Best Smart Sprinkler Controllers 2020 Alexa compatible/Wi-Fi

“Alexa turn on the sprinklers.”

Whether you’re lazy, busy, or just want some cool looking tech in your house, smart sprinkler controllers are for you.

You’ll be able to control it from your Alexa device since it’s compatible with it. You don’t have to have one but it makes using the device more convenient.

They’re the best in 2020 because of all the features they come with. Scheduling your device or customizing it.

Some of them connect to the Wi-Fi and allow you to access it via your smartphone. You could have them turn on, off, or check the status of it.

They also save you money by saving water. Some of them are able to detect if it’s raining and it will automatically stop when it does.

With that being said, here are the best smart sprinkler controllers in 2020. Some are Alexa compatible and Wi-Fi compatible.

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Best Smart Sprinkler Controllers 2020

1. Rachio 16 Zone (2nd Generation) – Best Smart Sprinkler Controller With The Most Zones In 2020



Trying to build up your smart home or just want to make life easier with a smart device? This one will be great for any of those.

It is Alexa compatible and can be accessed by your smartphone. Which means you could be sitting or laying down and tell Alexa to turn on the sprinklers. Same with your smartphone, except you could just tell it to do something with a tap of a button.

It’s able to detect your local weather. It can tell if it is a hot sunny day or if it is a rainy day. If the weather says that it is going to rain tomorrow, then it will skip that day because it’s going to rain anyways.

This feature is very helpful because you don’t have to constantly check what the weather is going to be. The Rachio 16 is able to tell itself the weather.

Old traditional sprinkler systems cannot detect the weather. So if you have it scheduled to water during a rainy day, it will do so.

Not only will it save you time, but it will also save water by not activating the sprinklers during the rain. Saving you money. Eventually, the device may even pay for itself.

They don’t call them smart sprinkler controllers for nothing. Not only can they detect the weather, but you can also schedule them.

Schedule them by your smartphone using their app. The schedule is helpful because you don’t even have to be at your own house for it to work.

With their app, you’re able to control it from wherever you’re at. Whether you are on a vacation somewhere or if you are a couple of blocks away from home.

As long as you have a Wi-Fi connection, you’ll be able to access the app on your tablet or smartphone. You could also access it by your laptop using the website. It offers the same features as the app does.

Smart home devices are great products to have. Go check out the 4 best smart home products in 2020.

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Special Features Alexa compatible

App allows you to control it anywhere

Detects if it’s raining so it know whether or not to water

Knows the local weather

Saves you money by not watering in the rain

Schedule it thru their app

2. Rachio 8 Zone (1st Generation)



The 1st generation of Rachio isn’t as good as the second one. The 2nd generations are usually better designed because the owners probably did some improvements on it.

It doesn’t mean it is not good but it probably won’t be good as the previous one. It has some similar features to the other one but they’re still worth mentioning.

Like the other one, it also comes with an app that you could use via your smartphone, laptop, or tablet. It shows you the status and gives you the option to water it or not.

You could make schedules from the app. Which will make it easier for you because you won’t have to manually enable the sprinkler controllers.

Similar to the previous Rachio it is also able to save you money because it allows you to create schedules that will water the area for a certain amount of time. Sometimes we forget to turn off the water system and it causes the bill to go up.

It is also compatible with Alexa like the previous one. You could control it using your voice. You don’t have to own Alexa but if you do you’ll probably want to use it with Rachio.

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Special Features App that can be access by smartphone or tablet

Make schedules using the app

Alexa compatible

3. RainMachine HD-16 (Touchscreen) – Best Smart Sprinkler Controller With Touchscreen In 2020



Similar to the other 2, this one also gets its data from a weather source. Making it able to tell what the weather is or what the predictable weather will be.

The way it tells the weather is by connecting to your Wi-Fi. It collects the weather data from its sources.

The coolest thing about this smart sprinkler controller is that it is a touchscreen. You don’t have to deal with having to press on hard buttons.

The touchscreen makes the controller easy and simple to use. The display screen is very nice because it has some visuals and has opposite colors which make it stand out.

If it is kept in a dark area, the LED lights will be helpful. This way you could still use it in the dark.

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Special Features Gets the weather data from a source

Connects to the Wi-Fi to access local weather

Touchscreen

Display screen is simple and has a cool design

LED lights help you use it during the dark

4. Orbit Indoor/Outdoor (12 station)



It has the same features as the others ones but there are some differences. One is that it has a different look to it. It sort of has that farm look to it because of the color and structure.

