Karandash F-22 Smart Thermostat with Color Touchscreen, Wi-Fi, Compatible with Alexa, Requires C-Wire (Black)

Decided to upgrade my thermostat, so I waded through the options here on Amazon and found this one. There was only one review (guess which one), and the company's website was sparse, but I decided to take the chance on it anyway.The installation went OK, but I had to run a new wire to get the "C" wire that these thermostats now require. My furnace had the terminal, it just wasn't connected to a wire. I opted to run a whole new cable using 18/5 wire, since it was a short run and I was able to pull it through (taped to the old cable). I also had to figure out how the terminal names / numbers matched with the semi-standard US color codes. The manual has a pretty complete list of HVAC configurations and how to connect wires to terminals, but for someone who's not well versed in this stuff, it would be difficult to set this up. I dropped a rating star for this and the difficulty configuring the device. It turned on first try, however.I set up the main options and connected to my WiFi. I was able to connect using the MyComfort Home app by manually typing in the MAC address. The QR code on the LCD screen was not readable by my phone (Pixel 2 XL, which supposedly has a great camera). I used two different apps and also the reader inside the MyComfort Home app. Once it was connected and ready, I tried entering the schedule from the thermostat screen. First thing I noticed is that what appear to be thumbwheels, aren't. You have to use the arrow buttons to enter the settings. It's OK once you figure that out, but it's not intuitive and not as easy to tap 30 times to get from 0 to 30 minutes (for example). The thumbwheels DO work in the app. But when I tried that, I kept getting popups from Android saying that the app was stopping (even though it didn't appear so from the display). So I went back the device and entered the times / temps.When you're using the 7-day schedule, it doesn't look like there's a way to copy one day to another: you have to enter all the settings for each of the (up to) 4 times separately.. I was frustrated with the app, so I thought perhaps Google Home would be able to control the device. Home was not able to find it, however, so even though the product description says it works with Alexa, it does not work with Google Home - at least not on my phone. Tried searching for a new device, and also looked for it in the list of possible devices. It also does not have a web interface built in. I tried hitting the thermostat's IP address with my browser, but it would not connect.Pretty disappointed with this device. Three stars because it does work. Missing two stars because it's so difficult to install and use.Update a few hours later:The thermostat was set for auto heat / cool. When the programmed temp (24 hr mode) dropped, the unit switched to cool mode ... in Winter ... after just maintaining the temp using heat. Switched it to heat mode and the fan eventually turned off.I've also noticed the the LCD display has a fairly narrow viewing angle. It has that kind of shimmering look when the distance between your eyes makes enough of a difference in the contrast that each eye sees a different view of the display. You wouldn't notice this on many devices, but on a thermostat where it's pretty close to your face, it's pretty apparent. It happens at about 10 deg off-center. The upper half of the temp circle just disappears.

We've had the F-22 running for about a week and are pretty happy with it. It has the one necessary feature that seems to be missing on even quite expensive WiFi programmable thermostats, which is the "Hold" function (lets you break out of the programmed settings to set a temperature for a time length you can select). I can't imagine how a manufacturer of similar units could NOT have such an easily added and necessary feature (it's just software!! Yet many if most do seem to skip providing a way to do a "Hold").It doesn't have "geofencing", but we are retired people (home most of the time) so such a feature wasn't needed or even wanted -- the last thing I'd want would be for the thermostat to decide I wasn't home when I'm only in another room or when my wife goes out. So if that's important to you, keep looking, but otherwise, no loss.Programming this unit is pretty easy, and it lets you set up to 4 different times to change temperature in a day (each day of the week can be different for those 4, too). The phone app is ok, not difficult once you see how to use it (though a little confusing to find everything at first). I really like the screen display on the F-22, we leave ours on all the time so temperature or time can be seen whenever walking past. There is a vacation mode (not tried yet) for changing temp to a low value if you're going to be out for an extended time (that seems a better option than geofencing to me anyway). It also displays humidity, no idea whether that's correct or not (never really look at that).On the negative side, "pairing" of the unit to the phone app would only work when I entered the ID number (see the last menu on the thermostat's settings) -- the bar codes provided (both on the box it came in and on the screen of the unit) wouldn't successfully pair. The ID number isn't hard to enter, but I wish they company could just tell us on their web site that the bar codes just plain DON'T work (!) so people don't waste their time and be tempted to just return the package!And the manufacturer doesn't label the wire connection inside according to the names or colors usually used here (USA), so some translation is required! For our setup (single stage heating/air conditioning, one fan speed) only the US wire designations C, R, G, W, and Y are needed and their screw terminal names in the F-22 (in the same order) would be C, R, T1, T3, T4. There are diagrams in the downloadable docs (get them!), and on-screen info in the unit to translate if your system is different. Not terrible, but wouldn't it be easier for the company to provide diagrams on their website with the wire designations people are likely to have already installed in their house?So, overall, recommended (all needed features, easy day-to-day interface, much lower cost than most others). Would be a total success if Karandash could spend maybe an hour and clean up their instructions and docs though.

I returned this thermostat. The phone application is super shady, it is almost impossible to find in the app store, and it is barely functional. The website for the company that makes this device is very hard to find. Was not able to get my device to pair at all, and I have a Computer Science Degree and work with technology every day. I would not recommend this device at all. It is unfortunate as the thermostat looks really great and the on-thermostat controls are very well designed.

I am returning this. It is difficult to install, needs 5th wire that isn't normally used in the US, and the directions for setup are sparse. On top of this, when using the phone app it called for 'Mycomfort House', it does not work at all on Androids unless you give it full access to pictures, videos, and all phone calls (as well as making phone calls). If you decline these, it will not work at all. I am returning this.

After living with old yet programmable thermostats for 10 years I decided to purchase the the F-22. I can't compare to other wifi-enabled competitors, but I can tell you that the F-22 is pretty amazing. It took me all of about 30 minutes to install two units, connect them to wifi etc. The smart phone app works amazingly well and allows schedule setting, temperature adjustments and use of other features from anywhere. My favorite features are probably adjusting the temperature out of bed at night or in the morning. Separately, you can schedule the AC to run during certain times. Overall I highly recommend this thermostat.