Smart Home Products I Recommend
Heads up: Many links on this page are affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases, and I also earn commissions through my Reolink, BlindsMagic, Govee, and Yarbo links, at no extra cost to you. Everything here is gear I use, except the Govee Pro, which I recommend in place of our original Govee lights. I’ll tell you what doesn’t work. The Reolink cameras (including the CX810), BlindsMagic blinds, Narwal Flow 2, and Lutron Caséta kit on this page were sent to me for free by their brands, and Narwal has also paid me to sponsor videos.
Or browse my idea list: Smart Home Products I Recommend. Want to see these in action? Watch my reviews and Home Assistant tutorials.
Quick picks
Robot vacuum and mop: Narwal Flow 2, the best we’ve ever owned
Stop water damage: Aqara Water Leak Sensor + EcoNet Bulldog Valve Robot, local through Zigbee and Z-Wave
Lighting that’s never failed us: Lutron Caseta Starter Kit
PoE camera, no subscription: Reolink CX810
Reolink sent me these cameras for free. Security cameras probably aren’t the first thing you think of for a smart home, but they’re essential, and Reolink makes awesome cameras at a great value! They offer PoE, Wi-Fi (plug-in and battery), and even trail cams, in dome, fixed, tracking, 180-degree, and many more styles. You can record locally to an SD card or a Reolink NVR, and the PoE and plug-in Wi-Fi models can even stream to other NVRs, all without a subscription. See Reolink’s full camera lineup. Want proof they work without the cloud? Watch my local 24/7 recording setup. UGREEN sent me the NAS in that video for free.
BlindsMagic Smart Home Blinds
BlindsMagic sent me these blinds for free. We installed these blinds, and what a difference they made! We chose the Zigbee version, which pairs with Home Assistant through our Zigbee coordinator, and it also works with Alexa or SmartThings through a Zigbee hub. If you’re on Apple Home, BlindsMagic also makes Matter and HomeKit versions. One heads-up: you can’t raise or lower them by hand, so BlindsMagic recommends getting at least one remote for setup and as a backup. Check them all out at BlindsMagic. Using my link gets you a discount automatically at checkout, no code needed.
The Yarbo is the most advanced smart home robot I’ve ever seen! It’s a snow blower, lawn mower, leaf blower, and trimmer, and you can add a snow plow blade to the snow blower module. I used it to clear my driveway in Pennsylvania while I was in a hotel in Las Vegas for CES! It’s very well built and packed with features. After our last snowfall of more than half a foot, my wife declared it her new favorite smart home device!
See the Yarbo and its modules. Watch: Do the Yarbo Pro Antenna Actually Make a Difference?
Narwal sent me the Flow 2 for free and has paid me to sponsor videos. The Narwal Flow 2 is the best robot vacuum and mop we’ve ever owned, and we’ve tried models from several brands. Its AI obstacle avoidance spots things like cords and steers around them, it lifts the mop on rugs and adjusts water and pressure for each floor type, and its rolling track mop rinses itself with hot water as it cleans. When it’s done, the base washes the mop in hot water and dries it. One heads-up for the privacy crowd: Narwal says camera data is processed on the robot by default, but when it sees something unfamiliar it can use cloud AI analysis to identify it. It even won over my wife, which is always a great sign. Also, Narwal says to use only its own cleaning solution (other brands can void the warranty), so factor that refill cost in. Here’s the Narwal Flow 2 on Amazon. Watch my full review before you buy.
Our Govee permanent outdoor lights get more compliments than almost anything else we own, and they’ve been a great addition to our house! We’ve also put Govee lights under beds, behind TVs, and as string lights around the deck by our pool. They add lots of personality when you want it, or switch to subtle accent colors when you don’t. Watch my Govee permanent outdoor lights video.
Govee Smart Lights & More
My Amazon Picks
Reolink sent me this camera for free. The Reolink CX810 is my favorite PoE fixed-position camera. It connects directly to Home Assistant through the official Reolink integration, all local, with local video storage, no batteries, and no subscription. It features ColorX true-color night vision, IP67 weatherproofing, AI detection of people, vehicles, and animals, two-way audio, and much more. See the Reolink CX810 on Amazon. See it in action in my CX810 Short.
