The Best Smart Home System

Buying Guide

Whether you want to make your life more convenient or take advantage of devices that let you protect or monitor your home, a smart home system can be a great addition. Depending on the type of system, you might be able to automate turning on lights and appliances, use voice control to perform common tasks or even track your energy usage to save money.

To get started the easiest way, you can buy a smart home system that includes the smart hub and several accessories that work with it.  If necessary, you can always get more components when you get set up. This all-inclusive option is especially popular for systems focusing on home security and energy monitoring.

As an alternative to an all-in-one system, you might start simpler with a smart hub device. In some cases, the smart hub doubles as a router system that provides home-wide internet access. At the same time, you can find smart hubs made to work with thermostats, light bulbs and other manufacturer-compatible devices. This can give you more freedom to build your own system according to your budget and needs.

Whether you buy a ready-to-use smart home system or build your own, you’ll need to think about the types of functionalities you want and what the main purpose of the system will be. This will guide you on the type of system and any extra devices you might need.

For example, you might want a system that works with lights, speakers and a thermostat via voice control. In that case, you might buy a smart hub that works with your existing speakers and buy a smart thermostat and light bulbs compatible with the hub. To control such a system by voice, you can find an option compatible with an assistant such as Amazon Alexa or Siri. You might be able to speak to the hub itself, or you might use your phone for this.

On the other hand, you might want a system focusing on security that has a professional monitoring service for peace of mind. You might choose an all-in-one system with door and window sensors, security cameras, smart locks, leak detectors and smart smoke detectors for this purpose. The professional monitoring service in this case could alert you of possible intruders or dangers in the home.

If you do go with a specialized system, keep in mind there’s less flexibility for the future. This means you might end up needing to use multiple smart home systems – such as a general smart hub in addition to your smart home security system – to get all the features you want.

With any smart home hub or system, you’ll want to check how the connectivity works. Bluetooth, Zigbee and Wi-Fi are popular communications methods to look out for. Some systems may also work with cellular internet as a backup.

• While some smart home systems have their own network that can function without needing to rely on the internet, you’ll want to otherwise make sure your home internet setup can support your planned system. This could mean calling your internet provider to upgrade your connection speed or purchasing a better router that supports more devices at a good speed.
• If you’re buying a system that has a subscription, check the plans available to make sure you can afford the features that fit your needs. For example, some systems might have a free or cheap subscription for basic access and charge much more to have 24/7 professional monitoring.
• Some smart hubs allow you to connect devices via USB or other methods, so you might shop around for the option that provides the most flexibility.
• Before you buy any smart devices to use with your system, always check for compatibility. The manufacturer should have a website with a list of compatible products. You might be able to use devices from other manufacturers, or the system’s maker might limit you to just its products. Also, know that some devices like smart locks might require switching your current hardware out.
• When using an internet-enabled smart home system, keep in mind the risk that an internet outage could cause a loss of functionality. This means it’s a good idea to know how to manually control the devices that can work without the internet. Also, check whether smart devices like cameras can continue recording to memory for access once the connection comes back online.
• If your smart devices use batteries and don’t plug in, keep an eye on the battery level to avoid issues. For example, you can often check a smart doorbell camera’s battery level through the maker’s app and recharge it as needed. Other devices such as sensors might use single-use batteries, so test these periodically.
• To lessen the inconvenience of a power outage, consider smart hubs with backup batteries.