Products

• smart display · 2021

  Echo Show 15

  The wall-mounted Echo Show 15 is the rare Alexa device built for households rather than nightstands. Family calendar, sticky notes, and a hands-free Fire-TV experience all anchor a single screen.

• smart display · 2021

  Echo Show 10

  The motorised display follows you around the room — a divisive feature that makes more sense in kitchens and home offices than the marketing screenshots suggested.

• hub · 2024

  Echo Hub

  Amazon's purpose-built smart-home dashboard — wall-mounted or stand-mounted, Matter + Zigbee + Thread bridge baked in.

HomePod, HomeKit accessories, Vision Pro, Apple Watch.

• wearable · 2023

  Apple Watch Series 9 — Fall Detection

  When the Series 4 introduced Fall Detection it was a side-feature; on Series 9 it's the headline. Worth wearing for anyone living alone.

• ar vr · 2024

  Apple Vision Pro

  The first headset to disappear into the room. Quiet, expensive, and — for editorial work — honest enough to recommend in narrow circumstances.

Matter-first sensors, hubs, locks — heavy HomeKit + SmartThings overlap.

• hub · 2024

  Aqara Hub M3

  Matter controller + Thread border router + Zigbee 3.0 hub in one box. The lowest-friction way to put Aqara sensors into a HomeKit + Alexa + Google household.

• sensor · 2023

  Aqara Presence Sensor FP2

  mmWave radar presence sensor — detects multiple people in a room, with zone-aware automations. The gold-standard non-motion presence sensor under $100.

• camera · 2022

  Aqara Camera Hub G3

  2K indoor pan/tilt camera that doubles as a Zigbee hub. Local face + gesture recognition, HomeKit Secure Video support.

Battery-first wireless security cameras + doorbells.

• camera · 2023

  Arlo Pro 5S 2K

  Battery-powered 2K outdoor camera with dual-band Wi-Fi 6 + color night vision. The best-of-class no-wire option, paywall caveats acknowledged.

Smart locks that retrofit existing deadbolts.

• lock · 2020

  August Wi-Fi Smart Lock (4th gen)

  Still the most domestic smart lock you can buy. Mounts over an existing deadbolt, keeps the existing keys, plays nicely with HomeKit and Alexa.

Smart thermostats + cameras with built-in Alexa.

• thermostat · 2022

  ecobee Smart Thermostat Premium

  Air-quality monitoring + a built-in Alexa make the Premium more than a thermostat — though the radar-based room sensing is the feature you'll keep telling friends about.

Anker's smart-home line — security cams, doorbells, vacuums.

• vacuum · 2024

  Eufy X10 Pro Omni

  Robot vacuum + self-washing + self-emptying base. The cheapest of the 'fully autonomous' tier; about 60% of the Roborock S8 Pro Ultra at half the price.

• doorbell · 2023

  Eufy Video Doorbell S330

  Dual-camera doorbell with package detection — local storage via HomeBase, no monthly fee. Privacy story is much improved post-2024 disclosures.

• smart display · 2019

  Nest Hub Max

  Google's largest Nest display — 10-inch screen, Face Match for personalised views, plus a camera with Duo + Meet calling.

• camera · 2021

  Nest Cam (indoor, wired)

  Google's quietest reset since 2017 — fewer features than the old Nest line, but a much cleaner privacy story and a more legible app.

• doorbell · 2022

  Nest Doorbell (battery)

  Battery-powered doorbell with on-device person/package/animal/vehicle detection. Google's strongest privacy story in the doorbell category.

AI meeting recorder + note assistant — competes with Plaud + Bee.

• voice recorder · 2024

  HiNotes AI Recorder

  Plaud-style portable AI recorder with chapter summaries + action-item extraction. Differentiator vs Plaud is the per-user mode lock for sensitive meetings.

Roomba vacuums + Braava mops.

• vacuum · 2021

  iRobot Roomba j7+

  PrecisionVision navigation finally solved the cord-and-pet-mess problem. The j7+ remains our default recommendation for households with both.

• hub · 2021

  Hue Bridge

  The required hub for Hue — Zigbee out, Wi-Fi to the cloud + Matter pass-through. Replaces the older square-shaped Bridge.

• lighting · 2020

  Hue Play Gradient Lightstrip

  Behind-TV LED strip that mirrors on-screen colour in real time. Pairs with HDMI Sync Box; the feature stays Hue's most-recommended.

AI voice recorders — NotePin, Plaud Note — that auto-summarise meetings with GPT-4/Claude.

• voice recorder · 2024

  Plaud Note

  Credit-card-thin AI voice recorder — magnetises to the back of an iPhone, records call + room audio, ships transcripts + GPT-4/Claude summaries via the Plaud app.

• voice recorder · 2024

  Plaud NotePin

  Wearable pendant variant of the Plaud Note — clip it on, button-press records, AI summary on the dashboard. Direct rival to the Limitless Pendant.

Amazon-owned doorbell + camera ecosystem.

• doorbell · 2021

  Ring Video Doorbell Pro 2

  Head-to-toe HD vision and 3D motion make the Pro 2 the most editorially honest of Ring's lineup — but the privacy story remains unfinished.

• hub · 2023

  SmartThings Station

  Samsung's combo Qi charger + Matter / Thread / Zigbee hub. Replaces the old SmartThings Hub at a smaller footprint.