13 Of The Best Smart Home Devices You Can Find On Amazon

• Technology

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In 1999, the Disney Channel introduced a generation of kids and their long-suffering parents to the concept of a smart house. In the appropriately named Disney Channel Original Movie "Smart House," Ben Cooper (Ryan Merriman) enters a contest to win a house for his family, but not just any house. This home is equipped with the latest in intelligent computing technologies, including a multi-talented virtual home assistant named PAT (Katey Sagal), short for Personal Applied Technology.

Of course, things soon go sideways when the house tries to keep the family safe by force. In the years since "Smart House" hit the small screen, actual smart home technologies have made their way into our everyday lives. Fortunately, they haven't tried to take over our lives, although there are some risks worth considering. Today, it's common for people to have one or more virtual assistants (from Siri to Alexa and everything in between) in their homes.

A virtual assistant, however, is only the tip of the iceberg. There are tons of smart home devices to choose from, each one offering a layer of automation or customization. With so many gadgets on offer, it can be hard to figure out what to buy and what to avoid. These are 13 smart home devices we recommend to help bring your home into the future.

Ring Wired Doorbell Pro

Security cameras are one of the most common ways many people begin their smart home journey. There are plenty of options to choose from, but Ring is a respected name in the industry, offering an array of video doorbells and other smart cameras. Moreover, the company's latest offerings include upgraded features, including high-resolution video.

The Ring Wired Doorbell comes in four different finishes (Deep Silver, Polished Mocha, Polished Night Navy, and Polished Sandstone) to match your home's exterior. It captures movement and visitors in 4K using what the company calls Retinal vision, which incorporates AI tuning to provide sharper and clearer video. Motion zones let you block out high-traffic areas like sidewalks or streets to avoid unnecessary alerts.

You can use it not only to see and hear who's at your door, but also to communicate with them, and you can even let Alexa answer your door and manage package deliveries and visitors. When paired with your phone, the Ring Wired Doorbell offers text descriptions of video clips, as long as you don't happen to live in Illinois.

Wyze smart plug

While the smart home industry offers a growing selection of smart devices and appliances, you can also connect your old-school possessions to the internet of things using a smart plug. Years ago, when first dipping my own toes into the smart home arena, a smart plug was the first thing I tried. It started as a way of turning the Christmas tree on and off without having to crawl into a corner each time. Once the holidays were over, it enjoyed a second life controlling a lamp behind the couch.

You can use smart plugs to control all sorts of devices by applying or cutting power remotely, at will. If you need some suggestions for how to use your smart plug, check out our list of 10 "dumb" home devices you can upgrade with a smart plug.

This smart plug from Wyze supports a max load of 15 amps, allowing you to control more power-hungry devices. Just plug the smart plug into your existing outlet and then plug in your desired gadget. A button on the side lets you pair the plug with the Wyze app, where you can get data about the plug's usage. You can even set up vacation mode to turn lights on and off at random while you're not home, confusing burglars like Kevin McCallister would.

Lockly smart door lock

The Lockly Visage smart home lock lets you ditch your keys in favor of biometrics (facial recognition or fingerprint) or a code. You can also open your door with your iPhone by connecting the Lockly to your Apple HomeKit.

After setting up your lock, you can add users so that the lock recognizes the face or fingerprint of anyone in your home. If you have guests visiting, you can even add them temporarily, then remove them when their stay has ended. You can also set up routines, like locking the door each night at bedtime, and receive alerts when and if the door is left open.

The Lockly Visage doesn't wire to your house directly, and instead needs battery power to operate. Fortunately, unlike some other smart home devices, you won't have to stock up on disposable batteries. The Lockly comes with two rechargeable 10,000 mAh lithium-ion batteries, so you can charge one while you use the other and swap them out as needed.

Netvue bird feeder

Bird feeders are a great way to add some activity to your yard. This smart bird feeder from Netvue features a built-in camera so you can check in on the feathered friends visiting your yard, even when you're not home. More than just capturing video, this highly rated bird feeder can identify more than 6,000 species of bird and provide facts about them in the associated Netvue app. It even recognizes squirrels and alerts you so you can scare them away with a shout or a siren played through the speaker.

