Best Cyber Monday Smart Home Deals

The Arlo Pro 5S is one of the company’s higher-end security cameras. It’s weatherproof and battery-powered, allowing you to place it just about anywhere on your property within WiFi range. It offers decent video quality and features color night vision, a built-in siren, and two-way audio. Additional features like AI object detection and activity zones require an Arlo Secure subscription.

The Blink Mini 2 is a small security camera that offers great video quality and speedy motion alerts. It can also work outdoors and store footage locally without a subscription, but each of those features requires you to buy an accessory. The former needs the Blink Weather Resistant Power Adapter, $10, while the latter needs the Blink Sync Module 2, $50, and a USB flash drive. Cloud video storage requires a Blink Subscription Plan. This camera is back down to its fall Prime Day price.

The TP-Link Tapo MagCam C425, now $10 more than during the last sale, 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. This TP-Link security camera is back down to its July Prime Day sale price.

The Wyze Cam V4 is a tiny, yet mighty, security camera that works indoors and out. It offers great video quality and speedy response times for motion alerts. It works with Amazon Alexa and Google Home/Assistant, but cloud video storage and certain features require a Wyze Cam subscription.

The Ring Alarm (2nd Gen) is a great DIY home security system, performing well for ease of setup, ease of use, data security, security essentials, and more. The system requires a $10 per month subscription to function, but it works with Amazon Alexa (for voice control) and Ring video doorbells and security cameras. Amazon is discounting a handful of Ring Alarm bundles to its fall Prime Day prices.

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. They 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. The model needs low-voltage doorbell wiring for power. Cloud video storage is available via subscription. This doorbell is 25 percent off its list price, and it’s such a great product that any discount is worth taking.

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 doorbell is back down to its fall Prime Day price.

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 the rechargeable battery pack or low-voltage doorbell wiring. With the on-page coupon, it’s now selling at the lowest price we’ve ever seen.

The Google Nest Video Doorbell (Battery) offers impressive data security, speedy response times, and decent video quality in our lab tests. It’s also one of few video doorbells to give you monitoring zones, object recognition (of people, packages, animals, and vehicles), and 3 free hours of cloud video storage without a monthly subscription. Cloud video storage and additional features (such as facial recognition) require a Google Nest Aware subscription. This doorbell has a solid discount in all of its color finishes.

The Ring Battery Doorbell Plus is one of the company’s newer doorbells. It doesn’t excel at video quality, but it does provide strong data security, speedy alerts, and quick-loading live video feeds. Features include color night vision, a rechargeable and swappable battery pack, activity zones, and voice/app control via Amazon Alexa. Cloud video storage and additional features (such as person alerts) require a Ring Home subscription. This Ring doorbell is back down to its fall Prime Day price. You can also purchase it bundled with a Ring Stick Up Cam, worth $100, for $150 at Amazon.

Want a floodlight camera that’s easy to install? The Blink Outdoor 4 Floodlight Camera runs off batteries and offers great video quality. Features include activity zones, voice/app control via Amazon Alexa, and up to 5 minutes of continuous live streaming at one time. You can also store footage locally, without a subscription, by using the included Blink Sync Module 2 (worth $50) and plugging in a USB flash drive (sold separately). This camera has been discounted back down to its fall Prime Day price.

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). This floodlight cam is on sale for the lowest prices we’ve ever seen.

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. This floodlight camera is on sale for the same price as on Cyber Monday 2023.

Interested in a smart lock but don’t like hubs and dongles? The August WiFi Smart Lock connects directly to WiFi, no hub needed. It’s also a retrofit model, meaning it replaces only the interior side of your deadbolt so you can keep your existing keys. It performs quite well in our tests, including those for ease of remote access and convenience. Features include auto-locking and unlocking, access logs, electronic keys, and a door sensor.

The Schlage Encode Plus supports Apple Home Key, which lets you unlock your door with a tap from an Apple Watch or iPhone (similar to Apple Pay). The Encode Plus performs well in our brute-force tests for kick-ins and drilling, but it’s somewhat susceptible to lock-picking. Features include an access log, auto-locking, electronic keys, a tamper alarm, and compatibility with voice assistants and smart home apps, including Amazon Alexa, Apple Home/Siri, and Google Home/Assistant. This smart lock is on sale for its lowest price since Prime Day in July.

As the name suggests, the Yale Assure Lock 2 is the successor to the Yale Assure Lock SL. This keyless model performs well in our tests, holding up against kick-ins and attacks from a cordless drill. It’s very easy to set up, connect to WiFi, and control remotely when you’re not home. With the included Yale WiFi Smart Module (an $80 value), it also supports Amazon Alexa, Apple Home/Siri, Google Home/Assistant, and Samsung SmartThings.

