If you are planning to covert your home to a smart home, then here are some of the best smart home needs that you should consider this year.
People are becoming smarter and more efficient as technology advances.
In our personal lives, technology is our companion, and people cannot be without using any technology every day.
Things like smartphones, smartwatches, laptops, and smart TVs have become an integral part of our lives.
This is because they make our lives easy and productive. Personal things are good, but people now make their homes smart with some smart things and gadgets that could make their lives better.
What is a Smart Home?
You might be using Smartphones, Smartwatches and Smart TV’s. The thing that make these things smart is that hey are always connected to internet and stay updated.
By connecting a smartphone to internet makes it useful to chat in WhatsApp or make video calls.
Similarly, connecting a TV to the internet using Wi-Fi makes it to stream content from web so that you can watch videos in Netflix or YouTube and have a good time and keep your self entertained.
Similarly, a smart home is a connected home in which all the devices and home appliances remain connected to the internet, and they talk to each other.
Nowadays most of the popular appliances come with connectivity features for example Refrigerators, Washing Machines, Dishwashers, Coffee makers and so-on.
But we can also get smart things like Lighting, Fans, Air conditioners, vacuum cleaners, Audio Systems and so-on.
Smart home automation is getting more and more popular nowadays as it reduces the burden of working with home appliances as well as we can track all the functions of any home appliance or smart home gadgets from any place in the world.
Having all things connected and if they work on your command or if you can track what your home is doing even if you are away from it is a great thing to have in your life, and also it gives peace of mind.
What are smart home needs in 2023
Now that we have checked what is a smart home, let me list out some of the main things that need to be made smart for having a better life and peaceful mind.
- Smart Door Locks
- Smart Door Bells
- Smart Lighting
- Air conditioning
- Water purifiers
- Music systems
- Smart TV’s
The above-mentioned are some of the main things that would be great smart home devices for your home automation.
Lets check each in Detail
Smart Door locks
This thing is considered as the main security of our home.
The main door in your home is the primary entry and exit point of your house, which needs to be strong and also have good locking to keep your home safe.
Without a proper door lock, you are risking your property and home.
There are a variety of door locks, and we have been using door locks with keys for a long time now.
Those are good and there are strong, but there is a problem with the traditional locks.
Locks can be unlocked by only a specific key type. If you lose the key or the keys gets damaged, then you will be stuck outside the house.
The only option here is to break the lock or damage the door to unlock it. It is a risk in this case.
This is where smart door locks come into play.
Door locks does not need a physical key, but can be locked and unlocked using your mobile with the companion mobile app.
Other advantage of smart door lock is that you can give access to your friends and family members that you know without the need to keys.
Also, many door locks come with pass code enabled authentication which is really convenient for entering and exiting the home
Another advantage that the Smart door locks have been that, as they remain connected to the internet, you can keep track of things happening with your front door.
If someone opens the door or tries to tamper the door. This is a great peace of mind while you are travelling or far away from your home.
Another advantage of the smart door locks is that they can inform you if the door is left open for a long duration.
The auto locking and auto-unlocking feature when it detects you around is also a very convenient feature to have.
August Home Wi-Fi Lock Newest Model 4th Gen Alexa
This is one of the more popular models of smart door locks that you can buy in India.
August is a popular door lock manufacturer, and with the 4th generation of the August smart door lock, they have perfected the design of the lock.
You can check out the smart door locks post to get detailed info on the door locks that you can buy
Features:
- Auto Lock/Unlock Features
- Keyless Entry to your home
- Any door with deadbolt can be fixed with this lock.
- Know who is entering and exiting the home
- Voice control for lock and unlock
- Easy Installation
- Works with Alexa and Google home
Tinxy Smart Door Lock
In case of budget options, there are only limited smart door locks available in India.
Tinxy is an Indian brand which makes durable locks which are smart. If you want to know about the unboxing and installation of this door lock then you can visit Tinxy smart door lock unboxing and installation page which will help.
This lock comes as 2 units, where you will have a metal lock that you need to fix on the door and a Wi-Fi controller that controls the functionality of the door lock.
