I’m a smart home expert and I can’t live without these devices

I have been covering intelligent house and safety products for years, and I have written and examined smart devices scores. However, I can count on the one hand (plus an additional finger or two) the number of intelligent devices on which my family and I actually depend.

Of course, I have a lot of smart gadgets in my house that are pleasant. I like the air quality monitor in our finished basement, good to keep an eye on the levels of VOCs and CO2 in our living room at the bottom. There is also a Google Nest Hub in our kitchen which displays family photos, while an Amazon echo point in my daughter’s room sometimes drops the weather.

But although these devices are certainly useful, they are also consumable. If something went wrong with the Google display (which we really only use for its photo frame skills), we could probably live without him. The same goes for the air quality monitor (our iPhones can tell us the external AQI), and the vocal assistants on the smart speakers are so squatreal, we are talking to them barely.

On the other hand, there are smart gadgets in our apartment that would trigger a minor crisis if they failed, not to mention an immediate trip to Amazon for replacements.

Here are the smart devices on which I absolutely depend, positively, starting with …

Smart lights

Ben Patterson / Foundry

Well, yes, the lights are essential in any house. But over the years, I have created a fairly complex philips’ shade configuration with dozens of bulbs, and some autonomous lamps that light up, turn off, fade, enliven and change colors depending on a series of multilayer automations.

It is refreshing and rare that one of my bulbs fail, but when they do, they do not stay long. Earlier this year, one of the aerial shade bulbs in our kitchen summoned and within 48 hours I replaced it. I cannot have a dead shade bulb that fails my kitchen lighting scenes! (And I haven’t had any shade problems since.)

We have also added a pair of intelligent battery shade lamps in our dining room, which we move on the side of the room at the dining table for meals. (We live in a Brooklyn rental, so replacing our ugly over the head with pendants is not really an option for us.) The portable lamps have changed the whole complexion of the room, especially at dinner time, and we cannot live without them now.

In relation: Best intelligent lighting 2025: smart bulbs, string lights, exterior, and more

Video door

Ben Patterson / Foundry

This ringed ring with a battery fueled by battery is in a stick support on our front door (again, as residents of the apartments, we cannot pierce in the door), watching the comings and goings at our door and in our shared corridor.

Not only does the doorbell alert us from visitors (we get alerts from the Ring application when someone presses the button, and we can even see and speak with them remotely), but it also keeps an eye on the general activity outside our apartment. This became essential after we noticed that someone had splashed olive oil on our front door. Thanks to our video ring history, we managed to catch the culprit in the act.

As it stands, I cannot imagine life without having eyes on our door.

In relation: Best 2025 video bells: Critics and purchase advice | Pcworld

Ben Patterson / Foundry

Speaking of doors, I installed a contact sensor on the door of our apartment before a few years ago, and it became another essential intelligent device.

This Philips Hue secure contact sensor is perfect for letting me know each time someone opens the door, or via mobile alerts (which also appear on my Apple Watch) or through light automations (which, in my case, breathtaking the lights of my office at the bottom).

In addition to warn while I am at home that someone has opened the door, the sensor also gives me the peace of mind when I absent that no one has entered the house when it should not be – a key problem, given that a certain member of the teenage family does not forget to lock the door when it leaves.

I am actually on my second sensor is now after after the first (from another manufacturer) has become Glitchy. I finally settled on the Hue Secure model, but there are many other large options available.

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Apple TV 4K

Wait, is the Apple TV 4K not a streaming box? This is the case, but it also serves as Apple Homekit hub, with a wire border router that allows smart devices compatible with Matter to connect to the Internet.

With my 4K Apple TV on the case, I don’t have to worry about using an intelligent speaker or a display as an intelligent house hub, and as a bonus, it excels as a video streamer, offering an impressive 4K video quality with Dolby Atmos Sound and Dolby Vision HDR.

In fact, I had an old Apple TV 4K Go Glitchy model on me a few years ago, but after certain experiences with other streaming players, I went back to Apple, taking a new generation version of its streaming box. Since then, this has been smoothly navigation.

In relation: Best streaming devices from 2025: Amazon Fire TV, Apple TV, Roku or Google TV?

Harmony Universal Remote

Logitech has stopped making its range of Harmony remote controls formerly popular almost five years ago, which is why I treat my companion Harmony (which is delivered with its own wireless center) as a precious jewel.

Universal remote controls like those of the Harmony brand can control several A / V components at the same time, such as televisions (intelligent or not so much), blu-ray players, audio receivers, game consoles and other home theater components.

Supported by a massive A / V equipment database (which, impressive, Logitech harmontic parents still maintains), a Harmony remote control can control other devices in addition to the domestic theater equipment, which means that you can press a single button on the wand to light your TV, your streaming box and your A / V receiver; Define your components on their appropriate inputs and outputs; And even turn off your smart lights or trigger a special lighting scene.

Of course, more and more consumers simply use their Smart TV remote controls (which are increasingly sophisticated over the years) to control their theaters at home, which has finally led Logitech to possibly throw the sponge.

However, there are certain things that my remote control Harmony can make a Smart TV remote control cannot, that is why you should make my harmony with my cold and dead hands. (You can still buy Harmony remote controls on eBay, but be ready to pay by the nose for one.)

Smart traffic jams

Ben Patterson / Foundry

We live in a Centennial Brooklyn Brownstone that lacks central air, and our stairs frequently transform into a sauna thanks to a hot water pipe exposed. This is why we have a network of fans constantly swirling in our house, and smart traffic jams are essential to control them.

With three compatible smart traffic jams (one of the Eve and two others in Meross systems), I put our fans to light up and go out at certain times, and I can control them manually with shortcuts on my iPhone. I can also say “Hey Siri, turn off the kitchen fan” to stop the fan while I cook.

Fans are not the only things I use with intelligent plugs. I also have a quartet of Ikea Ikea clips at the bottom that I control with Philips Hue Smart Plugs, perfect for use with the Hue bridge.

In relation: Best Intelligent Plugs 2025: Transform your stupid catches into smart sockets

Smart water leak detector

Ben Patterson / Foundry

Here is something that was driving me crazy: going down in the morning and walking on a soaked damp carpet.

Our basement at the bottom was subject to floods during heavy rains, and if the rain storms struck in the middle of the night, I would be ignorant of the next day, when the damage had already been caused.

In the end, we did two things: first, we called the owner and demanded gutters and drainage repairs (which, fortunately, we obtained). Second, we installed an intelligent water leak detector in the office area where water generally infiltrates.

There are several excellent brands and models of intelligent water leak detectors available, some are powered by battery, allowing you to deposit them here and there if necessary, while others are attached to a power cord. I went with the latter, installing myself on a leak detector compatible with the material of Eve Systems.

If he never detects a leak, the day before the day before sounds an integrated alarm, would trigger alerts on our phones and turn the lights of our rooms throughout our room, ideal to wake us up in the event of a flood at the end of the evening.

We did Finally, end with more floods in our basement – there is time – but heartbreaking water infiltrated through a different wall which was not watched by a smart water leak sensor. I will rectify this situation very soon.

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