Home thermostat maker Emerson today announced two new smart thermostats, one of which includes a color touchscreen display. The Sensi Touch Wi-Fi Thermostat — along with an updated version of Sensi's existing Wi-Fi Thermostat — is now compatible with Apple's smart home management platform HomeKit, for controlling the device using the Apple Home app on iPhone, iPad or Apple Watch, or voice using Siri.

Apart from showing current system temperature and swipe-to-set features, the touchscreen display on the Sensi Touch Wi-Fi changes color to indicate whether the system is heating or cooling, while live humidity tracking keeps users informed about their home's atmosphere. Meanwhile, smart alerts serve to notify homeowners of extreme temperature changes when detected.

TouchWallShot
Additional menu options enable users to customize the information on the home screen display and to choose a continuous back glow for soft lighting in dark hallways or rooms. In addition to the touchscreen controls, the thermostat also has illuminated terminals for increased visibility while wiring and easy-click terminals that eliminate the need for a screwdriver.

"As we've continued to learn from our customers, homeowners are gravitating toward simple smarthome solutions that make life easier," said Robert T Sharp, executive president of Emerson Commercial. "Our latest Sensi thermostats combine enhanced capabilities, including support for Apple HomeKit with simple and secure controls, and a sleek new interface with a proven home comfort experience that puts users firmly in control of their environment, anytime and from anywhere."

The thermostat display functions are mirrored in the accompanying Sensi app, which includes instructional steps for easy do-it-yourself installation, no experience required. Elsewhere, the system supports flexible scheduling for each day of the week, while a geofencing feature allows users to change temperature settings when they leave and before they return to their home.

In addition to the Apple HomeKit integration, the Sensi thermostats are compatible with smart home platforms Amazon Alexa and Wink. The Sensi Wi-Fi Thermostat costs $129.99, while the Sensi Touch Wi-Fi Thermostat costs $199.99 and will be available in the U.S. starting June.

Top Rated Comments

DrumApple Avatar
98 months ago
I have the current Sensei in my house and it works like a charm! Parents have the Honeywell (more expensive) and I have to say the Emerson is better - quicker to respond and nicer app.
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
DakotaGuy Avatar
96 months ago
Thanks for the review. If you have any other impressions as you live with it please share. I am still trying to figure out if this thermostat is compatible with our furnace and AC.
The one thing you will need for sure is to make sure you have a 24 VAC common wire. It's usually blue. The standard Sensi can run without it as long as you have a conventional furnace/AC set-up, but the touch model needs continuous power. I'm using it with a high efficiency 95% Amana Natural Gas furnace and a standard Amana single stage AC unit. My furnace is a two stage, but it's second stage is controlled by the furnace not the stat. With that said Sensi will control a true two stage furnace or AC unit. My friend has a heat pump-electric furnace set up and he uses a standard Sensi stat.

Here is some info from Emerson that might help you...

https://sensicomfort.com/compatibility/wire-picker

I'll report back once I use it for awhile. I will add that this is just an upgrade from the standard white Sensi with physical buttons that I had on my wall for about 2 1/2 years. I just wanted the nicer look and touchscreen and gave my old one to a friend. During the time I've used it I have found Emerson's servers to be up very close to 100% of the time and the thermostat never let me down. They are a company that serves a lot of commercial applications as well so I figure that helps with reliability both with the stat and the network. App appears to have been developed in house by real software people and they claim to actually manufacture the product in their factories. Last, if the network or whatever goes down the thermostats will still run on their programmed schedule and you can still adjust them on the wall.

Here are a few real pictures of it. First is the always on display. It shows the room temp and either a gray background for idle or off, red for heat or blue for AC. The number switches back and forth from white to black every so often. My guess it does that to prevent screen burn in.

Second picture is when you touch it and it wakes up. Gray if off, blue for cooling,red for heating.

Last is the nightlight that you can turn on or off.




Attachment Image

Attachment Image

Attachment Image
Score: 1 Votes (Like | Disagree)
zorinlynx Avatar
98 months ago
Does this thermostat depend on servers on the Internet? I have yet to find any smart thermostat that can be controlled directly over the local network. They all want to talk to the company's servers.

