Fully connected smart home systems can simplify your life and save you money. Automatically turn on lights when it gets dark, turn down the heat when you’re not home, check whether you locked the front door with an app instead of driving back home, or combine multiple complex tasks for easy home automation.
The best smart home systems do all this and more. They connect to each other and your phone or tablet via Wi-Fi or Bluetooth to give you a central place to control multiple aspects of your home, even when you’re not there.
The main ecosystems for smart home devices are the Amazon Alexa voice assistant, Apple’s HomeKit (addressed via Siri), and Google Nest, which used to be called Google Home and works via Google Assistant. Many, though not all, smart home gadgets will work with more than one of these voice control systems.
Google Nest
The Google Nest smart home system has some of the best smart home devices, including the ultra-popular Nest Learning Thermostat. That’s a smart thermostat that learns your routine to save money on your heating and cooling costs.
Google’s small Nest Cam security cameras keep an eye on the inside or outside of your house, day or night, in full HD resolution. You can access its feed online or via an app. It can even send alerts when it senses movement or spots the shape of a person. Nest Cams can form a key part of any home security system.
The Nest Hello is a smart video doorbell that lets you see who’s at the door and even talk to them, whether you’re inside your house or on the other side of the world.
Apple HomeKit
The central point of any Siri-friendly Apple HomeKit smart home is the Apple HomePod Mini. It’s about the size of an orange, and the HomePod features four microphones to better hear your voice when you ask Siri to play music or turn on lights.
For devices, the Eve Connected Home products work with HomeKit. The Eve Energy Strip, for instance, has three individually-addressable outlets that you can also put on separate timers. The Eve Weather Station is a small wireless smart display that shows temperature, humidity, and barometric pressure.
There are dozens of smart outlets, lights, plubs, switches, cameras, locks, and other devices that you can control with Siri via Apple HomeKit. You can even operate your garage door from afar, operate smart locks, or connect your smart TV or game console.
Philips HUE
Philips was an early innovator in the smart home space, and their Hue White & Color Ambiance A19 LED Starter Kit is a great way to integrate smart lighting, even in a variety of colors. Without switching bulbs, choose a hue, from standard white to reds to greens or blues and anywhere in between. The kit operates with Google Assistant connectivity.
From there, you can expand your Philips smart lighting system with additional smart light bulbs or LED light strips for a touch of color and light just about anywhere. Add a motion sensor to trigger the smart lights when you enter a room or when it gets dark.
Lenovo Smart Displays with Google Assistant
Lenovo makes a series of smart displays that can show the weather, play videos, and let you video chat with friends and family. The Lenovo 7″ Smart Display Tablet has a large, 7-inch 1024 x 600 px touchscreen with a 5-watt stereo speaker that has two 1.5-inch audio drivers.
If that’s a bit too big for your table or counter, look into the Lenovo 4″ Smart Clock. It’s like a regular alarm clock but for the 21st century, letting you ask Google Assistant via voice commands for the weather, news, and traffic, plus play music through its 3-watt, 1.5-inch speaker with two passive radiators for better low-end bass. Think of it like a hybrid smart speaker-smart clock.
Bose Home Speaker 500 w/ Amazon Alexa
Bose has a long history of highly-popular, room-filling tabletop audio systems. The latest 500 series goes smart with compatibility with Amazon’s Alexa. Paired with a portable Bluetooth speaker, you can get great audio at home and on the go.
The Home Speaker 500 with Bose SoundLink Revolve combo delivers the powerful 500 smart home speaker and the Revolve, which is a medium-sized, water-resistant portable speaker.
If you want something even more pocketable, the 500 with SoundLink Micro combo bundles the 500 and the tiny SoundLink Micro, which offers huge sound despite its tiny, pocket-friendly size.
