20 hours ago
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As a smart home reviewer, I've tested dozens of smart devices. While many of these have flopped, I have a list of favorites that I simply can't let go of. As such, I thoroughly recommend them for anyone looking to expand an established smart home or start setting up one for the first time.
A smart home setup can sound intimidating for newbies, but I can promise you it's not as hard as it seems -- you'd be surprised at how little is required. As long as you have something that works as a centralized hub (like an Amazon Echo device, an Apple HomePod device, or a Google Hub, for example), you can simply build upon that.
Here are my favorite smart home devices.
This is, by far, my favorite video doorbell ever. I've tested many different offerings from different brands, yet I always keep this one on my front door. The reasons I love it so much include the dual cameras, 2K resolution, Delivery Guard to watch your packages, and the fact that it doesn't require you to pay monthly fees to access these features.
The Eufy Video Doorbell E340 can be set up with existing wired connections or wirelessly with the built-in rechargeable battery. It has 8 GB of built-in storage, which roughly covers about two months of footage. You can get a HomeBase S380 for expanded local storage and AI features. The HomeBase also works as a chime, but you can use an Echo device as one as well. Eufy also features a Minibase Chime for it, purchased separately.
The front-facing camera gives you a full view of visitors at your front door, while the downward-facing camera keeps track of your packages. The doorbell alerts you when a package is delivered, and when you open the live view, you can tap on each package to see what time each one arrived. You can set up the Eufy E340 video doorbell to ring an alarm when someone approaches or picks up your packages, or even alert you if they're left outside past a certain time.
Also: This video doorbell camera successfully replaced my Ring with no subscription
The Aqara T2 E26 is one of the most reliable smart bulbs I've tested. It supports Zigbee and Thread, and is compatible with Matter when you pair it with an Aqara hub. The LED bulb can go up to 1,100 lumens and features a broad spectrum of white shades, from 2,000K to 9,000K.
I use my Aqara smart bulb on a lamp in my bedroom, and it turns on at dusk on a schedule. It's also part of my routines so I can ask Siri to turn off all the bedroom lights each night, or say, "Alexa, bedtime."
Having tested many brands of smart bulbs, the Aqara stands out because it's dependable. It never randomly disconnects on me, like other smart bulbs do, and hasn't presented me any issues in operation. It's definitely become my favorite because of its consistency.
As you can see from this photo, I love using the Kasa Smart Plug Ultra Mini 15A for my Christmas tree and holiday lights. This smart plug is perfect to work with different plug-in devices, adding the convenience of automation and remote control.
I also use smart plugs for other devices, such as older lamps, fans, and even my flat iron, so I can always make sure I've turned it off from wherever I am.
One of the Kasa smart plug's best features is that it's very compact, so it doesn't take up as much space as other popular smart plugs. Its small size means it leaves enough real estate so you can plug in other devices right next to it.
This Kasa smart plug is pretty affordable at $10, but you can also buy a four-pack for only $30.
The Lockly Visage Zeno Series is the best smart lock I've tested. It features facial recognition, so it unlocks your door as soon as you come into view, making it much more secure than entering a passcode. Lockly ensures your facial recognition data is encrypted and stored in the smart lock, so it doesn't get sent to cloud servers.
And if you still want to use a keycode for entry, this smart lock features Lockly's PIN Genie technology, which scrambles the numbers on the keypad so onlookers can't guess your passcode.
This smart lock earned ZDNET's Editor's Choice award for outstanding performance, and also supports Apple Home Key, fingerprint, physical key, and remote unlocking without a hub or subscription.
Also: I switched to a Wi-Fi enabled smart lock with facial recognition
The only problem with this smart lock is that you have to be willing to splurge. It's priced steeply at $350, and it's so good that it rarely goes on sale, though you can save $30 for a limited time on the Lockly website.
However, the $350 price tag gets you the best smart lock I've tested and two rechargeable batteries, so you can swap them out when one is drained.
The Ting Smart Sensor is such a simple and effective device that I can't help recommending it, especially if you have an older home. You simply plug in your Ting and connect it to the mobile app, then wait some time until your device learns your home's patterns.
A Ting sensor can detect scintillations, or miniscule sparks in wiring damaged by construction, old age, or incorrect installation. The sensor detects these early warning signs and alerts you of them so you can correct them before they become a bigger problem, like a tripped breaker or a fire.
Aside from giving me insights into my home's electrical safety, I also love the Ting device because it alerts me immediately when there is an outage and gives me valuable insights on nearby outages and risks for them. I have a full EcoFlow home backup system, yet the Ting app is much quicker at sending me outage notifications than the EcoFlow app.
When I've been out of town and checking on my home, Ting notifies me if there's a severe thunderstorm warning that could affect our power, and shows me a detailed history of when the power went out and when it was restored.
I'm a smart home tech reviewer who covers a lot of devices that automate daily tasks, including robot vacuums, robot mowers, and other smart device categories. Notably, not all of these devices are worth your hard-earned money, so I only recommend the ones I've tested that have proven to meet or exceed expectations.
For this story, I chose only the smart home devices that have become my personal favorites, especially having tested dozens of these types of gadgets.
A smart home hub is the central command center for your smart devices. Smart home hubs connect to your network either via Wi-Fi or ethernet and then connect to multiple smart home devices via other connectivity protocols, like Matter, Thread, Zigbee, or Z-Wave.
You could connect 20 smart bulbs to your Wi-Fi network, which may slow it down due to congestion. With a smart home hub, you can connect the single hub to your Wi-Fi, then connect the 20 smart bulbs to the hub via Zigbee.
Having a smart home hub also potentially means local control for your smart devices, depending on the hub, so you could still control your smart home devices even if your internet connection goes down.
A hub isn't always required for a smart home setup, but having one ensures your different devices are able to communicate with each other without congesting your Wi-Fi network.
Many smart devices work without a hub and connect directly to your Wi-Fi, like the Lockly Visage Zeno Series smart lock, while others let you use a hub to connect to, like the Aqara T2 smart bulb.
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