5 Products You Should Get To Make Your Home Smarter
Buying smart home products is definitely complicated and confusing. There are smart fridges, smart air purifiers, and even smart mattresses – and we all want to upgrade our homes with the latest tech, but the question remains – which smart home product should you buy? Today, we will look at five smart home products that you must check out to upgrade your home. We also have product recommendations for you, based on our past reviews.
Smart Speakers
Let’s start with the most basic – smart speakers. And before we move on, remember smart home products will function smoothly only if you have good internet connectivity.
At this point, there are three virtual assistants that power the most commonly used smart speakers. We have Amazon Alexa, Google Assistant, and Apple Siri. While Apple Siri-powered speakers are limited and expensive, we are only looking at Alexa and Google Assistant speakers.
What you must remember is that smart speakers are not your conventional portable speakers and need the power to operate. It is also important that you decide on a place for the speaker in your house that is accessible to you from the bed or kitchen. These will help you set alarms, catch up on news, or even call friends with simple voice commands. And since you also get the benefits of a speaker, you can play music via the connected smartphone or with simple voice prompts.
And in case you’re wondering which speaker to get, in the past, I have used both Google Assistant-powered Nest mini and Echo Speaker. Personally, I still use the Echo speaker, which I bought in 2018, and it works perfectly fine. I use it daily to set alarms and even control other devices like smart lights.
Smart Lights
This brings us to smart lights. Some people may call it a stretch, but smart lights can be useful if you’re like me, who is always confused about whether to go with warm or white lights.
But before you buy a smart light, you need to check the existing bulb holder, that is if it is a B27 holder without the ring or the E22 holder with the ring. If you want more information on the holder you’re using – take the bulb out of the holder and go to a local electronic store.
You can also get converters online or offline if your bulb holder does not match the lamp holder.
One of the most notable brands to offer smart bulbs is Phillips. But if you want budget options, there’s the Zunpulse 10W multicolor smart light combo that costs roughly Rs 800. Not only does it offer warm and natural tones, but users can also experiment with multiple colors.
But the problem with budget bulbs might be that the supported apps don’t work well with iPhones. Users must remember that most smart bulbs only connect to a 2.5Ghz Wi-Fi network. If you manage to configure it properly, you can connect the light to your smart speaker and control settings with voice commands.
Smart TV Stick
If you want to upgrade your flat-screen TV but don’t want to splurge on a new expensive model, there’s a neat solution. There are smart TV sticks from Amazon, Realme, and Xiaomi. All you need to ensure is that the TV has an HDMI port.
In short, you can enjoy smart TV features by simply spending Rs 4,000 or so. But there’s a catch too; say the old flat-screen TV only supports the full-HD resolution, and the smart TV stick offers 4K resolution, then you won’t get the ultra-HD viewing experience. Another thing to remember is that smart TV sticks also run on power like smart speakers, so ensure that there are enough power points for connections.
There are loads of options available on the market, such as the Amazon Fire TV Stick, which I’ve been using since 2019. Smart TV Sticks work perfectly fine but do ensure you have fast internet connectivity.
Smart plugs
Smart plugs generally go unnoticed, but these can save energy and even time if you’re feeling lazy. These are extremely useful if you’ve put your phone on charge at night. You can even manage lamps that are away from the bed.
I usually recommend a Wipro plug, which can be a bit costly. But it definitely gets the work done, and you can expect reliable performance.
However, buyers must check out the ampere before buying the plug. You must also check the chargers and their bottom to see the ampere unit they require.
Before we move to the last smart home product, let’s talk about smart vacuum robots. These vacuums definitely look good on paper, but they fail to clean corners and edges. These are also quite expensive, and most of us could live without them.
Smart security cams
Over the years, security cams have become smarter. Now, security cameras come in all shapes and sizes, and some even have mics. So, if you want an indoor camera, make sure you have a microphone that allows you to interact with your pets away from home.
For outdoors, it is imperative to check the IP rating for dust and water resistance. Also, check the internal storage and support for storage expansion. In most cases, you may require assistance from a local electrician to mount the camera. We suggest security cams from TP-LINK and Qubo. There are some options available from Xiaomi as well.