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Smart Home Gifts

The smart home gifts that get used are the ones that remove a chore: a robot vacuum, a doorbell that shows who is there, a thermostat that stops the arguments. Check which assistant the household already uses before buying anything that talks. Every pick below won one of our comparisons, grouped by price, with the full reasoning one click away.

Mid-range picks

Premium picks

What not to gift

Each of these is popular, and each lost its comparison. The linked review explains why and what to buy instead.

  • Apple HomePod mini Still charming and still great in an Apple home - but this is 2020 hardware and a successor has been widely reported.
  • Lenovo Smart Clock Essential with Alexa A likeable Alexa alarm clock wearing the smart-display label, but it is not really a smart display.
  • Wyze Plug Cheap and compact, but cloud-only control and no Matter make it feel dated fast.
  • Nanoleaf Matter Wi-Fi A19 Smart Bulb Dim output and owner reports of shaky software outweigh the Matter support.
  • Ring Battery Doorbell Pro Polished hardware wrapped around a cloud-only model that records nothing until you start paying.
  • Wyze Lock Bolt v2 A low-cost fingerprint deadbolt with built-in Wi-Fi, but its own page lists only BHMA Grade 2 and no Apple Home Key or Matter.
  • Wyze Thermostat Cheap and simple, but recurring connectivity and accuracy issues make it hard to trust.
  • iRobot Roomba Combo j5+ Its pad-on-bin mopping leaves more manual work than the automated mop systems here.
  • Arlo Pro 5S 2K Capable hardware undercut by a subscription you must keep paying just to record anything.
  • GoveeLife Water Leak Detector 1s Loud, long-range sensors, but they only work through a Govee gateway that is limited to 2.4GHz Wi-Fi and Govee's own sensors.
  • NETGEAR Orbi 970 Series (RBE973S) The fastest mesh reviewers have tested - and priced like a luxury item with its best features rented, not owned.
  • Birdfy Feeder 2 Smart Bird Feeder A 1080p feeder where, on the subscription version, AI bird ID ends after a week and storage is cloud-only.
  • Encalife Northern Lights Projector An aurora effect lamp in a different class - RGB waves and a remote, with no star layer, timer or dimensions published.
  • Dragon Touch Classic 10 Elite A low-cost frame that looks like a bargain until you live with the 1280x800 panel and a basic app.
  • Treatlife Smart Dimmer Switch (DS02S) A cheap 2.4GHz Wi-Fi dimmer that is single-pole only, lists no Matter support and names only FCC certification.
  • Blink Mini 2K+ A cheap 2K plug-in camera whose useful features sit behind a subscription or an extra Sync Module.

Every pick is the top pick of an RBE comparison. We reach each verdict by synthesizing independent testing and owner reports, not our own lab. How we review · All gift guides