Rating 30 Smart Home Devices, BEST and WORST!
I’m showing you everything in my smart home, and rating it rapid-fire from 1 to 10. Let’s find my favorites… and LEAST favorites.
LINKS (affiliate)
Schlage Encode Plus: https://amzn.to/45Ay9vy
Unifi G4 video doorbell: https://amzn.to/3JrzOdK
RATGDO garage door: https://paulwieland.github.io/ratgdo/
Weather station: https://amzn.to/3Qcdadj
Lutron smart dimmers: https://amzn.to/3UoBqv3
Inovelli Red: https://amzn.to/3U5fiEI
Rachio 3rd gen: https://amzn.to/3JtoX2U
Ecobee Premium: https://amzn.to/4aIKSPH
BOND bridge for fans: https://amzn.to/3JrA6kQ
Frame TV: https://howl.me/ckfR8hLsAW9
Apple TV 4K: https://howl.me/clKhACdS9y4
Tesla solar: http://ts.la/reed50987
Echo Show 15: https://amzn.to/44734js
Fingerprint locks: https://amzn.to/3UoRVr5
A lot of other links for my smart home here: https://www.amazon.com/shop/smarthomesolver
My shirts: https://smarthomesolver.big3creative.com/
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0:00 Intro
0:23 Smart lock
0:49 Video doorbell
1:26 Security cameras
1:37 Smart garage
1:54 Weather station
2:15 Lutron dimmers
2:30 Kasa dimmers
3:03 Lutron motion lights
3:20 Inovelli Red
4:04 Smart bulbs
4:24 Smart light strips
4:40 Echo
5:04 HomePods
5:35 Google Nest Display
5:46 Rachio
6:05 Smart thermostat
6:28 BOND bridge
6:47 Dashboard
7:14 Frame TV
7:29 Apple TV
7:52 Ring alarm
8:11 Motion sensors
8:29 Contact sensor
8:49 Vibration sensors
9:08 Robot vacuum
9:16 Smart outlets
9:31 Server rack
9:44 Smart buttons
10:00 Smart shades
10:24 Tesla solar
10:55 Echo Show 15
11:05 Fingerprint locks
11:18 NFC tags
11:30 Hub
12:02 1/10 😬
———
MUSIC
Digifunk by DivKid
Ending song is The End by EVA.
https://open.spotify.com/artist/6UIs5b0zSXztIW5GHkCTkK
Also here in AZ. Any opinion on Vivint or Control 4 for home automation, security, thermostats, etc.? Other options? We just want simple, reliable, and fewest apps. Thanks!
I had Home Assistant on a Raspi Pi4 with USB SSD just like you and recently upgraded to a Pi5 with the NVME HAT.
For somebody with that many devices, I can only urge you to test it out and see how much more snappy the dashboards will get
Also, thanks for the video. A lot of good inspiration 🙂
You may have done this but it may be helpful to offer up alternatives for the items you rated lower! Great video. We just built a house and I am looking forward to integrating some of these.
Will the Kasa light switches work if wifi is down as a standard switch?
IMHO: Lutron is dead. Get regular switches and use Hue smart switches. Way more flexible and programable… $40 each. You spent the savings on hue bulbs. Same cost, way more flexible. 😉
What device are you using for your Home Dashboard?
Get the mi bedside lamp it’s just great
Garage door question. Why not use the My-Q that you have in the garage door openers?
Can you help me? I have a second Home i visit ad hoc. I would like to say Alexa Home is on and then my automations run while I am occupying it when I leave I’d like to say Alexa turn home off and automations stop how do I do that? I have Hue bridge and lots of Wi-Fi devices.
I want to use a mix of unify and reolink cameras too, how do manage it in terms of NVR or storage?
What is the smart home dashboard on your kitchen counter running on? Is that a tablet with a charging stand?
Samsung smart tv OS is horrible and it doesn’t have all the apps
Sonoff S31 Lite (Zigbee) smart plugs. I have them all over my house. I use them most heavily for controlling lights, misting systems, etc for my terrariums and vivariums. As will as plant lights for my house plants. 10/10
Hhahahaha Been there man. HA is 10/10 for me, would probably be a 7/10 for my wife for the same reason Ally gave yours a 7. I am constantly tinkering! 😀 i blame you! 😜
LOL my wife and I are the exact same way on the Frame TV – she thinks it’s gorgeous and love it, but the laggy UI is absolute garbage. It’s a shame really for such an expensive high-end TV
I have a Rachio smart spigot valve. I give it 8/10. It uses its own weird hub. It should have just been a Zigbee, Zwave, Matter over Thread, or even LoRa device.
no information on the dashboard ?
What exactly do you use the network rack for? I’m just getting into the smart home, basically just have smart light switches, blink security atm
How many years worth of power bills could you pay for with what you spent on 3 Tesla powerwalls???
Need a new video like this !!
Watching your channel with my wife and we loved you got your wife’s ratings perspective. Way to go!
So if the bond is controlling a device that uses IR such as ceiling fan that means I have to have one in every room with a fan?
