Best Holiday Smart Home Deals

The Arlo Essential 2K (VMC3050-100NAS) is $10 less than its Black Friday price. It is one of Arlo’s most budget-friendly security cameras. It performs well in our tests and features a built-in spotlight, a siren, and voice/app control via Amazon Alexa and Google Home. Additional features, such as activity zones, person detection, and cloud video storage, require an Arlo Secure subscription.

The Ring Stick Up Cam (Battery) is an all-around great camera, and it’s currently available at the lowest price we’ve ever seen. It works both indoors and outdoors and gives you activity zones, voice and app control via Amazon Alexa, and alert schedules so that you can silence alerts at certain times of day. In our tests, this Ring camera receives strong scores for daytime video quality, response time, and data security. Cloud video storage and additional features (such as person detection) require a Ring Home subscription.

The TP-Link Tapo C225 offers a lot of value for the money. It’s a motorized pan-and-tilt camera with local video storage on a microSD card (not included) and a laundry list of features: person detection, pet detection, sound detection (for crying babies, glass breaking, dogs barking, cats meowing), color night vision, activity zones, motion tracking where the camera moves to follow the subject it’s recording, a privacy mode that covers the camera, a built-in siren, and voice and app control via Amazon Alexa, Apple Home, and Google Home. It even supports Apple’s HomeKit Secure Video system, so you can store footage with end-to-end encryption in iCloud.

Are you still with me? In our tests, this wired TP-Link camera receives high scores for video quality and response time, as well as strong scores for data security and smart features. Its only drawback is its lackluster data privacy, but that’s quite common with security cameras. This camera is on sale for about 25 percent off its usual list price.

The TP-Link Tapo MagCam C425 is a compact, battery-powered security camera that performs well in our tests. It offers local storage with up to a 512-gigabyte microSD card (sold separately) and features person detection, pet detection, vehicle detection, monitoring zones, and more. Best of all, you don’t need a subscription to use any of these features. TP-Link also sells a $40 solar panel that can be connected to the camera to keep its battery charged.

The Ecobee Smart Thermostat Enhanced is one of the company’s newer smart thermostats. It performs well in our tests for manual operation and offers an array of smart features, but it’s not as proficient at learning your routine and making adjustments automatically. It features a new radar-based occupancy sensor and works with Amazon Alexa, Apple Home, Google Home, and Samsung SmartThings for voice and app control. It doesn’t come with one of Ecobee’s wireless temperature sensors (called SmartSensors), but you can buy those separately in a two-pack for $100 at Best Buy and Ecobee.

The Ecobee Smart Thermostat Premium, now $10 more than its Black Friday price, offers advanced features such as a radar-based occupancy sensor, an indoor air quality sensor, built-in voice control with either Amazon Alexa or Apple Siri (which requires an Apple HomePod to work), and music streaming to its speaker via Spotify or Bluetooth (yes, really). It also comes with a wireless temperature sensor in the box and works with Apple Home, Google Home, and Samsung SmartThings. In our lab tests, it also receives strong scores for its manual controls and automation of heating and cooling.

Google’s newest smart thermostat, the Nest Learning Thermostat 4th gen comes with a remote temperature sensor that you can place in another room to balance heating and cooling. It’s also one of just a few Matter-compatible smart thermostats on the market, meaning it works with any major smart home system, including Apple Home. It receives top marks in all of our lab tests. The gold version of the thermostat is seeing the steepest discounts, but other color finishes are also marked down.

The TP-Link Kasa Smart Wi-Fi Plug Slim EP25 is one of the most versatile smart plugs on the market. It offers energy monitoring and compatibility with all four major smart home systems: Amazon Alexa, Apple Home, Google Home, and Samsung SmartThings. Based on our expert evaluations, it’s also very easy to use and set up, and it offers decent data security. This four-pack is currently just $2 more than the lowest price we’ve seen when you redeem the $2 off promo code 2EP254PK.

One of the best (and least expensive!) doorbell cameras you can buy, the TP-Link Tapo D130 offers a bunch of features—even without a subscription. These include 24/7 recording with local video storage on a microSD card (up to 512 gigabytes, sold separately), AI object recognition (for people, vehicles, packages, and pets), activity zones, and color night vision. This model needs low-voltage doorbell wiring for power. Cloud video storage is available via subscription.

The TP-Link Tapo D210 is one of the most affordable doorbell cameras in our ratings, and it outperforms many of the more expensive models. The doorbell is battery-powered, meaning you don’t have to mess with doorbell wires, and it comes with a plug-in doorbell chime in the box. Features include activity zones, color night vision, local video storage on up to a 512GB microSD card (not included), person detection, pre-recorded responses to ask visitors to leave a message, and voice/app control via Amazon Alexa and Google Home. Best of all, none of these features requires a subscription.

