The Rachio Is My Favorite Smart Hose Timer

Smart hose timers make so much sense on paper—they allow you to turn anything attached to your hose spigot on and off from anywhere using your phone. And if it’s raining, the smart timer will know and turn off the flow for you. It will also track how much water you’re using, allow you to set up automated watering schedules, turn on and off with a single button press—though these are promises even “dumb” hose timers make.

The problem with smart timers is that you often can’t trust them—the wifi disconnects, the batteries run out, or they leak, and you’re out of luck. After trying a number of smart hose offerings on the market, from the Hunter BTT to the Orbit B-Hyve, I tested out the new Rachio earlier this summer, and it outperformed them all—it’s the first timer that’s been predictable and stable. Unfortunately, it’s also lacking some of the advanced features and flexibility of those underperforming models.

The Rachio is really two parts: a hose timer, which attaches to your hose, and a wifi hub, which will live inside your house. No matter how many timers you have, you only need one hub. You can buy the initial hub/timer combo for $99, and additional timers for $79.

What I liked about the Rachio Smart Hose Timer

Many hose timers tend to look out of place—like a snake that ate a bicycle wheel. This is because so many of manufacturers cram a lot of buttons and screens onto a device that will be stuck to a hose. Rachio takes the opposite tack with a sleeker, simpler design that all but forces you to use the app for every interaction. Their timer is long, rectangular, lacks a screen, and has only one button, which turns it on and off. It has a smaller footprint but also is colored and shaped to melt into the background. It’s definitely modern.

The button responds in a tactile way to let you know it’s been pushed, which other timers don’t. I love that the battery cover is held in place by a few small screws. Normally, this would be a pain point, since you need a small screwdriver to change the batteries, but this has been a failure point on other models, like the B-hyve. The battery chamber needs to stay dry even when it’s raining or if the hose leaks, and on other models, the rubber collars meant to hold the batteries in place all failed, causing battery issues. The screws on the Rachio do the job, though I wish it shipped with the screwdriver you need.

Speaking of batteries, since these hose timers aren’t connected to power the way normal sprinkler timers are, they burn through batteries. Battery life on a “dumb” hose timers can be years, but previous smart hose timers were burning through batteries in weeks. The Rachio’s batteries have barely diminished since I got it, which is a good sign.

The Rachio doesn’t leak, whereas every other timer I tried leaked, and was fussy about how it was positioned—if I knocked into it ever so slightly, they would start to gush water. While I did need to use some plumbers tape on the faucet to secure the Rachio, that was expected, and I’ve had no issues.

Mostly what I love about the Rachio is that it works. It’s never once missed a cycle or gone offline for days. I wish that wasn’t saying a lot, but it is.

Simple to a fault

Plenty of people need only one hose timer for one hose, but some of us have multiple hoses going to different yard areas. Personally, I have sprinklers attached to one hose timer, and drip to another. Other brands, like B-hyve, offer a 2-zone option. Rachio has decided to keep it simple and insist you use single zone timers—simplicity to a fault, as at $70 a pop, that can get expensive. This also means that you can’t create schedules with both timers, as they operate completely independent of each other in the app. You’ll have to program them separately.

More annoying than bothersome is that each time I open the app, there’s a lag where the app says my device is disconnected. This freaked me out the first time, but it resolves after a few seconds. I’m hard-pressed to imagine a hose emergency in which five seconds would make a difference, but I’d like to see the bug resolved. Overall the connectivity is great, but I recommend setting up the notification that will alert you if your device goes offline.

What I don’t love about the Rachio Smart Hose Timer

Since I also have a Hunter Hydrawise Smart Timer in my front yard—a full panel for a drip system—and I’ve tried other smart timers like B-hyve, I know that a lot of the reason to get a smart timer is for the assist they give when replying on local weather and AI to decide whether you need to water. Rachio, withits modern aesthetic and tech startup feel, should have that part down, but instead they’ve gone really simplistic. Instead of using predictive watering to water more or less based on the weather, Rachio seems to employ a simpler “do not water if it’s raining” setup, with little configurability.

Additionally, the app can be hard to navigate, despite its simplicity. The reason I usually open it is to see the watering report, which is difficult to access. That said, these are mere annoyances, as the app does function.

The gist

Smart hose timers still have a way to go. But of the models out there, the Rachio wins for being the most consistent, with great battery life, stable wifi connection and a usable, if overly simplistic app. While I’d like to see all the installation tools you need in the box (including a micro screwdriver and plumbers tape), and a more robust use of AI for predictive watering, none of these issues are dealbreakers, and the Rachio is a smart choice.

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