What are the best smart home gadgets?

Question

I'm looking for a condo in San Francisco and smart tech that can improve my everyday life.  What products do you use and recommend I purchase?

Chad Whitaker · Accepted Answer

I've been experimenting with Philips Hue lights throughout my entire home for the last month. They're especially great if you have an Alexa or Google Home!

I have three of the color ambiance lights in the living room - excellent for parties and showing off to guests. I use the white ambiance lights in my office and bedroom. My favorite feature is a "Concentration  Mode" that uses cool, bright white "daylight" to help to energize your body and mind.

Finally, I recently setup my home to automatically turn off the lights as I leave, and automatically turn them on before I arrive. I never return home to a dark house, which is a very pleasant feeling.

The setup is pretty simple, but the Phillips app could use some UX improvements. I'm hoping they take some inspiration from the Nest app in the future. 😉

Mike Coutermarsh · Answer

Get the base station + a few bulbs. You'll be able control all your lights from your phone. Is really nice getting home and being able to turn everything on with 1 click. Bonus: there are apps that you can connect to it that react to whatever music you're playing and create an insane light show. 💡

Jack Dweck · Answer

I know you already have a Google Home, but I'm adding it here for others. :)

Most smart home gadgets can now be controlled by voice using an Amazon Echo or Google Home. For example, to control your Philips Hue lightbulbs, you can say "Hey Google, turn on the lights". Although the Echo has more integrations than Google Home does, I find that Google Assistant is a lot more contextual.

Answer

Keys are sooo last century. Upgrade to a smart lock that uses your phone to get in. This also makes having visitors a lot more seamless— I personally have accidentally locked out family and friends on multiple occasions because we did not coordinate keys / time that I'd be home to let them in. This way, they can get in and out with their phone and everyone stays happy.

Answer

Canary does a kickass job at home security (high quality camera with night mode, motion detection, user profiles, etc) but really goes above and beyond with the tiny features. They have privacy settings that can vary from what is essentially "lockdown mode" when you're away to "hey I'm home but on guard" to "leave me the f alone, I've got it covered" that shuts down the camera/microphone completely. It also takes air quality and temperature readings and compiles them into little color-coded graphs that are totally delightful and insightful to your understanding of "home health". I swear by this little device!

Answer

I'm obsessed with my Nest Protect. It's one of those little things that makes me feel so much safer (smoke and CO2 detection all connected to my phone, super loud alarms, monthly "home reports") and it's worth every penny. The glowing circle is also the most genius little design— the colors all have different meanings and at night when you turn off your lights it'll flash green if everything's all good, then glow white to guide your path and act as a gentle nightlight.

Nick Hayward · Answer

I'm currently tied into the Homekit ecosystem, but I still have these and I've found it to be the most reliable for setting up automation and the app makes it really simple to do all this. I believe you can setup a third party node js server called home bridge to make it compatible with Homekit still.

Kai Gradert · Answer

Big fan of Philips Hue. We use the automated scheduling when we are away for a few days. It also allows you to control lights remotely when you are away. Added bonus, toddlers LOVE changing the colors 👶

Julie Delanoy · Answer

I have a petcube. I use it to check on my cat when I'm away... and also to check on my apartment. I get a notification and a video recording of the past 30 seconds if something unusual happens while I'm not there. Funny thing is I could talk to an intruder... or attack them with the laser 😅

Kunal Bhatia · Answer

I have a few smart home gadgets (Nest, LIFX lights, Blossom, Keen Home Vents), but I just heard about this integrated smart home solution from Loxone because of a colleague. He did a ton of research (and spent a hefty amount) to get a custom solution from them. It comes with a server, so you own all your smart home data and the security layer around your data. They have products that will do everything–lighting, blinds, security, multimedia, energy, heating & cooling, etc. If you're starting from scratch and want the best, this is the way I'd love to go in the future.

Sebastian Hefel · Answer

Great security system - can can be linked with Philips Hue as well!

Austin · Answer

I'll never not have one of these. I love my Roomba. I even knocked down some walls to install pocket doors and extended my couch feet to make my apartment "roomba-ready".

Side note, as much as I love my Roomba, I think the company has rested on their laurels too long and risks getting knocked from their comfy market leader position because they haven't truly innovated in years. The nav tech is still "dumb", the WiFi/App enabled/touch screen "innovations" are fluff, and they haven't addressed any real issues (e.g. airflow, suction, ease of cleaning the unit). And don't even get me started on their floor mopping missteps. Dyson is going to crush it as soon as they normalize their price, and create a lower profile unit.

Jason Meeks · Answer

My friend has one of these and I used it to stay at his place while I was visiting, and I was able to get into his place while he was at work. Super clever, especially for people who are hosts on Airbnb and other similar services!

Austin · Answer

You don't necessarily think of a ceiling fan as "smart" but this product is impressive. It's beautiful, it has an occupancy sensor, an ambient light sensor, a temperature sensor that automatically turns the fan on/off, it's app enabled and it links with Nest.

Stefan Theofilos · Answer

If you love music, I don't know why you wouldn't get Sonos!

Answer

Syncs with Alexa/Siri for voice control of your TV and media center. Pretty sweet!

Cameron Eckelberry · Answer

Set up guest networks for a limited number of guests and for a limited amount of time. See every device connected to your network. Set up groups and cut the kids off of the network if they haven't done their chores 😝

Kevin Lou · Answer

It also doesn't hurt that it looks great!  The Google Home is as visible or invisible as you want it to be.

Kyle Hess · Answer

I still think Nest is really cool, even though it's like the OG smart home gadget.

Rob Bye · Answer

This plus Phillips hue is awesome.

alex kwon · Answer

If you are extra-concerned with security :)

Jarod Stewart · Answer

A great way to get started with smart homes! Works along with Alexa to make her worth while. ;)

Jack Harrison-Sherlock · Answer

4k Video, facial recognition and tracking?!

Mike Monaco · Answer

Control your home with your voice, feel like Tony Stark. Cheap enough to place one in each of your most frequented rooms.

Mike Monaco · Answer

Works with pretty much all smart home devices. Their original hub is also a great buy @ $35 on Amazon. Alexa compatible, so works great with the also frugal Echo Dot. No HomeKit support yet, but they have an easy to use app and notification center widget on iOS.

Jordan Kong · Answer

I've had one for a couple of years now, and while the auto-unlock function doesn't always work (maybe successful 60-70% of the time), the auto-lock function makes it easy to leave the house in a jiffy!

Gabriel Lewis · Answer

In my opinion these are better than the Phillips Hue lightbulb because they don't require a hub and they are widely supported.

Daniel Marcinkowski · Answer

It just got HomeKit, Alexa and Google Home support :)

Nussi Einhorn · Answer

Your house will feel more secure!