Mysa for AC review: A stylish addition to the smart-AC controller arena

Mysa makes one of our favorite smart thermostats for high-voltage heating, and now it’s brought an excellent air-conditioner controller to market. The Mysa Smart Thermostat for Air Conditioners competes squarely with the best products we’ve tested, including the Sensibo Air.

Stylish and easy to set up

Mysa’s new controller looks very much like a smaller version of the company’s thermostat for high-voltage heaters. The sleek, minimalist design uses an LED display to show just the necessary data, via either numbers or emoji-like symbols and arrows. It’s a simple, intuitive interface that gives users the option to control their AC either from the Mysa device itself or, more likely, the app. It’s meant to replace the remote that came with your window or portable AC (or ductless mini-split heat pumps). The device is compatible with a wide range of air conditioners, but you should check the company’s website to make sure yours is on the list.

This review is part of TechHive’s coverage of the best smart thermostats, where you’ll find reviews of the competition’s offerings, plus a buyer’s guide to the features you should consider when shopping for this type of product.

The Mysa can be stuck on a wall or rested on a countertop using the included base. It uses the same app as the company’s other thermostat, which sports an intuitive and uncluttered interface. You’ll need to connect your AC unit to the app and controller first, a process Mysa has made notably direct.

Jason D’Aprile

If this is your first Mysa product, you’ll need to go through the usual process of setting up an account with the app and creating your “home,” which is where the device will be used. This also ensures you can use more advanced functions, such as geofencing, that automatically controls your air conditioner based on your location.

From there, add the new controller and pair your AC to it. This is done by picking the brand of AC unit and the modes it supports (cool, heat, fan, etc.). The pairing process is largely just pointing the AC’s own remote at the Mysa and then pressing the power button. Provided the controller is compatible with your AC unit, that’s pretty much it. It worked seamlessly in our tests and only took a moment.

Jason D’Aprile / IDG

The Mysa keeps track of the room’s temperature and humidity, along with the target temperature you’ve set. It doesn’t have any options to use humidity as a factor for comfort control, however. The main app screen shows all of this, with mode- and fan-setting buttons clearly to the right of the set temperature, and up and down arrows to change the current temperature. Once the hardware is set up, you can opt to use the geofencing feature to have the Mysa make the room a certain temperature by the time you get home, set up an automated schedule, or just control it manually.

The scheduling interface, like the rest of the app, is easy to use. Pick the time and days for the change to occur, AC mode, fan speed, and the target temperature. You can create multiple changes per day or have totally different schedules for specific days. There are also general home, away, and vacation modes that tie into the geofencing.

Mysa offers seamless functionality

Once set up, the Mysa operated seamlessly, sticking to the schedule we set without any issues. The app can also connect to Alexa, Google Home, and Apple HomeKit, allowing you to check the temp of the room and change the temp easily from those devices or use their apps to create overall smart routines for that room.

Mysa has a full roadmap of features they plan to include, including more integrated functionality with their own heating thermostat. As it stands right now, however, this smart AC controller performed exceptionally. The minimalist physical design and display is superb, the app is easy to use, set up was simple, and it followed our scheduling instructions perfectly.

The Mysa’s price tag is on the higher end for smart AC controllers, though still less than the $149 Sensibo Air (Mysa also doesn’t support remote sensors like the Air).