Smart Products in our Home

Happy Wednesday, friends! I enlisted Gary’s help with today’s post because the tech side of our house is all him! He researches, he installs & most of all he understands the power of all these products. I have a run down of all the smart home products we’ve added since day 1 – this is not an exclusive list because we plan on adding more, but overall, this was a great start for us moving into a new home. We were limited in how many smart home products we could have in our last house because it was a condo building and obviously shared with others. I’m also excited to share this post because I’m betting most of these products will be on sale during Prime Day next week!

• Echo Show 10 || Last week I shared a few videos of our Echo Show 10 that we have set up in our kitchen. I’m not exaggerating when I say this is probably our most use device in the last month. It is so incredibly easy to use, set up & functional – not to mention it’s not hideous to have out on the counter. This connects with our other Alexa products so you can “drop in” and talk to other people in other rooms like an intercom, but we have it set up with our Ring Doorbell so you can also see who is at the door! You can also stream shows from Netflix, Amazon (obviously), Disney+, Hulu and use it as another TV! You can view recipes from Food Network and the coolest feature is that she follows your voice so it will swivel to wherever you are! I also love having dance parties with Sophia in the kitchen and she can easily ask Alexa to turn on her favorite songs!
• Ring Doorbell Pro || Since I briefly mentioned the doorbell above, this is a good segue-way to it! Knowing who is at our front door without having to actually go to the door is pretty cool. There is the ring app so you can always know what is happening out front – especially good if you have dealt with any stolen packages or travel quite a bit. More often than not, you and your significant other will both want the app on your phone so you can both access it and that is possible in the Ring App. The Pro version is hardwired so you don’t have to worry about changing out a battery either which also gives you better video quality. You can also establish “smart replies” through Alexa if you are away – think Home Alone when he’s trying scare the robbers.
• Ring Home Security System || In keeping with the Ring theme, we stuck with them for our home security system and again it works seamlessly with their app. We also got an extra set of sensors to put on all the doors and windows that chimes anytime it’s open from the base station. Very helpful to have on any doors because let me tell you, toddlers are really smart and know how to open things!! They are discreet, small and not very expensive! Gary joked that you could even put in on a snack drawer if you really want to get into the weeds! Even though I wasn’t the one that set this up, it didn’t take Gary very long, it was very intuitive and you have peace of mind with a security system and views that you can see while away from home. You can disarm or arm from either the keypad or your phone (app) which is super handy if you don’t remember locking the door!
• Schlage Lock Encode || This was actually my one home request! I wanted a smart lock for our front door! I love the look, I love that I don’t need a key if I come through the front, I love that I can give out one time codes to people and most of all, I love that I could be in the kitchen and the Ring tells me someone is at the door and I see who it is and then I tell Alexa to open the front door! Seamless and pretty darn cool! I did want a different handle so we purchased that separately from Ebay, but it looks so sleek and clean!
• Outlets & Smart Plugs || Nothing ground breaking with USB outlets and smart plugs, but they do make things a little easier. We have a USB outlet that was changed out on our kitchen bar area since that’s a big hub for us. We tend to charge lots of things as most people do! I also have on near my side of the bed since I charge my phone, iPad and watch at night. As for the smart plugs, there are a couple around the house, but we especially use it during the holidays for our tree! So nice to tell Alexa to turn the tree on / off!
• Samsung Frame TV || Award for most beautiful smart home product goes to the Frame TV! We purchased ours from Best Buy, but got the actual frame from Amazon. I will say opting for the install from the Geek Squad was well worth it because they do it quickly and ensure that the TV is set up and working before they leave so no troubleshooting on your own. I was worried about the picture quality not being as good as other models out there, but the quality is fantastic. As of right now we’re still waiting on our couches to be delivered (we ordered them in March!) and our TV is mostly in art mode and I love looking up from the kitchen and seeing a beautiful piece of “art” just hanging there! It seamlessly connects to all your streaming services of which we have a ton! We also cut the cord nearly 3 years ago (you can read about it here) and it was easy to set up AT&T TV (formerly Direct TV Now) which is our normal channels. We also don’t need our Apple TV for this one anymore because all the apps are native to the Frame.

The next purchase that’s on my list is a smart vacuum – it would be nice to outsource at least that part of my cleaning routine! How do you feel about smart products in your home?