The best smart home devices for beginners, in the order to buy them
Starting a smart home is mostly about not buying the expensive thing first. Five devices, in this order, tell you what your household actually uses before anything goes on the wall.
Buttons on this page are Amazon affiliate links: if you buy, Quiet Switch may earn a commission at no cost to you. Nobody pays for a position. How this works.
Start with a Matter smart plug, then a voice speaker, then smart bulbs, then sensors with a small hub, then a camera. Each step costs little, teaches you something about your household, and changes what you buy next.
The five devices, in order
| Job | Pick | Network | Why this one |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. A plug | TP-Link Tapo P110M | Matter | Put a lamp on a schedule. If you still use the schedule after a month, keep going. |
| 2. A speaker | Amazon Echo Dot (5th Gen) | Wi-Fi | Find out whether anyone in the house actually talks to devices. |
| 3. Bulbs | Matter Wi-Fi bulbs (multipack) | Matter Wi-Fi bulbs need no hub; try one room before a whole system. | |
| 4. Sensors and a hub | Aqara Motion & Contact Sensors | Zigbee | The point where the house starts reacting without being asked. |
| 5. A camera | Wyze Cam v4 | Wi-Fi | Local recording, no fee, and a magnetic base that needs no drilling. |
- Aqara Hub M100 — the small Aqara hub for step 4: a Matter controller and Thread border router that handles up to 20 Aqara Zigbee devices, per its listing.
Five routines to set up in the first week
- Sunset lamp. The living room lamp turns on at sunset and off at bedtime.
- Night hallway. A motion sensor turns the hallway light on at 10 percent after 11 pm.
- Leaving home. One button or voice command turns everything off when the last person leaves.
- Coffee or kettle. A plug turns on the coffee maker at the same time each weekday, if the machine has a physical on switch.
- Leak alert. A leak sensor under the washer sends a phone notification.
If none of these survive a month, that is useful too. You have learned it for the price of a plug and a speaker.
Setup tips that save a return
- Most smart devices need 2.4 GHz Wi-Fi. If your router combines bands under one name, setup usually still works; if it fails, that is the first thing to check.
- Keep the Matter setup code. Photograph the QR code on every Matter device before it disappears behind furniture. You need it to add the device to another platform later.
- Name devices by room and fixture. "Bedroom lamp", not "Smart Plug 2".
- Check for a border router before buying Thread devices. An Apple TV 4K, a HomePod mini or a compatible Echo often already fills the role.
Questions people ask
What is the easiest smart home system for beginners?
Do beginners need a smart home hub?
What should a beginner avoid buying?
Keep reading
Quiet SwitchOne person, no sponsors, no devices owned. Specs come from maker documentation and the live listing; nothing here is written as though it had been tested in this house. How this site works →