Build a fast, reliable, secure smart home.
Expert reviews, step-by-step guides, and weekly news to help you build a fast, reliable, and secure smart home.
Reviews from a real home, not a spec sheet
Smart Home Guide exists because most smart home content online is written by people who have never plugged in the device they are rating. We do the opposite. Every review here starts with hardware in a live household running Home Assistant, SmartThings, a Hue Bridge, and a HomeKit setup side by side, because that messy multi-ecosystem reality is the one you actually live in.
Devices spend at least two weeks in daily use before we form an opinion. We verify every claimed integration on its own, measure response times and battery drain instead of trusting the box, and record the firmware version so a verdict can be revisited when the software changes. No manufacturer pays for a score, and none previews our copy.
Latest Posts
Fresh guides, reviews, and news — published this week.
Browse all blog posts →I killed a lot of plants before I let the smart home...
The cheapest time to wire a smart home is when the walls...
A home studio lives or dies on two things the microphone hears...
MOVA's Mobius 60 packs swappable mop pads, 8cm step-climbing, and 30,000 Pa...
FriendlyElec's NanoPi NEO3 Plus is a tiny $24 board with LPDDR4 RAM,...
Roborock's Qrevo Curv 2 Flow ditches spinning mop pads for a self-washing...
Yale is connecting its European Linus smart locks to Alarm.com, so your...
Philips Hue set the smart-lighting standard and the smart-lighting price. In 2026...
Master Home Assistant
Open‑source automation platform that puts you in control.
Shelly's compact Flood S Gen4 puts Matter and Zigbee 3.0 in an...
Matter 1.6 shipped on June 17, 2026, and the headline isn't a...
Home Assistant OS 18 shipped in June, got pulled, then 18.1 cleaned...
Everyone in the smart home forums swears by Home Assistant, but is...
Smart Cameras & Security
Top‑rated cameras from Wyze, Arlo, and Blink for complete home monitoring.
Browse all products →
The Eufy Indoor Cam C220 is a 2K pan-and-tilt security camera with...
Arlo Essential VMC2030 delivers 1080p video, color night vision, and IP65 weather...
Arlo Go 2 VMC3050 is a 1080p HDR wire-free camera with LTE,...
Arlo Go VMC3040 is a 1080p wire-free camera with LTE cellular connectivity....
Arlo Pro 4 VMC4050P delivers 2K HDR wire-free with color night vision...
Arlo Ultra 2 VMC5040 shoots 4K HDR video with 180-degree view, color...
The Google Nest Doorbell (Battery) adds on-device person, package, and vehicle detection...
August Doorbell Cam Pro review: HD video, motion alerts, two-way audio, August...
August View Doorbell Camera 1st gen review: 1080p HD video, two-way audio,...
August View Doorbell Camera 2nd Gen: 1080p video, wider FOV, color night...
Arlo Video Doorbell offers enhanced home security with wide viewing angle, motion...
The Kasa Smart Doorbell | KD110 provides sharp video, two-way audio, and...
The Eufy RoboVac 30C is a slim 1500Pa budget robot vacuum with...
Ecovacs Deebot K20+ Air Purifier Kit pairs an 8,000 Pa robot vacuum...
Ecovacs Deebot K20+ Patrol Kit combines an 8,000 Pa robot vacuum with...
Ecovacs Deebot K20+ Pro Air Flow Kit combines hot water mop washing,...
Ecovacs Deebot K20+ Pro Combo pairs an 8,000 Pa robot vacuum with...
Roborock S8 Max V Ultra delivers 10,000 Pa suction, dual rotating mops,...
Command with your voice
Routines and natural‑language tips for Siri, Alexa, and Google.
A smart switch is only as good as the ecosystem it plugs...
Amazon sells seven Echo models with overlapping prices, and most people overspend....
I've run all three ecosystems side by side for two years. Buy...
The big 2026 entertainment shifts are Matter-based multi-room audio, 8K streaming hubs,...
Articles by topic
IKEA's TOFSMYGGA is a weatherproof outdoor smart plug for around 149 SEK...
SONOFF keeps shipping cheap Zigbee gear, but only some of it earns...
A smart plug is the cheapest upgrade in the whole smart home,...
New to the whole smart home idea and drowning in jargon? This...
Whether you collect vinyl, wine, sneakers, or vintage cameras, the display is...
Yeelight bulbs are cheap, bright, and surprisingly capable, but the cloud app...
The Amazon Echo Sub is a 100W wireless subwoofer that pairs with...
The Google Nest Wifi Point is a Wi-Fi 5 mesh node with...
A preview of the unreleased ULTRALOQ Latch 7 smart lock with Matter...
The SONOFF MINI-ZBRBS-E is a Zigbee roller shutter switch that adds percentage...
The SONOFF Zigbee Bridge Pro ZBBridge-P links up to 128 Zigbee devices...
The Gardena Smart Irrigation Control 19032-20 runs up to six 24V valves...
The SONOFF MINI-ZBDIM-E is a Zigbee wall dimmer with 0-100% flicker-free control,...
The Yeelight Cube Smart Lamp is a stackable, Matter-ready RGB light in...
Philips Hue Econic Outdoor Wall Light review: 1,140 lumens, IP44, 16M colors,...
Uascent UA-RGBCWBulb is a Matter-certified Wi-Fi smart bulb with 16 million colors,...
The Sonoff D1 Smart Dimmer Switch controls dimmable lights via Wi-Fi and...
TP-Link Kasa HS220 smart dimmer switch installs in about 10 minutes, needs...
ecobee Smart Thermostat Enhanced: SmartSensor included, Alexa built-in, ENERGY STAR, HomeKit and...
Eve Thermostat offers Matter-over-Thread climate control with local automation, no subscriptions, and...
The Amazon Smart Thermostat helps you save on energy bills with smart...
Aqara Thermostat Hub W200 combines climate control, security monitoring, and Matter hub...
Smart occupancy sensor with infrared detection for dynamic climate control, energy savings,...
Premium thermostat with built-in radar occupancy sensing, air quality monitor, and Matter...
Google Home just got smarter with 11 focused changes that make daily...
ESPHome 2026.7.0 landed in July 2026 with 217 merged pull requests, and...
I built my first smart home backwards, 14 Wi-Fi bulbs and three...
Run the official ghcr.io/home-assistant/home-assistant:stable container, bind a config volume, set network_mode: host,...