The best smart home devices will dramatically improve your living space. Gadgets like the best smart speakers and displays serve as both a control and entertainment hub in any room. Connect these smart hubs to the best smart lights or smart thermostats to instantly customize the look and feel of each room.
All of these smart home devices can communicate with one another and collaborate to improve your home’s comfort, safety, and control. In some cases, they can learn from your habits and anticipate your needs, allowing you to save money.
Whether you want to turn on your lights with your smartphone, stream music to a smart speaker with Alexa (or Google Assistant), lock your doors remotely, or hoover your floors without lifting a finger, the best smart home devices streamline your routine for maximum convenience.
The number of smart home brands is steadily increasing. Meanwhile, the universal Matter smart home protocol allows devices to communicate regardless of platform. However, not all smart home devices are as dependable or smart as they claim. We tested dozens of products in a variety of categories, including the best home security cameras and smart light bulbs. If an app or your voice can control a device, we can help you decide if it is appropriate for your needs.
1. Amazon Echo Dot (5th Gen)
The latest Echo Dot has a clever trick up its sleeve: a built-in temperature sensor. This seemingly simple addition complements the Echo Dot’s rich, room-filling sound. You get both a media device and an even better smart home companion that can tell you the exact temperature of the room it’s in and initiate Alexa routines to control your climate. One of our editors demonstrated how this added functionality allows them to keep their garage cool during the summer.
That’s not the only intuitive technology on board; a built-in mesh node expands your Eero router’s network even further. The only downside is that it lacks the 3.5mm audio out port found on the previously released Amazon Echo Dot with Clock.
2. Echo Hub
Amazon’s always-on 8-inch display is ideal for use as a smart home dashboard, whether wall-mounted or on a stand. Each of your smart home devices gets its own widget, which displays its status and controls on your main screen. This allows you to easily adjust your smart thermostat on the fly, view up to six security camera feeds at the same time, and adjust the brightness of your smart lights without having to navigate menus.
Unlike any other smart display we’ve tested, the Echo Hub’s sleek interface is completely customizable, allowing you to add widgets such as a To-Do list or your calendar, as well as rearrange the layout. Each element on the screen has plenty of space to breathe, and all of your smart home devices are organized by type, room placement, and order of importance. We also appreciated its simplified interface, which is free of the ad clutter that plagues Fire TVs and Echo Shows.
You can still use the Echo Hub to play music throughout your entire home audio system, watch your favorite TV shows, and pin reminders to its screen, such as a family chore list. It also makes an excellent intercom panel for checking in on your home’s other Echo devices, but keep in mind that it lacks a camera for video calls.
3. Nest Cam (battery)
The well-designed Nest Cam (battery) has a simple shape and is one of the easiest home security cameras to install due to its magnetic base. Its 1080p camera captures sharp images day and night, and its microphone and speaker allow for easy conversations. That’s why we consider it the best security camera we’ve tested.
The Nest Cam (battery) also provides three hours of free rolling video storage and detects people, vehicles, and animals. If you sign up for a Nest Aware subscription, you will also receive familiar face detection and the ability to store up to one month’s worth of video.
4. Ecobee SmartThermostat Premium
With its zinc case and much larger touchscreen, the Ecobee Smart Thermostat Premium looks much better than previous generations — comparable to the Nest Learning Thermostat — and is even smarter on the inside. It now includes an air quality sensor, which indicates whether you should open a window or turn on a fan. The large display also shows you the weather forecast for the week.
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As before, the best part of the Ecobee is its remote sensors, which make it easier for you to manage the temperature in your entire home. The Ecobee also has Alexa built in and, if you have a HomePod or HomePod mini, can also talk to Siri through the thermostat. The built-in speaker is still not great for listening to music, but it’s a way to get a smart speaker in a room where you don’t want to place an Echo Dot.
5. August Wi-Fi Smart Lock
We were already pretty excited about August’s first-generation August’s first-generation Smart Lock Pro was our top pick among the best smart locks, but the company went above and beyond, shrinking its size and improving its compatibility with other smart home devices.
The August Wi-Fi Smart Lock is 45 percent smaller than the original and includes built-in Wi-Fi, eliminating the need for an additional accessory to connect it to your home Wi-Fi network.
As with the original, we found the August Wi-Fi Smart Lock just as easy to install — it took mere minutes — and it has just as many helpful features, such as DoorSense, which alerts you if you leave your door open.
How to choose the best smart home devices for you
Every shopper has a unique preference when it comes to the best smart home devices. The majority of the decision comes down to which smart home platform you prefer; you’ll want to buy devices that work with your voice assistant so you can set up routines or control your gadgets hands-free.
Overall, Alexa wins because it works with the most smart home devices and has the most third-party skills. However, Google Assistant can do things that Alexa cannot, such as control Chromecast TVs, and it is quickly being integrated into a variety of third-party devices as part of its Works With Nest program. HomeKit is also becoming more widely available, and it may be the right platform for you if you frequently use Siri on your iPhone or iPad.
How we test the best smart home devices
All of the best smart home devices above are top picks within respective categories. We compare and contrast each gadget to similar options, taking variables like price, ease-of-setup, voice assistant compatibility and appearance into account. For example, the third-generation Amazon Echo is our favorite smart speaker overall because it has the best sound for the value, and represents its category on this list. The same goes for the Nest Cam and fifth-generation Ecobee.
However, there are a number of excellent options within each category that do not appear on this list. If you want more buying options, we have individual pages that detail all of the best smart lights, smart doorbells, smart security cameras, and other items that we believe are reliable purchases for your growing smart home.
Check out each one for more in-depth testing information on every type of smart home device you should consider for increasing your home’s IQ.