Even thought this is not as advanced as the August smart door lock that we discussed earlier, Tinxy door lock is very durable and easy to fix.
Features:
- Auto Door Lock feature
- Alexa and Google Home Integration
- Mobile app for unlocking the door.
- Family access
- Optional keypad support
- Comes with smart keys for easy unlock
- Easy installation.
The Tinxy Wi-Fi controller that comes is an easy to set up device with all the instruction provided with the user manual.
It comes with 8 points which you need to connect to the lock as well as the door sensor which detects if the door is left open or closed.
This lock works with 2.4GHZ Wi-Fi network and can be setup to any network even if it’s a 4G dongle.
Difference between Normal door locks and Smart Door locks
| Traditional Door locks | Smart Door Locks |
| Need keys to unlock the door | No need of physical Key |
| Each family member needs a separate key | Mobile Application support |
| Risk of keys getting lost or damage | Easy key sharing to family members |
| No notification of a stranger | Tracking of door unlocks |
| Cheaper | Costlier |
Smart Door bells
This is another thing that you can’t miss when it comes to setting up a smart home. We all will have a doorbell setup in our home to get notified when someone comes to home and presses a button.
Basically, a chime sound can be heard when someone presses the bell button to that we can open the door and check who is the guest.
The traditional way is normal electric doorbells that are powered by an outdoor switch and indoor unit that makes a sound when someone presses the button.
In case of a smart doorbell, things work a bit differently. There is an outdoor unit and some units have indoor units as well.
The units are connected wirelessly using wifi. The outdoor unit will have a camera inbuilt which gets activated whenever any person visits your home and presses the button on the door bell.
When he or she presses the door bell button following thing happens.
- Camera in the door bell gets activated and starts recording the face of the visitor.
- Mobile phone application installed on your phone rings the phone and you will get a notification
- You will receive a call from the doorbell as a normal phone call but with a video.
- You can accept the call and talk to the person if you are not in home.
This also adds other convenience like when ever a person presses the button on the doorbell, with Google home and Alexa integration, you can see the person in all the devices that have screen in your home.
This is a great feature to have in case you are in first floor and need to come down to unlock the door without knowing who is outside.
The app integration also gives the live feed from the front door always if you open it, and can see all the activities going in front of the door very easily.
This adds an extra safety feature to the home, which is an added advantage.
Another advantage here is two-way communication that you can do in a smart doorbell. You can talk with the person standing in front of the door.
Consider you have packages to be received, with the smart doorbell whenever a courier person visits your home even if you are not at home, you can direct the person to place the package safely in a place so that it’s not stolen.
These features make a smart door bell an important part of any smart home.
Qubo Smart WiFi Wireless Video Doorbell for home
Qubo is a smart doorbell from Hero Group. It has a number of cool features that make it one of the smartest doorbells in India.
It sends an instant notification to your phone about the visitor, and integration with Alexa and Google is an added bonus.
Features:
- Instant call and notification
- Indoor unit with different chimes
- 140 degree of viewing angle which can cover large area in front door
- 2 way talk for communication
- 1080P Camera
Being in the budget segment, this adds value to your home security.
The instant call feature is an attraction to this doorbell. You can always stay updated on how is coming to your home. Also, intruder alert system notifies you with unauthorized entry to your home.
With the wide angle view of 140 degree, you can see the live feed of the person visiting your home in full detail. Being a 1080P camera, it gives detailed footage.
This smart doorbell also comes with pre-recorded audio message which can be used to notify the person visiting your home with a message in your voice.
This really comes handy when you are expecting a package, and you are not in home.
Ring Video Doorbell
Ring, a very popular brand in western countries. In the USA, most of the smart home have ring doorbells installed.
They have the variety of variants of doorbells available in the marker.
Doorbells from Ring are known for their efficiency and how accurate they are in notifying the owner if someone visits the home.
Wide field of view and also 1080P recording of activities going in front of the door. It is a great option to consider as a doorbell.
Features:
- 1080P Camera
- Wide viewing angle
- Alexa and Google home integration
- Dedicated mobile app
- Instant notification
With Alexa and google home integration, this doorbell instantly notifies with live video from the doorbell to the devices having screen so that you can view the visitor’s face and also respond accordingly.
