As long as you prepare and pick carefully from the shelves of inexpensive smart home gadgetry, you can turn your sweet home into a property fit for modern living – and as stress-free as it is swish.
Here, we have compiled a list of budget smart home gadgets to help you get going.
Smart Plugs
Smart plugs are an easy and affordable way to make any appliance smart.
Smart plugs are those things you stick in a mains socket that you can toggle on and off remotely – either by using a smartphone app or ensuring your chosen smart speaker is on and telling it.
Some plugs allow you to manually set schedules or timers, helping you automate some of your home’s processes; a few of them also monitor energy consumption so you can act on advice about saving electricity and, therefore, money on the electricity bill.
One of the extensions has a warning system for your email signature that sounds the alarm when the email you are writing uses capitals way too liberally or includes TOO MANY EXCLAMATION MARKS!!!
There are now tools that switch your appliances off from your phone, such as the TP-Link Smart Plug, which allows you to cut your lights or your Xbox off anywhere, using an app or requesting the app to do it using the voice-recognition skills of Amazon Alexa or Google Assistant.
Streaming Devices
Streaming devices, like the Roku Express 4K Plus and the Amazon Fire TV Stick 4K Max, plug into your TV and an internet connection and stream content from apps such as:
- Netflix
- Hulu
- Amazon Prime Video
- And Others.
Some have remote controls that you can use to point and click or even bark out commands with your voice. Some support more advanced video and audio qualities such as 4K, high-dynamic range (HDR), or surround sound such as Dolby Atmos.
Some support more crossover with smart home systems, such as Google Nest or Apple’s HomeKit, to enable voice control and automation.
Boost your TV experience with a voice remote and smart streaming devices like the Amazon Fire TV Stick 4K Max with Wi-Fi 6, Dolby Vision and HDR 10.
Smart Security Cameras
These latest incarnations are called smart security cameras, sometimes referred to as IP security cameras or internet security cameras. You can use them to look around your home while you are away by connecting them to your home Wi-Fi.
Many models have a built-in video recorder, allowing them to record video that can be triggered by motion detection. They can operate at night with infrared capability, and some of them have two-way audio functionality.
The more modern models come equipped with artificial intelligence-driven face detectors and object detectors.
To everyone needing a home product: take a look at our tiny camera called Blink Mini. Features include 1080p HD, night vision, two-way audio, and motion detection notifications that are made directly to your phone all the time.
Smart Doorbells
They are joined by so-called ‘smart doorbells’, which have cameras and are tethered to your home’s Wi-Fi network to let you see and speak with anyone at your door from wherever you are. Many include motion detection and two-way audio and video recording, while some can integrate with other smart home devices.
The Ring Video Doorbell Pro will reassure your nerves and cure you of dog walkers, front-door jinglers, leaflet distributors and self-indulgent doorbell ringers while also ensuring timely delivery of your pizza and gifts, as well as friends. It shoots 1080p HD video in a two-way talk and motion pack.
Smart Lighting
Smart lighting is in reference to the lights that are LED bulbs or fixtures that you can control via your smartphone (an app) or through your voice commands (including dimming, setting a desired light colour, scheduling, etc).
Normally, a smart lighting system is part of IoT devices, which equip parts of the technologies, such as a smart lighting system using:
- Zigbee
- Wi-Fi
- Or Bluetooth…
To connect the devices, for example, if you have an electric bulb turned into a smart light bulb, it might need a physical device: a hub that can help you connect all these things together.
Smart lights are one of the few things you can have in your home that could beautify your home while saving money on your electricity bill.
For instance, with a ‘smart bulb’, such as the Kasa Smart LED Light Bulb, you ‘paint’ your room with a desired colour and brightness that you can control by voice or from your smartphone or tablet.
Smart Speakers
Smart speakers are speech-assistant devices (also known as home or lifestyle smart devices) that have a built-in virtual assistant that responds to voice commands and requests initiated by a user.
These devices can:
- Tell Jokes
- Play Music
- Manage Smart Home Devices
- Search for Information
- Make Notifications
- Schedule Notifications and more…
These devices are easy to use and can manage smart home devices. For example, one can instruct the software to turn off all the lights in one’s smart home.
Amazon Echo Dot (5th gen). This sub-$50 smart speaker is part of Amazon’s line of Echo family members and will let you take advantage of using Alexa voice assistant. It also reacts to ambient temperature change and can be used to extend an Eero Wi-Fi system.
These gadgets lie on the edge of what’s possible in the smart home realm. Good design enhances and modifies life, but it doesn’t have to come at the price of the upkeep of every activity being surveyed and tracked.
SUMMARY
A smart home can start at a price of under $250; that’s money enough to ensure what will soon become a scarily defunct feeling: the comfort of an actually functioning smart home. And so, as always, just make sure the gadget you choose is compatible with what you already own and matches up with your genuine needs.