Whether you're looking for new smart home gadgets to add to your existing collection, or want help understanding the smart home for beginners, Paul Antill shares a smart home tour that delivers big on inspiration when working with a small space. Setting up a smart home can power your home with automations, convenience, security and entertainment. There's no shortage of amazing smart home technology, from smart gadgets for home on Amazon like Ring doorbells and Echo speakers to robot window cleaners and immersive smart lights.
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00:00Like, tell me that's not the future.
00:06I've recently moved into this new space, but I had to downsize quite a bit.
00:10However, I've got a number of really cool smart home gadgets that make the most of a
00:14smaller space.
00:15So, whether you're just starting a smart home or you're looking for some really cool
00:19smart home gadgets that are easy to install, maybe renter-friendly, there's something
00:23for everyone here.
00:24From setting the mood, automated home cleaning, and smart home security, here are some of
00:28the best picks that you can get today that actually make a difference.
00:31One of the most important decisions that went into creating my smart home setup was making
00:35sure that everything works seamlessly together, especially in the area that I hang out most,
00:39my living room.
00:41So, for my brains, I'm using Alexa.
00:43Now, as a voice assistant, it's not really the best and it doesn't hold a torch compared
00:47to Google Home.
00:48Alexa, turn off all the lights.
00:50Wall lights isn't responding.
00:52But when it comes to actually controlling my devices, my lights, my TV, my Xbox, it
00:57gives me the most flexibility with those custom prompts.
00:59For example, Alexa, let's game.
01:02Game.
01:03With that one custom command, it turned on my Govee strip lights, my Govee lamp, my Xbox,
01:09and my TV.
01:10And when it all works well together, it really makes you feel like you're part of the future.
01:14In the living room, I've paired the Echo Studio along with the Echo Sub.
01:18Now, the really cool thing about this is you can actually pair up to two of these along
01:21with an Echo Sub.
01:23And if you have a Fire TV or a Fire Stick, you can actually pair all three together for
01:28a really incredible surround sound system.
01:30You can mix and match their other speakers and start even with a basic one and slowly
01:34expand into more if you just want to get your feet wet.
01:37But there are a few other smaller things that you can do to make your older or more retro
01:41products feel like they're part of your smart home.
01:44For example, we've got these really cool bulbs over here that are controlled via smart
01:48switches hidden behind here.
01:50Turn on the bookshelf lights.
01:54And then if you're like me and you're starting to get into records, even budget options like
01:57this Electro Home here for $100 have Bluetooth built in, which allow you to easily connect
02:02to your other smart devices, your smart speakers, whether those are Alexas or via Bluetooth
02:08to your bookshelf speakers.
02:12Not too far away across the room, I have the Echo Show 10, and this is probably my favorite
02:16smart home device that I've tried to date.
02:19It's a display that you can always look at.
02:21So whether I'm cooking, whether I'm washing dishes, or I'm just trying to get ingredients,
02:25it's a display that I can always keep my eyes on.
02:27I actually mostly keep this mode set to off, but when I'm cooking, show me recipes for
02:32steak tacos.
02:33I'll read the directions one step at a time.
02:35It's actually been pretty cool to be able to have a screen that does a semi-decent job
02:39at following me around so that I can continue watching my favorite show or play live news.
02:44Live from ABC News.
02:47All along with a recipe without needing to actually touch the display.
02:52Beyond that, these speakers are one of the best ways to get great sounding multi-room
02:55audio with very little effort.
02:58But actually, my favorite part of this entire setup is the lighting, specifically syncing
03:02it with the TV.
03:03And for that, we're going to be installing the Govee Backlight 3.
03:07This is the newest part of my setup, but I saw so many people raving about it online
03:10that I just had to try it out myself.
03:12With the Govee TV Backlight 3, anything on my screen can expand into a lighting canvas
03:16thanks to the camera on top.
03:18Coming from more traditional smart lights, it's on a whole other level when it's
03:22actually syncing with what's happening on screen in real time.
03:25It's incredible.
03:26Now, this is the Hisense 65-inch U8K.
03:29Even though it's last year's model, this is still one of the best TVs that you can
03:32get for under $1,000 that's 4K and 144Hz.
03:36It gets extremely bright with 1,500 nits peak with impressive blacks and contrast thanks
03:41to its mini-LED panel, making it great for sunny rooms like this.
03:45A really nice TV like this brings the smart home together and Hisense makes some of the
03:48best value non-OLED TVs that you can get today.
03:51Again, don't be afraid to shop for a TV that's a year or two old like this one,
03:54since it's a great way to get most of those same smart features and picture quality, but
03:58at a decent discount.
04:00This also comes with Google Assistant built in, either the mic built into the TV or via
04:04the remote.
04:05So I can say, OK Google, open Max.
04:08Opening Max.
04:09Stream HBO.
04:10And if you have your smart home accessories connected with your Google Home account, you
04:14can control them with your TV.
04:16This could either make it a great starting point for when you're first creating a smart
04:19home or an easy way to expand it out without needing to buy a dedicated smart hub for that
04:24room.
04:28Ring makes smart doorbells that give me notifications to my phone or my Alexa's whenever someone's
04:33at my door.
04:35Or rings.
04:36Traveling a lot, this is a great way for me to keep tabs on my deliveries or make sure
04:40my packages are safe.
