What’s the point of an indoor security camera? Monitor a pet? Keeping an eye out when you aren’t home? Maybe it’s to keep an eye out while you sleep? This camera does it all with enough detail to really make a difference if, heaven forbid, you ever need evidence of a break-in or have a pet emergency. Let’s dig into the Tapo TC73!

Tapo TC73: Price and availability

Tapo’s TC73 is widely available online and in brick-and-mortar stores. Right now, it can be purchased for $50 at places like Best Buy or Amazon.com. It was at its highest price in January 2024, at $70, but it seems to have price dips every couple of months or so, bringing it back to the $50 price point.

Its pricing aligns with one of our other favorite pan-and-tilt indoor security cameras, Aqara’s E1. The TC73 comes in only one color, white and black, with a red stripe toward the bottom.

Tapo TC73: Specs and features

I’ve been on a HomeKit Secure Video kick lately, looking at various cameras and accessories. The Tapo TC73 is one of the best cameras I’ve had the privilege of reviewing. The 2K QHD 4MP video is bright, with true colors and plenty of detail in darkness and daylight. That was even before I activated the HDR function, which increases dynamic range and enhances image quality in the shadows and highlights (areas that may be “blown out” due to light streaming through a window). If 2688x1520 (2K QHD) is too much for your available video bandwidth, you can scale the video down to 720P, saving space on the optional microSD card you can use to store videos locally. Another great option for keeping the bandwidth usable for your setup is the ability to switch video frame rates. You can choose from 15fps, 20fps, 25fps, and 30fps. 

With all of the high-resolution things activated, I noticed my stream going from around 160KB/s with no activity in front of the camera to around 350KB/s when I walked in front of it, looking at the app to note bandwidth changes. Those numbers are based on your motion settings before recording kicks in. 

The camera has more options than many of its competitors when it comes to motion and sound settings. You get the usual unspecified motion, then specific person/pet/vehicle options, but add to that “Line-Crossing Detection” and ‘Camera Tampering.” The former allows you to set a boundary in a location and get notified anytime a person or object crosses the boundary from either side. The latter sends you a notification when someone attempts to obstruct the camera and comes with sensitivity settings. You can also set the built-in alarm to go off when obstruction/tampering is identified.

As I said, there are sound detection options aplenty. A crying baby, glass breaking, dog(s) barking, and even cat meows will trigger alerts. I tested them all with YouTube sound effects, and they worked—well, except for the glass-breaking detection. But that could be based on the types of sound effects I’d found. And I love ya’ll, but I'm not breaking my windows to test that for you.

Speaking of breaking, if someone does break in at night, you have two options that may help you identify a thief. The TC73 features a starlight sensor, giving you better night visibility. It’s a larger sensor that captures more light, but the camera unit also comes with two IR lights to illuminate further what you’re trying to protect: red and blue. What’s the difference? Blue light is practically imperceptible, but the trade-off is the visible distance from the camera in the dark. If you’re only using the camera to watch a baby or pet, it’s ideal for that. The red light allows you to see further in the dark, up to 30 feet from the camera but is visible at night.

There’s native HKSV support built in here, so you can go and add it to Apple Home once you have everything configured the way you like in the Tapo app. Of course, that means lower resolution video and most of its features are unavailable in Apple’s app, including the built-in alarm, which does get exposed in Apple Home with some security cameras. With Tapo, besides the camera itself, you get the motion sensor exposed so that you can configure automations with it—something I’d like to have been able to do with the alarm.

Tapo TC73: Build and looks

I like the camera unit's looks, though some might find it large-ish for their use. At almost 5 inches tall by 3 inches wide, compared to others,† it isn’t inconspicuous. Recently, my younger brother visited the house and noticed it, telling me I had HAL9000 in my living room. That’s because the red status LED is pretty bright, but you can deactivate that if you want the unit to be more discreet.

The unit does feel substantial, though not heavy. It can be mounted upside down, with an inversion option in the Tapo App 3.0 menu. It is powered by a 12V DC adapter and connects to your network via 2.4GHz Wi-Fi only; there is no ethernet port.

I have noticed that the pan and tilt motor, and the AI which drives it are the most responsive I’ve used so far. The TC73 does a fantastic job of keeping up with people and pets moving in front of the camera’s lens.

