First, you must consider how the recipient will use the devices.
The same goes for other sub-platforms within the smart lighting.
Start a conversation with them about smart homes and ask them if they recommend the gear they have.
Google Nest
Smart Home Speakers
Smart home speakersare an all-around slam-dunk when gifting smart home gear.
They have been, and remain, the most popular smart home product category, and for good reason.
The Echo line is the best-selling line of smart speakers on the market, and for a good reason.
Amazon
It’s a polished ecosystem that’s quite user friendly.
The Echo Dot offers a smaller form factor with the same spherical look.
For folks in the Google Home ecosystem, the Google Audio is a substantial 30W speaker with room-filling sound.
Whether they use Alexa or Google Assistant, the Sonos One line of smart speakers offers premium sound in a smart speaker package. If excellent audio quality is the end goal, you can’t go wrong adding some Sonos speakers into your smart home.
It’s on sale so often, it’s practically stocking stuffer price.
Smart Displays
Smart displaysare just about as popular as smart speakers, and for a good reason.
It’s bigger than really petite displays and speakers but not counter-dominatingly large.
The newest Echo sports not just a sleek form factor with improved bass but a Matter smart home hub tucked inside. The Echo line is the best-selling line of smart speakers on the market, and for a good reason. It’s a polished ecosystem that’s quite user friendly.
They can use it for video calls, displaying recipes, watching YouTube and more.
And when it comes to flashy fun, you really can’t beat smart lights.
It’s a great introduction to the robust Hue lighting platform.
The Echo Dot offers a smaller form factor with the same spherical look. One of the coolest new developments in the Echo world is that the new 5th generation Dots include eero mesh network extenders. Pair one with a smart home powered by an eero mesh network and you get an instant coverage boost.
Perfect to use as sunrise alarm and ambient mood lighting during the evening.
On the lower brightness and candle parameters it can last all night without a recharge.
For inexpensive but reliable color changing bulbs, it’s tough to beat Govee.
For folks in the Google Home ecosystem, the Google Audio is a substantial 30W speaker with room-filling sound. Smaller speakers like the Nest Mini might be great for just giving commands or getting a weather update, but for music playback you want something bigger like the Audio.
LED strips are a fun way to add a lot of color to a space inexpensively.
If your giftee already has one of the popular Ring doorbells, this is a slam dunk gift.
A three-pack offers enough cameras to keep an eye on the front yard, back yard, and driveway.
You can use Google’s affordable smart speaker to play music, set reminders, look up information, or control your smart home. It’s on sale so often, it’s practically stocking stuffer price.
Or every bird feeder and a squirrel nest if that’s more interesting.
Day or night, you’ve got the option to see everything bright and clear.
For folks with a Google Home and Nest Hubs, the Nest Cams are a perfect fit.
The Echo Show 8 offers an 8-inch touch screen, easy integration with the Ring cameras and accessories, and a built-in camera for video calling. It’s bigger than really petite displays and speakers but not counter-dominatingly large.
The company has made a name for itself making compact and affordable smart security cameras.
And they’re great tohave around during the holiday season!
Indoors, outdoors, this rugged IP64-rated weather resistant smart plug is great everywhere.
Not only is the smaller Echo Show 5 a bargain, but it’s the perfect size for night stands or adding a smart display to just about anywhere. You probably won’t want to do any serious video watching on it, but it’s handy to get visual feedback.
It has two independent 15A outlets that can be separately programmed to control just about anything.
A four-pack means your gift recipient will plenty of chances to use them around the house.
This four-pack offers a welcome upgrade for the curious people on your list, power monitoring.
If you want to buy your giftee a smart display, a smart speaker, and you don’t want to skimp on either one, then you should consider the Echo Show 10. It sports a big 10.1" screen, a substantial speaker, and it might just be the perfect kitchen smart device. They can use it for video calls, displaying recipes, watching YouTube and more.
This large power strip is well suited for use with a media center or home office setup.
Want to help a friend or relative who doesn’t want to fuss with smart home apps?
This clever power strip is smart in an old-fashioned way.
The Nest Hub, formerly Google Home Hub, is an excellent value and, thanks to easy Google Photos integration, one of the best digital picture frames around.
Looking for more gift ideas?
Take a look at our other gift guides:
The bigger sibling of the Nest Hub, the Max offers a bigger screen, bigger speaker, and a built-in camera for video calling.
Nanoleaft
This kit includes three white and color ambiance bulbs, a Hue smart hub, and a wireless physical control switch to add real-world tactile controls to the Hue system. It’s a great introduction to the robust Hue lighting platform.
The Go is like the Hue Iris, but with a battery, so you can easily move it. Perfect to use as sunrise alarm and ambient mood lighting during the evening. On the lower brightness and candle settings it can last all night without a recharge.
For inexpensive but reliable color changing bulbs, it’s tough to beat Govee. The bulbs are bright and colorful, and the Govee app has a ton of fun patterns for every mood and season.
LED strips are a fun way to add a lot of color to a space inexpensively. This Govee kit gives you all the benefits of the Govee lighting platform, including localize music syncing using a built-in mic, and enough LED strip to light up a large room.
This subdued light panel kit from Nanoleaf isn’t just a really cool looking accent piece, it can also serve as a Matter border router for smart home integration.
Google/Nest
Indoors, outdoors, you can stick these cameras anywhere to keep on eye on everything from your yard to your pets. If your giftee already has one of the popular Ring doorbells, this is a slam dunk gift.
A three-pack offers enough cameras to keep an eye on the front yard, back yard, and driveway. Or every bird feeder and a squirrel nest if that’s more interesting.
Sleek, minimalistic, and with a powerful 2K camera, the Arlo Pro 4 Spotlight Camera is an excellent security camera regardless of where you place it. Day or night, you can see everything bright and clear.
For folks with a Google Home and Nest Hubs, the Nest Cams are a perfect fit. You can easily view the cameras on your phone as well as all your smart displays.
If you know your giftee would love a security camera but you’re a budget, you can’t go wrong with a Wyze Cam. The company has made a name for itself making compact and affordable smart security cameras.
Indoors, outdoors, this rugged IP64-rated weather resistant smart plug is great everywhere. It has two independent 15A outlets that can be separately programmed to control just about anything.
The compact form factor of these smart plugs makes it easy to sneak one in just about anywhere without blocking adjacent outlets. A four-pack means your gift recipient will plenty of chances to use them around the house.
This four-pack offers a welcome upgrade for the curious people on your list, power monitoring. Not only do you get all the great features of Kasa smart plugs but now they can track and monitor how much power the attached devices use.
This large power strip is well suited for use with a media center or home office setup. If you’re shopping for someone who is always unplugging devices to save money, the environment, or both, help them automate the process.
Want to help a friend or relative who doesn’t want to fuss with smart home apps? This clever power strip is smart in an old-fashioned way. It can sense when the main device is turned off, like a computer, and will shut attached devices like printers or monitor automatically.
