The best smart home devices can make your life easier by letting you use your phone, or your voice, to control the lights, heating, locks, devices plugged into your electrical sockets, and more - creating the epitome of what a modern abode should offer.
As well as letting you adjust these systems when you’re at home, the best smart home devices also let you control them when you’re away from your property too. No more wasting energy and money because you’ve left the house and the lights or heating are still switched on. Just turn them off from your smartphone, no matter where you are.
There’s a wide array of smart home devices on the market, so knowing where to start your smart home journey can be confusing. For those prioritizing simplicity and affordability, the best smart plugs and switches and the best smart lighting should be your first purchase.
Easy to install, they are relatively inexpensive and can be very quickly added to, with one of the best smart speakers or best smart displays, to bring voice control to your smart home, too.
For those looking to build a more intricate smart home where different devices work together, automating your property then consider investing in the best home security cameras and best video doorbells, as well as the best smart thermostats. This means you could have the lights switch on automatically if the home security camera or video doorbell detects activity.
You’ll need to consider if the smart home device you’ve selected can communicate with any existing smart home gadgets, including the smart speakers, you may have in your property, and whether there’s a wide enough range of compatible devices in your plan to expand your smart home in the future.
Best smart home devices 2021
Best smart home devices 2021 ranked
The Eufy Video Doorbell is the best wireless smart doorbell camera on the market in terms of price, reliability, and performance. While it equals the Arlo Video doorbell when it comes to being able to see the full length of someone at your door, it's subscription-free (up to 16GB of footage – around two week’s worth – can sit on the bundled base station) ensuring there's no ongoing cost associated with the device.
The battery-powered doorbell is good if you’re renting a place and can’t take out the old doorbell that’s already installed - it works wirelessly with the help of a hub that connects to your router, you can simply throw it on any outdoor surface and get it to work for up to six months at a time.
We really liked the layout of the app, and the fact that the system can be integrated with Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant only makes things even better for smart home enthusiasts.
But should you buy it? If you want a system that doesn’t cost anything to maintain and love being in charge of how/where the video is stored, the Eufy Video Doorbell is great. It gives you complete control with no overhead cost.
Read the full review here: Eufy Video Doorbell 2K
For years, we gave smart speakers a pass in the audio department because we figured there was just no way for a speaker to both be smart and sound good. That was, until we found the Amazon Echo Studio.
In the Echo Studio, Amazon has made its best speaker yet. It's ambitious, flexible, serves multiple purposes and comes at a low price point that only a company with the scale of Amazon could competitively achieve.
It’s a bombastic speaker, packed full of not just smart home and assistant tech, but smart audio considerations too. At its best, its 3D audio effects breathe new life into your favorite songs, and that's saying nothing of its ability to connect to your Amazon Fire TV devices to offer more immersive sound.
The Echo Studio also doubles up as a ZigBee hub, so it can connect to 1,000s of smart home products, right out of the box, making it ideal for a smart home.
Read the full review: Amazon Echo Studio
The Google Nest Hub Max is a larger version of the Google Nest Hub (initially known as the Google Home Hub), a smart speaker with a screen. It also has a front-facing camera and can plug into the Google-owned Nest platform to act as a smart home camera. This part of the Google Nest Hub Max needs a little work judging by our experience.
The Google Nest Hub Max can also be used to manage and control hundreds of smart home devices such as smart lights, thermostats, and smart plugs, from a range of different manufacturers, putting an end to having to use several different apps.
It sounds good enough to act as a mini Hi-Fi, Google Assistant feels responsive and the large screen lets you watch YouTube while you cook.
Although the Google Nest Hub Max had some slight issues at launch, it's still not just a great smart display but a great smart speaker and a way to stay entertained while you wait for your onions to sauté.
Read the full review: Google Next Hub Max Review
One thing that you might want to do as soon as you decide to make your home a smart home is switch out the light bulbs – something easier said than done considering how many different options are out there. Of them all, however, we think the best smart bulbs are Philips Hue range of smart lighting.
If you opt for Philips Hue bulbs, you will need to get the Philips Bridge, which is kind of like a hub for your lights. The advantage, however, is reliability, and the fact that the system is compatible with a range of different standards and home control systems including Apple HomeKit, Nest, and Samsung SmartThings.
It's not just light bulbs either. Philips Hue also offers a number of LED table and floor lamps, wall lights both for inside and outdoors, ceiling pendants, lightstrips and light bars, along with accessories such as motion sensors, dimmer switches and even a smart plug. So if you want to eventually expand the smart lighting in your home to cover all rooms, there's plenty of options rather than just switching out existing bulbs.
On test, we found the Philips Hue lights responsive, with plenty of choice in colors and effects. There's plenty of customizable scheduling options too - for example, you can set outdoor lights to come on at sunset but go off at 2am, rather than waiting for sunrise. You certainly won't be wanting for much else with these smart light bulbs.
Read the full review: Philips Hue
When you think of the 'smart thermostat', what comes to mind? For most people, it would probably be the Nest Learning Thermostat.
Nest was among the first companies to inject machine learning into heating and cooling your home, and since then has been hailed as the best smart thermostat manufacturer. In our eyes, its more affordable take on the smart thermostat - the Nest Thermostat E - is the best you can buy right now.