It's a two-in-one bird feeder with a compartment for holding birdseed and an attached nectar compartment for attracting hummingbirds. It captures video in 1080p, day and night (with color night vision mode). It's also got a built-in antenna so it can connect to your home Wi-Fi network from a distance, a solar panel for keeping it powered up, and it's rated IP65 weatherproof so it can stand up to the elements year-round.

Smart plant waterer

In 2020, when we were all spending a lot of time at home, I got pretty into indoor plants. I even signed up for a subscription that delivered a new plant to my mailbox once a month. Before long, maintenance duties got pretty complicated, and I bought automated plant lights and this water automation kit from Daotaili.

The setup is pretty straightforward. You fill a reservoir with water, run tubes from the pump to each of your pots, and set the machine to your preferences. You can connect up to 20 separate pots using tube splitters and drop spikes. All you have to do is refill the reservoir every now and again and occasionally clean out any mineralization.

You can specify how frequently your plants get watered and the duration of each watering session, depending on your plants' specific watering needs. With a little bit of advanced setup, this kit will keep your plants watered for weeks, so you can go on vacation or just take a breather from daily plant maintenance.

Smart lights

Smart light bulbs are one of the simplest and most apparent ways to add smart home tech to your home. Smart bulbs look just like regular light bulbs, but they can connect to Wi-Fi, dim, change colors, and more. No matter what bulbs you get, you can typically control them with your phone or voice controls using a smart home hub or smart speaker.

If you're looking for a low-cost smart bulb option, these Amazon Basics bulbs are a popular choice, according to user reviews. Though they are more expensive than conventional "dumb" bulbs, the Amazon Basics bulbs are affordable and the smart functionality is worth a little bit of an investment up front.

If you get multiple bulbs to replace the lights for your entire house, you can use the Alexa app to set up groups, pair lights together, and control them together. You can turn the lights on or off in a single room or in your entire house with a voice command or the tap of a button.

Echo Dot smart speaker

Smart speakers are one of the most useful and versatile smart home devices on the market. If you're in the market for a new smart speaker, Amazon's Echo Dot is a go-to option. It has a low profile, taking up a minimum of counter space, while delivering clear sound. You can use it to play your favorite music, audiobooks, news and more. The built-in Alexa virtual assistant answers questions and lets you control your other smart home devices. You can even set up multiple Echo Dots throughout your house to create a customized sound system.

You can choose from three colors: Glacier White, Charcoal, or Deep Sea Blue. There's even a version of the Echo Dot for kids styled like a dragon or owl, or colored in a rainbow swirl or stardust. The kids speaker even curates content based on your child's age, giving them a bespoke and age-appropriate smart speaker experience.

Smart thermostat

A smart thermostat allows you to control your home's climate no matter where you are and can even save you money by ensuring you aren't wasting energy maintaining the temperature when no one is home. Which is good, because a smart thermostat is one of the more expensive smart home options. The fourth-generation Nest thermostat features a sleek, modern design and connects to your existing air conditioner and furnace.

You can control your climate preferences manually using the wall-mounted thermostat, voice commands, or the Google Home app. Over time, the system learns your habits and starts making adjustments on its own. If you typically adjust the temperature at a particular time each day, for instance, it will learn and start making that change for you.

The thermostat has an updated face, capable of displaying information like temperature, time, or outdoor weather with various widgets. It comes in three styles: Polished Gold, Polished Obsidian, and Polished Silver. You also get an included temperature sensor that you place somewhere in your home to measure the indoor temperature.

Smart buttons

One of the best things about smart home automation is that you can set up routines, combinations of actions that you can initiate with a single command. For instance, you could set a bedtime routine that turns off the lights, locks the doors, and plays white noise over your smart speaker. Typically, people initiate their routines using voice commands or an associated smartphone app, but you can do the same thing with a smart button.

This smart button from Sonoff features a fairly simple design with just two buttons: a larger button for triggering your preferred actions and a smaller button for pairing. It does require a Zigbee hub or an Echo device with integrated Zigbee hub to work. Once paired, you establish the routines or actions you want and assign them to a button. You can set up three different actions or routines with a single smart button by using a single press, double press, or long press. You can even use it as a doorbell by mounting it outside your door and setting it up to send you an alert when pressed.

