Honeywell Home X8S Review: The Thermostat That Doubles as a Doorbell Screen
A 5-inch customisable display, onboard radar presence detection and Matter certification, with a wireless room sensor in the box.
The Honeywell Home X8S is Resideo's flagship smart thermostat and it is unusually ambitious for the category. A 5-inch customisable touchscreen shows a five-day forecast, clocks and indoor air quality on its idle screen, and it can stream live video from a compatible First Alert or Ring doorbell so you can see and speak to a visitor from the wall. An onboard radar sensor handles occupancy and presence detection, humidity and ventilation control cover indoor air quality, and this configuration ships with a wireless room sensor for prioritising specific rooms. It is Matter certified and takes both 2.4 and 5 GHz WiFi.
- Large multi-room homes
- Matter and Apple Home households
- Indoor air quality focused buyers
- Ring and First Alert doorbell owners
Pros
- 5-inch customisable touchscreen with selectable colour and idle-screen content
- Live video and two-way intercom from a compatible First Alert or Ring doorbell
- Onboard radar sensor for occupancy and presence detection
- Matter certified, so it works with Apple Home, Alexa, Google Home and SmartThings
- Wireless room sensor included, with a 200 ft range and room prioritisation
- Dual-band 2.4 and 5 GHz WiFi
- Humidity and ventilation control with indoor air quality monitoring
- ENERGY STAR certified with monthly energy reports and two-year warranty
Cons
- C wire required
- Doorbell viewing needs a compatible First Alert or Ring doorbell, sold separately
- Some air quality control requires additional HVAC equipment
- Auto-away has to be enabled rather than working by default
- Decorative cover plate is a separate accessory
- Flagship pricing relative to simpler smart thermostats
Who is the Honeywell Home X8S for?
It is built for a house where one thermostat is expected to do more than set a temperature. The wireless room sensor included in this SKU has a 200 ft range and lets the system prioritise living areas by day and bedrooms by night, which matters in homes with hot and cold spots. The radar-based occupancy detection adjusts settings automatically when the house empties, and the doorbell viewer turns the largest screen in the hallway into an intercom. System coverage is broad, up to 4 heat and 2 cool on heat pumps and up to 3 heat and 4 cool on conventional systems.
What the Honeywell Home X8S offers
The 5-inch display is the centrepiece: you can choose the colour and style of the idle screen and pick what it shows, from a five-day weather forecast to indoor air quality readings. Behind it, the X8S is Matter certified, so it works with Apple Home, Amazon Alexa, Google Home and SmartThings as well as the First Alert app by Resideo, and Home Assistant can adopt it through the Matter integration. Humidity and ventilation control extend it into indoor air quality management, and it is ENERGY STAR certified with monthly energy reports and utility rebate eligibility. Dual-band WiFi on 802.11ax/ac/a/b/g/n avoids the 2.4 GHz-only limitation of most thermostats.
What to know before you buy
A C wire is required, and the doorbell viewer only works with compatible First Alert VX1 or Ring streaming doorbells, which are sold separately. Some of the air quality control depends on additional HVAC equipment or accessories you may not have, and the auto-away behaviour has to be enabled rather than working out of the box. The thermostat is also a fairly large object on the wall at 133 by 90 mm, and while the UWP wall plate is included, a decorative cover plate to hide an older thermostat's footprint is a separate accessory. The warranty is two years.
Is the Honeywell Home X8S worth it?
It is priced as a flagship and the feature list justifies the position: presence radar, a room sensor in the box, air quality control, doorbell video and Matter across every major platform. If all you need is scheduling and remote control, the X2S in the same family does that for a fraction of the price. If you want one wall device that manages comfort, air quality and the front door across a large multi-room home, this is the most complete thermostat Resideo makes.
Frequently asked questions
Can the Honeywell Home X8S really show my doorbell?
Yes. It streams live video from compatible First Alert VX1 and Ring streaming doorbells on its 5-inch screen and supports two-way audio, so you can speak to a visitor from the thermostat. The doorbell itself is sold separately.
Is the X8S Matter certified?
Yes. Resideo lists it as Matter certified, so beyond the First Alert app it can be added to Apple Home, Amazon Alexa, Google Home and SmartThings, and to Home Assistant through the Matter integration.
Does it come with a room sensor?
This configuration does. It includes one wireless Room Sensor with a range of up to 200 ft, which can be free-standing or wall-mounted, and additional XRSENSOR units can be added.
How does it detect that nobody is home?
An onboard radar sensor provides occupancy and presence detection, and with the Auto-Away feature enabled the thermostat adjusts settings when the home is empty and returns to comfort settings when it is occupied.
Does it need a C wire?
Yes, the X8S is hardwired and requires a C wire. The UWP wall plate is included, and a C-wire power adapter is available if your system does not have one.
