Google's affordable Nest is the straightforward upgrade for most homes: ENERGY STAR certified, with a clean display and a schedule you build in the Google Home app that turns itself down when you leave so you're not conditioning an empty house. Savings Finder suggests tweaks, and HVAC monitoring watches your system and flags issues plus maintenance reminders. Family members can adjust the temperature from a phone anywhere, and it works with Google Assistant and Matter-certified assistants. One thing to check first: it runs without a C wire in many homes, but heat-pump, zone-controlled, and heating- or cooling-only systems may need one — so run Google's compatibility checker before buying.

A power-user's single router that refuses to nickel-and-dime you. AX6000 dual-band Wi-Fi 6, two 2.5Gbps ports you can aggregate, eight Gigabit LAN ports, and lifetime AiProtection security and QoS with no subscription. When you outgrow it, AiMesh lets you bolt on other ASUS units to extend coverage. The catch: it's one big antenna-laden box, so very large or multi-floor homes will still want those extra mesh nodes.

The cheapest way to make a dumb mini-split, window, or portable AC act like a Nest. It learns your unit's infrared remote, then adds Wi-Fi scheduling and geofencing so the room is cool when you walk in and off when you leave. Works with Alexa, Google, and Siri. Two caveats: it only works with AC units that have an IR remote, and its temperature reading comes from the controller's spot on the wall rather than across the room.

A True HEPA purifier sized for real living rooms—AHAM-verified up to 1,733 square feet—with a built-in air-quality sensor that reads PM2.5 and drives an Auto mode so it only ramps up when the air actually needs it. You get app control through VeSync plus Alexa and Google, and a genuinely quiet Sleep mode. The ongoing cost is the filter: figure around $50 every six to eight months on top of the unit.

Real-time GPS that updates every two to three seconds with unlimited LTE range, so a runner isn't a lost dog—it's a dot you follow on a map. A virtual fence pings you the moment they slip the yard, and it layers in heart-rate and respiratory monitoring. It clips to any collar and is fully waterproof. The cost that matters: the hardware needs an ongoing cellular subscription to work at all.

A small fix for a common annoyance: doorbell and camera alerts you miss because your phone's in another room. This plug-in Chime pushes Ring notifications out loud through the house, and the 3rd-gen speaker is louder and clearer than before. It goes into any standard wall outlet—no wiring, no fuss—and the slim, curved design stays out of the way. You can personalize tones, volume, and snooze settings so it's only as loud and as frequent as you want. Just be clear on what it is: an accessory that extends an existing Ring doorbell or camera setup, not a device that works on its own.

If color depth is the point, the SuperColor A21 is LIFX at full strength: 1,600 lumens of deeply saturated RGB across billions of shades, with CRI 90 rendering and a wide 210-degree beam that actually fills a room rather than spotlighting one corner. Tunable white sweeps from crisp 9000K daylight down to a warm 1500K for circadian-friendly evenings, and the app adds themes, scheduled scenes, plus music sync. The practical win is no hub — it pairs over Wi-Fi with native HomeKit (via Matter), Alexa, Google Home, and SmartThings, so there's no bridge to buy. The tradeoff is the usual one: each bulb sits on your Wi-Fi directly.

The answer to monthly doorbell fees. Two cameras—one head-to-toe on the visitor, one aimed down at the step so you actually see the package—record to 8GB built in with no subscription, ever. 2K detail, color night vision, and a swappable battery (or wire it in) make it genuinely full-featured, not a budget compromise. The fine print: no Apple HomeKit, you live in the eufy app, and the dual-camera housing is on the larger side. If 'no monthly fee' is the whole point, this is the one to beat.

Think of the Chime 2 as the part of an Arlo setup that lives indoors. It plugs into any outlet, connects straight to Wi-Fi with no base station, and turns doorbell rings and camera motion into audible alerts you'll actually hear from across the house. Pick from a range of melodies, set the volume, or drop it into silent mode. The 80-plus-decibel siren can fire automatically on motion or audio, or be triggered from the app as a deterrent. This is an accessory, not a standalone camera—it only earns its keep if you already run a compatible Arlo doorbell or camera, so check the compatibility list first.

