Hands on with Home Assistant’s new ‘smart home multi-tool’

<figure> <img alt="A small white box on a bigger grey box on a red cabinet" data-caption="The Aux-2 can be many things. Even a hat for your amp! | Photo: Nathan Edwards / The Verge" data-portal-copyright="Photo: Nathan Edwards / The Verge" data-has-syndication-rights="1" src="https://platform.theverge.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/11/aux2-hero.jpg?quality=90&#038;strip=all&#038;crop=0,0,100,100" /> <figcaption> The Aux-2 can be many things. Even a hat for your amp! | Photo: Nathan Edwards / The Verge </figcaption> </figure> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">Nabu Casa - the commercial side of the <a href="https://www.openhomefoundation.org/">Open Home Foundation</a>, which runs Home Assistant - just launched the <a href="https://www.home-assistant.io/blog/2026/11/11/no-device-left-behind-home-assistant-connect-aux-2/">Home Assistant Connect Aux-2</a>, a multi-function box designed to help you bring more devices into your smart home. It's part of Home Assistant's <a href="https://www.theverge.com/24135207/home-assistant-announces-open-home-foundation">ongoing efforts to become more user-friendly</a>. And it's working.</p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">I've been testing the Aux-2 for a couple days and I've found it unsurprisingly useful and surprisingly easy to set up. The Aux-2 is a <a href="https://www.nabucasa.com/hardware/aux-2/">$69 box</a> about the size of a deck of cards. It has 2.4GHz Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, Ethernet, USB-A, USB-C, a digital/analog audio jack, a <a href="https://wiki.seeedstudio.com/Grove_System/#jump6">Grove port</a> for interfacing with <a href="https://wiki.seeedstudio.com/Grove_System/">peripherals like sensors, buttons, and …</a></p> <p><a href="https://www.theverge.com/tech/1031601/home-assistant-connect-aux-2-hands-on">Read the full story at The Verge.</a></p>