The custom home technology market would not be where it is today without the companies that provide control and automation technologies, and it was these product innovations that were front and center at ISE 2025.

Makers of control panels, automation systems, keypads, switches, lighting controls, and the ancillary manufacturers that support those systems, some of them among the largest companies that play in this high-end, luxury residential market, were at ISE 2025 to showcase innovation, new capabilities and integrations designed to make controlling connected homes as easy as possible.

So let’s take a look at some of the more impressive products we saw from control and automation companies at the Fira de Barcelona Gran Via during ISE 2025.

Lutron’s Vierti Plays into Its Evolving Story of Light and Shade

At ISE 2025, Lutron introduced new lighting control solutions, including the Vierti Keypad, an EU-exclusive with hand-finished brass faceplates, blends craftsmanship with smart home integration and hybrid load control for easy upgrades.

The keypad leverages Lutron’s proven Clear Connect RF wireless technology to communicate with the control system to adjust lighting, window treatments, and other smart home-integrated components. A hybrid option allows integrators to elevate wall aesthetics while using existing wiring, allowing the keypad to functions both as a system control and a load control. 

According to Stamm, the Vierti represents a bit of a shift for Lutron, as it’s the company’s first in-wall, wireless keypad/dimmer.

“That opens up a lot of new doors for retrofit opportunities,” Stamm said. “It makes it easier for integrators to install.”

Also debuting was Lumaris RGB + Tunable White Tape Light, Lutron’s first international intelligent light source, featuring a modular design and compatibility with RadioRA 3 and HomeWorks for versatile accent lighting.

And the Demo Really Helped Drive That Point Home

The demo at Lutron’s ISE booth showcased the company’s vision of reconnecting people with the natural rhythms of light by enhancing light control in homes. This includes intelligent blinds and curtains that filter and insulate light, and LED lighting designed to mimic the warmth and dimming qualities of incandescent light.

Essentially, Lutron systems can integrate light sources and control in a layered approach that automatically adjusts to the sun’s position to optimize natural light and supplement the sun with artificial light when necessary.

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Now, while most people in the CEDIA industry will tell you that Lutron is the leader in the lighting category, it may be surprising to hear that lighting isn’t even the biggest part of Lutron’s business, according to Roger Stamm, international marketing manager at Lutron.

In fact, the company’s shade control solutions is the company’s largest product family.

“We sell more dollars in shades than any other product we sell,” Stamm said at the company’s ISE 2025 booth. “One of our biggest strengths is that we bring the natural light control and artificial light control together.”

Snap One Highlights Control4’s X4 Platform

Snap One combined its booth with ADI at ISE 2025, with the focus on Snap’s side being largely on Control4 and the new X4 platform. The platform itself represents a significant upgrade in whole-home control, including new features for widgets, integration with Apple’s Homekit and Apple Music, and more.

According to Matthew Kamp, the company’s senior director of product management, X4 features a home screen, which is a departure from the historical room-based interface. Users can leverage widgets and a new routines function to customize the system to implement automations for different times of the day.

Apple Music will also integrated into X4, and thanks to a new Triad SA1 Streaming Amplifier, homeowners will have also have Airplay 2 capabilities. With Homekit integration, homeowners can control all of their Control4 devices with their Apple device.

“The team continues to make improvements not only to the end user experience from a UI perspective, but also end user control of their system, so that it makes it easier for our integrators to be able to give end customers what they want,” Kamp says.

According to Kamp, Snap One and Control4 sees its role as creating an open ecosystem that integrates various smart home devices and platforms, making them easy for customers to use in their preferred way—whether through an app, remote control, or Apple’s ecosystem. While Apple’s approach validates market demand for smarter, more accessible home control, Control4 believes its platform offers deeper integration and more advanced experiences beyond Apple’s ecosystem.

As Well As New Triad, Episode and Luma Products

Other important new products showcased in Snap One’s booth included the Control4 DS3 Doorstation Camera, featuring 4K video for crystal-clear security. The Triad In-Wall and In-Ceiling Speakers offer bipolar/monopole switching and versatile LCR placement, while the Episode Surroundscape Series enhances outdoor audio with weather-resistant durability and scalability.

For lighting, Lux by Control4 introduces customizable wired and wireless keypads, dimmers, and switches, integrating seamlessly into automation systems. On the security front, new Luma 4K Hybrid Cameras use AI-driven analytics and Active Deterrence for advanced surveillance.

