Why Water Your Garden When A Hose Timer Can Do It for You? (2024)

The Chapin International Single Zone Water Timer features intuitive controls with easy setting adjustments, a projective cover, and a legible digital display. It’s a simple automatic timer that doesn’t include advanced features or smart home connectivity, but it’s the best automatic hose timer in our estimation because it’s accurate, reliable, and gets the job done every time.

We set up the Chapin in our garden, which saved us time and water by automating the watering process with precision. Cautious about over- or under-watering our garden, we started out by setting this timer to water for 15 minutes and then shut off. It did just that, so we proceeded with a three-day schedule of watering for 15 minutes each day.

The Chapin ran like clockwork, dutifully switching on each morning at the same time, delivering water to our garden for 15 minutes, and then shutting off. At that point, it became a regular part of our gardening routine, taking over watering duties so we could attend to other tasks.

This isn’t a smart timer and doesn’t include any advanced features, but it does include a rain-delay button. If rain is forecast, you can push that button and then select an amount of time to delay the timer so that it doesn’t overwater. If you need separate watering control for two areas, the Chapin 41003 is a dual-zone variation of this timer.

If you’re looking for more advanced smart features, the Divoo Smart Water Timer (our best smart pick) includes app control, and voice controls through Alexa and Google Home, and can even check your local weather conditions for impending rain.

We love the practical design of this automatic hose timer, including the clear display, dial-based controls, intuitive settings, and protective cover. The cover is clear, so you can read the display through it, but you need to pop it off to change the settings. When closed, it helps protect the display and controls from the elements. It’s a nice touch that adds to the timer's durability and gives us confidence that it will last for a long time.

The Melnor HydroLogic 2-Zone Digital Water Timer is our favorite digital hose timer because it features a large display that’s easy to read, intuitive controls, and accurate performance. We especially like the digital display that takes up over half of the front of the device, with large, very legible LCD numbers.

This is a dual-zone hose timer, and we used it to automate watering a lawn and a row of Arborvitae trees. The lawn and trees require different amounts of water on different schedules, so handling both from this one device was a huge time saver. If you have more zones, there’s also a four-zone-version that uses the exact same display and controls.

In addition to dual zone control, this timer is capable of scheduling four separate watering periods throughout the day, and we used a single watering for one zone and two waterings for the other.

We did have some difficulties connecting our garden hoses to the timer during the initial setup. We also felt that the metal parts of the timer were a little flimsy, but it held up well during our testing, with pretty accurate results. Watering times were typically within a couple of minutes of what we set, and it activated our sprinklers at the appointed time without fail.

The Orbit Mechanical Water Timer is a basic option without any frills, and that includes advanced scheduling. The timer is very accurate, but it only turns on when you turn it on, and then it stays on for between 15 and 120 minutes, depending on how far you turn the dial. That makes it best suited to smaller areas like vegetable gardens because you’ll need to go out and turn it on each time you want to water.

In addition to the timer function, the Orbit model also includes a manual watering option that doesn’t engage the timer. Rotate the dial to manual, and it allows water to flow freely until you shut it off. We found this useful because it saves us the trouble of taking off the timer when it's not needed.

We like the simplicity of this hose timer, but there were times when we wished it had an automatic start function (for those days when we weren’t already planning to be in the garden). If you need an automatic start, the Chapin 1-Zone Water Timer (our best overall recommendation) is more complicated and requires batteries, but the list price is only about $10 more.

The Orbit 21004 B-hyve is our favorite Wi-Fi automatic hose timer because it features a comprehensive app with advanced features, useful smart home connectivity, and a Wi-Fi hub to facilitate connecting to your network (especially useful if your outdoor faucet or hose bib is too far from your Wi-Fi router to get a good signal).

Orbit’s B-hyve line includes a lot of options, and this one is specifically focused on Wi-Fi connectivity, the phone app, and smart home connectivity. It doesn’t include any controls on the timer itself, aside from the power button that doubles as a reset button (push it five times if you need to re-pair it to your B-hyve Wi-Fi hub).

We really like the app, which lets you set a custom watering schedule, activate manual watering, or use Orbit’s smart watering feature. Since the timer connects to your Wi-Fi network, you can change settings and even turn your sprinklers on manually, even if you aren’t home. We tested the timed options to control a sprinkler in our flower garden daily, and they were very accurate. We like that app control lets you make adjustments on the fly from anywhere you have internet access, even if you were to head off on vacation without setting up a watering schedule.

The smart watering option prompts you to provide details about what you’re watering, location, local conditions, and your sprinkler, and then it automatically activates a custom watering schedule. We ran into some initial setup difficulties (the app prompts you to check a MAC address, both the timer and hub have separate MAC addresses, and we were looking at the wrong one). Once we got it set up, we didn’t have any other issues.

If you prefer physical controls on the timer, the Orbit 24516 B-hyve XD (our best splurge pick) is a slightly pricier option that gives you the option between physical and app controls. It has all the same app and smart home features as this model, just with the addition of a built-in LCD screen and dial-based controls (which allows anyone to control the timer, and by default, the hose, who doesn't have the app on their phone).

