The Best Smart Home Devices for 2020: Check Out Our Rundown of the Best Smart Home Hubs at the Same Time.

Source www.pcmag.com

10/11/2020 Newest

It's time to upgrade your house to a smart home. The ability to control aspects of your house just via a phone app or voice commands is only going to get more prominent in the future. To help you begin on your smart home journey, or complete the technology-laden home of your dreams, we've curated a list of devices that we believe are the best smart home products you can buy right.

Table of contents

What is Meant by a Smart Home?
Advantages of Using Smart Home Devices
7 Best Smart Home Devices You Must Have
Things to Consider When Buying Smart Home Devices

What is Meant by a Smart Home?

If you are fond of technology you must already know a lot about smart homes but if not then read on. Smart homes are the in thing today. Most of the houses in metro cities now are turned into smart homes for various reasons. Let us look at what actually is a smart home. It is a home that uses an internet connection to monitor and manage the appliances or systems used in a house. You can also call it home automation. The main objective of turning a home into a smart home is to provide world-class security, convenience and energy-saving. You can turn a home into a smart home by using various smart home devices that are a part of the internet of things or IoT. These smart devices are most of the time operated together by sharing consumer usage data.

There are a number of advantages of using these smart home devices. When you use smart devices most or all of your appliances are connected to your smartphone to give you the utmost comfort. In other words, these smart devices help you by doing the household chores for you even when you are not at home, for e.g. you can set your washing machine to wash your clothes when you are not home or turn on the heat when you are on your way and find a nice warm home to enter in it.

We have compiled a list of some of the most convenient smart devices for you to choose from. These devices are easily available in the market to make your life easier and comfortable.

Advantages of Using Smart Home Devices

Here is a list of advantages of using smart home devices for you to understand its benefits.

Smart home devices are energy efficient. You can easily program them according to the time and need thus prevent them to be working when you don't need them for e.g. you can pre-program the automated thermostat according to your time of return. There are certain smart devices that read your behaviour and adapt accordingly unless changed. If you are looking to buy smart devices to save energy then you need to choose carefully as not all save energy but most do.
Another very obvious advantage is convenience. People lead a hectic life these days and need devices that can make life easier for them. You can set these smart devices and have them work when you are not home or sleeping to wake up with most of the work done. So, next time when you wake up on a cold winter morning you'll have freshly baked bread and warm coffee waiting in your kitchen.
safety of home and family members is a major concern these days and smart devices can make your home a lot safer. You can use smart cameras on your doors or inside the house to check on what your pets are up to or if the maid is taking proper care of your kids when you are away. If also saves accidents as you won't have to worry about turning the gas off or the water heater off as it will shut off when programmed for.
These smart devices are great for disabled or elderly people as they work on voice commands so they won't have to get up each time to lock the doors or turn the lights off before going to bed.
They also increase the resale value of your house as people are willing to pay more for a safe and convenient home.

7 Best Smart Home Devices You Must Have

Amazon Echo Family

Source www.reliancedigital.in

This Amazon Echo is an excellent Bluetooth speaker which is powered by Alexa, your personal voice assistant. It is compatible with a number of smart home devices. You can easily pair Alexa with most of your gadgets at home and command them with your voice alone. This speaker will turn your simple home into a smart home instantly. You simply need to plug it in, download the Alexa app on your phone and you are done. This speaker uses beam-forming technology which allows it to hear your voice from a distance and work on your commands. You can ask Alexa to play music for you, stream movies or pair it with other Bluetooth speakers.

It is a great companion as it answers your questions, listens to your problems and cracks jokes as well. You can also use it to control your smart lights, make or receive phone calls for you. You can also set reminders for the tasks you need to do during the day or order food from restaurants. So, you see Alexa alone can help ease your pain and do a lot of things for you as well as keep you entertained. It is available for Rs. 5,999 on www.reliancedigital.in and make it a part of your family.

Smart TV

Source www.amazon.in

Entertainment is a necessity because our mind and body need time to relax and unwind. One thing that brings all the entertainment of the world into our homes is a TV and when it is a smart TV it gets better. The Samsung Wondertainment series is a LED smart TV. It is not only a TV but can be used as a PC to work from the cloud, mirror it to your laptop and do all sorts of official work on it with ease. It also gives you a visual experience for your playlist so your music sounds better. You can also play videos from your smartphone on the TV and enjoy them with your family. It recommends TV shows to you according to your last views and the HD quality picture enhances your TV viewing to the max. The TV comes with one year of comprehensive and one year of additional warranty. You can buy this cool smart TV for Rs. 14,489 from amazon.in and enjoy your weekends.

Yale Smart Door Lock Pro & Connect - with Alexa & App Access

Source mccoymart.com

We already know that smart homes and safer due to smart cameras but now you can easily install smart locks on your doors. The Yale Smart Door Lock is a great device that keeps your home safe. You can easily lock or unlock your door with your phone so next time your wife left her home keys at the office you can simply open the door sitting at your office and let her in. You can also program it to automatically unlock when you reach home and lock when you leave. You can install this lock in less than 10 minutes and feel safe.