It isn’t a touchscreen which is good for someone that doesn’t like touchscreens. They could get annoying sometimes because you miss press something, it won’t read your touch, or you mess up completely.

This smart sprinkler controller is a great alternative to a touchscreen one because it uses buttons. The buttons can make it less stressful for some people.

The screen display is good and simple. However, if you want a more visual and cool looking display screen, the previous one is the product for you. The home screen on this one isn’t as appealing but it is a minimalistic type of display.

As with the other ones, it also will not water your lawn or area during the rain. Even if you have it scheduled to water that day. It’s smart enough to know if it is or if it will rain. It will automatically adjust to the delay and reschedule the watering cycle.

The controller can be locked so that no one gets into it and messes with it. Like the other ones, it can be set up in your house or outdoors. It has a weather resistant casing to protect it from harsh weather. Although it probably won’t be good during big hail.

As long as you connect it to the Wi-Fi, you could control it using your smartphone or tablet using their app. You’re able to control it from anywhere as long as you have Wi-Fi.

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Special Features Not touchscreens, use it by pressing the buttons

Simplistic home screen

Won’t water during the rain

Lock the controller so no one messes with it

Weather resistant

Control it with your tablet or smartphone (if it’s connected to Wi-Fi)

5. Netro (12-Zone)



The final smart sprinkler controller is one by Netro. It knows what the weather is using the weather. It also gathers data on what the weather will be like in the future based off of weather sites.

This is helpful because it won’t water the garden in the rain. Because what’s the point of that? It will redo the watering schedules so that it adjusts to the rainy days. Making it to where you don’t have to keep adjusting it due to the weather.

After you use the app for a while, it will learn from you. It learns when you want it to water and when you don’t want it to. Then it creates a personalized schedule for you.

Other than that, there’s not that many special features. The previous ones are sometimes Alexa compatible and have cool features.

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Special Features Gathers information about what the weather is or will be

Learns your preferences

Interested in optimizing your home to best suit you? Since you’re reading this article I’m going to assume you know what smart devices are. Which is why you should also consider checking out the best smart video doorbells and best smart thermostats.

Some of the products are Alexa compatible and the smart video doorbell is able to record visitors with a camera to tell you who visited your front door.

Why Get a Smart Sprinkler Controller?

Well, one reason is that some of them are Alexa compatible and connect to the Wi-Fi which makes it much easier on you. They’re a lot more convenient than those older ones.

Some of them also offer you an app and you could use it to set schedule the watering routine or turn on the sprinklers. As long as the actual device is connected to the Wi-Fi and your smartphone or tablet, you could use it from wherever you are.

The older versions typically don’t work well and they probably look like it’s from the 1900s. The more modern controllers function better and look futuristic.

They’re also a lot more simple to use. The display screen doesn’t have a lot of clutter and some have backlights so you could use it if there’s not much light.

There are 2 types of ways these controllers that I listed work. They are either touchscreen or button activated. The touchscreens respond when you touch them with your finger. The button activated ones work by pressing buttons.

Don’t forget to check out what the seller has to say about the product. I may have missed some details or miss wrote some of the stats.

There’s an article by forbes.com about smart sprinkler controllers if you’re interested or would like more information. Forbes may not be all about smart home products but they have some good information in their article.

Their headline also indicates that they too believe dumb sprinklers use more water than the smart ones.

In my opinion, sprinkler controllers are a fairly new smart product that has just recently been getting popular. It won’t be long until they are as much well known as smart thermostats and smart video doorbells.

Are There Any Downsides To Smart Sprinkler Controllers in 2020?

There aren’t that many cons to smart sprinkler controllers in 2020 but one could argue that sometimes it might not get the weather right for the next 7 days.

This can happen because it was connected to the wrong weather channel. If the weather channel tells the smart controller that it is going to rain for the next 7 days then it won’t water for the next 7 days.

This can be bad especially if you’re out on a trip and away from the house. You wouldn’t want to come home to a dead lawn and garden, would you?

I can’t think of any more cons but I can think of 1 major pro. Smart sprinklers are a lot easier to use and simpler than the old fashion sprinklers. This is what makes them similar to smart thermostats.

That’s all I can think of right now. I’m short of words. Be sure to check them out on Amazon!