This irrigation controller is perfect for homeowners who have 8 or less zones to their irrigation system. If you have basic level knowledge of tools and how to do simple home improvement tasks, installation is very easy. A perfect replacement for old school controllers (like my old Rainbird model with a dial and simple numerical screen) that were annoyingly complex to try to control schedules, do seasonal or rain adjustments, or just manage in general. These are often on sale during big Amazon sales events, so I picked it up for quite a discount during Black Friday / Cyber Monday sales.- Installation consisted of unplugging the old Rainbird controller, carefully labeling each zone (1, 2, 3, etc.) and the common wire as it was installed before, disconnecting all labeled wires, and then removing the old controller from the wall. New install was pretty much the reverse. Took approximately 30 min at a leisurely pace.- Initial Setup: Super easy via the app and only need to setup a Raachio account, and of course needed my WiFi password to connect the controller to the network.- The app: Very intuitive and easy to use. I love that I can take a picture for each zone so I know what is what. I can use the app to quick run each zone while I'm walking around to inspect sprinkler heads and make adjustments. No more running back and forth to the controller on the wall. Schedule setup was very easy and it is easy to have multiple schedules with any combination of zones assigned to each schedule. For example, I have one schedule to run my yard zones, and a separate one for my raised garden beds using drip lines. The system uses local weather reporting to perform "rain skips" based on predicted or actual precipitation.The rain skip is really the only drawback I have found so far. When summer temps are really high (95+ deg) it is not uncommon where I live to have inaccurate rain predictions due to small thunderstorm cells that may rain close by but not at my location. Sometimes the system will rain skip a schedule based on the weather prediction, but in reality no rain was received. I end up having to manually un-skip the rain skip occasionally. However this is only a minor issue and still miles ahead overall compared to the old outdated controllers. This also could be a function of the type of schedule I set up; there is a much higher level of customization available than I have fully utilized.

Rachio 3 is my first experience with a smart controller. The investment for one is well worth the money, whether you choose this product or not. Below are a couple features that I love about this particular smart controller:Pros:1. Controlling Via Smartphone - Being able to control the functions of your irrigation system via smartphone is a game changer. My previous unit had the ability to schedule but was rigid in what it could do. Having this feature available while seeding this spring eliminated following a rigid, programmed, schedule best suited to seeding, as well as potential trips to my garage to correct that programming. This app allows you to set up multiple schedules and label them accordingly. You have the flexibility to set your schedules to a date range, quick start a schedule, or simply initiate a quick run, which is just an option to choose a particular zone and spontaneously run for whatever reason.2. Weather Intelligence Skips - Localized to your immediate area, it will pull data and determine if the conditions are ideal for running your system. You have the option of modifying the thresholds for temperature, wind, and rain. For example, the default-skip for Wind may be 15mph but you have the option to lower to 10mph. A lot of older controllers have the ability to sense for rain.. how accurate those are can be debated (mine ran no matter what so I am biased). I don’t know how many are sensitive to wind, which is, in my opinion, the highlight of this feature.3. How Much Did It Rain? - I didn’t see this on my research on this product before buying and believe it deserves a highlight.. on your Home tab of the app, at the top, it displays the weather projected for the day and a couple in advance, as well as a recorded history of the weather in the previous days/week(s). While the system schedules to run your irrigation system according to rainfall, it’s still very nice to reference this data and correct your schedule, if needed.4. User Interface - the UI on the app makes navigating throughout simple enough for those challenged with operating a smart phone. It’s visually appealing to look at and doesn’t overload you with features/information.5. Smart Cycle/Soaking - Let’s say you have 4 zones. Each is scheduled to run 40 minutes. Zone 1 will run for 20 minutes, then cycle to Zone 2 for 20 minutes, etc etc then circle back to zone 1 to finish the scheduled watering. This is a very simplified explanation of this feature but it allows the water to soak into the ground and eliminates runoff.Disclaimer..This product is marketed as saving you money on your monthly bill and that’s done via the weather intelligence skips. This is, in my opinion, slightly false. While a scheduled run can skip for wind, temperature, or rain… it will be rescheduled. That being said, if you keep pushing your scheduled runs back, there is value saved seen, overall, in the calendar year. The claim to save an average of 30% and up to 50% on your monthly water bill seems misleading.How this SHOULD be marketed, while not as sexy as the message of “saving money,” is increasing the value of your money. The weather intelligence skips work. Running the irrigation system while it’s windy is the equivalent of lighting money on fire. Your lawn doesn’t get what it needs and will not get what it needs until the next scheduled run. You can see how this could be an issue if scheduled runs are stacked on windy days and what your lawn could look like in the summer. If you made it this far in the review, you are likely heavily considering purchasing this product or something like it. Do it. It’s worth the money.

El dispositivo es bastante bueno, es bastante flexible de configurar y funciona según lo promocionado.El problema se presenta con Homekit. Presenta desconexiones constantes y debo estar desconectando el equipo y volviendo a conectar y allí vuelve.El último firmare también empeoró la comunicación con Homekit, espero que sea solucionado en el futuro.

Unusable device in UAE based on our power standards.Avoid!!

It's only been two weeks but I will give you my first impression and it's a good one.The reason I was looking for a new controller was my old Rainbird always had issues with connecting to my wifi. It was ok feature wise but felt it was falling short.This new Rachio was super easy to install. I loved that fact the bottom of the control was left open so you don't have to pull wires through any holes. Face is held on with magnets, another nice feature.Connecting wise, Are you kidding me! I blinked and I missed it. I thought for sure I did something wrong as it should not be this easy but no! I was wrong and it was connected and it really was that fast!The rest of the set up was just as easy. I'm a guy, who has time for instructions, not me!!!! And you truly do not need them. It walks you through everything step by step. I found everything easy to understand and to navigate through.It has some great features in my opinion zone wise. Asks about your area you live, asks what kind of watering you are doing (Grass, bushes etc) what type of irrigation heads you are using. What slope the area is on. It then gives you the option to name the zone and add a picture. All this is to optimise your watering. So cool!Timer wise, again super easy. I asked to end my watering cycles at sunrise and it figured out the start times. Because you entered all the information about the zone it automatically calculates how long each zone waters for. Keeping in mind you have full control over all of these settings if you wish.It watches your local forecast and it has only watered once so far. Its early spring here and it has been cloudy and sometimes raining. It is pausing my schedule automatically for me. Such A nice feature. I was a little hesitant on giving it full control but since you can easily go into the app and monitor your past watering cycles I feel comfortable knowing I can monitor it and see what is going on. Another very cool feature.It's not the cheapest unit on the market but due to all the features, the care free operation it's worth every penny.For anyone that has never used an App based watering system its pretty cool. My cell phone notified me someone was in my yard (Security camera system). When I looked someone was walking their HUGE wolf dog and it decided it didn't want to go any farther and layed down on my lawn. She was pulling and pulling. No way she was moving him. So I decided to help her out..... I opened up my Rachio app and flicked the zone on. Wanna see how fast a Wolf dog can move!!!! She literally said out loud laughing. THANK YOU WHOEVER YOU ARE !!!!! LOL!

Great unit, easy to set up and works well. For those in Australia, if you buy from the AU Amazon site the package includes 240v Australian transformer which is nice.

Replaced a terrible Rainbird controller with this at the recommendation of our sprinkler company. Wow. What a difference. After a fairly simple set up this system works like a dream. Uses satellite weather to cancel a water if it rains a certain amount. So far it’s been right on. Love the flexibility of so many watering zones and setting the timing up appropriately for each zone. Easy to add a quick water run to a zone if the area looks a bit dry. Highly recommend.