In 2022, smart home systems and gadgets will be better and more useful than ever. You don’t have to ask Alexa about the weather or play that new Drake song to use a smart system. You can now use smart devices to grill chicken at your next family barbecue, turn off the lights in your living room while you watch a movie, or vacuum your floors.
Your home devices can make your life easier, but they can also do more important things, like keep your house safe when you’re not there. In other words, they are no longer just for fun but also to meet important needs.
What Makes Smart Devices Different from Smart Systems
Before getting to our list, we need to talk about our terms. A smart system is a central hub that controls all of your products. When you want something to happen, you talk to a smart system. On the other hand, a device is a single product that talks back to the system.
For example, Amazon Echo or Philips Hue lightbulbs are both devices. Now, let’s look at our list of the best smart home devices and systems of 2021, so you can decide which systems and products will improve your life the most.
The Finest Smart Home Systems
When buying a smart-home system, you should look at reviews and how well it works with other things. The reviews will tell you how good or bad the technology is, but the integration information will tell you how many products you can connect your system to.
As you look into integrations, you should also think about any smart devices you already own that may or may not work with the system. Most good smart home systems today are powered by state-of-the-art technology and have many ways to connect to third-party services.
For example, Amazon’s Alexa and Google’s Assistant can connect to smart thermostats made by companies other than their own, like Nest and Ecobee. Your smart home will run much better if all of your devices work well together, connect well, and are easy to use. Here are four of the best smart home systems we think you should get.
Amazon Alexa
Alexa is one of the complete smart home ecosystems on the market today. It works with more than a hundred million devices. You probably know that Alexa can be used with Eco-speakers, but you might not know that Alexa is now built into many other smart products, like thermostats and TVs. Alexa makes it easy to get to and control every part of your smart home.
Alexa is just as easy to use to talk to apps like Spotify as it is to ask her to turn off the lights. Since Amazon’s ecosystem is one of the most popular in the business, most smart products, like those made by Philips, Samsung, Nest, and Schlage, work well with Alexa. Alexa can now shut your garage door, lock your doors, and change the temperature in your home.
If you want to know if a device will work with Alexa, look for the “Works with Amazon Alexa” label. Alexa is one of the best choices for your smart home because she can work with and talk to most other smart devices and apps.
Google Assistant
Google Assistant is the only real competitor to Alexa. Even though Google Assistant doesn’t work with as many third-party apps as Alexa, it can often answer questions and carry out commands that Alexa can’t because Google dominates the search engine market. Amazon Alexa has a score of 79.8%, while Google Assistant has a score of 92.9%.
In the end, the Assistant is better at figuring out how people naturally speak. For example, if you tell the Assistant on Spotify, “I don’t like this song,” it will skip to the next one. Conversely, Alexa will say that thumbs up and down are not supported on Spotify.
Small things like this could make you choose Google over Alexa since Google is often more helpful and less literal. Assistant can also work with products from major brands, like Philips, Belkin, August, Nest, and popular apps like Spotify and Uber.
Samsung SmartThings Hub
This Samsung system connects many smart devices from different brands, such as smart thermostats, Wi-Fi routers, light bulbs, and security devices. Users of the smart system have a SmartThings Hub wall mount and can use the SmartThings IOS or Android app to control all of the connected devices connected to the hub.
Since a few years ago, Samsung’s SmartThings Hub has been adding more of its own smart devices. The SmartThing Wi-Fi plug, SmartThings Lightbulb, and SmartThings Cam are now part of the Hub’s product line.
You can also set smart devices that work with the SmartThings Hub to turn on or off when you walk into or out of a room. You can tell the SmartThings wall hub or app what to do with your voice. You can also add Amazon Alexa or Google Assistant to the system.
Wink Hub
Wink Hub is the first smart home hub made for regular people. Wink isn’t brand loyal like Alexa or Assistant, so you can choose smart products from different brands and use them together without any trouble. Wink Hub 2 works with smart home protocols like Bluetooth LE, Kidde, Lutron ClearConnect, Wi-Fi, Z-Wave, and more.
This could be your best option if you want to make a smart home with appliances in the kitchen and on the walls that work together. You can also get the Wink Hub app and use it to control things like light switches or your garage door from your phone while you’re out and about.