Two-way communication is available in this bell as well. This is a feature needed when you are away from home.
You can talk to the visitor directly from any place and mention the things needed to be done in case you have a delivery
Difference between traditional doorbells and Smart door bells
| Traditional Door Bells | Smart Door Bells |
| Easy Setup | Setup process could be longer |
| No Wifi Connection Needed | Wifi Connection needed |
| Cant know who is visiting home | Live feed of visitor |
| No Security features | Mobile Notification |
| No Battery so off during power cut | Intruder alert |
Smart Lighting
Lighting is a thing that is most commonly found in any home that we see around. Lighting is an important factor to survive.
Life on planet earth need sunlight and at night we need electric lights to see things. Since Edison invented the bulb, lights have become an integral part of our life.
There are a variety of smart lights in the market. Traditional lights like bulbs, LED bulbs which are getting more and more popular nowadays for energy consumption and also tube light.
LED lights and light strips are getting more popularity because of their extended lifetime and also reduced energy consumption.
Traditional bulbs have high wattage and also high electrical consumption. LED bulbs are solving that issue as they have very less power usage compared to traditional bulbs and tube light.
New modifications that are coming to LED bulbs are making them smart. Smart bulbs can be connected to Wi-Fi and controlled wirelessly. There are also bulbs that can be used with Bluetooth.
Wi-Fi controlled bulbs and lights are becoming popular as they can change colors as well as we can turn them On and Off from anywhere if they are connected to the internet.
Each Smart bulb comes with a companion app that you can use to configure them and also connect them to the internet.
Apps helps to change the colors of the bulb and make an ambience that we expect in our home. If you are planning for smart home automation, then a Smart bulb or smart lighting is a must.
Voice control is another things that make a smart light an interesting addition to your home automation.
Most of the manufacturers have skills that can be added to Alexa or Google Home for controlling the light using voice commands.
Smart lights can be clasified into types.
- Normal lighting that included Bulbs, Tubes, Ceiling Lights etc
- Table lights, LED strip lights and Sensor lights
Sensor lights are another classification of smart lights, as they are not connected to the internet and work based on external lighting that falls on them and also on people’s movements in front of them.
Syska 12-Watt B-22 Wi-Fi Enabled Smart LED Bulb
Syska being a popular brand in India for smart home devices.
They have variety of lighting available in the market. The bulbs ranging from 7 to 20 watts makes a wide range of smart bulbs to choose from.
This model the syska 12 watt comes in a sweet spot as it has enough brightness for an average sized room, it is also power efficient.
It comes in B22 model which is suitable for most of the bulb holders in Indian homes. If you are confused about the B22 bulb holder, then the following picture will give you an idea of how the bulb looks like.
Features:
- 12 watt LED bulb
- Voice control available
- Color change feature
- Syska Ap for controlling the bulb
- Easy availability
- Cheap price
If you are considering changing the normal or LED bulbs that are being used in your home to a smart bulb, then the Syska 12W LED bulb will be the best option to consider.
If you have an E27 socket in your home, then there are options from Phillips that will work great for you.
PHILIPS 9W e27 LED Bulb for smart home
Philips being a popular brand in India for various home appliances and also gadgets. They have some great smart lighting options like Philips Hue and smart bulbs as well.
This mode the 9W bulb is great for normal-sized rooms, and also it consumes very less amount of power.
There are features like color changing and also voice control using Alexa and google home which makes it a good choice if you are looking for a E27 bulb.
Features:
- 9W LED light
- Companion app
- 16M colors available
- Amex and Google home integration
Considering having a compatible app and also as this bulb can support 16M colors which makes a good option to consider for your smart home.
There are smart tube lights as well available in India from wipro which are great options in case you are planning to upgrade your tube lights as well.
Smart Table Lamps and LED strips
These are another category of smart lighting that we can have in our home.
We might be using the traditional table lamps with bulbs in it, but also we can buy a smart bulb and add it to them but nowadays, table lamps are available in the market that are already smart and no need of adding bulbs.
