Best Smart Home Gifts You Can Buy in 2020

If someone has a smart home system, one of the best things you can get them is a gadget or gift that will fit right into their automated home setup. You don’t have to break the bank usually, and you’ll be contributing to your friend’s, partner’s or family member’s dream of building a fully smart home.

Here are the best smart home gifts you can buy someone in 2020.

GE Smart Microwave

Ok, a microwave may not sound like the most exciting of smart home gifts, but don’t underestimate the usefulness of this perfectly affordable device. After all, how often are you not quite sure about how long to defrost a chicken for, or which buttons to press to heat up your food just how you want it.

Wouldn’t you rather just bark orders at your microwave and have it obey them?

With the GE smart microwave oven, you can tell your smart home speaker to “Defrost a turkey” or to “Make popcorn” and the microwave will instantly turn on knowing how long to cook for. In addition, you can scan barcodes on food packaging using the app, and beam the cooking instructions straight to your microwave!

It’s at the very least a novelty, and great wedding gift for a couple getting ready to move into a new home together (why not make it a smart home, right?)

Google Nest Family

Last year, Google has rebranded its “Home” family of smart speakers and home assistants to “Nest”. After all, what is a home but a nest made of bricks and mortar… or something.

The Google Nest Mini markets itself over the Amazon Echo Dot by (ostensibly) processing everything you speak into it locally rather than sending it to the company’s servers. It has better audio quality than last year, and is now able to detect your presence when you’re standing near it.

The Google Nest Hub uses a smart display to let you watch videos, check the weather, look at cooking recipes, and all manner of other things. There’s no camera here, but that may appeal to the more privacy-minded buyer.

Tile Sport/Style Key Finder

Before smart devices and IoT happened, you used to need two Tile devices in order for them to communicate – one in your wallet, one attached to your keyring, for example.

But now, thanks to the miracle of the Tile key finder, you can get one or more tiles to communicate directly with your smartphone. Using the app, you can press a button to make the Tile ring. A perfect gift for a disorganized dad.

The Tiles are IP68 waterproof-certified, have up to 200ft Bluetooth range, and a nice loud ringer so you can find them easily. The main downside is that the batteries aren’t replaceable, so you’ll need to buy a new one when your one dies.

Smart Video Doorbell

It should come as no surprise that a smart doorbell is going to be at the top of many wish lists this holiday season. From August to Remo+ to Ring, there are a host of options in this category that can satisfy any budget. Every year smart video doorbells continue to get more popular and for good reason. From a sense of protection to ensuring a package is delivered, there is no shortage of reasons to make this product a top gift choice this year. Friends and family will love the peace of mind and real-time monitoring.

To top it off, you can even throw in a year’s worth of premium services to keep recordings in the cloud forever. There is little question that this is the most obvious smart home gift this year, but it is also one that keeps on giving.

Also read:Five Life-Changing Smart Home Products

Amazon Echo Family

If your goal is to introduce friends and family to the world of smart home products, the third-generation Echo Dot is just right. Packing all of the features of its predecessors while adding an LED display, Alexa is a gift that can last forever. Capable of basic tasks like everything from asking for movie times or more in-depth functions like controlling the rest of a smart home, you cannot go wrong with the Echo family of products.

If you want to take things up a notch, the Echo Show 5 is a compact smart display that fits perfectly in a kitchen or on a bedside nightstand. The 5.5” inch display adds all of the power of the Echo Dot while adding the ability to watch movies, news or TV shows. And if you are feeling generous, gift one to family and get one for yourself so you can video chat every day. It is the perfect way to help the grandparents stay in touch with grandchildren.

Wemo Mini Smart Plug

One of the best stocking stuffers around, Wemo’s mini smart plug is the most popular smart plug available. Controlled via a smartphone app, this bite-sized smart plug does everything from controlling the lights to the appliances.

Know someone who is constantly forgetting to turn off the lights every time they walk out of the room? Of course you do. This is a job for Wemo. All it takes is a few minutes to automatically schedule a lamp to turn off in the evening. And if your gift recipient travels frequently, “away mode” randomizes light times to make it appear someone is home. Inexpensive, feature-rich and compact – what more do you need for a stocking stuffer?

Logitech Harmony Elite

For the television lover in your life, few gifts will mean as much as the Logitech Harmony Elite remote control. Rest assured, this is no ordinary remote control. Often regarded as the ultimate universal remote, it controls far more than just televisions and related stereos. With the included Harmony Home Hub, the remote can take control over other Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, Zigbee, Z-Wave or any other infrared devices in your home.

There is also a connectivity option with Amazon’s Alexa service for voice-powered commands. Once the user downloads the smartphone app, this remote can virtually take over an entire home. Everything from lighting to a smart thermostat can sync to the Logitech. The app makes it a cinch to adjust any connected device with one-touch functionality. Simply stated, this is the last remote anyone will ever need to buy or receive.

Eero Home Wi-Fi System

Do you have someone in your life that is already entrenched in smart home living? Make sure they have the best setup for their Wi-Fi with the eero Home Wi-Fi system. Beautifully designed and highly functional, this gift offers near-seamless Wi-Fi connectivity throughout nearly any size of home.

A multitude of packages are available so you can start anywhere between three to five access points. If you ever want to add more, you can purchase more access points at any time. For anyone who loves working or playing from anywhere in their home, the eero signal reaches every nook and corner. This ensures that all of your smart home products can function wherever they are placed. We’ve finally reached the day when Wi-Fi dead spots are a thing of the past. Whomever the intended recipient is, they are going to thank you endlessly.

Conclusion

All of these gifts are bound to be favorites come this holiday season and likely to see big discounts. Giving each of these to a loved one might bring them more than just a sense of family and togetherness. It also might give them a little extra peace of mind or an entirely new toy to place with.