The smart thermostat market has a strange pricing problem. The Google Nest Learning Thermostat (4th gen) costs $279. The ecobee Smart Thermostat Premium costs $249. And then there's the ecobee Smart Thermostat Enhanced at $189.99, which quietly offers 90% of the Premium's functionality while saving you $60 and including a SmartSensor in the box. After two months of testing through the tail end of winter and into spring, I'm convinced the Enhanced is the thermostat most people should actually buy.
ecobee carved out a unique position in the thermostat market by focusing on room-level comfort rather than just thermostat-location temperature. The included SmartSensor can be placed in any room to report temperature and occupancy, and the thermostat uses that data to prioritize comfort where people actually are. It's a simple idea that Nest still hasn't matched, and it makes a real difference in homes with uneven heating or cooling.
Design & Build
The Enhanced shares the same basic form factor as the Premium: a rectangular body with rounded corners and a 3.5-inch touchscreen. It's noticeably larger than a Nest Learning Thermostat and protrudes further from the wall, which some people find unattractive. The black glass front with a thin bezel looks clean when the screen is on but shows fingerprints readily — you'll be wiping it down weekly if it's in a high-traffic area.
The touchscreen is responsive and displays temperature, humidity, weather, and current HVAC status at a glance. The UI has been refined significantly from earlier ecobee models, with a clean layout that's easy to read from across the room. There's no always-on display like the Nest, so the screen sleeps after a timeout and wakes via proximity sensor or touch — a minor adjustment if you're used to glancing at a thermostat in passing.
The included SmartSensor is a small white oval about the size of a USB drive, designed to sit on a shelf or mount to a wall with the included stand. It blends in well and the battery (CR2477) lasts roughly 18 months. Build quality across both the thermostat and sensor feels solid, if not luxurious — this is functional plastic, not the premium zinc alloy of the ecobee Premium.
Features
The Enhanced packs an impressive feature set for its price, though it does make some strategic cuts compared to the $249 Premium:
- SmartSensor included — room-based temperature and occupancy monitoring, with support for additional sensors ($40 per two-pack)
- Built-in Alexa — the thermostat doubles as an Alexa-enabled device with a built-in speaker and microphone
- Geofencing — uses your phone's location to automatically switch between Home and Away modes
- eco+ community energy savings — analyzes weather, your schedule, and utility rates to optimize energy usage
- HVAC monitoring — tracks run times and sends alerts if your system behaves abnormally
- ENERGY STAR certified — qualifies for utility rebates in many areas (check your provider)
What you don't get compared to the Premium: no built-in air quality monitor, no Spotify playback through the speaker, and no zinc alloy construction. The Enhanced also lacks the Premium's Siri support via a built-in HomeKit connection — though you can still control it through HomeKit by linking your ecobee account. Honestly, the omissions are negligible for most users. The air quality monitor was unreliable on the Premium, and nobody is using their thermostat as a Spotify speaker.
Performance
Temperature management is the Enhanced's core job, and it handles it well. The thermostat maintains set temperatures within 1-2 degrees consistently, and the SmartSensor integration genuinely improves comfort in multi-room homes. My upstairs bedroom runs 4-5 degrees warmer than the main floor where the thermostat is mounted. With a SmartSensor in the bedroom set as the priority sensor during sleep hours, the system now cools the house appropriately instead of shutting off when the main floor hits the target.
The scheduling system is flexible, supporting time-based schedules, occupancy-based "Follow Me" mode (which prioritizes rooms with detected occupancy), and a hybrid approach. Geofencing worked reliably with both iPhone and Android phones in our household, switching to Away mode within 10-15 minutes of everyone leaving.
However, eco+ deserves a warning. If your utility participates in demand response programs, eco+ may pre-cool or pre-heat your home and then allow temperatures to drift during peak demand periods — sometimes by 3-4 degrees. It does this to reduce grid strain (and your utility bill), but it can feel like your thermostat has a mind of its own. You can disable demand response participation while keeping other eco+ features, but the setting is buried in the app and not well-explained.
