For years, smart homes have leaned heavily on phones. Want to dim the lights or nudge the thermostat? Find the app. For many households, that approach breaks down the moment a guest visits, a phone is in another room, or the person who set everything up is not around. Athom, the company behind Homey, has introduced a simple yet timely answer. The new Homey Portal is a compact, tap-and-twist controller that sits on a desk or mounts on a wall and gives anyone in the room fast, physical control over lights, music, climate, and even energy usage.
At the heart of Portal is a 2.8-inch round touchscreen framed by a stainless steel rotary ring. The design evokes classic hi-fi gear with modern touch-first feedback. The concept is straightforward. Tap to toggle, twist to adjust, and use the screen to pick the target or view status at a glance. Instead of relying on whoever has the app, Portal brings control back into the space where it belongs.
A Zone-Based Controller for Real Life
Each Homey Portal is assigned to a specific zone, like Living Room or Kitchen. It connects through Homey and immediately sees the devices already set up there. No recreating scenes, no reconfiguring devices. If you have a Homey-powered home, Portal plugs right into your existing setup.
Lighting control covers on or off, brightness, color or warmth, and Moods like Neon or Reading. Turn the ring to dim, drag on the display to shift color temperature, or drill down to adjust a single light. Portal works with popular ecosystems connected to Homey, including Philips Hue and IKEA, so households with mixed brands still get unified control.
Music controls are just as straightforward. The display shows album art and the current track from systems like Sonos and Denon Heos. Tap to skip or turn the ring to tweak volume. The key is quick control without fishing for a phone or unlocking a tablet.
Climate control is equally familiar. Portal shows current and target temperatures for thermostats connected through Homey, such as Nest, Tado, and Honeywell. Turn the ring to adjust the setpoint. Tap to switch modes like heating, cooling, or off. Anyone in the room can make a small adjustment without learning a new app.
Energy Insights You Can Act On
Portal also brings energy visibility to the foreground. It displays real-time and historical power usage gathered by Homey from sources like the Homey Energy Dongle, Shelly, and HomeWizard meters. Paired with dynamic energy prices, Portal helps households decide when to run power-hungry devices. If prices are low at midday or high in the early evening, that context is right there, in the room where decisions get made.
Through Homey Flow, Portal goes beyond status and sliders. Owners can set up custom notifications, yes or no prompts, and even live video feeds. A doorbell ring could trigger a camera preview with a question like Open the smart lock? It also shows live weather and a short forecast, which can be handy near an entryway or kitchen.
Built for Households and Shared Spaces
Many smart home devices assume one owner and one phone. Portal is built for the messy reality of shared living. Multiple units can be placed around a home for whole-house coverage, each tailored to its zone. Every unit ships with both a desk stand and a wall mount, so you can keep one on a media console and mount another in a hallway without extra accessories.
Owners can also prepare a guest-friendly interface for shared or public spaces, such as rentals or offices. Within the Homey app, they can remove default icons and add shortcuts limited to the devices guests should use. The on-device interface is locked down, so guests get a simple control surface without access to system settings.
Pricing, Availability, and Compatibility
Homey Portal is available to pre-order now at an introductory price of 249 euros, with a regular price of 299 euros. Orders are first-come, first-served and are expected to ship before the end of 2026. Pricing varies by market. For details and pre-orders, see homey.app/portal.
Portal works across the Homey lineup. It is compatible with Homey Cloud, Homey Pro models from 2023 to 2026, Homey Pro mini, and the Homey Self-Hosted Server. Homey Cloud is free for up to five devices, with Homey Premium available for households that need more.
Why It Matters
The smart home has a usability gap. Phones and voice assistants are powerful yet not always practical for quick, shared interactions. Homey Portal takes a different approach. It restores a physical touchpoint that anyone in a room can use instantly. The ring provides tactile feedback. The display provides context. The zone model keeps everything focused and simple. Combined with Homey’s broad device compatibility, energy insights, and Flow automation, Portal can become the go-to control surface that blends right into daily life.
Athom, founded in 2014 in the Netherlands and part of LG Electronics since 2024, has long aimed to unify control, automation, and energy management under one platform. Homey Portal is a logical extension of that vision. It grounds the smart home in a familiar, approachable interface that works for families, guests, and shared spaces alike.
In short, if you want a smart home that feels as simple as flipping a light switch yet remains as capable as your favorite apps, Homey Portal is worth a close look.
