Rachio Smart Sprinkler Controller, 8 Zone 2nd Generation, Works with Amazon Alexa

I am not prone to writing reviews. I buy something and seldom feel compelled to spend time/effort to do this. The Rachio is a product that has driven me to write a review because it is exceptionally impressive and performs well beyond the level of many competing units. I will assume that anyone reading this knows what the Rachio is and therefore will not dwell on describing its purpose. I want to explain what has made it stand out in my case. Features: Unbelievable. The Rachio somehow manages to be extremely easy to operate for a basic user while being unbelievably capable of fine-tuning for specific needs and advanced users. All of the adjustments are done through a very user friendly and highly polished app that provides clear descriptions and in depth detail (including illustrations) to help the user know exactly what setting is most appropriate for his/her application (eg. what is the right ground slope setting, sun exposure, sprinkler head types, plant types, etc.). The system allows one to adjust for a (potentially) overwhelming number of variables for each sprinkler zone to ensure that it not only saves water BUT FAR MORE EFFECTIVELY THAN A STANDARD TIMER OR USER COULD HOPE FOR --- encourages healthy/thriving lawns and plants. This is not just about saving water and money (though it does this exceptionally well), but making the yard so much more healthy than any other system I've been around while doing it all with nearly NO EFFORT on the user end of things. There is a genuine science behind a healthy yard related to the irrigation element and to apply this science at the level Rachio provides would be nearly impossible any other way and frankly with nearly any other system (including most other "smart" systems). Now, I said "potentially" overwhelming in mentioning setting options and "nearly" no effort earlier. This is because there might be some initial user effort to get things "ideal". However, compared to the seemingly unparalleled results that the Rachio can provide, if it is needed, the extra effort getting into the more advanced settings is well worth it and typically completely manageable thanks in large part to the next item of business. Company/support: I mentioned that the app provides incredibly accessible directions for basic setup. Optimizing the results for my yard involved some more advanced adjustments (which the Rachio allows for to an extent that a botanist/agricultural scientist can have a field day). For someone who does need to play with these "advanced" setting and/or who is not a botanist/agricultural scientist, these settings might appear confusing and even intimidating. Low and behold in all of the expected areas -and as the user desires- the app links to additional and very clear details that are truly brilliant in regard to how they are put forward on the support site. If that is not enough, the support community that is tied to all of it is extremely active with honest to goodness experts actively and frequently running about in the forum to answer questions and help nearly everyone out within a very short time. It is frankly unbelievable that this level of support, integration, AND knowledge exists. It is frightening to consider how great things could be if other U.S. businesses approached the world this way. It's only the surface of what I am talking about but certainly with Rachio, the user is NOT getting assistance from someone who is hard to understand (or who has a hard time understanding the customer) and who is clearly reading from a pre-scripted FAQ/dialogue tree. I have had to use restraint to avoid going into the particulars of just how well the system works, how polished it is, and precisely what all of these features are that make the Rachio so great. However, there are SO MANY that if I were to attempt to define and detail it all, the result would likely be a review that would be potentially off-putting at worse or overwhelming at best for most readers (probably already there). I will leave it to the potential owner to cherry pick and find the particulars from Rachio. So it is that I force my detail impulses to stand back. Extra details could get in the way of the main message. If you are interested in something like it, YES, you ABSOLUTELY should benefit from becoming a RACHIO OWNER. It is an exceptional product backed by an exceptional company!

I've only had this a few days (watering cycles) but I'm very impressed with everything so far. It does seem that you get what you pay for. The installation was easy. I had absolutely not problems connecting the app to the controller and then to my home network. The signal strength to my router was average. I would say that the functionality of the controller is so-so, you can setup and run zones from the controller but all the good stuff in in the app and it makes setup and configuration very easy. I've had other hardware that depended on an app to configure it and been disappointed with the app (I'm looking at you Linksys) but the Rachio app is outstanding. You can set schedules, start/stop zones, and even check the current weather. If you use the automatic scheduling feature you can look several months into the future to get an idea of when and how often watering will occur. It's smart enough to know that here in Florida I don't need to water as often in Winter but forecasts that I will during Summer. The app allows you to configure each zone based on vegetation, soil type, amount of sun it receives, the type of sprinkler heads used, and the slope. There are advanced parameters to allow you to set much more in-depth configurations. The app provides information about the last time it watered a zone and the next time it is planned to be watered. It also provides information about how much water, in gallons, that have been used and saved but without a flow meter or being very precise in the advanced configurations I don't see how this can be very accurate, but it is a nice touch and does provide at least some knowledge of your water use. You could probably read your water meter before and after to get an idea of how accurate it is and then make some tweaks to the app to get it closer. I think the thing I like most is that when I'm working on sprinkler heads I can start/stop the zone I'm working on standing next to the head that I testing. No more starting a zone and then having to run thru the sprinklers to get to the head I'm working on. Very convenient. I cannot speak (yet) to it's ability to monitor rainfall in the area and shift watering schedules but I will know better once warmer weather returns and I'll re-post to my review. Anyway, I feel comfortable recommending it and I don't think you'll be disappointed.