Motion sensor

Smart motion sensors are useful for home security, letting you know if someone or something approaches or enters your house, but you can also use them for so much more. These motion sensors from ThirdReality let you pair them to your other smart home devices. Once paired, you can turn on your lights, adjust the thermostat, trigger reminders, and more. Basically, anything you would usually do with a button press or a voice command, you can now do with a motion sensor.

These sensors attach to your wall, door frame, home exterior, or anywhere else you want and detect motion from up to 20 feet away. You could even put them under the kitchen sink so you're alerted if and when the kids start rifling through the cleaning chemicals. They are compatible with Zigbee hubs and limited Amazon Echo devices with integrated Zigbee functionality. You can buy sensors individually or in multipacks of two or four. They need a couple of AAA batteries but will run for about two years before the batteries need to be replaced.

Smart blinds

When I started working from home in 2020, I quickly learned I'd be sharing my home office with my cat. She soon realized she could stand on my desk, stick her head through the blinds, and watch the birds in the yard. Before long, several of the flimsy plastic slats had broken, and I had to come up with another solution.

These automated blackout curtains were a great solution. The tough fabric stands up against feline attacks and effectively blocks out unwanted sunlight. You can control the blinds using a smart home hub with voice controls or the included remote control. You can also purchase a more advanced 15-channel remote to control multiple sets of blinds individually or in groups.

They come in various sizes to fit common windows and use a no-screw expanding mount to slot into place. Not only do they block unwanted light, they're also good for climate control, keeping the room cooler during the warm summer months. It's worth noting, however, that the black version soaks up a decent amount of heat, so they can get pretty warm during midday.

Smart fan

Fans are a relatively low-energy way to improve comfort in a hot room. While a ceiling fan doesn't actually reduce the temperature in a room, it does create a wind chill effect, improving your body's ability to cool itself through evaporation (sweat). Fans don't cool rooms, but they do cool people. With a fan, you can increase your thermostat about 4 degrees without negatively affecting comfort, saving you money during the warm summer months.

The old-school ceiling fans you're probably used to operate with a couple of pull chains or a wired light switch. The smart ceiling fans of today, however, can be controlled with voice commands, a smartphone, or a smart home hub. This smart ceiling fan from Dreo also comes with an included remote control. You can set the fan speed using six different manual fan speeds and up to 12 speeds in the associated app.

In addition to circulating air, this smart ceiling fan also features a built-in smart light. You can choose between six levels of brightness and take advantage of preset lighting modes including sunrise, sunset, and reading modes. Because fans are most effective when people are in the room to enjoy them, you can set up routines to turn the fan off when you're not home and turn it back on when you arrive home.

Smart sprinklers

Watering your lawn during the summer months can be a laborious task, especially if you're trying to balance water conservation with your lawn's hydration needs. A smart sprinkler system lets you set up watering schedules or turn your sprinklers on and off remotely.

This smart sprinkler system from Trjzwa uses 4 AA batteries and slots between your water source and your hose, allowing you to control the flow of water based on your specifications. It can be controlled using the Smart Life app on a compatible iOS or Android device, or you can use Amazon's Alexa or Google Assistant to control your sprinklers with voice commands.

Once it's set up and paired to your phone or smart home hub, you can specify watering start time, duration, and which days of the week you water. You can even set up a delay of 24 to 72 hours in the event of rain. And if you want to water your landscaping without messing with your watering schedule, there's a manual watering mode.

Methodology, how we made our choices

Over the last several years, I've tried just about every kind of smart home tech I could get my hands on. While most smart gadgets are fun, some make more sense than others. The aim is to simplify your life by improving efficiency, reducing energy consumption, and adding convenience to your daily life.

I've used most of these devices personally, including the smart doorbell, smart plugs, plant waterer, smart lights, Echo Dot (and other smart speakers), thermostat, smart buttons, blinds, and sprinklers. The remaining items have each been used and reviewed by other SlashGear writers. Some of them even earned the honor of SlashGear Select, identifying gadgets we highly recommend.

Moreover, this collection of smart home devices represents a wide range of functions. There are easily approachable options for the uninitiated, like smart lights and smart plugs, alongside less conventional options like smart bird feeders and plant watering systems. Whether you're looking to start your smart home journey or add a little something extra to your existing setup, there's likely something here that's right for you.