While Arduino used to be seen mostly as a tool for robotics and electronics projects, nowadays it’s gaining ground in a lot of fields, one of which is of special interest to us: home automation.
From dispensing the right amount of food to your dog while you’re not around, to building your own wifi-controlled butler robot, an Arduino board at the heart of your home automation projects can save you a lot of time and effort with its existing libraries, tutorials and integrations with cloud services when compared to building everything from scratch.
Quick round-up table with our top 3 Arduino boards:
| Image | Name | Rating | Price | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 |
Arduino Nano 33 IoT |
4.5 out of 5 |
Check On Amazon | |
 |
Arduino MKR WiFi 1010 |
4.5 out of 5 |
Check On Amazon | |
 |
Arduino MKR WAN 1310 |
5 out of 5 |
Check On Amazon |
To read about our product selection procedure, visit the “About” page.
3 Best Arduino Boards for Home Automation Reviews
1. Android Nano 33 IoT
The Arduino Nano 33 IoT is one of the smallest Arduino boards available in the market. Combined with its wifi capabilities, this can prove to be one of the best Arduino boards for projects that have size restrictions.
Apart from being compatible with most components and accessories for the classical Arduino Nano, it has existing integrations with Arduino Cloud, AWS IoT Core, Firebase and Azure that provide a good starting point for a variety of interesting projects.
Benefits
- WiFi, Bluetooth and BLE
- Accelerometer
- One of the smallest Arduino boards
- Integrations with Arduino cloud, AWS IoT Core, Firebase and Azure
Drawbacks
- Use of 3.3V logic (non-standard for Arduino boards)
2. Arduino MKR WiFi 1010
The Arduino MKR WiFi 1010 has a bigger size than the Arduino Nano 33 IoT, which gives it space for additional modules like RTC and LiPo charger, which makes it perfect for battery-operated projects by taking the power requirement issues out of the equation.
These features make the Arduino MKR WiFi 1010 the most versatile Arduino board available today.
Benefits
- RTC and LiPo charger
- Take power-supply issues out of the equation
- Unmatched versatility
Drawbacks
- Bigger size than the Arduino Nano 33 IoT
3. Arduino MKR WAN 1310
The Arduino MKR WAN 1310 has all the functionality of the Arduino MKR WiFi 1010 with an added functionality that chanegs everything: long range WiFi.
What LoRa WiFi does is that it allows you to operate the Arduino board from a long distance (currently up to 430 miles) which allows you to set up automated projects on distant or difficult to reach spots.
Benefits
- Long range WiFi
- All the functionality of the Arduino MKR WiFi 1010
Drawbacks
- Most expensive option on this list
Top 3 Arduino Boards For Home Automation Quick Comparison
| Product Name | Clock Speed | CPU Flash Memory | Best Feature | Microcontroller |
| Arduino Nano 33 IoT | 48 MHz | 256KB | Smallest Size | SAMD21 Cortex-M0+32bit low power ARM MCU |
| Arduino MKR WiFi 1010 | 48 MHz | 256 KB | LiPo Charger | SAMD21 Cortex-M0+32bit low power ARM MCU |
| Arduino MKR WAN 1310 | 48 MHx | 256 KB | Long Range WiFi | SAMD21 Cortex-M0+32bit low power ARM MCU |
What to look for in an Arduino Board for Home Automation (Buying Guide)
Arduino boards are available in a variety of sizes and shapes, consider these factors to decide which is the one that is best for you:
1. Size
If size is an important part of your project, you want to take a look at the Arduino Nano 33 IoT. It’s the Arduino board with the smallest size to date and as an additional benefit it’s also the cheapest option in this list.
2. Connectivity
Another factor to consider is what ports do you need your Arduino board to have. If size is not that relevant but the project is quite demanding when it comes to power usage, you may want to look at the Arduino MKR WiFi 1010. With its increased size, it has access to more ports than the Arduino Nano 33 IoT, one of which is the LiPo charger.
3. Utility
If the project you have in mind needs to be controlled at a long distance, your best option is the Arduino MKR WAN 1310. This Arduino board features everything the Arduino MKR WiFi has but with the added benefit of Long Range WiFi, which enables you to control the device from a faraway distance.
Conclusion
The best Arduino Board for your project depends mostly on the 3 factors described above. I hope this guide has helped you cut through the noise and shown you the differences among the available models out there.