Automatic hose timers that control multiple zones can be confusing to set up, which is why we like the Gilmour Dual Outlet Electronic Water Timer. This digital hose timer features a dedicated left and right toggle button that makes it very clear which outlet you’re working with.

We also like the combination of dial and button controls because it eliminates the tedium of navigating menus—rotate the dial to the setting you want to adjust, use the plus and minus buttons to make adjustments, rotate it back to run, and you’re set.

We did find setting the time to be a little tedious, and it’s the only thing we don’t like about this timer. There’s no way to set a desired time directly, so you need to hold the plus button while the timer rapidly advances, then let go at the right time. It’s a bit of an inconvenience, but not much of an issue unless you need to adjust your watering timing a lot.

This timer does include a rain-delay function, so there’s no need to change the schedule to accommodate incoming weather. Pushing the plus button when the dial is in the run position lets you set a delay of 24, 48, or 72 hours to avoid overwatering when rain is on the horizon.

However, we were a little concerned about the battery compartment because it doesn’t seem to be sealed very well. We didn’t have any trouble with water getting into the batteries, but we recommend installing this timer where it isn’t exposed to direct rain and keeping an eye on any leaks just in case.

The best analog automatic hose timers need easy controls, reliable operation, and durable construction, which is why the Raindrip Analog 3-Dial Water Timer is our favorite. Compared to digital hose timers, we found the setup process to be extremely simple (we just had to connect it to the faucet and our hose), and the controls were very clear at a glance.

This isn’t a mechanical hose timer, so it requires two AA batteries to operate. That’s the most complicated thing about it, though. The controls are all handled by knobs that you twist to achieve the desired effect—turn one to set the watering frequency, another to set the watering duration, and a third pull for double duty (manual watering and activating a rain-delay function).

We used this hose timer to water a garden, using both the manual and automatic functions. It was very accurate, including both the watering duration and frequency settings.

This timer didn’t leak at all, but we were a bit concerned about the plastic fittings. It doesn’t feel flimsy, but it seems like the fittings could break if someone bumped the timer while walking by. Other than that, the housing and the chunky plastic dials feel very solid and durable.

Smart hose timers need all the same qualities as mechanical and automatic timers, with the added requirements of solid Wi-Fi connectivity and an intuitive app. The Diivoo Smart Water Timer with Wi-Fi Hub is our favorite smart water timer because it’s easy to get set up in the app, the app has an intuitive interface, and we didn’t experience any Wi-Fi connectivity issues.

This single-zone smart hose timer is only controllable via the app, so it doesn’t have any controls built into the valve itself. That wasn’t an issue for us, as we found the app to have an easy interface that didn’t take very long to figure out. We connected it to our Wi-Fi network, and then we were able to check the status of the timer and make adjustments from anywhere we had internet access.

The app includes an easy function that lets you create a watering plan and set when you want it to run and the duration. It lets you set up daily watering, odd or even days, and other options. It also includes two watering modes: irrigation, for constant watering and mist mode, which provides water for shorter amounts of time within a longer time period, which you also select.

The Divoo Smart Water Timer was very accurate during our tests, both in terms of active time and run time. We didn’t get to use it during our initial tests, but it also has a smart automatic watering feature based on local weather conditions. Voice controls are included as well if you have an Alexa or Google Home smart speaker.

We like this hose timer for general watering use in any situation where multiple zones aren’t required. You can control multiple Divoo timers from the same app, but there’s no option to buy just the timer without the hub (Divoo says they’re working on that.) You also need to be all-in on app controls because there’s no display or controls on the unit itself. The hub only works with 2.4 GHz networks as well, so you’ll run into issues if your Wi-Fi only supports 5 GHz.

The Orbit 24516 B-hyve has all the best parts of a digital hose timer and a smart Wi-Fi hose timer, which is why we recommend it if you’re looking for the most robust feature set. It features a large LCD display with intuitive controls, scheduled and manual watering, optional app controls, and smart home connectivity. It also lets you connect your phone locally via Bluetooth in addition to Wi-Fi.

Our favorite thing about this hose timer is that it gives you options, and they all work well. The built-in display and controls are easy to figure out, with big LCD numbers that are easy to read, and a large control knob for cycling through the options and making changes to the schedule. We were able to set up an every-other-day watering schedule for our garden planters using the integrated controls with no issues, and we like that it includes a rain delay feature to avoid overwatering.

We found the initial setup process a little clunky when it came time to connect the timer to the Wi-Fi hub. It wasn’t very intuitive, and we ended up needing to shut the timer off to get it to connect.

In terms of app controls and smart features, this timer uses the same app and has all of the same functionality as the Orbit 21004 B-hyve (our best Wi-Fi pick), with the main difference being that the 21004 lacks a built-in display and controls.

If you’re only interested in app controls and don’t need a built-in screen, the Orbit 20114 B-hyve is typically priced more than $20 less than this one. We like the built-in display and controls, though, since they ensure the hose timer will still activate even if your Wi-Fi network is down or the timer loses its connection, and anyone in your household can use it without downloading the app.