Orbit 21005 B-hyve Bluetooth Smart Hose Faucet Watering Timer

Danimalpm: I really want to love these. I use 3 of them off a hose bib splitter running to above ground sprinkler lines in my backyard. When they’re working, they are great. The app isn’t very intuitive when using multiple devices. This is a trend for a lot of apps marketed by companies that aren’t tech. companies at their core so I tend to have low expectations. Bottom line is the app is functional and gets the job done despite its design flaws. The problem is that these timers all eventually fail in my experience. I use 3 and have had to replace 3. They tend to either develop a leak, or worse, get stuck in the on position and that can be painful if not caught quickly. When I’m home, I have no problem relying on these. But if I traveled frequently and was away from home for days or more at a time, I would only feel fully comfortable with these having a camera to monitor the yard and/or someone nearby to monitor in the event of failure. These are a good step in the right direction but there’s definitely room for improvement for future versions of the timer and the app. Ultimately though, I haven’t found anything more reliable at this price range.

United States on Nov 23, 2023

Hamed: Good product, but Not suitable for Australia as it does not come with a male snap-on hose connector.

Australia on Oct 06, 2023

Brian A.: Timer works well and is a good cheaper alternative to using an in ground system. Three things to keep in mind, however: 1) the timer is made of plastic. this wont last forever and will eventually need to be replaced. I currently have one where the valve is stuttering due to an air leak but it is an older one of mine. I have had it I think like 2 years now so its about right. 2) the unit does require batteries for each unit (2x AA) which may need replacing at least once in a season or more. 3) they use regular hoses for watering and those will need eventual replacement unlike a in ground system which is more permanent and uses PEX pipe.
You can use multiple units (as many as you'd like) to setup multiple zones to water your house. I have 4 timers with 4 zones and it does what I need it to. So if you want the convenience of a whole home system or even just one area but don't want to have to manually control the timing, this is the right one for you. Buy the first one with the WIFI hub then buy just the timer to add new zones. Get the app for your phone or tablet and set it all up and sit back and watch it work for you!
I gave this 4 of 5 stars due to the lack of long term...

United States on Aug 16, 2023

Amazon Customer: As described
Can be intermittent after power outages

Canada on Jul 31, 2023

G.S.: I really like my timer device. It auto waters my garden, I could tell google to water it too! So I figured, I need two.. One for my lawn and one for my garden. Sadly these devices are not quite there. The two devices pair with their app really well. The monitor water used etc. But when I tried to "hey Google water my lawn" the garden started getting wet. Turns out, the google assistant (or Alexa) integration is only for one device. Garden or lawn, not both. If you have Alexa and google, you can associate one with each but that's not the point. A second device is less smart-home ready. So, I mostly live on the app and it's timers which work. Pretty well.

Canada on Jun 22, 2023

GregoryGregory: I purchased this to replace the Orbit 58911 Complete Yard Watering Kits I was using at the time. I was going on an extended vacation and wanted to reduce the workload for my house sitter and control and monitor watering remotely. I started out with one unit for testing and quickly realized this was an ideal solution.
Make sure you update all your devices to the most current software version.

The hub which connects your Bluetooth valves to your wifi needs to be in relative proximity on the inside of your house to the exterior location of your valves. Signal connection between the two had no issues even through 2’ stone walls. The valves communicate with each other creating a mesh which increases stability.

Figure out where your valves will be to calculate how many hubs you need for larger systems. I needed 8 more valves and 2 more hubs so I purchased 2 Orbit 21044 b-hyve Smart Hose Watering Timer 4-Packs each included a hub and a 4 way Hose Manifold. There are different b-hyve packages on Amazon so figure out the most economical way to get what you need.

Although the b-hyve software isn’t great, (at times it can be downright frustrating) setup is easy....

Canada on Mar 19, 2023

ct2020: If you only get one timer, it's probably fine, but I got two to water my front lawn and my back lawn separately. This works, but the app makes it clunky.

You would think the added timer would just be a new zone or something like that and you could create a watering schedule that waters both (or all timers, if you have more) in order. There's even wording in the app that points to that being the case. Instead of that however, you need to switch back and forth between the timers in the app and settings you create don't carry over at all. So when you create a schedule for one timer and want to use the same schedule on another timer you need to recreate it from scratch and alter the time so one starts after the other finishes. It's just a bit of a pain.

I've come to understand the app is actually set up for one of orbit's larger controllers for underground sprinklers and these timers were just sort of shoe-horned in.

So, I like how customizable they are. I like that I can control it from my phone, I like the smart schedule, I like rain delays. There's a lot to like, but I wish they would focus on making the app more user friendly.

Canada on Aug 31, 2022

Christopher S. Cornette: A fair amount of what I write below will assume you are connecting this to the wifi hub (sold separately) with more than one timer. If you are only looking for one timer, this is a very good one, with as many options for scheduling as any other timer I know of.
I will start with a quick "what to know before you buy", then I will walk you through how to get the best, most efficient, results using Smart Watering (wifi hub required). I now have seven of these hose timers connected to one Wi-Fi hub. They water four grass zones and three drip line zones. I have configured and reconfigured the Smart Watering **extensively** and think I can help a lot of owners and buyers with this.

WHAT TO KNOW BEFORE YOU BUY:

PROS:
- This is a reliable Bluetooth enabled hose timer straight out of the box. With nothing more than basic setup, it outperforms nearly everything in its class, particularly in ease of use.
- The build quality is better than some of it's major competitors, particularly the plastic threads, which are solid enough to avoid stripping when connecting brass or other metal hose connectors.
- The wifi hub takes this product a little farther, enabling you to...

United States on Aug 10, 2020