The 7 Best Smart Home Devices That Changed My Life. Here’s Our Advice

1. Google Nest Learning Thermostat

Best Smart Thermostat

The Google Nest Learning Thermostat is an energy-saving smart thermostat that gets to know your routine and programs itself. With the companion app, you can operate it from anywhere, and it’s compatible with Alexa and Google Assistant, so you can use your voice to change the temperature. Google’s smart thermostat is also elegantly designed, with a large display and beautiful metal finishes to complement any home’s décor.

It takes a few days for the Google Nest smart thermostat to identify and program itself based on your routines. Our favorite feature by far is “Away Mode.” The smart thermostat will prompt you after a few days to automatically switch into “Away Mode” when it detects you are not at home. You can decide to opt in or opt out, and you always have the option to switch at any point. For better energy savings, we recommend turning on “Away Mode.” If you decide to opt out, you still have complete control over the temperature when you are at home and when you are away using their simple and free companion app.

Everything (fan, cooling/heating, air humidity, away/home mode, schedule, history, etc.) can be controlled directly from the app. Additionally, because it can calculate how many times your furnace turns on and off, the smart thermostat will alert you when it’s time to change your air filters. This feature alone makes it worthy of being one of the 7 best smart home devices.

2. Arlo Essential Wire-Free Video Doorbell

Best Smart Doorbell

 The Arlo smart doorbell is very clear with its built-in HDR used in the HD footage. The Arlo smart doorbell also lets you choose the recording/motion zones within the frame of the picture, as well as the sensitivities. Additionally, the detection system found in the Arlo smart doorbell uses algorithms to determine whether it’s an animal, person, or car. 

The video call itself is also very good, and you can clearly hear the person on the other end of the line. This is perfect for those who like to have a conversation with visitors. I was pleasantly surprised to find that the battery easily lasts three months, and re-charging takes only a few hours. For the battery life alone, I would classify this as one of the 7 best smart home devices.

3. Echo Dot Smart Speaker

Best Smart Speaker

The Echo Dot is Amazon’s most popular Alexa-enabled smart speaker. The audio is high quality and delivers crisp vocals as well as balanced bass. All of this is possible by creating an elegant, compact design that delivers a rich sound. It is super easy to stream songs from all sorts of services by just using your voice.

Although you can definitely use the Echo Dot smart speaker to listen to music, answer questions, and check the weather, the most important feature is the ability to control your entire smart home with your voice and an army of the best smart home devices.

4. August Wi-Fi Smart Lock

Best Smart Lock

The August Wi-Fi Smart Lock and its’ companion app allow you to lock and unlock your door remotely, check door status, provide virtual guest keys, and keep track of who is coming and going. The August Wi-Fi Smart Lock is straightforward to install and connects to your existing deadbolt so you may keep your original keys right out of the box.

One of my favorite features from the companion app will make us all forget about key copying, and we will never have to hide a key under the doormat again. The August Smart Lock app is able to quickly and easily share permanent, scheduled, or temporary access to your house with friends, family, and other people you trust.

5. Shark RV1001AE IQ Robot Self-Empty XL, Robot Vacuum

Best Smart Robot Vacuum

This Shark IQ R1001AE is reasonably priced, so we decided to give it a try. We have pets in our house that are constantly shedding, so having this smart robot vacuum clean up every day has been incredibly helpful. It works well on both hard floors and carpet, and moving between the two is seamless.

The model that can be controlled with the app allows you to schedule a regular time for when this robot vacuum should run. The app also lets you initiate cleaning and docking from the convenience of your phone, anywhere!

This Shark Robot has smart navigation and mapping capabilities that allow it to cover 50% more ground than traditional standard robot vacuums. The advanced programming will prevent it from slipping down a flight of stairs on its own, as well as avoid other open spaces with the magnetic strip attached.

6. Security Camera 2K

Best Smart Security Camera

This smart home camera has 8 IR-LED beads that capture every moment, even in pitch black, up to 27 feet away. If intruders were to break into your house, switch on the deafening alarm to scare them away. A great feature for simple peace of mind!

Another cool feature of the smart security camera is that it uses intelligent AI algorithms and rotation to track the motion of moving objects. The sound of a human, dog, or other animal is detected, and you are notified in seconds. The detection sensitivity can be customized to how on-demand you want to be notified of the movement.

7. COSORI Air Fryer Toaster Oven Combo 7 Quart

Best Smart Air Fryer Oven

With one-touch cooking options like “Toast, Roast, Bake, dehydrate, Chicken, Fish, Bacon, Steak, Seafood, Veggies, Fries, and Frozen”, this smart air fryer oven can handle 14-in-1 functions for you. Customize your own cooking functions using your preferred time and temperature to expand your options.

Before deciding on this Cosori smart air fryer, we conducted a lot of research. It’s the ideal size, and it looks and functions well. It comes with a wide range of accessories that allow you to prepare different dishes at once.

Even though the handbook recommends keeping all three sides away from stuff, it is exceedingly quiet and does not blast much air.