Savant Shows Off Apple Integrations, Proseo Shades

If we’re going to talk about Apple integrations with control manufacturers, then Savant is arguably the most well-established. The company’s operating system was literally built on an Apple platform. This close working relationship with Apple led to an integration with Siri and Homekit, which the company has been showing off for a few years now.

Thanks to advancements in Apple’s AI and automations strategy, Savant users can now use their iPhone to create some really interesting and useful automations.

Ian Roberts, Savant’s vice president of product marketing, demonstrated how to use Siri for natural voice control of a Savant system, set custom wake phrases, and use Apple’s Shortcuts app for advanced automations that leverage a user’s proximity to the home, their Wi-Fi connection, or even NFC tags to trigger automations.

For example, as a user pulls into the driveway and their Apple device connects to their Wi-Fi network, entry-way lights can turn on, the doors can unlock, and the home’s temperature can be made to be more comfortable. A geofencing feature allows for similar functionality, but can begin those automations before the user is even on their street.

Also highlighted were the company’s GE Proseo line of shades that feature quick and efficient installation. The shades offer wired and wireless options and over 600 fabric options.

The shades were late to arrive to the Fire de Barcelona Gran Via, so Ian and another Savant employee installed them on their own, taking only 13 minutes to install three shades due to the simple installation process.

Crestron Shows Off New Home Automation Capabilities

Crestron is undoubtedly one of the whole-home control leaders in the market, and the company’s booth at ISE 2025 certainly reflected their market standing, with new control and automation features, new control interfaces, lighting integrations, and more.

The main item Crestron is focusing on for its residential business is Crestron Home OS, including the recently released 4.4 version that includes conditional logic to help create more complex and responsive automations. As an example, a sequence could be created that makes a room’s lights brighter if the light sensor falls below a specified range. Or, when a movie streaming source is selected, the room’s lights are dimmed and the blinds are closed.

“But essentially this allows us to build any type of wider configuration based on, ‘if things happen, when you do this,” said Michael Short, senior director of marketing for Crestron’s residential business.

Paired with a new Tesla driver, automations can be created to automatically turn on the car and warm it up before the homeowner’s commute to work on a chilly day.

One of the more intriguing items the company was showing off was the new DGE-1000 engine, which allows the Crestron Home interface to be displayed on larger third-party screens. A demonstration included the Crestron Home interface on a smart mirror TV from French manufacturer Opale (pictured above).

Since it’s a Crestron Home interface, users can also leverage the engine to watch TV on a smart mirror or any other display.

Nice’s New Voice Agent, Whole-Home Control Offerings

Similar to Crestron and Snap One, Nice provides much more than just a home control system. In fact, according to Paul Williams, managing director of the company’s home management business, the company provides solutions that can essentially take a homeowner from the gate at the front of their house through, through the garage door, and elsewhere throughout the home, due to it’s ability to make gate controls, doorbell cameras, garage door controls, and of course the Nice OS home management system.

According to Williams, the company will shortly be rolling out its Yubi Home app in the North American market, which he defines as an entry-level home management platform that will can integrate with the Nice OS system.

For the premium market, the company showcased its Nice OS 8.9 platform, which features intuitive voice control via the company’s internally-developed voice agent, an integration with Sonos’ new search API feature, a new map view feature, and a unique personalization feature that is enabled by facial recognition and switches the interface to the user’s own personalized home screen interface.

The personalization feature also allows homeowners to essentially block their children’s access to certain systems.

“Nobody else is doing that,” Williams said.

Other new Nice products showcased included the new Premium Toolless Speakers, a line of 14 in-wall speakers that provided impressive sound with simple installation.

The company also highlighted the latest Gefen Gen 3 AVoIP products, which provide flexible, high-performance solutions for routing and distributing 4K UltraHD content, catering to professional workspaces, retail environments, and home theaters.

RTI Captures Design Demands with Intelligent Surfaces Line

The highlight of RTI’s booth was, by far, the Intelligence Surfaces line of touchpanels and remotes. Seeing these up close in person, its clear that these were made with premium materials with narrow bezels and a low profile to the wall.

A hallmark of RTI, the interfaces are fully customizable with a capacitive-touch screen with either 1920×120 resolution for the IST-10 or 854×480 for the IST-5. They also feature a true-back display filter for clarity.

