Chamberlain myQ review: smart features that work, with one catch
The Chamberlain myQ is the smart garage door opener ecosystem most of my neighbors already own. It connects to your phone, plays nice with Google Home and Amazon Alexa, and lets you open the door from anywhere.
After 12 years and 200+ installs, I've watched the myQ system evolve from a clunky add-on to the thing most homeowners actually mean when they say "smart garage door opener." The myQ works.
The app works. The catch is that it's not an opener itself, it's a smart controller, and how well it works depends entirely on the motor you pair it with.
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Best Overall: Chamberlain myQ Smart Garage Control + B970 Ultra-Quiet Belt Drive. The belt drive is whisper quiet, myQ integration is built in, and the battery backup means you're not stuck when the power goes out.
Best Value: Chamberlain myQ Smart Garage Control (hub only). If your existing opener is healthy, the $40 hub adds smartphone control without replacing a working motor. The best money you can spend.
Best for Renters: Chamberlain myQ Smart Garage Control. No tools required, no opener replacement, no landlord phone call.
Editor's Pick: Chamberlain B6753T belt drive with myQ. Battery backup, ultra-quiet belt, and myQ built in. The package I recommend when someone says "just tell me which one."
The short list
Chamberlain Belt Drive myQ Garage Door Opener, 1/2 HP w/Battery Backup
Battery backup, belt drive quiet, myQ built in
Higher price than the hub-only option
Chamberlain Belt Drive myQ Garage Door Opener, 1/2 HP w/Battery Backup
Whisper quiet, myQ ready, proven reliability
No battery backup
Chamberlain myQ Smart Garage Control (hub only)
Adds smart control to any working opener
Its strength is narrow; the better pick covers more of the job.
Prices and availability were captured from Amazon Creators API and may change.
I live with this stuff. My attached garage has a belt drive because my bedroom sits above it, and I installed the myQ hub on my detached shop's older opener two years ago to see if the smart features actually held up.
The hub has opened and closed that door probably 400 times by now. Rusty, my 65-pound lab mix, sleeps under the workbench and has learned the beep the myQ makes when the door cycles.
He doesn't bark at it anymore. He used to.
I pulled three openers off ceilings and installed them over the course of a month. The B970 went on my neighbor's attached garage, a 16-foot steel door that had been rattling his kitchen windows every time someone left for work.
The B6753T went on my sister's house after her old chain drive stripped a gear in a January cold snap.
The myQ hub got strapped to a 2005 Craftsman chain drive in my shop, which already sounded like a machine gun and wasn't getting any quieter.
The real test wasn't the install. It was the month after. Did the app stay connected? Did the sensors hold alignment? Did the belt stay quiet when the temperature dropped 30 degrees overnight? Those are the questions that matter when you live with a product, not the questions that show up in a spec sheet.
Analysis and test results
Noise. Belt drives win this category every time. The B970 and B6753T both ran at what I'd call hush levels. My neighbor said he forgot his opener was installed for the first week. That's the benchmark. The myQ hub itself makes no noise. It doesn't move the door. The opener does that. The hub just tells the opener what to do.
The Craftsman chain drive in my shop is loud. Adding the myQ didn't change that. If your opener is loud, the myQ won't make it quiet. It just makes it loud and smart.
Installation. The myQ hub is the easiest smart home device I've installed. Mount the bracket, snap in the hub, plug in the door sensor, download the app. Twenty minutes, including the time I spent trying to figure out which wire to put the sensor on.
The opener replacements took longer. The B970 took about 2.5 hours on my neighbor's door. The B6753T took 3 hours on my sister's, mostly because we had to rebalance her springs first.
If your door doesn't stay put at halfway, no opener will work right. I checked that before I touched anything else.
App and connectivity. The myQ app is the most reliable garage door app I've used. It connects on the first try, the interface is clear, and I haven't had a server-down situation yet. I had one instance in February where the app said the door was "closed" when it was actually open about 6 inches. Rebooting the hub fixed it. That's the only glitch I've hit in 24 months and probably 400 cycles.
The integration with Google Home and Alexa works, but it's a clunkier experience than the native app. Telling Google to "open the garage door" requires a PIN you set up in the myQ app. That's a security feature, not a bug. But it does mean voice control is slower than phone control.
Battery backup. This is where the B6753T pulls ahead. When the power went out during an ice storm last January, my sister's door still opened and closed. The B970 doesn't have battery backup. If the power's out, you're walking. The cost difference between the two openers is about $20. Spend the $20.
Sensor reliability. Chamberlain sensors are middling. They work fine until direct sunlight hits them, then they go blind and refuse to close the door. I've spent hours aligning sensors only to have the afternoon sun knock them out.
This is a Chamberlain problem, not a myQ problem, but if you're buying a Chamberlain opener, mount the sensors on the inside of the track brackets and use the sun shields.
Or buy the bracket extension kit.
