What Is Smart Home Technology?

What if all the devices in your life could connect to the internet? Not just computers and smartphones, but everything: clocks, speakers, lights, doorbells, cameras, windows, window blinds, appliances, and what if those devices could all communicate, send you information, and take your commands? It’s not science fiction; it’s the Internet of Things (IoT), and it’s a key component of home automation and smart homes.

Home automation is exactly what it sounds like: automating the ability to control items around the house—from window shades to pet feeders—with a simple push of a button (or a voice command). Some activities, like setting up a lamp to turn on and off at your whim, are simple and relatively inexpensive. Others, like advanced surveillance cameras, may require a more serious investment of time and money.

There are many smart home product categories, so you can control everything from lights and temperature to locks and security in your home. They also happen to make fantastic gifts, whether you’re shopping for the holidays or buying a housewarming present. Here’s a rundown of the best products we’ve tested for every room of the house.

Brilliant Control

The Brilliant Control is a unique wall switch that uses Wi-Fi to connect to and control various smart devices in your home. It has a 5-inch color touch screen with user-friendly button controls that let you play music, control lighting, set thermostat temperatures, and see who is at your door, among other things. It works with many popular smart home platforms including Ecobee, Nest, Philips Hue, Ring, and Sonos, and it has built-in Amazon Alexa voice support that allows it to do almost everything an Echo device can do. It’s fairly pricey and requires wiring knowledge to install, but it’s a smart addition to a high-tech home.

ConnectSense Smart Outlet 2

If you’re looking to add some smarts to small home appliances such as coffee makers, lamps, and TVs, the ConnectSense Smart Outlet 2 is an excellent choice. This versatile dual-outlet smart plug can be controlled with an Android or iOS mobile app and works with Alexa, Google Assistant, and Siri voice commands. It lacks support for IFTTT, but you can make it work with other smart home devices using HomeKit Scenes and Automations, and it monitors energy usage for both outlets.

Sleep Number 360 Smart Bed

There are many ways to track your sleep these days, from fitness trackers to smartwatches, but perhaps nothing is better suited for the job than your mattress itself. At least, that’s the idea behind Sleep Number’s 360 Smart Bed, which incorporates biometric sensors to help you snooze better. You use an app on your smartphone to view your sleep trends and health metrics, and to gain insight on how you can sleep better. It’s a hefty investment, but if you have the money to spend, the 360 Smart Bed is a comfortable, effective, and highly customizable way to improve your quality of sleep.

Worx Landroid M 20V Cordless Robotic Lawn Mower (WR140)

As with every robotic lawnmower we’ve reviewed, the Worx Landroid M 20V Cordless Robotic Lawn Mower (WR140) does not come cheap, but at $999.99 it’s one of the least expensive models out there and it does an excellent job of mowing and trimming your lawn. It also has GPS and Wi-Fi radios and works with a slick mobile app that lets you control it from anywhere. In addition to starting and stopping the mower and adjusting cuttings schedules, the app lets you monitor the mower’s progress and will send status alerts to let you know what it is currently doing and if there are any issues. It’ll even tell you where the mower is in the event that someone decides to liberate it from your property.

Dyson V11 Torque Drive

It isn’t a robot, but Dyson’s V11 Torque Drive is easily the smartest cordless stick vacuum we’ve seen. It automatically detects what type of surface you’re cleaning and switches the motor speed accordingly between carpets and hard floors, for just the right blend of power and battery life. An LCD on top of the handle shows remaining battery life (down to the second), your current power mode, reminds you to clean the filter, and tells you how to clear any blockages. It also filters the air as you clean, trapping 99.97 percent of particles as small as 0.3 microns. And with 20 percent more suction power than the previous model and up to 60 minutes of battery life, it’s the best argument we’ve seen yet for leaving your robot vacuum in the hall closet.