I wish all IoT devices were like the Philips Hue system. Everything is controlled locally; no need for servers out on the internet that you don't control.
Score: 1 Votes (Like | Disagree)
DakotaGuy Avatar
96 months ago
I just installed a new Emerson Sensi Touch thermostat in my house today and I'm very impressed with the actual thermostat and the app which is excellent on iOS and Android. If you just want a simple Wi-Fi stat that's easy to program on your phone and offers a few other perks like geofencing this one is excellent. Build quality is nice, install is easy. Capacitive touchscreen and even has a cool nightlight ring around the back base you can turn on.
Score: 1 Votes (Like | Disagree)

Popular Stories

AirPods Pro Firmware Feature

Apple Releases Firmware Updates for AirPods Pro 2 and AirPods 4

Monday November 11, 2024 11:28 am PST by
Apple today released firmware updates for both AirPods 4 models (version number 7B20) and the AirPods Pro 2 with both Lightning and USB-C charging cases (version number 7B21). All of these AirPods models were previously on firmware version 7B19. It is not immediately clear what new features or changes are included in firmware versions 7B20 and 7B21, but we will update this story if we find...
New Things Your iPhone Can Do in iOS 18

18 New Things Your iPhone Can Do in iOS 18.2

Wednesday November 13, 2024 2:09 am PST by
Apple is set to release iOS 18.2 next month, bringing the second round of Apple Intelligence features to iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 16 models. This update brings several major advancements to Apple's AI integration, including completely new image generation tools and a range of Visual Intelligence-based enhancements. There are a handful of new non-AI related feature controls incoming as well....
iPhone SE 4 Thumb 1

iPhone SE 4 Camera Modules to Enter Mass Production Next Month

Tuesday November 12, 2024 2:56 am PST by
Apple's camera module supplier for the upcoming iPhone SE 4 is set to begin mass production of the components in December, according to a new report coming out of Korea. Economic newspaper Ajunews reports that LG Innotek will supply the front camera module for the budget-friendly fourth-generation device. Final tests are now said to be underway, with mass production of the module following...
iphone 6 thickness

iPhone 17 'Air' May Not Be Much Thinner Than iPhone 6

Monday November 11, 2024 5:18 am PST by
Next year's iPhone 17 "Air" model may not be as thin as Apple planned, according to a rumor originating in Korea. According to the news aggregator account "yeux1122" on Naver, citing industry sources, Apple has run into problems making the new iPhone 17 model sufficiently thin. The device's reduced thickness is apparently dependent on manufacturing a battery with a thinner substrate, but...
new mac holiday

The Best Early Black Friday Mac Deals

Monday November 11, 2024 7:45 am PST by
Black Friday is getting closer, and prices on MacBook Pro, MacBook Air, iMac, and Mac mini computers have started to drop as the shopping holiday nears. These deals include the latest models of the M4 MacBook Pro and iMac. Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with some of these vendors. When you click a link and make a purchase, we may receive a small payment, which helps us keep the site...
iOS 18

Here's Everything New in iOS 18.2 Beta 3

Monday November 11, 2024 4:53 pm PST by
Apple seeded the third betas of iOS 18.2 and iPadOS 18.2 to developers for testing today. While the third betas of each update are minor relative to the first two betas, there are still a handful of changes across the Photos app, TV app, and more. A corresponding iOS 18.2 public beta with these changes will likely be released later this week, and Apple previously confirmed that the software...
General Final Cut Pro Feature

Apple Likely to Announce Final Cut Pro Update This Week With These New Features

Sunday November 10, 2024 12:13 pm PST by
In its announcement video for the new Mac mini last month, Apple teased an "upcoming" version of Final Cut Pro for the Mac. Apple will likely announce the update during the annual Final Cut Pro Creative Summit, which begins this Wednesday. The conference is held in association with Apple, and attendees will be visiting Apple Park on the first day. Apple already teased four new features...
iPad iOS 16 WP Display Feature eric edit

Apple to Launch AI-Powered Home 'Command Center' as Soon as March 2025

Tuesday November 12, 2024 1:09 pm PST by
Apple is planning to launch an AI-powered smart home display as soon as March 2025, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. The display will measure in at approximately six inches, and while it is similar to an iPad, it is square rather than rectangular and it has thick bezels around the edges. There is a camera at the top front so that it can be used for FaceTime, plus there are internal speakers...