Best Early Black Friday Smart Home Deals

The Arlo Essential 2K (VMC3050-100NAS) 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 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 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 has been as low as $32.99, so consider waiting until Black Friday if possible. But if you need something now, $11 per plug is still a great value.

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.

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 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.

In addition to two cameras (one aimed out at visitors, the other down at packages), the Eufy Video Doorbell E340 packs a ton of features, including color night vision (thanks to built-in spotlights), person detection, package detection, and 8 gigabytes of memory to store video locally. Eufy also offers cloud video storage subscriptions. The model can be powered with a rechargeable battery pack or low-voltage doorbell wiring.

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.

To make your holiday light display really pop this year, consider the 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 Black Friday prices right now.

The LIFX Color E26 is a solid smart bulb, with particularly impressive white tuning that has a claimed range of 1500K to 9000K. Indeed, the LIFX was both the warmest and the coolest of the smart bulbs we evaluated. It also provides great multicolor and dimming performance, as well as fairly responsive controls. It works with Amazon Alexa, Apple Home, Google Home, and Samsung SmartThings.

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 Arlo Pro 3 Floodlight Camera is often available at this price, and it very rarely goes on sale for less. It can run off either a rechargeable battery or plug-in power cord, sold separately for $50, which connects to the bottom of the camera and can run up to 25 feet to connect to an outlet. It performs quite well in our lab tests, includes a siren, and offers voice/app control with all four major platforms: Amazon Alexa, Apple Home (with an Arlo Pro Smart Hub, sold separately), Google Home, and Samsung SmartThings. Additional features, such as activity zones, person detection, and cloud video storage, require an Arlo Secure subscription.

The Floodlight Cam E340 is one of Eufy’s dual-camera models, meaning it has a 3K wide-angle camera and a 2K telephoto camera that work together to give you up to 8x zoom. It’s also one of the few motorized pan-and-tilt floodlight cameras available today, allowing you to easily check the camera’s surroundings. It receives top scores for video quality and response time in our tests. Its laundry list of features includes local video storage with up to a 128-gigabyte microSD card (sold separately), motion tracking to follow subjects as they move around your home, and 24/7 video recording (not just recording when motion is detected).

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.

If you want to monitor a handful of trouble spots in your home, the X-Sense Wi-Fi Water Leak Detector SWS54 provides the best bang for your buck. You get a hub with a siren and three wireless sensors you can place throughout your home. The sensors are unique in that they can detect both water standing on the floor, and water that drips on them from exposed pipes or other sources. Each sensor has a siren, too, allowing you to easily identify the source of an alert without checking the X-Sense app. This is $5 more than the best price.

The Meross MSG100 is the best smart garage door opener controller from my at-home evaluation. It’s relatively easy to set up and install, and works flawlessly with all of the major smart-home systems (Amazon Alexa, Apple Home, Google Home, and Samsung SmartThings).