Tapo TC73: Ease of use

Setting up the TC73 version two was quite simple. Download the Tapo app, create a login, tap the “+,” look for your device, and follow the prompts. Some of those will be voice prompts, letting you know you’re connected to the network or finished with setup. It took me roughly five minutes to get it up and running.

Because the app’s camera settings are laid out intuitively, using its extensive features is easy. You can access all of the camera’s settings from two screens: the main home screen for the TC73 and through the settings cog on that home screen. From the main screen, you get the pan and tilt function, privacy mode, alarm on/off, screenshotting, video recording, two-way communications, and playback and download of events. 

The other settings are behind a cog in the upper right-hand corner of the screen. I really like the way that the screen is organized. It uses cards and a menu list. The privacy options there are easy to use. I really like that they’ve included a privacy occlusion option and that the lens privacy option is in the app and can be activated via a physical button on the face of the camera body. Both options rotate the lens so it’s facing inside the camera body, giving physical privacy and not an app-based “blackout.”

Tapo TC73: Competition

Right now, the HKSV options you have are Aqara’s E1, and Camera Hub G3, as well as Eufy’s Indoor Cam E220 and Netatmo’s Smart Indoor Camera. 

Aqara’s E1 and Eufy’s E220 fall in line price-wise with the TC73, while the Netatmo offering is $190 and the Hub G3 is $88. Netamo’s Smart Indoor Camera is much more expensive than the TC73, but on its face, it appears to offer a similar feature set. I haven’t had my hands on that one yet though, so I can’t really compare it. Of the several cameras I have had the opportunity to review, Tapo’s has the best-looking video so far. That said, it doesn’t compare line-by-line to Aqara’s Camera Hub G3 as that one has a built-in Zigbee hub. The saving grace there is that the hub only connects to other Aqara products.

Right now, I would not recommend any other HKSV-supported pan and tilt camera over the TC73, but we’ll keep you updated as new devices come onto the market.

Tapo TC73: Should you buy it?

You should buy the Tapo TC73 if...

• You want detailed, high resolution video
• You want a great value
• You want a pan and tilt camera with HKSV support

You shouldn't buy the Tapo TC73 if...

• You want something more inconspicuous
• You want something with ethernet and USB-C out

Tapo TC73: Verdict

There is so much to cover with Tapo’s TC73! You can even watch your video directly through a PC with RTSP support, which also means that you can connect that video recording to a NAS. And we haven’t even gone into all of the products you can connect it to with TP-Link’s Kasa line of products or other Tapo products.  There’s a lot to offer here with the TC73’s high-quality night and day video, fluid pan and tilt that keeps with the action in front of the lens, smart privacy options, and an intuitively laid out Tapo App 3.0.

All of that combines to make Tapo’s TC73 easy to recommend for any shopper looking for an HKSV-supported pan and tilt camera that has plenty of compatible accessories to build your own smart home.

I’ve used a few doorbell cameras and thoroughly enjoyed my time with Aqara’s Smart Video Doorbell G4. Like many Aqara products, the G4 is chock full of features at a reasonable price and is compatible with HKSV, Google, and Alexa. There’s a lot on offer, so let’s get right to it! 

Aqara Video Doorbell G4: Price and availability

The Video Doorbell G4 is available only through Amazon for $120. At the time that I’m writing this there is an instant $22 discount coupon you can clip to apply to your purchase. It is currently available only in the U.S.

The G4 is priced below competitors like Arlo, Ring, or Nest, and doesn’t require a subscription for video recording, as the repeater features expandable storage for local recording. So you’ll save a few dollars compared to competing products. It’s important to note that for a few extra dollars, some competing products offer a vertically wider field of view, and slightly higher video resolution.

The G4 is available in either black, or shadow gray.

Aqara Video Doorbell G4: Specs and features

Aqara’s Video Doorbell G4 is powered by six AA batteries, which can be standard or rechargeable, but will last up to four months depending on how often activity is triggered. The G4 can also be wired to an AC/DC transformer like some of the best video doorbells available. The video is 1080p with a 162-degree field of view, but in my testing, I found that I’d like it to have a greater vertical field of view. I have it positioned pretty low on my door, as you'll see in the ultra-wide shot of my patio below. At that level, I can see as tall as a 6’ person’s head, but I can’t see the ground, so when packages are placed at my door, they’re out of view.

