How has your 2024 been so far? Everyone has goals and things they want to accomplish. What if the things in your home, that you use every day, could be smarter and help you do things more easily (and have more fun?) This short guide will cover the best products for smart home use available right now that can save you time and do more for you.
What are the best products for smart home users in 2024?
The next part of the guide combines info from all the product guides from Smart Tech Stuff. Here I’ll list the #1 top product from every smart home category. We’ll cover everything from products for your bathroom, to kitchen, fitness and security smart products. By the end, you’ll have a good idea of some of the incredible things you can do with your new smart home.
Oh there’s also a buyer’s guide below that’s packed with more info to help you find the best smart home gear out there at the moment.
The best connected home devices we recommend are:
- TP-Link AC2800
- Netgear R8000 Nighthawk X6
- Netgear Nighthawk X4S D7800-100UKS
- Asus RT-AC88U AC3100
- Asus Wireless-AC2600
Lets go over each smart WiFi router in more detail:
#1 – Ring Video Doorbell 2
Smart home category: Smart Security
What does it do?
There’s tones of smart security products out there for sale in 2024 but one of the best products for smart home protection has to be the Ring Video Doorbell. This replacement for your existing doorbell is everything that smart home tech should be about. It vastly improves upon what’s already there, is easy to use and makes life much easier.
When someone rings the doorbell, they’re connected straight to your smart phone via video. You can hear and talk to the caller and it’s a great way to get rid of nuisance sales calls, or to deter burglars. It also records video and can be triggered by motion detection.
There are cheaper video doorbells on the market too, if you’re prepared to take a risk on a lesser-known brand.
Why is this the best one for smart home use?
The Ring Video doorbell is the main product in the video doorbell market (yep, there’s actually a lot of these products out there). It’s extremely high quality, has super-sharp HD video and is very easy to use. They’ll even replace it if it gets stolen.
Smart Device Features
- Replacement for boring old doorbells
- Intercept anyone up to no good at the door
- Record video
- 2-way voice chat
- Monitor your property from anywhere in the world
Check out the lowest price on Amazon
#2 – Furbo Dog Camera
Best smart product for dog owners
What does it do?
One of the more ‘cute’ uses for smart home tech is this fantastic smart dog camera / treat dispenser for spoiled pups. The HD camera lets you see what your dog is up to around the clock, and it can detect both motion and audio. So if your pet is having a bit of a barking fit because they heard a noise, you can calm them down by using the 2-way chat function.
Why is this the ‘best’ one for smart home use?
There’s loads of pet cameras, as well as smart cameras that can be used to monitor your pooch, but the Furbo one is definitely a cut above the rest. The ability to fill it with treats and ‘fire’ one out at your dog via the app is priceless. It’s also got really good quality video and if you want to do some candid recording and cute snaps, you can even do that.
Device Features
- See what your pet is up to when you’re not around
- Talk to them over 2-way chat
- Shoot treats out at the push of a button on your smart phone
- Record funny / cute clips
- Get alerts if your dog is distressed
Check out the lowest price on Amazon
#3 – Nest Learning Thermostat
Best smart heating product
What does it do?
One of the best things you can use smart home technology for is controlling your home’s central heating system, as well as when your water is heated up. Adding a smart thermostat can save you a lot of money on your energy bill as it will only heat your home when it needs it, and will only fire up your boiler the absolute minimum to heat your home just how you like it.
Why is this the ‘best’ one for smart home use?
The Nest is one of the most popular smart thermostats. Don’t let your plumber push you into getting a certain one. It’s better to get one you want and find someone to install it. And the Nest is easily one of the better quality smart thermostats on the market. It has a fab app that lets you do all kinds of clever things with your boiler that will make life a bit easier. (It also looks absolutely gorgeous mounted on the wall). It’s got a colour touch screen and is very user-friendly.
Device Features
- Control all your radiators from your smart phone
- Learns and adapts to your energy use
- Uses your phone location to never heat an empty home
- No subscription charges
- Really easy to use
Check out the lowest price on Amazon
#4 – Yale Keyless Smart Door Lock
Best smart door lock product
What does it do?
Yale’s smart lock is easily one of the best products for smart home users. Swap out your boring old door lock and fit this sexy new smart lock and you’ll be able to do all kinds of handy stuff with your door. Set it to lock itself when you leave the house, or open when you arrive. Check on your smart phone whether your door is locked or not – and much more. This is a seriously smart lock and really worth a look.
Why is this the ‘best’ one for smart home use?
This smart lock is the best one for the job because it’s easy to fit and has Yale’s quality built in. There’s a handy keypad, or you can use the more modern approach of opening your lock with the smart phone app. It’s easy to fit, easy to use and VERY popular with smart home fans. If you run out of batteries, you can temporarily power up the lock with any square 9v battery too.
Device Features
- Lots of handy ways to open the lock
- Superb, easy to use app
- Connects to the rest of your smart home
- Say goodbye to keys!