According to RTI, both the IST-10 and IST-5 feature dual speakers and a far-field microphone array and enable full duplex intercom and exceptional video streaming in h.264 or h.265 format. With proximity and ambient light sensors, the touchpanels quickly wake upon approach and adjust to the room lighting for easy viewing. Both models can mount portrait or landscape.

There are two versions of the Intelligent Surfaces remotes (ISR): a four-inch touchscreen or a two-inch touchscreen. These have programmable buttons and a premium, weighty feel. They can also come with an optional Wi-Fi access point base that serves as a dedicated connection to the remote.

Also new with these remotes is a “find my remote” button on the base that will trigger an audible “beep” from the remote.

“This is the number one request from our dealers,” said Bill Hensley, head of global marketing at RTI.

But It’s Not Leaving Keypad Users in the Dust

Also featured in the booth were more simple keypad solutions, such as the In-Wall PoE Keypad, featuring customizable engraving and 16 different backlight color options.

Hensley also highlighted Integration Designer 11, which includes a built-in driver store giving dealers access to the drivers they need without requiring them to leave the software and search external sources.

RTI is also working with 2N on an RTI-branded intelligent door station with a full HD, 156-degree wide-angle motion-detecting camera and intercom. This is expected to launch sometime this quarter.

2N Touts Integrations for Seamless Access Control

While we’re on the subject of 2N and access control, let’s talk about what 2N was showing off at ISE 2025, which was a lot of impressive systems with equally impressive integrations.

2N showcased its extensive lineup of access control, doorbell, and intercom solutions designed for diverse markets, including multi-dwelling units, single-family homes, elevator access and communication, and commercial buildings.

The company noted a shift from a product-oriented approach to a solutions-oriented approach to help facilitate seamless and secure movement through buildings using integrated systems such as secure parking, mobile credentialing and QR readers, Wi-Fi enabled units, and more.

Notably, 2N’s systems integrate with Finland-based Kone, one of the world’s largest elevator manufacturers. For instance, when a resident in an apartment building interacts with a 2N unit at the entrance using their smartphone, the system communicates with Kone’s cloud to dispatch an elevator to the lobby. Based on the resident’s profile and credentials, the automation can then direct the elevator to their designated floor.

The company also emphasizes that its solutions are compatible with all major control and automation platforms in the industry, with more than 300 integrations including Crestron, RTI, Savant, and Control4, and Microsoft Teams for intercom functionality in commercial buildings.

WALL-SMART Continues Innovating With Flush Mount Systems for iPads and More

Many of these control panels, switches, dimmers, keypads and other interfaces are designed to be mounted on a wall, and WALL-SMART helps make these devices look even better on a wall.

New for ISE 2025, the company showcased a custom mount for Apple’s 13-inch iPad Pro, offering seamless integration into walls and optional Ethernet connectivity for smart home control.

While CEO Galia Ben-Dor was not privy to any information on Apple’s rumored smart home-dedicated touchpanels, she was confident that the company would be able to quickly develop flush mount systems for whatever Apple comes out with.

For commercial spaces, WALL-SMART introduced a flush ceiling mount for Sennheiser’s TeamConnect Ceiling Medium microphone, designed for optimal audio capture in conference rooms. According to CEO Galia Ben-Dor, the company is also developing a similar mount for Shure systems.

Additionally, the company highlighted its Universal Access Point Mount for NETGEAR and HPE Wi-Fi access points, along with custom mounts for other touchpanels and keypads, including RTI’s new IST-10 and IST-5 interfaces, as well as mounting solutions for devices from Lutron, Crestron, Savant, Nice, Control4, and Rako.

Black Nova Dazzles With Premium Keypad, Touchpanel Finishes

Speaking of aesthetics and control, we absolutely have to talk about Black Nova. This Milan, Italy-based maker of keypads and touchpanels made with premium materials calls itself a design company that creates low voltage interfaces that work with all of the control systems integrators know and love.

Their products are highly customizable with different finishes like polymers, glass, aluminum, brass, and marble.

A highlight of Black Nova’s booth was the Alba collection, which includes two main families: Alba Metal and Alba Glass. The Alba Metal collection features aluminum finishes, which can also be paired with glass. Available button configurations range from two to eight buttons. The Alba Glass collection offers multiple frame finishes, including a new polymer finish. Additionally, the Alba Marble family introduces a variety of stone and marble finishes for even more customization.

Also highlighted at ISE 2025 was the company’s Black Jack collection, which features new wide buttons in oval and rectangle, up to two icons, backlit text, and brass, aluminum or polymer finishes.

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