Honeywell Home RTH9585WF Review: The Colour Touchscreen Thermostat That Keeps Outlasting Its Rivals
The Honeywell Home RTH9585WF is a 7-day programmable WiFi thermostat built around a full-colour touchscreen whose background you can match to the wall, showing indoor and outdoor temperature, humidity and forecasts at a glance. Smart Response technology learns your heating and cooling cycle times, and the app, web portal and on-device controls all stay in sync. Owners who replaced short-lived Nest units repeatedly praise its longevity and the breadth of its HVAC compatibility, and installation is straightforward as long as you have a C wire. The two consistent complaints are Resideo's cloud reliability and the fact that remote control is effectively US-only.
- Nest replacements
- Homes wanting a large readable display
- Multi-zone installs
- Alexa and Google Home households
Pros
- Large, fully customisable colour touchscreen with indoor and outdoor readouts
- Smart Response technology learns heating and cooling cycle times
- Very broad HVAC compatibility, up to 3 heat and 2 cool on heat pumps
- Works with Alexa and Google Home, plus a native Home Assistant integration
- ENERGY STAR certified and eligible for utility demand-response rebates
- Extreme temperature and filter change alerts
- Monthly home energy reports with personalised tips
Cons
- Remote control depends on Resideo cloud servers, which owners report going down
- App and remote features are effectively US-only
- Fixed one-degree differential with no adjustable swing
- C wire required
- 2.4 GHz WiFi only, no 5 GHz
- No Matter, Apple Home or room sensor support
- One-year warranty
Who is the Honeywell Home RTH9585WF for?
It suits anyone who wants a big, legible, colour touchscreen rather than a minimalist dial, and who values compatibility over novelty. It covers up to 3 heat and 2 cool on heat pumps and 2 heat and 2 cool on conventional systems, works with forced air on gas, oil or electric, hot water and steam, and the printed instructions cover a long list of wiring configurations. Owners often buy several at once for multi-storey homes, and the ENERGY STAR certification plus utility demand-response eligibility make rebates a real part of the value.
What buyers love
Two themes dominate. The first is reliability compared with what it replaced: multiple owners describe swapping out Nest thermostats that failed within a year or two and finding the Honeywell simply keeps working, including in demanding installs like theatres and workshops. The second is the display and the app: the customisable colour screen, the outdoor temperature and humidity readout and the ability to control the same thermostat from the phone, the web portal or the wall all get specific praise. Several owners report installing it in about five minutes, and there are detailed community write-ups on working around a missing C wire.
What to know before you buy
Remote control routes through Resideo's servers, and when those have a bad day the app stops working even though the thermostat itself keeps running your schedule. Buyers outside the US hit a harder wall: owners in Italy, Saudi Arabia and the UAE report the app being unavailable or the product being incompatible with their region, so treat this as a North American product. One reviewer flags a fixed one-degree temperature differential with no adjustable swing, which can short-cycle some systems. A C wire is required, it is 2.4 GHz WiFi only, and the warranty is one year, shorter than the newer X-series models.
Is the Honeywell Home RTH9585WF worth it?
It is one of the best-reviewed WiFi thermostats on the market and the reason is boring in the best way: it installs on almost anything, the screen is easy for everyone in the house to read, and it lasts. There is no Matter, no Apple Home and no room sensor support, so if you want ecosystem breadth or per-room prioritisation the newer X8S or T9 are better buys. For a dependable, colourful, well-supported WiFi thermostat in a US home, it still earns its place.
Frequently asked questions
Does the Honeywell Home RTH9585WF need a C wire?
Yes, a common wire is required. Owners without one either run a new wire or use a C-wire power adapter, and several community write-ups describe workarounds for older systems.
Does it work with Alexa and Google Home?
Yes, both, through the Total Connect Comfort app. It does not support Apple Home and it is not Matter certified. Home Assistant users can add it via the official Honeywell Total Connect Comfort (US) integration.
Can I use it outside the United States?
The hardware runs, but owners in Europe and the Middle East report the app and remote control being unavailable in their region because the service is tied to US servers. Treat it as a North American product.
Does it learn my schedule?
Yes. Smart Response technology adapts to your schedule and learns preferred heating and cooling cycle times, on top of the standard 7-day programming.
Does it show outdoor weather?
Yes. The colour display shows current conditions, daily forecasts and outdoor temperature and humidity alongside the indoor readings.