This is also due to the way my front porch is set up. It’s pretty narrow, so if you have a larger front porch, you’ll get more of the person in view as they approach the camera. You won’t likely see a package on the ground if it’s placed too close to your door though.

The G4 has some nifty AI and privacy features, like on-device facial recognition. Using the Aqara Home app, you can answer the doorbell using an “Uncle”, robot, or clown voice. Another handy privacy feature is the ability to mask areas of the image that may contain sensitive or unwanted views of neighbors' apartments or homes.

The repeater and doorbell units are both single-band 2.4GHz b/g/n only. While the doorbell can be powered by batteries or wired, with batteries used as a backup, the repeater must be connected to an external power supply via USB-C connection. The repeater also supports local storage up to 512GB via microSD card, which will allow you to set up 24/7 recording without needing an internet connection or the cloud. 

The repeater/chime is actually pretty full-featured. It features a loud 95dB speaker, which is great for the custom ringtones you can set up with it. You can use facial recognition to trigger those custom tones based on who’s at the door. It can also be set up with other automation to act as an alarm. Say, if you have other Aqara products like the window sensors and someone breaks into that window.

Aqara Video Doorbell G4:Build and looks

The G4 will likely evoke strong emotions from different users for its looks. While some folks like the svelte styling of the Arlo video doorbell, the Aqara G4 is larger and boxier like the Ring doorbell. Its doorbell button which lights up via LEDs, and its camera module are large and obvious, nothing discreet about it.

The G4 feels substantial and is IP-rated, though the instruction manual recommends placing it on a porch or other shaded area. It’s available in two colors, both dark tones only. If you’re in an apartment and can’t permanently alter your front door, or swap out the doorbell, this unit fits into one of my favorite temporary mounts, the Doorbell Boa. It’s a tight fit through the face of the Boa due to the large buttons on the face of the G4, but it works with minimal hassle.

Aqara Video Doorbell G4: Ease of use

Setting up the Video Doorbell G4 was a breeze. There are QR codes for downloading the Aqara Home app and for binding to HomeKit. The repeater is the part that connects to your home router, while the actual doorbell unit connects to it. So, you’ll set up the repeater first by adding it to the Aqara Home app, and following the prompts. 

I recommend setting everything up in Aqara Home first, and then connecting to Apple Home because there are a lot of features worth using that aren’t exposed to HomeKit. Once you configure features like image masking or custom ringtones, you can access and use the G4 through Apple’s Home app.

One aspect that doesn’t get enough attention is how easy it is to use most of these HKSV-supported cameras with your Apple Watch. The folks in Cupertino, CA, deserve their flowers for creating devices whose connectedness is pretty solid across hardware. I love being out and about and looking at the Home app on my Apple Watch to see who’s at the door. I can even control speaker volume and talk directly through the watch to anyone at the door.

Aqara Video Doorbell G4: Competition

There is some solid competition in the connected doorbell space, but Aqara’s offering stands out because of its value. You get a lot of features for less money than you would with competitors.

If you need a wider front porch view, you can look at the Nest doorbell cam. I’ve used it, and the view is excellent. As tight as the space is in front of my door, I can see an entire person and packages on the ground. The catch, though, is that it does not support HomeKit. Belkin’s Wemo brand has its compact Smart Doorbell Camera, which does support HomeKit, though I’ve not yet had the chance to test it out. It comes with a larger field of view and price tag, almost double the cost.

Aqara Video Doorbell G4: Should you buy it?

You should buy the Aqara Video Doorbell G4 if...

• You want a great doorbell at a fair price
• You want a battery-operated doorbell cam
• You want a lot of customization options

You shouldn't buy the Aqara Video Doorbell G4 if...

• You need a wider field of view
• You don’t want to deal with a two-piece unit

Aqara Video Doorbell G4: Verdict

Like I said earlier, I haven’t tested the Wemo offering yet, but of those I have tested, this is in the running for the best of show! The Aqara Video Doorbell G4 gives you a wealth of customizations, some very cool privacy features, and most importantly, solid video performance with timely notifications. If you’re all in on the HomeKit ecosystem, you may want to go all in on Aqara, and it’s video doorbell.