- Works on any 60mm wooden door
Check out the lowest price on Amazon
#5 – Philips Hue Smart E27 Bulb Starter Kit
Best smart lighting product
![Philips Hue White Smart Bulb Twin Pack LED [E27 Edison Screw] with Bluetooth](https://images-eu.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/41Jm33sZXLL.jpg)
What does it do?
One of the more popular things people like to get up and running in their smart home is smart lighting. Smart lighting is a lot of fun (controlling your lights through Alexa has to be experienced for yourself! It’s also about the easiest addition to your home as you need to do little more than swap your old bulbs for smart ones.
Once you’ve done that, you’ll be able to do all kinds of amazing things like dim the lights in the bedroom, set lights to turn on or off when you’re away, automatically turn a light on when you enter a room, change the colour and ambiance of your lights from your smart phone… and a lot more besides.
Why is this the ‘best’ one for smart home use?
Philips Hue is one of the best products for smart home lighting because it uses their awesome Smart Hub (included if you buy the Hue Kit). This links together all the lighting and controls it from one app. There are a lot of smart bulb products out there, but the Hue system is just so good. And there’s loads of different kinds you can add in, from strip lighting for behind the TV, to lamps, light-up bowls and some classy outside lighting.
Smart Device Features
- One of the fastest smart routers
- Built in modem
- 1HGz dual-core processor
- MU-MIMO
- Connects devices up to 4x faster
Check out the lowest price on Amazon
So what’s all this smart home stuff about?
Smart products are electronic devices that can work together to give you more control over your every day life, let you get more out of things you use every day and do things more efficiently. There’s many things you can do to your home to make it smarter and some of the best products for smart home use are very cheap and simple to use.
There really are some amazing things that you can do with smart home technology in 2024. Some of the best smart home automated tasks you can do with include:
- Answer your front door when you’re not even home
- Start cooking your dinner at home, from the office
- Heat your house automatically when you’re close to home
- Use your voice to get your carpet hoovered
- Unlock and open your door without any keys
- Talk to your pet when you’re not home
- … and even give them treats!
![Philips Hue White Smart Bulb Twin Pack LED [E27 Edison Screw] with Bluetooth](https://images-eu.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/51SoK5qF4IL.jpg)
Smart home products must be expensive?
I’m constantly surprised how cheap some of the best products for smart home use are. They start at something like smart bulbs, which can cost under £15 and go up to the more expensive items like HUGE flat screen smart TVs. But most smart home gadgets aren’t that expensive. The main products costing around the £100 – £200 mark.
You can grow your smart home over time
Hey! Here’s TWO bits of good news if you’re looking to get started in the wonderful world of smart home automation:
1) You’ve already got some of the important devices you need.
Got a smart phone? How about a tablet? Then you’ve already got one of the most important (and expensive parts) of your new futuristic smart home. Most smart home products allow you to download a free app and be able to control and work with them via your touch screen device. Most homes already have at least one smart phone or iPad.
Android and Apple are usually supported when it comes to smart home products
2) Got broadband Internet?
Great. Then you’ve got a home network all ready to go. The best connected home devices will use your home WiFi and let you monitor and control your devices over that connection. You’ll likely already have a free router in your home to handle all the networking. If you REALLY get into smart home tech, you might consider upgrading your router to a smart home one, but that’s really not necessary for now.
But one of the best things about setting up your smart home is that you can start small and add to it as you go. All the products work together, but they can also be expanded as you go. Need an extra security camera? No problem, you can add as many as you need later on.
Is it hard to setup and use smart home products?
One of the amazing things about smart home tech is that it’s designed to be as non-geeky and easy-to-use as possible. You shouldn’t worry if you’re not normally ‘good’ at tech or computer stuff. Many of the best products for smart homes actually work right out of the box. Even normally complicated things like smart security alarms can pretty easily be setup and used by anyone. Both the hardware and software in smart products is easy to use.
There are some exceptions!
While smart gadgets such as smart bulbs can be put into your home pretty easily, but there are some things that you might want to get a professional to help with. Depending on how good your DIY skills are, the smart home installations you might want to get help with are:
- Installing a smart thermostat (a plumber will be able to do this)
- Swapping your door locks for smart locks (call a locksmith for this)
- Installing a video doorbell (Your local electrician MAY need to hardware this
- Installing security lights (not too tricky but a handyman will put them up if you’re not comfortable)
Smart Home Product Buyer’s Guide
You don’t need the best broadband for smart home use
As long as you have a STABLE connection, even an average broadband speed will be fine for connecting your smart home devices. Smart home devices don’t require HUGE amounts of information to be transferred so the latest, super-fast fiber connection is overkill. Of course, more speed is always better when it comes to things like streaming in 4K, but that’s something else.
Don’t forget voice control!
Love the idea of controlling your smart home with your voice? Me too! If you want a seriously impressive smart home, that responds to your voice commands, think about buying yourself an Amazon Echo (which features the brill Alexa), or one of the alternatives to Alexa. And be sure to check out the product description and look for the ‘Works with Alexa’ sticker or text.
Let me know in the comments down below how your smart home is coming along. Did you use any of these smart products? Which smart gizmos are you using that you think our readers will love?