Ease of Use
Installation is straightforward for anyone comfortable with basic wiring. The ecobee app includes a step-by-step wiring guide that identifies your system type based on which wires you have connected. The package includes a Power Extender Kit (PEK) for homes without a C-wire, which is a thoughtful inclusion that saves you from buying a separate adapter. Physical installation took me about 25 minutes, including the PEK installation at my furnace.
The ecobee app is well-designed and intuitive. Creating schedules, managing sensors, adjusting eco+ settings, and viewing energy reports are all accessible within a tap or two from the main screen. The thermostat's touchscreen mirrors most of the app's functionality, so you're not forced to reach for your phone for basic adjustments. Voice control through the built-in Alexa works for basic commands like "set the temperature to 72," though the small speaker produces tinny audio quality compared to a proper Echo device.
SmartSensor setup is painless — you simply hold the sensor near the thermostat and it pairs automatically. Assigning sensors to rooms and configuring which sensors participate in which comfort schedule takes just a few taps. The overall experience is polished and accessible even for non-technical users.
Value
At $189.99 with a SmartSensor included, the ecobee Enhanced hits a pricing sweet spot that's hard to argue with. The Nest Learning Thermostat (4th gen) at $279 doesn't include any room sensors, and the Nest Temperature Sensor costs an additional $39 each. To match the Enhanced's room-sensing capability with Nest, you'd spend $318. ecobee's own Premium at $249 adds an air quality sensor and nicer build materials but doesn't include additional sensors either.
Energy savings add to the value proposition. ecobee claims up to 26% savings on heating and cooling, and while real-world results vary, I saw a roughly 15% reduction in HVAC runtime during my testing period compared to my previous dumb thermostat's schedule. At average energy costs, that translates to roughly $100-$150 in annual savings, putting the payback period at well under two years.
Many utility companies also offer $50-$100 rebates for ENERGY STAR certified smart thermostats, which can bring the effective cost down to under $100. At that price, the Enhanced is competing with basic WiFi thermostats from Honeywell and Emerson that lack occupancy sensing, geofencing, and smart scheduling entirely. The value is excellent.
Pros
- Included SmartSensor enables room-level temperature prioritization that Nest still doesn't offer at any price
- $189.99 price undercuts Nest ($279) and ecobee Premium ($249) while keeping all essential smart features
- HomeKit, Alexa, Google Home, and SmartThings support covers every major ecosystem
- Power Extender Kit included for homes without a C-wire — no extra purchases needed
- ENERGY STAR certified with utility rebates available that can bring effective cost under $100
Cons
- eco+ demand response may adjust temperature by 3-4 degrees during peak periods without clear notification
- Built-in Alexa speaker produces tinny, low-quality audio not suitable for music or long interactions
- Larger wall profile and black fingerprint-magnet screen aren't as aesthetically refined as Nest's design
Final Grade
The ecobee Smart Thermostat Enhanced exemplifies smart product positioning. By cutting the Premium's least-useful features (air quality monitoring, Spotify playback, zinc construction) and keeping everything that actually matters (SmartSensor, Alexa, geofencing, eco+, broad ecosystem support), ecobee created a thermostat that delivers genuine smart home value at a price that doesn't require justification.
The included SmartSensor is the Enhanced's killer feature and its primary differentiator from Nest. Room-level temperature and occupancy monitoring makes a tangible difference in comfort, especially in multi-story homes or houses with uneven HVAC distribution. It's the kind of feature that, once experienced, makes going back to a single-point thermostat feel primitive.
Minor complaints — eco+ demand response can feel invasive, the built-in Alexa speaker is mediocre, and the design is functional rather than beautiful — don't significantly diminish what is ultimately the best value in smart thermostats today. If you're upgrading from a dumb thermostat or an aging Nest, the ecobee Enhanced should be at the top of your list.
Setup & Troubleshooting Guides
- Installing Your ecobee Smart Thermostat Enhanced Installation
- Ecobee Thermostat Offline or Not Connecting Troubleshooting
- ecobee Thermostat Not Connecting to WiFi or Server Troubleshooting
- Ecobee Thermostat Not Following Schedule or Overriding Settings Troubleshooting