You can also pair it with Alexa and ask her to check if the doors are locked properly or not. It also has an activity feed which lets you check on who opened your door when you were not around. One of the best features of the Yale smart lock are that you can share access to it with your guests and have them come in even when you are not home. With all these excellent features this lock is available for Rs. 22,598 on mccoymart.com.

Smart Air Purifiers

Source www.dyson.in

One good thing that came out during the spread of Covid 19 was the improved quality of air. Since all the cars were parked at home and the industries were shut down the AQI improved immensely but is not coming back to what it was earlier. People are again worried about the kind of air they are breathing in which prompts them to look into air purifiers. If you are looking for one you can check out the Smart air purifier, Dyson Pure hot+cool. It is a smart air purifier that cleans and heats your room. It removes 99.9% of the harmful pollutants from the air and makes it safe for you to breathe.

The machine is scientifically tested and is known to remove bacteria and viruses from the air. It works as a great room heater during winters and cools the atmosphere in summers to keep you safe and cozy in your home. You can actually see the air being purified with oscillation mode. Having this smart home device will make your home a safer place. You can buy it for Rs. 55,900 from www.dyson.in.

Smart Doorbell

Source www.tanotis.com

A smart doorbell is a cool device to have at your home that also keeps you safe. It keeps a check on who is at your front door through your smartphone. If you are interested in buying one you can check out the Nest Hello Video doorbell. You can access videos on our phone from anywhere with an internet connection. The doorbell takes videos at up to 30 fps and has night vision as well. You can view a person from head to toe and can even talk to them through your phone. This doorbell is waterproof and can help you keep track of people wandering about in front of your home. It can be bought for Rs. 33,190 from www.tanotis.com.

Robot Vacuum Cleaner with Mopping

Source www.amazon.in

Most families have all the members working a 9 to 5 job which gives them very little time to clean their house daily. Usually, thorough cleaning of the house is left for the weekends which is a time taking task and leaves no time for fun and entertainment. If you go for a smart vacuum cleaner you can save a lot of your time and energy and put it to use on other things.

This Robot vacuum cleaner with a mop is an excellent smart device that everyone should own. The vacuum cleaner provides you 3 stage cleaning system with its advanced motor that spins at 10,000 RPMs and gives you squeaky clean floors. This vacuum also sucks up the pet hair which looks extremely untidy floating in the house with its multi-floor brushes and strong suction power. So, if you want your home to be a clean smart home then you should buy this excellent smart device for Rs. 3,99,00 from amazon.in and have the cleanest house on the block this Diwali.

Smart Lights for Home

Source www.amazon.in

Great lights make your home look attractive and when it is a smart light it gets better. You can check out the Syska smart LED bulb for your smart home. This bulb is compatible with Amazon Alexa therefore you can easily control it with voice commands. It has 16 million colours and can be used with Android and iPhones. You can download the Syska smart home app and set it up easily at home. You can also program it according to the sunrise and sunset in your area and the bulb will itself power on and power off saving you a lot of electricity. This 9-watt smart bulb can be bought for Rs. 739 from amazon.in.

Things to Consider When Buying Smart Home Devices

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Check out these tips before you start shopping for your smart home devices.

Buying a voice system is always a good choice when it comes to smart devices. You can choose from Alexa, Google Assistant or Siri but before that check its compatibility with your systems. It is always better to connect all your smart devices with one voice system rather than having to manage some of them with it and some with our phones.
Also check look for design compatibility. When it comes to technology the system should be great but the exterior also matters. You will be keeping it in your new smart house therefore it should match with your style, interiors and personality. You can find smart devices in different colours so go ahead and match them with your walls or curtains to look cool. Also, check the kinds of cords or cables the devices have. You can go for wireless to save space and you can carry them around in your rooms. If you go for wires then make sure to get cable management kits to place them neatly on the walls.
If you have elderly family members you can go for devices that are simple and can work with or without the Internet to make it easier for them to use.
Research properly before buying smart devices. Buy them from repudiated stores and brands. Cheap devices can leak your data or can be hacked easily. You should check the reviews of the devices to get an idea of the features and quality of the devices.
If your smart device is difficult to install it will make your life a living hell and you might end up storing it in your cabinet. Check to see how easily they can be installed and what types of connections they require. You can take help from an electrician if you like but it is better to do it yourself. You will find some devices that run through Bluetooth and some through Wi-Fi therefore buy the one best for you.
Look for devices that provide you with good customer services and installation. Some people can easily install things but most of us are not an expert therefore check with the store on the kind of customer services they provide to make things easier for you.
Keeping your budget in mind while buying smart devices is important. The price of a device depends on its brand; retailer, customer services etc therefore check these things before investing in a device. Don't pay a big amount for the sake of a smart device, remember smart should be smart by default so be wise.

From our editorial team

Increase Energy Efficiency

Depending on how you use your smart-home technology, it’s possible to make your house more energy-efficient. For example, a smart thermostat may be programmed to have more precise control over the heating and cooling of your home that learns your schedule and temperature preferences and suggests the best energy-efficient settings throughout the day. Lights and motorized shades can be programmed to switch to an evening mode as the sun sets, or lights can turn on and off automatically when you enter or leave the room, so you never have to worry about wasting energy.