These will have buttons on them to configure as well as companion app which comes handy in configuring them and also changing the colors and brightness based on our needs
Mi Smart Bedside Lamp 2 for home
This is one of the popular smart table or bedside lamp that you can buy. It comes with a nice little touch panel at the front that you can use for adjusting the brightness and also the colors.
It is having a cylindrical shape and also comes with a power cord that can be connected at the back. You can configure this light using the Mi Home app very easily.
Having a minimalistic design is a great advantage here. It looks really attractive and simple. This makes it a go-to smart table lamp in India that you can buy.
Mi Bedside lamp 2 is one of the minimalistic looking smart table lamp that you can buy.
Features:
- Minimalistic design
- Alexa and Google Home integration
- Mobile App
- Easy setup
HomeMate® WiFi Multicolour Smart LED Kit
LED strips add a bit of personalization to any room. Normal LED strips are available in the market, but a smart home control adds more value to it.
With a smart LED strip, you can change the ambience of the room with your voice by asking Alexa or Google Home.
In addition, this LED strip comes with an app that allows you to customize the strip lighting to your preferred color.
Features:
- Low power consumption
- Long Life
- Voice Control
- Companion App
- Easy to setup
- Low Price
Difference between Traditional lighting and Smart lights
| Traditional Lights | Smart Lights |
| More power consumption | Low power consumption |
| Less Life time | More Life |
| No personilisation | Colors can be changed as needed |
| No App or voice control | Voice control available |
| Easily available | Less availability |
Smart Air conditioner
This is an appliance which you can’t live without in a place where the temperature is high. Air conditioner helps keeping our home cool and also a better environment to live in.
It also helps in reducing the amount of dust in the air by cleaning it and making the air around us good to breath.
There are many Air conditioners available in the market but finding a smart air conditioner with Wi-Fi and app control is difficult. There are only limited number of brands that make such AC’s.
Having an app control or controlling the air conditioner over Wi-Fi will help to make your home cool before you reach.
You can set the temperature and turn on the Air conditioner at your home if you are out so that it can make your home cool at the set temperature before you reach.
If you are planning to buy an Air conditioner, You can check this post
If you are looking to buy a smart Air conditioner then following are two options available in the market.
Panasonic 1.5 Ton 3 Star Wi-Fi Smart Inverter Split Air Conditioner for home
Panasonic being a top brand in making home appliances have the variety of smart home gadgets in the market. In case of Air conditioners, this model comes with a 3-star rating and has a capacity of 1.5 ton.
This configuration works great for medium sized rooms. As its an inverter AC, it will be light on your electricity bills and also you can use it for longer time.
It comes with a companion app called MirAIE app which you can use to configure this air conditioner as per your needs. You can connect this AC to Wi-Fi using this app and control it from anywhere in the world.
Other advantage is that you will never forget if the air conditioner is left on without use as you can track it through the app.
Features:
- Wifi App control
- 3 Star Rating
- Inverter AC
- Low power consumption
- Less Maintenance
Having features like companion app and voice control using Alexa and google home, it’s really easy to use this air conditioner.
Here your smartphone can act as a remote for this AC, and also you can set temperature that you need in your home by just giving a voice command.
LG 1.5 Ton 5 Star Wi-Fi Inverter Split AC
LG as we all know is a top brand when it comes to home appliances as well as Smart TV’s and Smart home devices.
This Air Conditioner is one of the popular Smart AC’s in India that you can find with a 5-star rating.
It’s a convertible AC which comes with an Anti-allergic filter. It will be suitable for people who have allergies and also asthma.
Furthermore, it clears the air from unwanted particles so that we can breathe clear air.
Being a 5 star AC it consumes very less power compared to a 3 star AC. LG has provided 10 years of warranty with this AC which is an added advantage.
Features:
- Dual Inverter technology
- 1.5 Ton AC.
- 5 Star Rating
- Wifi App Control
- Voice control using Alexa and Google home
Super Convertible 5-in-1 cooling is a great feature to have if the climate in your location keeps changing. The AC will be able to adapt to the situations easily and manage the temperature in your home.
As it’s a smart Air Conditioner, it has a companion app that you can use to control it from anywhere. You can also use voice commands to control the Air conditioner.