The Arlo Video Doorbell 2K is one of the best video doorbells you can buy. It provides the flexibility to install it wherever you need it. You can run it using the rechargeable battery or hardwire it to a home’s doorbell wiring for continuous power. Features include geofencing and voice/app control via Amazon Alexa and Google Home/Assistant. Cloud video storage and additional features (such as alerts for people, packages, animals, and vehicles) require an Arlo Secure subscription.

This is the best price we’ve ever seen for this model, so even though this deal is available often, you won’t find a better offer.

The Ring Battery Doorbell (2024 Release) is Ring’s entry-level battery doorbell. It performs well in our tests, offering especially speedy response times for alerts and decent video quality. Its features include motion zones, schedules for alerts, and voice/app control via Amazon Alexa. Cloud video storage and additional features (such as person detection) require a Ring Home subscription.

It might be a little late to decorate for the holidays, but you can be prepared for the next one with these Twinkly Strings. I tried out these lights a few years ago and found them to be a fun way to put on an elaborate light show. The lights connect to WiFi, so you can customize them from your smartphone, but they also work with Amazon Alexa, Apple Home, and Google Home. You can currently get a 250 LED color set for over 50 percent off with the on-page coupon, or a 600 LED set that can display colors and pure white light for 30 percent off. The 250 LED set can display white light by blending its colors, but it can’t display pure white light as it lacks the dedicated white LEDs found in the other set.

The TP-Link Kasa Smart KL125 smart bulb offers the best deal of the 10 smart lightbulbs we evaluated. It has a great array of colors and dimming performance that come close to the pricier Philips Hue. The bulb also works with Amazon Alexa, Google Home, and Samsung SmartThings for voice and/or app control. These bulbs are only a few dollars more than their lowest Black Friday prices right now.

While it’s expensive, the Philips Hue smart bulb was hands-down the easiest to work with and offered the most impressive performance in our home evaluation of the best smart lightbulbs. The bulb generates bright, vivid colors and displays a good range of color temperatures, plus it works with Amazon Alexa, Google Home, and Samsung SmartThings when paired to a compatible smart speaker or hub. It can be used on its own via Bluetooth, but requires the Philips Hue Bridge for Apple Home integration and additional functionality.

The Yale Assure Lock 2 Plus is primarily designed to work with Apple’s Home Key feature, which allows you to lock and unlock your door with just a tap from your iPhone or Apple Watch, similar to using Apple Pay. With a Yale WiFi Smart Module, $90 (sold separately), it also supports Amazon Alexa, Google Home, and Samsung SmartThings. In our tests, it holds up well against kick-ins, and it’s very easy to set up and remotely control the lock. It is susceptible to attacks from a cordless drill, but that is a common issue with many locks, smart or otherwise.

The Blink Wired Floodlight Cam is back down to its usual Prime Day sale price, which it has seemed to drop to almost without fail over the last few years. In our tests, it receives superb scores for video quality and response time, as well as a very good score for data security. It falls in the middle of the pack in terms of its smart features, and its data privacy guarantees are weak (a common issue across brands in this space). Its features include a siren, activity zones, voice/app control via Amazon Alexa, and up to 5 minutes of continuous live streaming. You can store footage locally without a subscription if you purchase a Blink Sync Module 2, $50, and plug in a USB flash drive. Cloud video storage and other features (such as person detection) require a Blink Subscription Plan.

The Google Nest Cam with Floodlight offers impeccable video quality, strong data security, and speedy response times. Its features include activity zones to control what areas in front of the camera trigger recording, app/voice control (via Amazon Alexa, Google Home/Assistant, and Samsung SmartThings), and free object detection for people, animals, and vehicles. That last feature is a big deal because most competitors charge you a subscription for it. Cloud video storage and additional features require a Nest Aware subscription.

Ring Alarm (2nd Gen) starter kits are on sale for 40 to 50 percent off this Prime Day, with the 5-piece kit hitting an all-time low price of $100. Ring receives high scores in our home security system owner satisfaction ratings, whether you go with professional monitoring or monitor it yourself. The system requires a $5 per month subscription to receive smartphone alerts when the alarm goes off, but it works with Amazon Alexa (for voice control) and Ring video doorbells and security cameras.

In our survey-based owner satisfaction ratings of home security systems, SimpliSafe scores well both as a professionally monitored system and a self-monitored system. Our members report that SimpliSafe provides good value for the money, transparent prices, and great tech support.