I have been using a Rain Bird controller for over 16 years and recently converted to Rachio. The setup is very simple, although I connected a couple of wires incorrectly, it was easily resolved with a call to Rachio's support which is amazing. They are very helpful and responsive via email and phone. In fact, based on support alone, I would recommend the product. My Rachio is in the garage and connecting to wifi was also very easy (I am using a wifi range extender). The Rachio app is very intuitive, thus easy to setup and use. Zones are easy to reference as the app allows pictures and description. It is now so much easier controlling the sprinklers with my phone from any place and at any time instead of being restricted to when I am in the garage.

I am an Australian customer. I purchased my Rachio Gen 2 approximately one year ago. I am going to outline my experience with the product and also my service experience: The Product. The Rachio Gen2 (8 Station) is a wonderful product. It is very easy to install and it is truly Smart. It configures itself for optimal performance, based on the inputs one provides - soil type, plant type, sun, shade, etc. I could have bought a locally supplied controller however some of those brands wanted an annual subscription fee in order to incorporate weather data, which enables to controller to skip watering when it rains, when it's too windy or the ground is saturated, etc. With those local brands, I was ostensibly getting a "Dumb" controller, unless I coughed up an additional $60 p.a. Basically, they wanted me to pay for data which is freely provided by the Bureau of Meteorology and other weather sources. No way! With Weather Intelligence Plus®, Rachio can aggregate 270,000 personal and commercial weather stations worldwide, for extreme accuracy. If you prefer, you can also choose the weather station you want. If it were to go down, Rachio will automatically find and connect to the next nearest and available weather station; that's very cool! The other thing that I liked when researching Rachio, was that the company appeared to genuinely "love" its product. It had a significant knowledge base and an online forum, with very active and supportive customers. People really like their gardens and they really Rachio! So I bought a Gen 2 and fired it up. It was fantastic. It has a great phone App, which offers numerous Smart watering features that I can easily control, override. My Rachio Gen 2 is happy to either do everything for me or allow me full manual control over my watering, and every shade in between. Being a Smart controller, it can be accessed anywhere in the world where there is either a wifi connection or cellular phone access. In February this year, during our hot Australian summer, we travelled to Northern India and then Vietnam. we were away for approximately one month. I had left the garden watering, to Rachio. As it hit 44 C. in Melbourne, while we were away, I has able to allay my paranoia by running some additional, non-scheduled watering from India and Vietnam. It was comforting to get an SMS back from my controller once they started and had completed. Please see the images of the pumpkin plant blocking our gate, on our return home! The Rachio is everything the company claims it to be; it's excellent and it's fun! My brother subsequently bought a Gen 2 as well for his farm and he is delighted with it. After-sales Service. Rachio provides first-class service! My background: I am a Director of an agricultural machinery company. Our point of differentiation is our exceptional pre-sales and after-sales service. We don't just play lip-service to this: we are fully committed to providing great service and building long relationships with our customers. Similarly, Rachio doesn't just talk the talk: it walks the walk. My experience with Rachio customer service follows: I recently attempted to activate terminals 7 & 8 of my Gen 2 controller. These hadn't been used before and I had some new vegetable beds to water. They did not work. The App indicated that they should be working but the weren't. Having a background in IT, I had experience in fault finding and went about A-B testing by connecting different solenoids to different controller terminals. I was able to rule out faulty solenoids. I subsequently emailed Rachio Support, which responded *promptly and courteously*. There is a significant time difference between the USA and Australia however depending on what time I sent emails, there was either a response that day or first thing, the next morning. To summarize my experience: 1. I was asked to try a potential but it failed. 2. The Support person, Skyler, then advised that he would send me a new controller straight away. 3. I advised Skyler that I wanted to do one more test, before he sent it. That subsequent test failed too. 4. I advised Skyler of this failure and provided delivery details. He responded quickly and said the new unit was on the way. 5. The replacement controller arrived in 4 DAYS!!!! That's from Colorado (I believe) to Melbourne, Australia in 4 days, free of charge! This was an unbelievably good turnaround. 6. The problem with zones 7 & 8 persisted with the new controller. (The fault appeared to have been copied over). 7. A senior technician, Jared, contacted me **without my having to ask**. He was very keen to sort out the problem. 8. He suggested a factory reset and voila! The new unit worked and so did the original controller once it was reset. At no stage did I think I was a burden... indeed - I was "thanked" on numerous occasions for assisting them with the diagnosis. In the end, I believe the problem was a small glitch in an earlier version of the firmware. The company hadn't seen it before, hence its taking a few days to sort it out. I reiterate - from timely communication, diagnosis to delivery half way around the world in 4 days of a replacement controller, Rachio's customer service was exceptional. I thoroughly recommend this company and its products to everyone on the planet. Suggestions for improvement? Rachio may have attended to this already but if not, I would recommend that the required power supply, depending on your country, is nominated and supplied at the time of the order. I had to purchase a local 230V. power supply (AUD $20) as my original unit came with a 110V P/S. It would just make a great product a little bit better and besides, this product deserves to be sold worldwide, in large volumes because it's so good! Disclosure: I've written this superlative review for no other reason than those contained in it. Buy with confidence.