The Nest Thermostat E proves that you don’t have to shell out for a smart thermostat. It does away with a few, unnecessary features, but it keeps the majority of the smarts and saves you a whole lot of money.
There are few situations in which the Thermostat E isn’t the best choice for you. For example, if you have a high-end multi-stage heating or cooling system, the Learning Thermostat may be a better choice. Still, if the Nest Thermostat E is compatible with your setup and you don’t care about the lack of farsight or slightly lower quality display, then it’s an excellent option.
Read the full review: Nest Thermostat E
It’s easy to see why Arlo is a popular choice with those who take home security seriously. There’s no doubt this is one of the most advanced systems we’ve tested with a wealth of useful features including a built-in siren and control via the web.
Sure, the Arlo Pro 3 does not have a 4K resolution like the more expensive Arlo Ultra and Arlo Ultra 2 - but the quality is still a pretty impressive 2K. You’ll get a 160-degree field-of-view, and as expected these days, the cameras have night vision and two-way audio. There are other smart features too, like automatic zooming and motion tracking, which should help ensure the camera picks things up when it needs to. The camera can zoom up to 12x, and offers HDR support as well.
The Arlo Pro 3 integrates with the rest of your smart home too. It supports Google Assistant and Amazon Alexa, plus you can use it with HomeKit. Which is great, but unfortunately, some features are trapped behind a paywall.
You do get a three-month trial, and the subscription is only $3 per camera per month, for the basic Arlo Smart subscription, but if you don’t pay it you’ll lose access to things like object detection, cloud recording, and more. Arlo used to offer a seven-day free event-based cloud storage option, but unfortunately, that option isn’t available for the Arlo Pro 3.
Overall, the Arlo Pro 3 is a worthy successor to the Arlo Pro 2 - and a great option for those who want an outdoor security system that offers good, reliable image quality without overpaying for the Arlo Ultra.
Read the full review: Arlo Pro 3
Every smart home needs a smart plug - it’s one of the simplest ways to automate your home. The Eve Energy smart plug is more than just a way to control devices plugged into it, however. It's also a way to monitor your energy usage, and get estimates on how much powering certain devices in your home is going to cost. This is great if you're trying to save some money and be a bit more energy conscious.
The smart plug uses Bluetooth, although if you have a HomePod Mini or an Apple TV in your home, you’ll be able to use Thread - a wireless technology that’s also built-in to the plug. More stable than Wi-Fi, Thread helps put an end to smart home devices failing to respond. However, the smart plug only supports HomeKit - it won’t work with Alexa or Google Assistant, unfortunately.
On test, it was responsive and offers plenty of handy features such as the ability to set schedules, making it our pick of the smart plug market.
Read the full review: Eve Energy smart plug
The smart home is getting smarter, but not everyone wants to completely do away with their old systems. For example, while there are plenty of smart locks out there designed to completely replace your old lock in favor of a keypad or new keyhole, some people want to keep the ability to use their older keys.
That, however, is where August comes in with the August Smart Lock Pro, which fits onto your existing deadbolt and allows you to keep using your old key when you (or your landlord) wants to, while still adding the benefits of a smarter lock.
But while August is hailed by many as the best manufacturer of these retrofit smart locks, the August Smart Lock Pro still isn’t cheap: At $229 (around £179, AU$300) for just the lock, and $279 (around £219, AU$380) for the lock with the 'Connect' Wi-Fi adapter, the August Smart Lock Pro is an investment.
Still, for people who are renting, live with someone who prefer using a key, or who simply want a super easy-to-install and relatively well-designed device, the August Smart Lock Pro is a great option, and one that’s easy to recommend.
Read the full review: August Smart Lock Pro
Nest doesn’t just make great smart thermostats: it also offers smoke alarms that can connect to the rest of your smart home. The Nest Protect looks great, and offers great connectivity through Wi-Fi and IFTTT.
The Nest Protect will alert you if there’s a fire, even if you’re on the other side of the world. The accompanying app is well designed and easy to use, too - though hopefully you'll never need it.
What do I need to make my house a smart home?
Before you start assembling your smart home, it pays to think about which smart home system you'll want to start with. There are quite a few out there, including Apple HomeKit, Google Home/Google Assistant, Samsung SmartThings, the Amazon Alexa platform, IFTTT, ZigBee, Z-Wave, and more. If you’re already plugged into a system, then it might be wise to stick with that. For example, avid Android owners might have more luck with Google Home than with the Amazon Echo or Apple’s HomePod Mini. Our guide on what to consider when designing your smart home, should be able to help you identify the best smart home system for you.
To what extent you invest in your smart home is really down to you, and you can personalize it to your level of comfort. You can choose to opt for a handful of devices, for example a smart light and a home security camera so if a potential intruder is detected, your light will switch on and hopefully scare them off. Alternatively, you can go all out ensuring every room is fully automated so you’ll never have to lift a finger again. The great thing about smaller, cheaper smart devices (we're looking at you Amazon Echo Dot) is that there's zero hassle or commitment to a more connected home, but if you change your mind further down the line, you can easily add more and more devices.
As well as the familiar smart home devices we’ve already mentioned, there’s a whole host of connected gadgets from the best smart locks and the best robot vacuums to popular kitchen appliances like the best coffee makers and the best air fryers - the sky's the limit.
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