Get Smart and Give Smart! This Holiday Season is the perfect time to embrace our brave new world as we enter a new decade! Smart-Home technology is rapidly changing our lives at home, at work, at play and on the road! One thing is becoming clear … Smart-Home Technology is streamlining tasks that cannot be skipped in our increasingly hectic daily lives. There are some pretty awesome and useful devices currently on the market! The most popular Smart Home devices can be broken down into 4 practical categories:
1. The Video Doorbell and Security System. The video doorbell along with the home assistant have been among the most popular Smart-Home devices in the last 2-3 years. Made popular with brands like Ring and Google Nest, the video doorbell is a must have by this day in age. The Video Doorbell allows for protection of your home and family, by allowing you to see who is at the front door. As well, it gives direct alerts to your smartphone whenever there is activity on your doorstep, for easy access to package deliveries and stopping ‘porch pirates’.
The Smart-Home Video Doorbell makes for a perfect gift during this 2019 Holiday Season. As a little forewarning, you may want to also gift a Wi-Fi extender, as the video doorbells to require a strong internet connection.
2. The Home Assistant (Voice Control). The Smart-Home Voice Assistant is certainly the most widely purchased smart-home device. They are meant to be placed in your most used areas of your home, popularly the kitchen, family rooms, bedrooms and or home office. The assistant may guide you in many aspects of your daily routine, from making reminders, to creating grocery lists, to playing your favorite music, as well as controlling other smart-home devices. A plethora of options have saturated the market, amongst the most well rated are the:
From Amazon:
Amazon Echo (Alexa)
From Google:
Google Home (OK Google)
From Sonos:
Sonos One (Alexa Enabled)
From Apple:
HomePod (Siri assistant)
3. The Smart Thermostat (w/app control). The Smart-Home Thermostat is a digital thermostat with “smart” abilities. You can control the climate of the home from anywhere in the world, so long as both devices are online. All Smart Thermostats will have the ability to enter an eco-friendly mode, adjust temperature remotely, and scheduling. The Nest is a great option, and since Google recently bought-out Nest,y our Nest device will soon be able to sync with your other Google Home devices. Another option is the Ecobee, which will be compatible to sync with any smartphone, as well as; Apple HomeKit, Amazon Alexa, Google Assistant, and Microsoft Cortana.
4. Smart Lighting and Plugs (voice and app control, with timed automation). Mainly controlled via smartphone applications. Smart Lighting and Plugs will allow you to control light level and color, lamps, fans, holiday lights, etc… They become extremely convenient in many scenarios, i.e. you and your family are away on vacation, you don’t want the neighbors and bystanders to know that the home is vacant. Quickly you grab your phone, press one button and just like that, your lights or on (even better option, scheduling your lights to turn on at a specific time daily). You can find Smart Lighting and Plugs from brands like Philips and Lutron.15:38:32
In conclusion, there are tons of Smart-Home devices out there, many are probably gimmicks that may or may not get used more than once by their owner. However, picking out any or all of the smart-home devices listed above will hopefully help make your daily life a tad less stressful. All of these recommendations will certainly make some of the best smart-home technology gifts of the 2019 Holiday season. We sure hope this article helped your narrow down your search, and check some boxes off your list of holiday gifts you still need to buy. Happy Holidays to all!