The D30 Ultra brings flagship dock automation down a tier. Suction is the headline at 25,000Pa, paired with a floating rubber brush and a TriCut brush that cuts through long hair to prevent tangles. The mopping is where it earns its keep: dual rotary pads scrub under pressure for stuck-on spills, the pads extend up to 4cm to reach edges and corners most robots miss, and the dock washes and drains them in real time so they stay residue-free. Ultrasonic carpet detection lets you pick per-carpet modes — raise the mop, boost suction, or avoid entirely. Fast charging and a 5,200mAh battery deliver up to 230 minutes of runtime.

A serious tri-band Wi-Fi 7 mesh for a big, device-dense home. The three-pack covers up to 7,600 square feet and is rated for more than 200 devices, the headroom a house full of cameras, plugs, and TVs actually needs. BE10000 speeds run up to 5,188 Mbps on 6GHz, 4,324 on 5GHz, and 574 on 2.4GHz for 4K and 8K streaming or AR/VR gaming. The wiring is future-proofed too, with a 10G WAN/LAN port, four 2.5G ports, and USB 3.0, and a tri-band backhaul keeps units talking without stealing your bandwidth. AI-Roaming hands devices between nodes seamlessly, and TP-Link HomeShield adds security and parental controls. Sold for U.S. use.

Dreame's L40s Ultra is a near-hands-off cleaner. The PowerDock base auto-empties dust for up to 100 days, then washes the mop pads in 149°F hot water and hot-air dries them so they don't sit damp—the upkeep most robot mops quietly demand. On the floor, 19,000Pa suction handles everything from spilled oatmeal to embedded hair, a TriCut brush fights tangles, and MopExtend pushes the pad out to catch edges. AI 3D obstacle avoidance steers it around 120-plus object types, and carpet modes add suction boost or mop lift for pet households. One note: it's 2.4GHz Wi-Fi only. A premium pick for people who'd rather not babysit the machine.

Ring's battery Stick Up Cam is the flexible all-rounder: built to handle the outdoors but happy on a shelf indoors, powered by a rechargeable pack so you can place it where no outlet reaches. Setup is just inserting the battery and joining Wi-Fi, and the versatile bracket lets you sit it on a flat surface or wall-mount it; a separate accessory adds ceiling mounting. Live View and two-way talk let you check in and speak up from the Ring app, and you can run several around the house to cover every corner. As with all Ring gear, scrolling back through recorded clips and richer alerts require a Ring Protect subscription.

A sprinkler controller that waters on the weather, not a dumb timer — it pulls local forecasts and skips cycles before rain, which is where the water-bill savings (and utility rebates) come from. A DIY swap for most existing systems in under an hour, and the app is the best in the category. It wants the separate enclosure outdoors; 8 zones covers most homes, 16-zone for bigger yards.

A weatherproof two-socket plug that finally makes string lights, fountains, and inflatables run on a schedule instead of a memory. Each outlet is independently controlled and rated 15A, the IP64 housing shrugs off rain, and the long-range 2.4GHz radio reaches up to 300 feet with no hub. The compromises on this older EP40: no energy monitoring, and no Matter or HomeKit—it's Alexa and Google only.

The value pick in the 4K Fire Stick line. The Select trims back from the Max but keeps what most people actually use: 4K Ultra HD with HDR10+, fast-enough performance, and Alexa voice search to launch and find shows by talking instead of scrolling. Every major app is here—Prime Video, Netflix, YouTube, Disney+, Apple TV+, HBO Max, Hulu, Peacock—alongside free ad-supported content, and Alexa+ adds more natural, conversational search. It doubles as a light smart-home remote for lights, weather, and music. If you want real 4K HDR without paying for the Max's extra speed and features, the Select hits the essentials at a lower price.