Commands can be given to Alexa and google home for setting temperature and turning the AC On/Off.
Smart Water Purifiers
Water is an essential thing in this world for life to exist. All the life in the world is fully dependent on water. We humans need to drink at least 2 liters of water every day to stay healthy.
Recently, pollution has increased and getting good water for drinking is hard in cities. Either we need to buy purified water or get a good water purifier for our home.
There are many companies in Indian market who have water purifiers in the market. Some are very popular, but limited companies have smart water purifiers that you can track with a mobile app.
You can determine the amount of water being purified and the health status of the filters.
Also in a smart water purifier you can also find the TDS level of the water which is a great thing to have so that you can determine if you are drinking healthy water or not.
There is only one popular brand in India that has a smart water purifier which we can check now.
Mi Smart Water Purifier for home
This water purifier has RO and UV which is good to remove all the harmful chemical and germs in the water that we drink. We can be sure that the water is not polluted and contamination free.
For setting up this water purifier, you can use the Mi Home app. The app can add the water purifier and connect it to the internet.
Later on with the Mi Home App you can track the filter levels and how much water is purified.
If you want to know more about the unboxing and details in Mi Water Purifier then you can visit this blog to know more.
Features:
- Smart water purifier
- Mi Home App to track purification level.
- Easy filter replacement
- 7 Litre water storage
- Voice control using Alexa and Google Home
The app also notifies you regarding the filter change time, which is great for maintaining the water quality.
Normal water purifiers need annual maintenance, for which you need to call a company official to do it.
Now in this smart water purifier from Mi you can replace the filter by yourself making the process real simple.
Smart Speakers and Music Systems
Speakers are important for a home if you are a music lover. Speakers are available in various types like Home theaters, 5.1 Channel, 7.1 Channel, Soundbars.
As we are talking about smart home appliances, smart speakers are the right things to talk here.
There are a variety of smart speakers available in the market. Most popular devices like Alexa speakers, Google Home hub and Nest devices and also many other manufacturers have their smart speakers in the market that can make your home smart.
We had discussed many devices and appliances above. All the devices can be controlled using voice command, for that we need smart speakers which can listen to your command and execute them.
Smart speakers in all cases come with a compatible app which you can use to configure the speakers and also add skill of other smart home devices to connect them together and with the smart speakers so that the voice commands could work.
Being in a tiny form factor, these speakers are not known for sound. Most of the smart speakers have 3.5 mm jack which can be used to connect bigger speakers and use them to stream music using your smart speakers.
This will definitely improve your music learning experience. With this kind of speakers, your smart home will get complete, and you will be able to control all things in your home sitting in one place.
If you are a music lover, then you can just give commands to the speaker to play a particular song or album by just giving a simple command, which is really comfortable. You can also check some of the smart speakers in India here
Echo Show 8
Echo series is one of the most popular smart speaker series in the world. It has all the features needed for a smart speaker and the series 8 comes with an 8-inch screen which you can use to watch videos from prime video and also YouTube.
Echo show comes with a series of microphones which will easily be able to recognize your voice from a distance.
For all the devices that you are planning to control using, the smart speaker needs to be connected with the appropriate skill.
By signing up for the manufacturer account you can go to the Alexa app and add the skill, then the Echo Show 8 will be able to recognize the device and process the commands that you need the device to perform based on your commands.
Features:
- 8 Inch Display
- Microphone array for voice recognition
- Alexa Assistant
- Front facing camera
Being a smart speaker with display, the echo show 8 comes with a front facing camera which you can use to make video calls with your friends and family members.
This is a great feature to have so that you can place a command and call a person in your contact list.
Sonos One Gen 2 Voice Controlled Smart Speaker
Sonos is another brand that is really popular when it comes to speakers and sound systems. They have the variety of speakers available in the market. This model, the Sonos One Gen 2 is a voice controlled smart speaker which has Alexa built in.
If you want great sound as well as smart features in a speaker, then this is the one to consider.
It has all the smart features that you may need with excellent sound. Sonos One Gen 2 comes with Apple Airplay support and also a companion app that you can use to control the settings of the speaker.
