where I needed a bit more custom functionality.
In over four years, I’ve never had to re-pair a Zigbee device. I like not having to set up static IP addresses or VLANS. The Z* devices build their own, separate mesh network. My needs are simple, although I have heard that the more complex Zigbee devices (color-changing bulbs seem to be mentioned sometimes) can have manufacturer-specific features which HA may not support well.
ESPHome is great for monitoring. I have a lot of temperature probes connected to ESP8266 devices, along with an ultrasonic sensor to monitor my heating oil level. When I get into monitoring electric power use, it’ll be an ESP based solution. Compared to off-the-shelf products, the ESP option is cheaper, more flexible and 100% local.
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Well, the first “matter certified” device from sonoff looks like it supports the most basic features like
- switch mode
- detach relay
- power-on state
- inching
- network/status indicator
only with their (probably sh!tty) app 
because doesn’t matter®™
And still people will buy it thinking they have full control 
I actually use many off-the-shelf products (wall switches, plugs, etc.) with esphome installed on them - just need to do the due diligence before investing if it’s possible to really own devices one likes to buy. 
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I’m listing Matter and Thread below, but really think it needs to mature a little more, at least for HA. There
lights
Look for zigbee, HomeKit badged, esphome, matter. Zwave lights don’t seem to be much of a thing. Most all Hue products are actually zigbee and can be used directly with ZHA/Zigbee2MQTT.
Generally smart lights should be continuously powered, and controlled logically, not with a switch that physically cuts power.
That doesn’t mean you can’t have wall control. There are various remotes designed to replace a wall switch.
One advantage of zigbee is a zigbee remote can be bound to the continuously powered light so that on/off/etc work even if HA or the network is down. Not sure about the other options, I’d be shocked if esphome doesn’t have similar functionality, but would expect it at least dependent on wifi being functional.
Smart sockets to switch on and off
Look for zigbee, zwave, HomeKit badged, esphome, matter. In the North America, Lutron Caseta.
Again, switches that physically cut power should only be used for dumb lights.
My personal preference is smart switches/dimmers with dumb lights anyhere I don’t need color control.
Some switches support “decoupled mode” where they keep the smart light continuously powered and the physical switch is just a logical controller.
Using a smart switch that toggles power with a smart light means your automations have to do things like power on the switch, wait for the light to become responsive, then manipulate the light(color, brightness, etc) as needed.
Smart sockets to monitor power consumption
Zigbee, HomeKit badged, esphome, zwave, matter. I don’t think matter supports energy monitoring yet.
Presence detectors
Door sensors
For battery - zigbee or zwave, maybe thread. Anything wifi will eat batteries at a much higher rate. For wired, then the same list as above.
Lifx bulbs and Lifx led strip
Flic buttons and a Flic hub
Both have local integrations, so should be usable, but I have no first hand experience with them. If support is good after testing, then Lifx can be added to the light list above.
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For me this is a simply a basic requirement that all my ~100 esphome nodes have when they need it
I’m aware that some people actually degrade their homes while turning it into a “smart home”. 
One of the biggest failures for me is to only allow “digital” control (e.g. over HA/zigbee coordinator etc.) without the possibility to do basic tasks like switching directly on the device (toggling a switch). 
If you own your switch (capable running esphome) you always have support for “decoupled mode” because it is software only. 
On the other hand if you buy a random x-y-z-device it is possible you end up with bugged *ware and/or limited functionalities . Beside In my last post actually I just demonstrated that it might be obligatory to use a vendor (cloud) app to get such “decoupled mode” to work
I will continue to stay far away from any Z/M-devices out their, not only because their a typically more expensive (compared to esphome compatible wifi gear) but mainly because of the higher overhead managing them and the lack of a right to repair/modify/extend (because it’s not possible to really own such devices with a blob 
inside) 
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I wouldn’t worry too much about being “bound to shitty apps” with Zigbee, if you run Z2M or ZHA you bypass the need for a vendor supplied hub (Hue for example) and are not required to create a cloud account or use a third party app / hub / cloud to control your Zigbee devices. Door / window / temperature sensors are a great use case for Zigbee too, you can find very small and cheap sensors with a 10+ months battery life from a CR2032 or CR1632 battery.
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That’s on the short side. I have battery devices pushing 3 years at this point. I don’t think any have been less than a year, and those were on the manufacturer’s supplied battery.
Yeah I have some that have lasted way longer (one door sensor is on year 2), my temperature sensors usually drop out at around 12-15 months. BLE plant sensors usually 6-ish months. Point was you don’t need to change batteries too often.
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There is no list because as soon such a list were compiled, it would be obsolete.
I personally avoid any cloud device, and smart lights.
Hey folks,
I would like to genuinely thank you all.
Now I know more what I want, what I should look for, what I should avoid,…
I know now things I didn’t know I didn’t know.
I actually get really excited by this new adventure.
Last but not least, I love this community already! Thanks!
I can’t wait to be experienced enough to be able to help and welcome new comers as well 
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Still a short runner
I really avoid battery powered devices were possible because as they run on the most expensive and dirtiest energy available. 
It is also impossible to use locally available regenerative energies when opting in for non rechargeable batteries 
But I need to admit I made a good catch back in the year 2019 and got myself some reed switches which still run today with the battery they were shipped with (yes, around 2000 days of service already! That’s more than 5 years 
).
The receiver obviously are esphome nodes
Another thing that bothers me about the battery operated connected devices is that they can (and do) stop delivering their service at the worst moments (like when travelling). Actually I started already hard wiring some of these BLE Xiaomi Hygrometers so that they take 5V USB instead of the coin cell
Might be a bad example as they are now forcing cloud accounts by the looks of it 
Yeah, we get that you like esphome. I wouldn’t be too worried about Hue Zigbee devices, they have no internet connection (duh) and firmware updates are optional if you run Z2M.
🥹
I’m not because I don’t own any
From what I understand cloud account is still mandatory but you get options for data sharing. The nasty thing of all this as even when you bought your hue system (including the bridge) years ago - while it still worked completely offline - they now force you to come online
The funny thing is, you don’t need a Hue Bridge to use Hue devices
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Can you please explain how Philips could force a cloud update or break functionality on Zigbee bulbs that are used with Z2M? I don’t get how, Philips has no clue that I even have bulbs from them. They are controlled purely local, and as I said firmware updates are optional.
Regarding to the quite extensive thread with 200 replies at the moment hue owners don’t look to happy about this. Mostly because people loosing functionality from what I understand
Maybe you folks having your hue’s locally could help others escape? 
But even then… will users get the “full experience” they payed for in the past?
So from what I understand if I have had made the “mistake” buying such a hue kit (like three bulbs and the hub) in the past I could now continue with a cloud account or as alternative go private/dark which would need a new investment (router/coordinator type of hardware) while at the same time loosing some functions? 
I don’t even give any manufacture the change to screw me over Not when buying stuff and not years later when they want a little more monetization from their (former) customers
Also one more thought about “super compatible” stuff is the quality scale of a integration
So the tightest HA bonded things you can get use a “Internal 
” integration (developed by the HA team) and make use of the superior “local push”
You can spot this information on the integration pages, for example
Quality is internal
but only local polling
Local Push
Quality is internal
Local Push
Local Push
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But be aware! Looks like the newer “flic 2” products are cloud only, need a dedicated bridge and are not even compatible with the present HA integration
summa summarum
If you want “super compatible” Hardware go with something that allows privacy, sustainability and choice
For me that is hardware based on esphome which has the tightest/best possible integration with HA and allows to be fully independent from the hardware manufacture 
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