Smart Home Reviews

The GE Profile Smart Indoor Smoker delivers on its promise of bringing smoking indoors, but sadly its smarts didn’t make me a better pitmaster.

Thanks to its self-cleaning mop, automatic water tanks, and supersize bin, this robot vacuum can go for two months without any manual intervention.

We put the Roborock S8 MaxV Ultra head-to-head against the DreameBot X30 Ultra to find out which of these Roomba competitors’ flagship robot vacuums is the best.

Which is the best bet to bedazzle your backyard?

Smart ceiling lights are finally becoming a thing and are great for lighting up your whole room with both fun and function. We compared two new options from Aqara and Nanoleaf to find out which is the best.

Amazon’s new control panel makes using an Alexa-powered smart home as easy as flipping a light switch (only better, trust me).

An all-in-one security camera with motion-activated light and continuous power, an outdoor floodlight camera is a simple way to add safety and security to your home’s perimeter.

With customizable icons and an intuitive click wheel, the Linxura solves a big problem with smart buttons. But it needs to dial up its integrations before it’s worth your money.

The $800 GE Profile Smart Mixer improves on the category — but not enough to justify its high price tag and hefty size.

Souped-up sound, widgets, and a Thread radio make for a good (but not showy) upgrade to Amazon’s best smart speaker with a screen.

These misleadingly simple gadgets are some of the most useful smart devices you can have in your home.

Ecobee’s first doorbell camera is also the first that can stream a live view to your thermostat. Yes, it sounds weird, but trust me — it’s good.

Yale’s latest smart locks offer something for everyone: Apple Home Key, a fingerprint reader, and compatibility with every platform. You just can’t have it all. (And there’s still no support for Thread or Matter.)

The new plug-in version of Brilliant’s wired smart switch is simpler to install and just as easy to use. But still-limited integrations keep it from being truly brilliant.

This $400 kitchen bin eats your leftovers and promises to turn them into chicken food rather than landfill. A nicer-smelling kitchen and less waste are great, but not at this price.

As the latest entry-level Alexa smart speaker, the $40 Echo Pop packs a lot of value into a small package. It’s not as good as the Echo Dot, but it’s got looks on its side.

The M1 LED light strip is bright, colorful, and compatible with everything, thanks to Matter. But its flashiest features are only in Govee’s app.

The first Matter-over-Thread smart lighting line, Nanoleaf’s new lights promise a lot and mostly deliver.

The G4 is the first and only wireless smart doorbell to work with Apple Home. Its features are impressive, but it lacks some essentials.

Tovala reinvents the TV dinner with its connected oven combined with a meal delivery service that cooks healthy, delicious meals in under 20 minutes. But as a smart oven, it’s a disappointment.

This dual-camera dash cam can detect break-ins when your car is parked and record every second of your time on the road. If you have a specific need for a device like this, it’s a good option. But integration with other Ring devices and Alexa is lacking.

The TP-Link Tapo is a perfectly good smart plug that’s among the first to work with Matter. It’s fast and easy to use with Apple Home, Google Home, Amazon Alexa, or SmartThings. But when it comes to sharing it all starts to fall apart.

The newest SmartThings hub can also charge your smartphone and find your keys — plus it’s a Matter controller and Thread border router. But there’s no support for Z-Wave, and too many features are only for Galaxy phones.

Apple’s second take on the HomePod doesn’t stray far from the original, but it’s better all around.

This Echo Show on the wall is the fairest smart display of them all. Updates to support Fire TV, new widget options, and a better Photo Frame mode make the flagship Echo a winner.

The Philips Hue Festavia string lights look great and add a lot of fun to any holiday decor. They’re expensive, though, and only really worth it if you’ve bought into the Hue ecosystem.

We put these two self-sufficient smart home security cameras to the test

A cool but minor upgrade to an already excellent robot vacuum, iRobot’s Combo j7 adds a mop to the bot and is worth considering if you’ve got hardwood floors and lots of fluffy rugs. For everyone else, the regular j7 vacuum is still your best bet.