Beginner Guides

This is the first question everyone asks: Alexa or Google Home? And most advice online is useless — "both are great, it depends on your needs!" Thanks, that helped nobody.…

Smart bulbs are the second thing people buy after a smart speaker. And the second thing they overspend on. A $50 Philips Hue bulb does almost the same thing as…

Most smart home routine guides show you things like "change your lights to purple when it rains." Cool. Useless. Here are 10 routines I actually use daily that save me…

You'll see "Matter compatible" on every smart home device box in 2026. Most people ignore it. Here's why you shouldn't — and why you shouldn't panic about it either. The…

A smart thermostat is the one smart home device that pays for itself. It saves 10-15% on heating and cooling — about $100-150 per year for the average American home.…

You don't need a $500 ADT system or a $60/month monitoring plan to secure your home. A smart speaker, two cameras, a smart lock, and a couple of sensors cover…

Most doorbell cameras are fine hardware wrapped in a subscription you'll resent paying. The real question isn't "which camera is best" — it's "how much are you willing to pay…

Here's the short answer: use WiFi for things that already need internet, use Zigbee if you're building a serious smart home with lots of devices, and use Z-Wave for security…

The assumption that smart home stuff requires drilling, rewiring, or permanent changes is mostly wrong. I've lived in three apartments and made each one smarter without touching a single screw…

I say this as someone who has 70+ smart devices in my home: the default privacy settings on most smart home devices are bad, the data practices of major manufacturers…