Honeywell Home RTH9600WF Smart Color Thermostat Energy Star Wi-Fi Programmable Touchscreen Alexa Ready - C-Wire Required, Not Compatible with Line Volt Heating

I have two of these Honeywell Home smart color thermostats: I purchased model RTH9600WF in white for our home first. I liked it so much that I wanted a second one for our vacation house. At that time the gray one (model RTH9585WF) was discounted $50 less and that’s the only reason I bought gray the second time. I am almost as happy with the gray as I am the white—they seem identical except for the exterior color and (see more below on this): the gray one does NOT have the automatic setting. The gray is actually a very nice metallic silver. It looks quite pretty. I’d even call it elegant.I really like that these thermostats are very easy to install and connect to my WiFi, and they are easy enough to operate without having to read the instructions. The feature I like the most is the ability to set up my planned vacation IN ADVANCE. I don’t have to wait until the last minute to do that before leaving. I just go into the settings under “vacation mode”, select the date and time I am leaving and the date and time I am returning, and the temperature I want to maintain while I am gone. It’s nice to be able to do that well in advance of my actual vacation if I want to.About the only thing I don’t like about the grey thermostat is that it does not have the “automatic” mode that switches between heat and cool when needed in order to maintain the programmed temperatures. You have to set it to either cool or heat and as the seasons change you need to switch from one to the other yourself. The white one DOES have the automatic feature. If I had realized that ahead of time, I would have spent the additional $50 and bought a second white one instead of the grey. That feature is important to me.I do not use the smart color feature on either one of my thermostats. I like the default color of blue the best and it seems to be the easiest for my husband and I to read.The phone app works okay for me and I was able to easily add the second thermostat.I like these thermostats and recommend them.I write honest reviews to help others make informed purchases because I read reviews myself and appreciate how helpful they can be. I hope that my reviews helped you.

I had a standard, basic "Dumb" Honeywell for many years and worked perfectly, although I had to manually change settings from the basic 5/2 day schedule to override them. Having Alexa, I wanted to have the ease to change it via voice as well as when I am not home, so I bought the "Smart" Honeywell.After a week, here are my pros and cons:PROS- INTERFACE: Despite what other reviewers have said, I find the interface intuitive and just fine to configure the device.- TOUCHSCREEN: I had none of the horror stories about the touchscreen, listed throughout these reviews. The interface worked surprisingly well and I never had to push anything more than once ever.- SIZE: The thermostat is surprisingly small, compared to my "Dumb" Honey, and I like it more.- TEMP: The temp has been spot on.- DOCUMENTATION: The documentation is complete and most DYI'ers will have no issue following them.- WIFI: Zero issues connecting it to my Wifi.- ALEXA: Zero issues integrating with Alexa. Voice control worked instantly after integration.- INTERFACE: One of the reasons I chose this one was because unlike pricier options, this one shows the external temp and humidity which is a great quick check without having to look anywhere else to verify.- REGISTRATION: Registering the device with the Honeywell website was easy.CONS- WIRE CONNECTORS - Having installed many thermostats, this one was easily the worst and VERY delicate to insert wires. I can see why many consumers, even experienced ones, broke the terminal connectors when attempting to insert them. There is VERY little room to work on the wall plate, and there are no screws like all the others I have ever installed. As a result, here is what I found. First, if you push the first wire in too far and forcefully, the other connectors will be "open" and won't accept the next wire. The next connector will be "loose" and never grip the second wire, and the FIRST one will fall out. I had to take a tweezer with a bent end to "reset" the first connector and then all the connectors reset and I could begin again. (I was ready to return it.) Second, on my next attempt, I realized that you insert a wire until you feel resistance and then "gently" push the wire in like .25 mm (barely nothing) until you feel the slightest click on your finger. Believe it or not, that small amount is all it takes to grip the wire securely. Start on the top of each side and work down gently until all the wires are installed.- FAN: Strangely, the "Dumb" Honey had "ON", "OFF", "AUTO" but "Smart" Honey has "ON", "AUTO", "CIRCULATING". As a result, I have to trust the thermostat to run the fan on its own and I cannot turn if off completely, short of turning off the heat or A/C. At this point, the fan seems to be following a more "intelligent" function related to the heating and does turn itself off when it sees fit.-HUMIDITY: Although the temp is spot on, I have 2 humidistats in the house that are both consistent by the humidity percentage on the "Smart" Honey seems off by 5% and varies from the other two. The thermostat has a configuration setting to adjust the default up or down by degrees you choose, but I have fiddled with this setting and have not seen a consistency in "Smart" Honey with my other two humidistats, one which is 5 feet away from "Smart" Honey. After a couple of attempts, the "Smart" Honey seems to lag on internal humidity value, while at other times, it's showing the same value.Overall, "Smart" Honey has definitely won my affections with its verbal attention to my requests and interface. As "Dumb" Honey sits on my counter, dejected, I have assured it that I am keeping it as a backup just in case this new Honey goes bonkers, breaks or increases my utility bills.

This thermostat has been a fantastic upgrade for our home! It has a sleek, modern design that looks great on the wall, and the touchscreen is very user-friendly. Installation was straightforward, and setting it up with Wi-Fi was hassle-free. It’s made managing our heating so much easier, helping us stay comfortable while also being energy-efficient. The smart features, including Alexa compatibility, add great convenience. Overall, a solid purchase—highly recommend!

This thermostat works well. It is installed on a 2 stage heat pump with emergency backup and AC. I like that I can control it remotely with my phone. Installation wasn't too difficult. Wiring was a little different from previous thermostat, but wasn't hard to decipher. The wire connectors seemed a little bit cheap, but i guess they do the job. Features like current outside weather and a color touch screen that can be changed to match our decor are nice.I was just about ready to throw this in the trash and get a different brand because after I set up the schedule for the week, the thermostat would vary from the schedule. I specifically wanted the heat to turn down during my electric company peak hours. The program would not follow the schedule I set up. Finally I found my answer on an online forum - not from Honeywell - that the thermostat has what they call "smart response technology" that supposedly learns your lifestyle and adjusts accordingly. This can be turned off in Settings/Preferences/Smart Response Technology. Once turned off, everything works fine.Nothing in the manual that came with the thermostat mentions this. Shame on you, Honeywell!