04:42One of the key things for me, since I didn't want to drill through my door for wiring,
04:45was a long-lasting built-in battery.
04:47In this case, the Ring gives me about 6-12 months depending on how frequently I get notifications
04:53and check in on things.
04:54When I first bought into the system, I thought it was the perfect pair, especially with my
04:58Alexa's.
04:59And for the most part, it still is.
05:01But they're pushing really hard to get people to buy their monthly Ring Protect plan, which
05:05starts at $5 to get video history and enhanced notifications, so just keep that in mind.
05:12I'm not the biggest fan of having security cameras in the home, but I do like having
05:15them to monitor entrances like this one here to my balcony, just because you never know.
05:21So this is the GE Sync smart camera, and it's cool for a couple reasons.
05:27One, it's pretty affordable.
05:28It also has a physical shutter so I can pull it up and I know for sure it's not able to
05:32record anything.
05:33It also has this really nice swivel here so I can get the perfect angle.
05:37And you'll also notice that it has a microSD card on the side here so it can actually record
05:41and save footage locally without the need for cloud storage, so that actually saves
05:46you a little bit of money in the long run because you don't need to have a subscription
05:48service, which is one of the main things for me.
05:51I'm tired of having subscription services for everything, and again, it's only about
05:54$30, so it was perfect for what I needed.
05:57And because it's compatible with Alexa, I can say, Alexa, show me the porch camera.
06:02Okay.
06:03So that all goes back to finding one ecosystem and a bunch of products that all work perfectly
06:07together.
06:09I've been testing and reviewing robot vacuum cleaners for over four years now, and as weird
06:14as it is to get excited by a vacuum, it's also really cool to see how far these have
06:20come over the past few years, not just in terms of how well they clean, but also with
06:25their design.
06:26This is the Ecovacs X2 Omni and new for this year, it has a lot of cool tricks up its sleeve.
06:31So carried over from its previous models, we see the auto lifting mopping pads, which
06:35when first introduced was a huge game changer for me because it allowed you to clean your
06:40carpets and your hardwood floors during the same cleaning cycle.
06:44But they've taken things even further.
06:46New for this year, the X2 Omni has managed to move all of its navigation and obstacle
06:50avoidance sensors into the main part of its body instead of the submarine like sail that
06:54smart vacuums usually have.
06:56This allows the vacuum to clean under lower clearance obstacles that were once out of
07:00reach.
07:01That said, you'll still probably find a few crannies and corners that the vacuum still
07:04can't reach.
07:05And for that, you now have the new handheld stick vac, which is attached to the station's
07:09right hand side.
07:10On top of doing a really great job at replacing a traditional vacuum, even better, when you're
07:14done cleaning, it auto empties and charges using that same station.
07:19Because of all this, I think this combo is one of the best all in one smart vacuum systems
07:22that you can get today.
07:24The thing is, you don't need to spend $1,000 like on this combo here, you can get a model
07:28that's a couple years old, maybe one that's used if you're just trying it out for the
07:32first time.
07:33You're actually going to be really impressed, especially if it's from one of those bigger
07:36brands.
07:37And again, the idea with these is that you're going to be able to trust them to do your
07:40automated home cleaning without much of your own input.
07:43You're not going to need to bust out that traditional vacuum as often.
07:47But we've all seen robot vacuum cleaners.
07:50What about a robot cleaner for your windows?
07:52This is the WinBot W2 Omni.
07:55Within a few clicks, it attaches to your windows, it begins suctioning, cleaning, and in just
07:58a few minutes, it's done.
08:00So it's got actually enough water to do a couple of these.
08:04Place it at one corner, turn it on, you'll hear it whir up, and hands off.
08:12It's got little nozzles on its front and back.
08:15It's actually going to start spurting in each direction as it moves.
08:18Now, one thing that's really great is, again, this is an all in one unit with a battery
08:21built in.
08:22So even though I do have an outdoor outlet, I don't need to worry about staying tethered
08:25because it has enough charge to clean all of my windows, exterior and interior, on a
08:29single charge.
08:30Is this something that I thought I'd ever need, let alone ever get to try?
08:34No, but now that I have, it really has me excited to see what the future of home automation
08:39holds.
08:40So not only is this easier and quicker than using a bucket and squeegee, it's doing
08:43a better job, there's no streaks, and, you know, I can sit inside and not have to worry
08:48about it.
08:49To me, that is part of the house of the future.
08:52And all this is kept safe with my Yale SmartLock.
08:55This is one of the cheapest SmartLocks that you can buy today from a reputable brand and
08:59as someone who hates to take their keys with them, this is a great choice.
09:03It doesn't have Wi-Fi, so I can't control this remotely when I'm not home.
09:06But at the same time, maybe this actually makes this less of a security risk as it's
09:11not on an actual network.
09:13You still have the convenience of Bluetooth if you don't want to use the keypad, but
09:16it's actually its auto lock feature that I like most.
09:19Even if I forget to lock the door, after a few moments, it'll just lock itself.
09:25But what purchase would you make to start your smart home journey today?
09:29Let me know in the comments.
09:30You can also follow us everywhere at Tom's Guide to see more cool tech and you can follow
09:34me to see what I'm reviewing next.
09:35Until the next one, I'll catch you later.