 Aqara’s Indoor Security Camera E1 is the little sibling to their excellent Camera Hub G3, aimed at those who don’t quite need all the bells and whistles or the higher price. But don’t let that fool you! The pan and tilt E1 is a robust indoor security camera with a great feature set and solid video performance in both daylight and nighttime scenarios. I have only one minor complaint. We’ll touch on that shortly. 

Aqara Camera E1: Price and availability

The Aqara Indoor Security Camera E1 is currently available only through Amazon.com for $59.99. Although price drops on this unit don’t happen often, it was $44.99 in December 2023. At the time of this writing, Amazon is offering a 10% off voucher in the US. 

Aqara Camera E1: Specs and features

Aqara’s Camera Hub G3 is one of their best indoor cameras, but if you’re invested in the Apple ecosystem, an Aqara hub may not be what you’re after. That’s where the Indoor Security Camera E1 comes in. For $50 less, you get much of what the G3 offers and some updated features in a smaller 4-inch tall package.

The E1 supports Wi-Fi 6, while the Camera Hub G3 is Wi-Fi 5. The E1 ups the G3’s robust privacy features by adding masking zones. You can add a black block to your video feed, so those areas are literally blacked out. That is in addition to an automated privacy mode, which allows you to set specific times when the camera will pan and point toward a wall or other privacy-focused area. The privacy options are a great feature because you will see everything pretty clearly with this 2K, f/2.0 camera, which looks great in good lighting and low-light conditions.

Connected to Apple HomeKit, the E1 has Secure Video support for storing incident videos in the cloud. However, you can also record locally because it has a microSD slot for up to 512GB of local video storage. This is especially useful if you turn on the camera’s 24-hour recording with timelapse mode. Accessing that slot is simple; just slide the camera's tilt lens up, revealing a microSD slot at the bottom of it.

One of the features I loved playing with is the 2-way telecom system. There's a speaker and microphone built into the E1 so you can use it as a telecom to talk to whoever's on the other side of the image. Your kids, your significant other, your pet, talk to everyone!

Aqara Camera E1: Build and looks

The Camera E1 feels well-built, even though it’s primarily plastic. It’s tiny, measuring 4 inches tall by 2.68 inches wide, so it should easily fit on a bookcase shelf or most other locations. It can even be mounted to the ceiling, and then you can go into the Aqara Home app and reorient the video.

The camera stays out of the way with an infrared backlight, which you won’t notice during lights out if this is in a bedroom. The motor is whisper quiet, so you’ll likely never hear it panning.

Aqara Camera E1: Ease of use

Setting up the Camera E1 is simple, as the Aqara and Apple Home apps do so with a QR code. If you have everything necessary, you’ll be up and running in just a few minutes. In this case, having everything necessary would mean you own a power adapter because the E1 doesn’t come with the brick in the box, just the USB-C cable.

Setting up the privacy features in the Aqara Home app is a breeze, and though there is a bit of a delay, the manual pan and tilt features work well. You should know that once you bind the camera to HomeKit, or if you choose to forgo Aqara Home and only use HK, you lose access to many privacy features, as well as manual pan and tilt control. It will still track humans and detect motion, but you won’t be able to set those privacy positions and you lose the ability to set up to three occlusion zones. For the privacy features, you’ll have to set those up in Aqara Home as scenes first, which are then exposed to Apple Home. Then, you can trigger them using automation in Apple Home without needing the Aqara Home app.

One significant aspect of the privacy features is that they’re processed locally. The E1 has a built-in neural processing unit that enables person and sound detection on the device.

As I alluded to earlier in the piece, my only gripe with Aqara’s Indoor Security Camera E1 is that the human-tracking automatic pan and tilt is finicky. I’ve found that placement affects its ability to track, just like the Camera Hub G3. When the camera is placed around hip height (I’m 6’ tall), I’ve found it a bit slow to pan with moving objects, namely me. Place the camera higher where its AI can pick up faces, and your human tracking improves.

Aqara Camera E1: Competition

Pan and tilt options that support HomeKit Secure Video are few, but there are two other cameras worth checking out. We reviewed and liked Eufy’s Pan 2K which is now the 2K Indoor Cam E220 and right now its price can’t be beat at only $35.99 on Eufy’s site and Amazon. 

VOCOlinc Opto HomeKit Indoor Camera is also an option at a lower cost, available on their site for $49.99. It also has pan and tilt functionality but is only running 1080P video which is fine because of the HKSV limitations when binding 2K cameras like the E1. HomeKit knocks 2K video down to 1080P in Apple Home and for video recorded to the cloud.