Is you have setup two of them in your a room then they can make a stereo pair with room filling sound and great listening experience.
Features:
- Airplay support
- Alexa integration
- Sonos APP
- Stereo pair
Smart speakers are the way to go if you want to setup a smart home. They make things easy to control all devices in your home using voice command.
Smart TVs
Smart TVs are an integral part of any Smart home. People like to watch online content like Netflix, Prime video, Hotstar etc. in TV’s.
The experience is enhanced when content is watched in a big screen. There are many smart TV’s available in the market, but only some are really smart. They can be used to control all devices in your home.
They have features like live-streaming a CCTV camera that you have placed to monitor your child. Also have some kind of assistant like google or Alexa built in.
TV’s need to be purchased based on screen size that matches your room. Let’s check two of the best smart TV’s that you can buy in India.
You can also check the best android TV’s available in the market by visiting our blog post.
Sony Bravia 55 inch 4K Smart Certified Android LED TV 55X8000H for home
Sony is a top brand when it comes to TV’s in their display technology, and the X-reality pro engine produces excellent output. You can watch great HDR videos in Netflix and Prime video.
This TV comes with Google Assistant built in as it is a certified android TV.
You can use the remote that it comes with to call the Google Assistant to control various smart devices in your home if you are planning to do smart home automation.
Being a 4K TV it provides excellent viewing experience and great dynamic range. Triluminos Display takes the viewing experience to another level.
If you are planning to buy a smart tv with google assistant then this should be in the list.
Features:
- 4K HDR display
- Triluminous technology
- Google assistant built in
- Stock Android
Having a stock android OS, you will get regular updates, and also you can install apps from the play store directly. It gives a great flexibility as you can also side load apps to the TV and you get the stock android experience that most people like.
Vu 50 inches 4K Ultra HD Smart Android LED TV 50UT
VU is a relatively new brand in India with their smart TV’s. They have gained their popularity very soon with quality products.
This model, the VU 5UT, is a 50-inch android TV that will be a great addition to your smart home. It comes with a 50-inch panel which is vivid and bright.
It’s a 4K TV with HDR which can provide an immersive video watching experience. You can watch HDR movies in Netflix and Prime video to remain entertained.
With the stock android version you will have Google Assistant installed in it which you can use to control your smart home gadgets with ease.
Also, the Truesound technology that it comes with great sound experience for movies and music.
Features:
- 4K HDR display
- True sound technology
- Stock Android
- Google Assistant built in
We have checked 7 smart home needs which will give an idea about how to make your home smart. Let me now answer some of the common questions that people may have in their minds regarding smart home.
Questions and Answers
What does a smart home do?
A home is a place where home appliances, lights, thermostats and entertainment units are connected to the internet and can talk to each other.
Smart home automation comes to the picture when you talk about a smart home, as you can control all the equipments in your home by using a voice command or with a mobile application.
Advantages here are, you can keep track of things happening in your home from anywhere in the world.
This gives a peace of mind and also safety and security for your home and property.
How do I make my house a smart house?
Making a home smart is a process of converting all your appliances and lights smart. Also, gadgets like speakers should also need to be made smart to get the full automated home experience.
You can buy all the options that we have listed out above and make the major part of your home smart so that you can control things and also keep track of your home.
To begin with you can start with smart lighting which is great to have so that you can schedule your lights also set an ambience that you may need in your home.
Is a smart home worth it?
Definitely they are. In case you are a frequent traveler, and you stay away from your home. You can keep track of what is happening around your home.
With smart doorbells you can know who is coming to your home or else if a parcel arrives you can redirect the courier person accordingly so that you can avoid the parcel getting lost or stolen.
Also, smart door locks gives track of who enters your home and who goes out. You will get informer if any intruder tries to break into your home without your permission.
You can cool your home temperature by turning on the AC before you reach home. There are many other advantages, which is another topic to discuss.
Conclusion
Here I had tried to cover the most important needs of a smart home and automation of it. If you buy the above mentioned items, you have converted most of the main things in your home to smart.
Making a home smart is easy by getting the right product is difficult. Hope this post will help you in finding the products that you were looking for, making your home smarter and lead a better life.
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