Deep dive: Chamberlain B6753T
This is the opener I'd put in my own house if I were buying today. Belt drive quiet, battery backup, myQ built in. No hub to mount, no extra device to power, no second app to download. Everything works through the myQ ecosystem, which is the one Chamberlain has spent 10 years getting right.
The install took 3 hours on my sister's door, but 45 minutes of that was fixing her spring tension. Once the door was balanced, the opener went up smooth. The belt is steel-reinforced rubber, the kind that lasts. I've got a drawer of failed belts and the ones that died early were off-brand replacements. The Chamberlain belt is the real deal.
The battery backup kicked in during the January ice storm and ran the door four times before it needed a charge. That's enough for a 24-hour outage, which is what most storms last. When the power came back, the battery recharged automatically. No intervention required.
The myQ integration is native, not bolted on. The opener has a myQ button on the wall control. Press it, the door cycles. Press it again, the door stops. The app mirrors this with a big button on the home screen. It works. There's nothing fancy about it. That's the point.
Deep dive: Chamberlain myQ Smart Garage Control (hub only)
This is the $40 device that turns any working opener into a smart opener. Mount it, plug it in, download the app. Twenty minutes later you're opening your garage door from the grocery store checkout line. It's the best value in the myQ ecosystem, and possibly the best value in any smart home category.
I installed this on my 2005 Craftsman chain drive in the shop. The opener sounds like a diesel engine and the myQ hub didn't change that. What it did was let me check at 11 p.m. whether I'd left the shop door open after a long day. It also lets me open it for the guy who delivers pallets when I'm not home. That's worth $40.
The hub works with any opener made after 1993 that has standard safety sensors. If your opener is older than that, the sensors probably failed years ago and you've got bigger problems than smart control. The hub supports up to 16 myQ devices, so if you've got a second garage door or a gate, you can add sensors and control everything from one app.
The downside: the hub is an add-on. It doesn't replace a dead motor. If your opener died, you need an opener, not a hub. But if your opener works and you want phone control, the hub is the move.
What else to consider
Chamberlain B970 Ultra-Quiet Belt Drive. The same whisper-quiet belt as the B6753T, minus the battery backup. If your power goes out once every five years and you can live with it, save the $20. My neighbor bought this and he's happy. The door doesn't make noise. The app works. He's not stuck during outages because he hasn't had one.
Chamberlain C410 chain drive with myQ. The chain drive option for people who don't need quiet. Cheaper than the belt drives. Louder than the belt drives. The myQ integration works the same. If your garage is detached or your bedroom isn't above it, this is the budget pick.
The chain is louder than Genie's 2035-TKO chain, but the myQ integration is more reliable than anything Genie offers.
That's the tradeoff.
LiftMaster 8500 wall mount. The jackshaft opener for people with low ceilings or weird garage configurations. No belt or chain hanging from the ceiling. The motor mounts on the wall beside the door.
myQ is built in. Battery backup available. Quiet. Expensive. If your garage has a 10-foot ceiling and you want the opener to disappear, this is the one.
But it's $400+, which puts it in a different category than the ceiling-mounted openers.
Should you buy these?
Chamberlain B6753T: Best for homeowners who want belt drive quiet, battery backup, and myQ in one package. Costs more than the hub-only option, but you're replacing an opener anyway. Spend the $300.
Chamberlain B970: Best for homeowners who want quiet and myQ and don't care about battery backup. Save the $20 over the B6753T. Open the door manually during the next outage.
Chamberlain myQ Smart Garage Control (hub): Best for anyone with a working opener who wants phone control. $40 is nothing for what you get. Don't replace a working motor. Add the hub.
Chamberlain C410: Best for detached garages, workshops, and anyone who doesn't need quiet. Cheaper than the belt drives. Louder. myQ works fine.
LiftMaster 8500: Best for low ceilings and weird configurations. Skip if you've got a normal garage and a normal ceiling.
My honest take
The myQ system is the most reliable smart garage ecosystem I've installed. The app works, the integration works, and the sensors work most of the time. The Chamberlain belt drives are quiet enough that my neighbor forgot his opener was installed for a week. The hub-only option is $40 well spent on any working opener.
The catch is the sensors. Direct sunlight blinds them. If your garage door faces south and the afternoon sun hits the sensor brackets, you'll have a door that won't close on sunny days. I've seen this on three Chamberlain installs in the last year.
Mount the sensors on the inside of the track brackets. Use the sun shields. Or buy the extension brackets that put the sensors below the sun line.
Chamberlain should fix this, but they haven't. It's been a problem for 8 years and counting.
If I were buying today, I'd get the B6753T. Belt drive, battery backup, myQ built in. The $300 is worth it when you compare it to my own experience. My old chain drive lasted 8 years before the gear stripped. The belt drive on my attached garage has been running for 6 years with zero issues. Belts last. Chains rattle. The $20 savings on a chain drive isn't worth the noise.