Aqara Camera E1: Should you buy it?

You should buy this if...

•  You want pan and tilt at a great price 
•  The privacy features are essential for your use case 
•  You don’t need all of the Camera Hub G3 features 

You shouldn't buy this if...

•  You need to mount it on a vertical surface like a wall 

Aqara Camera E1: Verdict

With the Aqara Indoor Security Camera E1, you get quite a bit of camera for a great price. Onboard person and sound detection and robust privacy features make this a great option for use cases where what’s on camera at certain times is a concern. Wi-Fi 6 means you have more reliable live video feed access in homes with dozens of other Wi-Fi gadgets, and 360-degree rotation means you can see almost everything. 

There aren’t many pan and tilts at this price point with this feature set, so the Camera E1 should be on your shortlist if you’re after PT functionality. Even if you don’t need the hub but PT is essential, consider looking at the Camera Hub G3, which has more reliable tracking, built-in facial recognition, and an alarm exposed in HomeKit.

When you first unbox Aqara’s diminutive Camera Hub, you’re greeted by a tiny face with removable cat ears. It’s all very kawaii (Japanese slang for “cute”) if you’re into anime and such, but that cute little face belies a monster of a device inside. 

It does a lot and you’re going to wind up asking yourself, “Do I run this through HomeKit or their proprietary app Aqara Home, or a bit of both?” It may be overwhelming. Good thing the Apple Home and Aqara Home apps are both well-designed and easy to use. Let’s get into it!

Aqara Camera Hub G3: Price and availability

The Aqara 2K Security Indoor Camera Hub G3 is available through Amazon for $109.99 but looking over price tracking history, in December and January, the G3 was on sale in the 80-dollar range.

Aqara Camera Hub G3: Specs and features

The Camera Hub G3 is a nearly five-inch tall robot-shaped device that pans 340 degrees horizontally, tilts 30 degrees up, and 15 degrees down. It can do that automatically with AI-powered tracking, or manually via the Aqara app, but no manual control in Apple’s Home app. Pair that all with a 110-degree field of view; you should be able to capture everything in almost any room. 

The centerpiece of the unit, the high-resolution 2K 2304x1296P camera, and its infrared night vision LED module have a face on it, which is cute and functional. When the G3 is “live” you can see the camera, but for privacy, you can stop the live feed and the lens module rotates into the “head” housing, exposing another look, eyelashes. Yes, you can tell the camera is “sleeping” because the face shows that. 

If you’re still uncomfortable with that, you can store a preset viewing angle and send it there. To the left and right of the lens and LEDs are two microphones that allow you to have two-way conversations, detect abnormal sounds, stream audio, and record it. The audio recording is pretty good from the dual mic setup! 

The front also has a microSD slot which supports up to 128GB of storage. You access it by turning off the camera’s live feed and having the cute eyelash cover rotate into view. Below is a status LED that glows red when active, along with some subtle branding. The back of the camera is where you’ll find the speaker and the USB-C port which also supports video output directly from the unit via the UVC protocol, so if you connect the Camera Hub G3 to your computer for example, it should automatically recognize it.

You can set the Camera Hub G3 on a flat surface like a bookshelf, or mount it via the standard tripod quarter-inch threads on the bottom. It can be mounted upside down, then the image adjusted accordingly in the Aqara Home app.

Aqara’s Camera Hub G3 has a neural processing unit (NPU), powering some AI functions that don’t require an internet connection. A Zigbee 3.0 smart home hub on board allows you to connect up to 128 Aqara devices to the G3, though you’ll need to include repeater devices like a wall switch or smart plug in your setup to achieve that number.

The Camera Hub G3 supports both 2.4 and 5GHz Wi-Fi connections, and Wi-Fi Protected Access 3 (WPA3). There’s also IR blaster support for your home devices which still use that standard.

Aqara Camera Hub G3: Build and looks

The Aqara Camera Hub G3 looks like something you’d buy in a Sanrio store (Hello Kitty) until you remove the pre-installed cat ears accessory hood. You can set the Camera Hub G3 on a flat surface like a bookshelf, or mount it via the standard tripod quarter-inch threads on the bottom. It can be mounted upside down, then the image adjusted accordingly in the Aqara Home app.