I want to like NFC tags more and this is more of an iPhone thing than an NFC thing but I don’t like using the NFC tags because I have to accept a pop up prompt before the automation runs. 4/10
Nice Reviews on a plethora of devices. Also. 100% have to agree. That’s a sad looking banana split lol.
I love how straight to the point this video is. 👍
I am so glad you added your wife’s opinion on this. I also appreciate that you are in North America. What is with the other side of the world being totally cool with a 5v wire jungle everywhere? I watched your video on Lutron Switches and agree 100% Why is everything SMART so FUGLY?
I just spent $3K on switches for a complete gut on our home. Blank canvas. Pick a box size and run AC Mains wherever you want…. do you think I can find a mains power (blanket slate… lets say 24V) motion sensor that doesn’t look like (I am quoting a local home builder here) a “Tinker Tot Trinket, with an ugly tail”? He went on to also eliminate the goofy stands, etc.
To be clear, I am a tinker Tot. To be even more clear, I agree with him 100% as a Tinker Tot.
As someone who *tries* to sell and install Smart Home devices using Home Assistant. The OVERWHELMING objection is FUGLY. The next objection (remember that 3K Lutron solution), is price. Now I know you live in the Southern US and AC is pretty much Standard Equipment… but up here in Canada (Edmonton, Alberta, the northern most metropolis) AC is something we use for a couple months in the summer. The reason I bring this up is simple;
When a Tinker Tot, or someone even remotely interested in a smart home, walks into a Home Builder’s showroom and runs the numbers on what a Smart Home (just the switches folks) costs, and then looks to see that it is the same cost as installing A/C…. Where do you think the decision maker (wife) goes? Then we add FUGLY factor, and the Smart Home is all but defeated, even in the Tinker Tot’s mind.
I want to hear more from your wife friend. HER voice needs to be heard, because it’s HER voice that is KILLING smart home.
Interesting that people use so much off the shelf stuff – well, everything. I understand. But personally its so much more fun to make everything from scratch – just so much more control and debugging is a joy (since you made it).
What do you use as your smart dashboard?
Its not perfect = 9/10
its overkill = 9/10
Let’s hear it: what device is a 10/10 in your smart home?👇
Great video! Just one question how did you get your Ecobee into home assistant since they stopped giving out the api key? I am now looking to change fromEcobee to a company that will work with Home Assistant.
What do you use as the Dashboard? Great video 👍👍
I was looking for a response several people had regarding the dashboard. What smart device is that, you do not say in the video? How did you set that up?
Aqara Matter over Thread Door & Window sensors are my 10/10.
3:02 just bought lots of kasa, glad they works well 😂
Would really love to incorporate any of the inovelli line but you can never get em.
Maybe I should be watching her videos… because if it isn’t ease of use, seamless, and can operate with presence perfectly throughout the day. It’s not really smart, more like semi trainable. Multiple conditions is 100 percent needed because not everyone is on the same hour by hour, minute by minute schedule. Nor is their behavior the same on days off verses when they work. Just not on tv suggestions.
Unifi vs eufy doorbell, which one do you think is better?
5:30 Shes got a Point 😭 @smarthomesolver
Love your vids, and including the family!!! Ill look at the Ecobe
Hey Reed you inspired me to go with Tesla for my solar panels. I want a power bank also because they start charging peak pricing between 11:00am through 6:00 PM
Hey, regarding unifi doorbell, I have the same problem as her. When the feed finally loads it has over 20 seconds on the timer and courier or postman is long gone 🙁
How do you solve your outdoor things not getting stolen? cameras. video doorbell, sensors …. Quite alot of money. I want to get a outdoor camera for my porch, but I havent foud one in castiron or stainless steel. Have you got a solution for that.
awesome setup, basically everything that I have and rated exactly how I would rate.
I love your kids and wife, you’re a luck man, hey by the way I totally agree with your wife 😅😅😅😅
I haven’t met a doorbell yet that I really love. I had the UniFi. It bricked itself after a little over a year. When it was working, Home Assistant integration was great (HomeKit wasn’t supported). It did take a long time to bring up footage. Scrubbing through footage could crash the app. Upshot though: it can record 24×7. And it can offer RTSP feeds. So it has a lot going for it. But maybe more like a 7/10 for me.
People have no idea how easily all these can be hacked and how vulnerable they are.
Your Tempest problem doesn’t make sense. We have a few of these in New Hampshire, snowy, rainy, gray for weeks with no sun. I’ve never had the battery go dead ever. Tempest Bridge issues sure, but never a battery/transmitter problem.
Wow. I had a stroke looking at all your stuff. A server rack.. aaand a hub. Is that really necessary? I’m a noob at smart home and i have a Homey Pro since 10 months back, without a single flow. I really don’t find anything useful. 😀 I guess i suck.
Maaaan! This guy is swimming in some serious tech toys. It’s like a dream for most people. Wonder how many were sponsored vs. paid for? I guess with more than a half million subscribers he can afford to buy any kind of sheet he wants.