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Nest thermostatAmazon

The modern “smart home” is still learning. It’s still something we have to put in quotes like that. In the tech world’s rush to make everything Internet-connected, the home seems to be the area with the most potential for change and lasting effect. There are certainly no shortage of startups and corporations trying to make it work.

But for now, only a handful of these experiments look like they’ll bring more convenience than frustration. It’s hard to say that any smart home gadget is smart enough to be essential, but if you have an appreciation for forward-looking tech and a wallet with money to burn, there are devices out there that can help your day-to-day. Give them a chance, and it might be hard to go back. Here are a few we like.

ecobee3 Smarter WiFi Thermostat

ecobee3Amazon

The Nest Learning Thermostat is the face of smart home technology for most, but depending on what your home is like, it’s not blasphemous to say the ecobee3 is superior. 

Now, at their cores, both devices carry most of the same benefits. They’re both capable of learning your preferences and schedule, then adjusting the temperature accordingly. They’re both better-looking and more enjoyable to use than the basic pieces of plastic that occupy most households. Their very presence will probably make you more conscious about saving energy. They both can pay for themselves over time. And once you’re able to heat up or cool down your house from your phone, without having to get out of bed, you won’t want to go back.

If you live in a larger household, however, the ecobee3 can be much more convenient — provided you pick up a couple more remote sensors. Yes, it gets pretty pricey at that point, but having those gives you granular control over the temperature in different rooms around your house. By contrast, the Nest’s measurements are largely limited to the area in which it’s installed. 

If you live in a condo or smaller place in general, that’s no big deal; the Nest itself is still very adept at taking the work of climate control off your hands. But we also like the ecobee3’s display, which isn’t as vibrant as the Nest’s, but is touch-enabled and more spacious, making it less frustrating when you want to enter a WiFi password, see weather info, access the settings, and so on. 

Still, both devices are pretty great. Which one’s best just depends on whether you need a whole-home solution or a more straightforward one. For now, if it’s the former, go with the ecobee.

ecobee3 Smarter WiFi Thermostat with Remote Sensor (2nd-gen.), $242, available at Amazon.

Philips Hue

philips hueAmazon

The Philips Hue is just about synonymous with the “smart lighting” concept, but that’s because it works, and it’s fun. While nobody really needs a smartphone app that turns their lights blue, the Hue family of devices make it easy to adjust the mood of a room.

It doesn’t come cheap, though. If you’re curious about the idea of adjustable lighting but don’t want to drop a couple hundred on a starter kit, the Cree Connected LED Bulb might be a better fit. It requires a hub to work and isn’t as colorful, but it can still be dimmed from a phone, potentially saving you some cash along the way.

Philips Hue Starter Kit, $199.99, available at Amazon.

Nest Protect

nest protectAmazon

Like the Learning Thermostat above, the Nest Protectspruces and smartens up a device most of us take for granted. The connected smoke and carbon monoxide detector looks nicer than the gray plastic chunk on your ceiling, for one, but it also does its job well, gauging potential dangers, then loudly alerting you if there’s a problem. 

If you’re not home when something goes awry, it’ll send alerts to your phone. (And probably cause a few panic attacks in the process.) A handy “Pathlight” feature gives you a light if the Protect senses you walking around in the dark, too. And if you ever get a little too sloppy cooking dinner, you can turn off any non-emergency alarms right from the Nest app, rather than disconnecting the whole thing out of frustration. 

Nest Protect, $99, available at Amazon.

Amazon Echo

amazon echoAmazon

The Amazon Echo is technically a Bluetooth speaker, but you wouldn’t buy one just to play music. Instead, it best serves as a Siri or Google Now for your home, a digital assistant that can tell you the weather, crawl the Web for random info, fire up some music, set alarms or calendar events, adjust a growing number of other smart home devices, and more, all upon your request. 

Amazon’s done a stellar job of updating and improving the Echo since it launched late last year, and the whole thing is simple to use and operate. Like most of the devices on the list, it’s also something to gawk at. It might bring us closer to a Her-style existence, but as a friendly, hands-free bridge to the Internet, the Echo is nice to have around.

