Honeywell is announcing a new HomeKit-enabled Wi-Fi thermostat today called the Lyric T5 that will cost $149.99. HomeKit support means you can control the temperature with your voice using Siri or with Apple’s new Home app on iOS 10 and watchOS 3. Lyric T5 features a highly improved design over Honeywell’s other HomeKit thermostat and a larger touchscreen display that makes it worthy of being called a smart home accessory.
As you would expect from a smart thermostat, Lyric T5 features a touchscreen display that presents the current temperature, the target temperature, the current heating or cooling mode, and access to change the target temperature.
Lyric T5 is smarter than the Honeywell Lyric Round thermostat that I reviewed previously as the touchscreen display also lets you browse through Lyric’s menu without a hidden function, plus it displays the current time and Wi-Fi connection status. My big complaint about the previous Lyric HomeKit thermostat was that it wasn’t all that intelligent aside from basic HomeKit support without relying on the mobile app.
Its price is pretty competitive for HomeKit thermostats too. The previous Honeywell Lyric Round HomeKit thermostat retails for $100 more at $249 as does the HomeKit-enabled ecobee3.
Lyric T5 also features a new design that looks more gadgety than traditional (which I like), and it drops the rotating dial for adjusting temperature in favor of on-screen controls.
