Smart Home Gadgets: Half of Them Are Genius, Half Are Gathering Dust

I have a confession. I own a smart light bulb that I still turn on using the physical switch on the wall. I yell at it sometimes. "Alexa, turn on the— oh forget it." click

The smart home revolution promised us the Jetsons. What we got is a house full of gadgets with different apps that occasionally work when the Wi-Fi feels like cooperating. But — and this matters — some of these gadgets are genuinely life-changing. The trick is knowing which ones.

The Hall of Fame (Actually Worth It)

Robot vacuums. I resisted. I mocked. I said "I can push a vacuum just fine, thank you." Then I got one. Then I named it. Then I scheduled it to run while I was at work. Coming home to clean floors every day without lifting a finger? This is peak civilization. Buy one. Name it. Love it.

Smart plugs. Two dollars of technology that lets you control any dumb device from your phone. The Christmas tree lights. The bedroom fan. The coffee maker. It's the gateway drug of smart home and it costs less than a latte.

Video doorbells. Remember when someone knocked on your door and you had to physically walk over and open it with no idea who was on the other side? Like some kind of medieval lottery? Video doorbells fixed this. Worth every penny.

The Hall of Shame (Save Your Money)

Smart fridges. Brother, I do not need a screen on my fridge. I do not need my refrigerator to have an Instagram account. I need it to keep things cold. That's the whole job.

Smart water bottles. These exist. They tell you when to drink water. We have reached a point as a civilization where we need a $45 bottle to remind us to perform a basic survival function. I'm going to go stare at the ocean for a while.

Wi-Fi enabled slow cookers. What remote adjustment are you making to a slow cooker? It cooks. Slowly. That's the whole thing. You don't need to adjust it from the office. It's fine. It's been fine for 50 years.

The Deal Play

The good smart home stuff goes on sale HARD during Prime Day and Black Friday. Robot vacuums especially — we're talking 40-50% off. Echo devices drop to near-giveaway prices because they want you in the ecosystem. And smart plugs in multi-packs become almost free.

Don't buy smart home gadgets at full price. They're always on sale somewhere. And please, for the love of all that is holy, don't buy a smart toothbrush.