Amazon Echo, $179.99, available at Amazon.

Sonos Play:1

sonos play 1Amazon

The Sonos Play:1, meanwhile, is very much about the music. The entry-level device in the Sonos family of WiFi sound systems, the Play:1 performs well for its relatively diminutive size, and, like other Sonos devices, can easily stream music from Spotify, Google Play Music, Pandora, Amazon Prime Music, SiriusXM, and most other major players. 

You need to use Sonos’ app to do that, and really this model is meant to be a gateway to hooking up and syncing with other Sonos devices, but if you’ve ever thought about building such a home audio system, this is where you want to start.

Sonos Play:1, $199.99, available at Amazon.

Nest Cam

nest camAmazon

The Nest Cam builds off the successes of the Dropcam Pro — the creators of which Nest bought last year — by delivering a functional, high-res, and connected wireless security camera. 

It puts out a wide-angle, 1080p stream that you can watch from your phone — not a replacement for a full-on home security system, but useful if you’ve got a child that needs monitoring. It’ll send you alerts if it senses something suspicious — though that’s limited to one every half-hour — and you can also stash and access past footage through the cloud.

Nest Cam Security Camera, $187.25, available at Amazon.

Belkin WeMo Switch

belkin wemo switchAmazon

Belkin’s WeMo Switch devices want to make it so you’re never anxious about leaving something plugged in once you’re out of the house. They simply plug into an existing AC outlet, connect to your WiFi network, and then allow you to turn on or off whatever’s plugged into them through a corresponding app. 

That app has a reputation for being finicky from time to time, but get past that and you can find a ton of opportunities for home automation here (especially with a service like IFTTT). If you suspect a device is chewing up too much energy, for instance, you could have it automatically shut down once it hits a certain cost for the day.

Belkin WeMo Switch, $41.98, available at Amazon.

Roomba 980

roomba 980Amazon

You probably know what a Roomba is by now, and as we’ve said before, the newest model in the series of semi-autonomous robot vacuums is its smartest yet. It’s shamelessly expensive, but now you can schedule it to automatically start cleaning at specific times, regardless of whether or not you’re near it. It’s tidier at actually doing that cleaning, too, though it’ll still charmingly bash itself into a post every now and again.

iRobot Roomba 980, $899.99, available at Amazon.

August Smart Lock

august smart lockAmazon

It’s a niche device among niche devices, but the August Smart Lock lets you remotely control a door lock. Keys have never been particularly complicated, but the Smart Lock looks good (even if it’s a bit thick), isn’t too tough to install, and, unlike similar devices, goes over your deadbolt instead of replacing it entirely. If nothing else, having your door open and unlock for you without having to touch a thing is just neat.

If you pick up August’s Connect accessory or use a compatible hub (like Logitech’s Harmony Home Hub), you can also dictate the Smart Lock to allow certain people into the house, even when you’re not there. You’ll creep out the cable guy, sure, but if you can’t afford to stay home on the day of installation, this lets you let him in. 

August Smart Lock, $194, available at Amazon.

Logitech Harmony Home Control

logitech harmony home controlAmazon

Logitech has been the only real presence in the land of universal remotes for a long time now, and its Harmony Home Control is the best value it offers for anyone with a few smart home devices. The included Harmony Companion remote can connect to things like the aforementioned Nest thermostat, Philips Hue lights, or Sonos speakers, in addition to the usual suite of TVs, media streamers, cable boxes, game consoles, and so on. 

Using it isn’t constantly seamless, but for something that’s controlling up to 8 things at once, it’s far from unruly. It also ditches the IR blaster in favor of an RF signal, which means you don’t have to point it directly at what you want to control in order for it to work. 

While it has areas that could be a little more polished — there’s no backlight, for instance — it still breaks down many processes that’d be complicated without it. Now that it’s dropped about $40, it doesn’t charge an outrageous amount for the privilege either.

Logitech Harmony Home Control (White), $107.48, available at Amazon.

 

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