The Meross Outdoor Smart Plug MSS620BHK gets great scores across our user-experience tests. It’s also the only outdoor plug in our evaluation that works with all four major smart-home systems. As a drawback, it lacks energy monitoring. Each outlet can be controlled independently from the Meross app. It’s not as deeply discounted as it was on Black Friday, but it’s still a great deal.

Want indoor Meross plugs? The Meross Smart Wifi Plug Mini 4-Pack is also on sale for $30 at Amazon when using a $2 off on-page coupon.

The Amazon Smart Plug is made for consumers of Amazon products—think Amazon Echo speakers and Alexa—because it’s managed entirely from the Alexa app and doesn’t work with other smart home systems. It performs quite well compared to the best smart plugs, offering easy setup and use and strong data security. Amazon is now discounting it to its fall Prime Day price.

Among the best outdoor smart plugs you can buy, the TP-Link Kasa EP40 is fairly easy to set up and even easier to use, based on our expert evaluations, offering voice/app control via Amazon Alexa, Google Home/Assistant, and Samsung SmartThings. The plug’s two outlets can be controlled independently. The price is down to the lowest we’ve seen in the past year, which is $1 less than it was during Cyber Monday 2023.

The TP-Link Kasa Smart KL125 smart bulb offers the best deal of the 10 smart lightbulbs we evaluated. It retails for $15 per bulb and has an array of colors and great dimming performance that come close to the pricier Philips Hue. The bulb also works with Amazon Alexa, Google Home/Assistant, and Samsung SmartThings for voice and/or app control.

The LIFX Color E26 is a solid smart bulb, with particularly impressive white tuning that has a claimed range of 1500K to 9000K. Indeed, at each extreme, the LIFX was the warmest and coldest of the smart bulbs we evaluated. It also offers great multicolor and dimming performance, as well as fairly responsive controls. It works with Amazon Alexa, Apple Home/Siri, Google Home/Assistant, and Samsung SmartThings. This bulb is on sale at Amazon for its lowest price since June, while Home Depot has a nice discount on a two-pack.

For a smart light switch that just works without fail, you can’t beat Lutron Caséta. Sure, it’s pricey, but it’s easy to install and set up, and it’s one of the few options that doesn’t require a neutral wire. (Good news for those in homes built before the 1980s). This kit includes the Lutron hub, two dimmer switches, and two wireless remotes. It’s back down to the sale price of Amazon’s October Prime Day event and Cyber Monday 2023.

To make your holiday light display really pop this year, consider the Twinkly Strings. We 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/Siri, and Google Home/Assistant.

The Rachio 3 8ZULW-C is a solid sprinkler controller that’s easy to connect to WiFi and is highly responsive to local forecasts. It lost a few points in our tests because the wiring instructions are unclear and it lacks a backup battery and weatherproof casing. (A weatherproof enclosure is sold separately for $30.) It works with up to eight sprinkler zones; four-zone and 16-zone versions are also available.

The D-Link DCH-S1621KT Wi-Fi Water Leak Sensor and Alarm Starter Kit gives you a slick app experience and speedy alerts, plus two types of leak detectors for the price of one. The plug-in detector comes with a roughly 5-foot extension cable and a roughly 20-inch cord for detecting water. It acts as a hub for a separate, white puck-shaped detector. That means you can place the units in different rooms and cover multiple trouble spots in your home. Additional puck-shaped detectors cost $25. You can connect up to 16 of them to one hub. This D-Link kit is back down to its fall Prime Day price.

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 water on the ground and water that drips on them from, say, exposed pipes. Each sensor has a siren, too, allowing you to easily identify the source of an alert without checking the X-Sense app. With the on-page coupon, you get the lowest price we’ve seen in over a year.

The Meross MSG100 is the best smart garage door opener controller from our 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/Siri, Google Home/Assistant, and Samsung SmartThings). Now it’s down to the lowest price we’ve ever seen when using the on-page coupon.

Google’s newest smart thermostat, the Nest Learning Thermostat 4th gen, came out just a few months ago, but it’s already on sale at a modest discount. The model 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.

The Airthings View Plus 2960 is a top performer in our tests. It’s very quick to set up, and you can easily view real-time readings through a smartphone app or a built-in display. The app also logs historical data from the monitor’s sensors. Unlike many other monitors, the Airthings claims to detect radon, a colorless, odorless, radioactive gas that can seep from the ground into a home. (CR hasn’t tested this function.) This air quality monitor is down to its lowest price since Memorial Day.