Smart Home Reviews

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Surprise! Facial recognition smart locks are actually good

Hands-free unlocking is the future of smart locks. The best smart home tech removes friction, and having your door unlock for you as you walk up is as frictionless as it gets – no passcodes to remember, no need to have a free hand to wave, press, or poke at the lock. One way to […]

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Schlage’s Sense Pro unlocks the door so I don’t have to

The Schlage Sense Pro is a beautiful smart lock. Sleek, discreet, and simple to use, it’s Schlage’s smartest lock to date. Thanks to ultra-wideband (UWB), it unlocks as I walk up to my front door; I don’t need to enter a code or tap my phone or press my finger against it. I’ve tested several […]

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The Sourdough Sidekick automates the boring bit of baking

Baking sourdough bread is inherently old-fashioned, relying on natural fermentation and wild yeast instead of the simple, predictable commercial stuff. So it might sound anathema to bring a gadget into the mix. The trick to the Sourdough Sidekick – backed and branded by King Arthur flour – is that it promises to automate the boring […]

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SwitchBot’s Standing Circulator Fan is worth fighting for

I can’t remember the last time I got excited about a fan. Normally, I just buy whatever Vornado or Dreo model fits my budget, but that was before I started testing the battery-powered Standing Circulator Fan from SwitchBot. As the name indicates, the SwitchBot fan is a 3D circulator – a fancy way of saying […]

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My backyard made me a color-changing smart lighting convert

I’ll admit it. I was wrong. Wildly colorful lighting is delightful for your smart home – well, outdoors, at least. Smart lighting is one of my favorite features of the smart home – it combines convenience with ambiance, letting you change the entire look of your room with just a press of a button. But, […]

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Hue’s SpatialAware finally made me appreciate color-changing lights

I’ve been a fan of Philips Hue smart lights since the early days. It’s one of the few staples in my ever-changing smart home. However, when the Bridge Pro launched late last year, it wasn’t immediately obvious why I should upgrade. The signature feature, MotionAware – which turns your lights into motion sensors – is […]

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This chunky little tablet got my kid to clean up his toys

Never underestimate the power that a cheap tablet holds over a kid under six. The Skylight Buddy is a device with one job: to be a cute little guy that helps your kid track routines and chores. It’s $139.99, plus an optional subscription. And to my surprise, even though it offers a pretty limited set […]

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This smart bird feeder captures more of my backyard drama

Since moving to South Carolina’s Lowcountry, I’ve been spellbound by the myriad of beautiful birds that share the coast with us – ospreys raising their babies in towering nests beside the road to my daughter’s school, roseate spoonbills wading in the marsh on my morning walks, eagles circling over my son’s tennis matches, and a […]

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Dyson finally made a better robot, but a worse vacuum

I’m deeply conflicted about the Dyson Spot + Scrub Ai robot vacuum and mop. It’s the company’s best robotic floor cleaner to date, with excellent mopping performance, good navigation and obstacle detection, and a multifunction dock that takes much of the busywork off your hands. But Dyson’s first attempt at a vacuum-and-mop combo is a […]

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Ikea’s smart donut lamp is a sweet treat

Ikea’s popular Varmblixt lamp just got a smart home glow-up. The delightfully bulbous light now features color-changing, dimming, and smart home control. I tested the new smart lamp in my daughter’s room and found it made a great bedside lamp and added a fun touch of ambiance to her space. While she’s rarely a fan […]

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