Narwal sent me the Flow 2 for free and has paid me to sponsor videos. The Narwal Flow 2 is my top pick for a robot vacuum and mop. It avoids cords and clutter, lifts its mop on rugs, and rinses its rolling mop with hot water as it cleans. See the Narwal Flow 2 on Amazon, or watch my full review before you buy.
The EcoNet Bulldog Valve Robot shuts off our home's main water valve the moment one of our leak sensors detects water. It responds quickly through its Z-Wave connection to Home Assistant, which prevents major water damage, and we also get alerts on our phones so we can quickly handle any false alarms. It's a Z-Wave Plus device, so it runs locally through Home Assistant's Z-Wave integration. Heads-up: this Z-Wave version needs a Z-Wave controller, like Home Assistant with a Z-Wave stick, for app control and automations. If you don’t run a Z-Wave hub, EcoNet also sells Wi-Fi and Matter-over-Wi-Fi versions. If you have leak sensors, the EcoNet Bulldog Valve Robot is what makes them actually stop the water. Watch my EcoNet Bulldog video.
The Govee Permanent Outdoor Lights Pro are the ones I recommend today. Govee no longer sells our original permanent outdoor lights on its site, so the Pro is the version I recommend. No more buying new Christmas lights every year or climbing a ladder in the cold to hang them and take them down. Install them once in nice weather and leave them up. See the Govee Permanent Outdoor Lights Pro on Amazon. Not sure which to get? Watch my Govee vs. Govee Pro comparison.
Why I use it: Lutron sent me this kit for free. The Lutron Caseta Smart Lighting Dimmer Switch Starter Kit is the best smart lighting I’ve ever used. It’s one of the few smart home devices we own that has never failed, not once, and that’s saying something, because we have dozens of these switches. We’ve replaced nearly every switch in our house with them.
Local control: Home Assistant can see the remotes, and they don’t have to control lights; they can trigger anything in Home Assistant. Home Assistant talks to the Lutron hub in the starter kit locally, so none of this depends on the cloud. You can also mount the remotes anywhere, which fixes switches an electrician put in the wrong spot.
Good to know: The dimmer in the starter kit doesn’t need a neutral wire, so it works in almost any home (Lutron’s ELV+ dimmer is the exception).
Start with the Lutron Caseta Smart Lighting Dimmer Switch Starter Kit. Watch my Lutron Caseta video or my install guide.
Why I use it: The Aqara Water Leak Sensor is super affordable and super important in our smart home. Since installing them, they’ve caught several small leaks early, usually hidden behind something where we wouldn’t have noticed until real damage was done. Pair them with the EcoNet Bulldog Valve Robot and you get instant peace of mind against flooding!
Local control: They’re Zigbee devices, so they pair with Home Assistant through a Zigbee coordinator, with no cloud needed. Amazon’s listing says it needs an Aqara hub, but with Home Assistant your Zigbee coordinator takes that hub’s place.
Honest downside: They’re picky about which repeaters they use, so I recommend adding an Aqara Smart Plug to keep your mesh network strong.
See the Aqara Water Leak Sensor on Amazon. You never know when a leak will spring. Watch my Aqara leak sensor video and my Aqara smart plug video.
ratgdo is how I’d make a garage door smart today. It’s a small board with open-source firmware that wires to your opener’s wall-button terminals and runs locally with Home Assistant through ESPHome, so there’s no cloud account and no garage door company app that can lock you out. On Chamberlain and LiftMaster Security+ 2.0 openers it reports whether the door is open or closed and controls the light and remote lockout. Other brands work through dry contact. Watch my ratgdo video to see how I set it up.
Disclosure: I earn commissions from links on this page and my YouTube channel, at no extra cost to you. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. The Reolink cameras, BlindsMagic blinds, Narwal Flow 2, and Lutron Caséta kit were sent to me free by their brands, and Narwal has also paid me to sponsor videos.