I have installed the Rachio Gen 2 controller a few months ago and since then I've had an opportunity to discover helpful features and missed opportunities. I have read numerous reviews on this product and decided to purchase through Amazon.ca since there was no retailer available here in Canada. The product was delivered in a timely manner and the price was comparable to other irrigation controllers. Upon receiving the product I was surprise and pleased with the small size of the controller. I ordered the 8 zone model but the size is no different from the 16 zone model. The manuals provided or the ones available for download were fairly helpful. Some of the language and terminology could be changed but basically they were helpful. This model, Rachio Gen 2, has replace a Rainbird Esp-ME (working) and is used for my 4 zone irrigation ( front yard, side yard, back yard and flower gardens). We don't experience the water restrictions that others in warmer clients do however we do have some restrictions occasionally. We are on city water and we pay a flat rate for the water service each year. Water savings is not critical however it is always a concern. It also rains here...a lot. Since I am a building contractor, installing the Rachio controller in my home was not a problem. The controller looks as though it is hardwired however it is not. A nice clean look is very important to me. I was able to modify the wall which accepts the controller. Installation of the controller was pretty straightforward. Here are a few of the pros and cons: Pros: The ability to control most aspects of the irrigation through my phone or computer is certainly beneficial. The Rachio Gen 2 controller uses local weather or PWS's for irrigation times. There are a couple of sensor options on the controller as well. (rain, flow) I can also manually water each zone, anytime, anywhere, if I want, thru my phone. I can also change schedules through my phone or computer. This is a very convenient feature for myself and potentially for my clients. I haven't had to use the one 800 number yet and the updates are relatively frequent. The engineers at Rachio seem to be making slight changes to the product with some improvements. So far...so good. (That's encouragement btw) Cons: since the Rachio product is reliant on local weather stations to preform at its best, availability of good local or personal weather stations in my area is critical. The Rachio app allows you to choose local weather stations however these are limited to a few. My closes pws is 4.5 km away and the reliability is questionable. Having the WU (weather underground) as an option could be benificial to me and to Rachio. Personal weather stations in my area afiliated with the weather underground appear to be more reliant. Rachio does provide a work-a-round to the WU, but you must have a Mac ($1000-$2000). There are other option too but the price just goes up. ( special router, your own PWS $$$). Power. An option to hardwire the product. I don't want to see the wires. Start/Stop. I see the option to start irrigation at a specific time within the app but...I don't see the option to stop irrigation at a specific time. I need to stop at 9am. C'mon! Generally the Rachio Gen 2 product is fairly good. The updates and improvements seem slow in coming but I hold out hope that they will eventually arrive. I'll use the Rachio and watch the updates but I will keep the Rainbird ESP-ME on hand just in case. Update; April 2017, I've been using the Gen2 Rachio for almost a year now. No glitches at all. Updates are regular and the controller preformed as advertised. Other irrigation controllers are late to the table (smart features) or too bulky. I would give this controller 4 1/2 to 5 stars (ability to hardwire and weather station). So far...very good.