I had same reservations as you before I bought my first Ecobee3. I probably read same negative reviews as you. However the thermostat worked very well for me, w

I had same reservations as you before I bought my first Ecobee3. I probably read same negative reviews as you. However the thermostat worked very well for me, without all the issues that I've read. I bought two more over the year. In terms of UI and ease of use - I prefer a thermostat with which I don't need to fiddle after I program it. Ecobee3's programming and automatic features worked well for my family in two zones. Kitchen zone (used mostly by my wife) was impossible to program to her satisfaction but integration with Amazon Echo solved the issue.