So simple from the app. Can adjust anywhere, anytime!

Physical install and wifi setup super easy,Zone setup, the app is a little opposite to how you think it would work , everything else has been great. Times schedules with the sunrise, temperatures, season,And the best part, I can test my zones with my phone! No more running back and forth.Works with home security system as well as its own app.

I was scared to try to install it myself but once I followed instructions - it was not difficult. Had problem adding device but I called support and they were able to help right away. East install and setup

I've had two homes with irrigation systems and they inevitably come with a Rain Bird controller. OK, let's upgrade to a wifi unit so I have a less clunky user interface and don't have to go outside to fidget with the controls. That's what I did at the first home. That simply enables you use your phone to look at your schedule, change it etc. At my next home, I went to replace the rain bird controller and realized: "hey, there are other sprinkler controllers" and did some research. Rachio seems to rate highly or the best and I can see why.The price of a Rachio system is consistently better than a Rain Bird. Both systems add cost the more watering stations there are in your system, but as far as I could tell the Rachio3 is about half the cost of an analogous Rain Bird per station. This actually made me nervous about buying it, since I don't like to skimp on things that you install in your home, and I worried that it was going to be a lower quality product. Well, that was wrong.Install is, as others have said, about a 15 minute job if you have a drill, hammmer, and a screwdriver. Wiring is very very simple for controllers. You have a common wire (which provides power) and then you have station/zone wires that get power from that common wire when the controller decides it's time to water. You take a photo of your old wiring for reference, remove the old controller, mount the Rachio 3, and then insert the wires into the analogous locations. This is not scary electrical work where you might get shocked, since you don't plug the unit in until you've inserted the common wire and the station wires. When you're done with that you plug the unit in and move on to the software part of the install on your phone.Software install also went smoothly for me. You need to start by creating a Rachio account on the app. The app does a good job of getting your wifi credentials into the system and I didn't seem to have to do that thing where you first log into the wifi network of the device and pass the credentials for your wifi network to it that way. Instead, I just had to be logged into my wifi on my phone, scan a bar code with it, be near the unit, and...it just kinda figured things out.After that, you tell the system about your zones/watering stations, the type of soil you're managing in each zone, etc. There are minimal controls on the unit itself. Controlling is done from your phone. I find the UI more intelligent than the Rain Bird system and easier to manage and understand. But the real coolness starts with the smartness of the system. The app gets your location and shares it with the system and gives you micro targeted forecasting for your location. It plugs into its proprietary weather network and understands how much water your yard is seeing from local weather, pretty much obviating the need for a water sensor. It will guide you through creating a smart watering program for your home, or, you can choose to simply replicate the schedule that you had in place before the install.All this means you can create a water saving program with minimal thinking on your part. It's pretty neat.Some minor gripes:1. The unit is a bit bigger than you imagine it might be. 9.1” x 5.5” x 1.4” It took up a bit of space on my garage wall2. The unit has a big bright blue LED that illuminates even when it's idle. You can turn it off or lower the intensity. This would be improved if you could put it in Cylon mode where a pulse moves from side to side across the LED and then it rebels against humanity.

I just replaced an older Orbit model 27896 irrigation controller today with this Rachio 3 4-Zone Irrigation Controller (made 8/2022), and the entire process took less than 10 minutes, including most of the time spent removing the old unit and affixing the new. Here are my Pros and Cons:PROS:1 - Unit is small and if installed indoors (like mine) it takes very little wall space.2 - The Rachio iOS App is very easy and simple to setup and use. Has great features and allows for a lot of customizations, down to the irrigation nozzle type (dripper, bubbler, spray head, emitter, mister, etc...)3 - Great weather integration based on your specified address, with customizable Rain, Wind & Freeze delays.4 - Interfaces with & works seamlessly with the expensive Tempest Weather System by WeatherFlow (get Rachio sync code from Tempest support).5 - Surprisingly HomeKit integration IS supported in the Rachio App and works great! (just write down and save you sync code)6 - Zone Programming is a breeze & supports zone pictures for easy identification of zones as well as marking both zones and irrigation type on an aerial map.7 - Supports WiFi in both 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz bands (a lot more flexible than most 2.4 GHz only devices) - Mine connected at 5GHz and has amazing -50 bBm signal strength.CONS:1 - No LCD display, just a 4-way button and sectional LED bar that is not very easy to read/identity the active zone on. You'll find yourself controlling it using the App 99% of the time due to this.2 - Outdoor weatherized housing is sold separately (tho not very expensive at around $30)3 - Faceplate is magnetic and while it attaches easily it does not do so very securely.4 - Unlike the Orbit model 27896 I replaced, the Rachio 3 does not seem to have an internal/backup battery.5 - Irrigation schedules need ability to just choose start & end months instead of exact dates, so that the system can operate on different schedules on an ongoing basis.For me the lack of LCD & battery as well as the months without dates are the biggest gripes, and I think this is where Rachio could improve, but aside from that, I am VERY pleased with my new Irrigation Controller.