Though it’s mostly plastic, the Camera Hub G3 gives the impression that it is well-made and will be long-lasting indoors. The pan and tilt motor is whisper quiet, and the different faces for the lens cover, though novel, put the “fun” in “functional.” It should look right at home with just about any decor, and you can remove those cat ears if that’s a bit too flamboyant for your feng shui.

Aqara Camera Hub G3: Ease of use

Aqara’s Camera Hub G3 does so much that it would take a few pages of a deep, deep dive article to address them all thoroughly, yet its features in the Aqara app are clearly laid out and easy to use. And since not all of those features are exposed in Apple Home, it’s even easier to use there. That was one of the hallmarks of all the Aqara cameras I’ve tested recently, ease of use. This G3 was set up in less than ten minutes and I thoroughly enjoyed the voice confirmations I received from the unit as I completed specific steps in the onboarding process.

I have the G3 connected to my 5GHz wifi network. Opening either app and connecting to its live feeds has been fast each time. I’ve even opened Apple Home on my Apple Watch Series 9 and held conversations with my wife, which was pretty cool! No glitching, fluid audio, and picture, all from my wrist.

Movement tracking is easy with the G3. You can set it to track humans, dogs, and cats, work with face detection, or gestures, and there’s a cruise option that will set the camera to pan and tilt to pre-defined positions for a period of time. Face detection from Aqara works by uploading pics from your phone, or snapping a pic of someone’s face right then and there. Then you can set automations like getting a notification when little Jamaal gets home from school. Gesture activation allows you to assign automations to five different hand gestures, but that disables the human and animal tracking functions.

Speaking of tracking, I really thought the G3’s ability to keep up with the humans it was tracking was admirable. If someone is running, or moving rapidly, it may lose them though. When the G3 is tracking someone and panning and tilting to keep up, you’ll see the video pixelate a bit until the camera settles, and then the video clears up and is solid again.

For the security conscious, using the Aqara Home app’s face detection requires you to upload those images to Aqara’s cloud servers. With the G3 having a built-in neural processing unit, I’d like to see facial recognition store images locally as well. 

There are some other minor issues I’d like to see improved. The graininess the camera picks up when it’s in motion isn’t ideal. I’d also like to see the manual pan and tilt features, as well as the predefined position setting available in Apple’s Home app.

Aqara Camera Hub G3: Competition

There isn’t a lot of competition at this price point with comparable features, considering the G3 has a built-in Zigbee hub. 

One alternative worth a look at is Eufy’s E220. It has a larger 125-degree field of view and an 8X digital zoom. The E220 is half the price but is 2.4GHz wifi only, has no privacy mode, and doesn’t include a built-in hub for connecting other IoT devices. 

Aqara Camera Hub G3: Should you buy it?

You should buy it if..

• You like Aqara and want to connect more devices
• You want a pan and tilt HKSV camera with a robust feature-set
• You want a camera with a physical privacy mode

You shouldn’t buy it if…

• You want a camera closer to $50
• You don’t need hub functionality

Aqara Camera Hub G3: Verdict

Besides being a cute camera with removable cat ears, Aqara’s Camera Hub G3 is a powerhouse of features at a fair price. Aqara has some great IoT devices in their offerings of motion sensors, window/door sensors, and automated blinds, so having the hub built-in is a great feature. 

With Matter support, HomeKit exposed alarm functionality, USB-C video out, local storage, and local AI processing, you have a winning package that is hard to beat in the indoor pan and tilt camera market. The Aqara Camera Hub G3 is easy to recommend.

Aqara is a top-tier HomeKit smart home device manufacturer. Window/door, temperature, motion, and vibration sensors are among the items you can buy from them but when you put a device like the Camera Hub G2H Pro in the mix, you can now connect everything without needing a separate hub. That and some strong privacy and security features make this an indoor security camera well worth taking a hard look at. 

Aqara Camera Hub G2H Pro: Price and availability

 The Camera Hub G2H Pro is currently available on Amazon in the U.S. for $69.99 and in any color you want, as long as it's white. 

Aqara Camera Hub G2H Pro: Specs and features

What I like about Aqara and this camera hub is their attention to privacy features and ease of use. Going into the Aqara Home app, you can tap into the video settings and set up a privacy occlusion area. Let’s say you’re in a condominium and your children's bedroom windows are on the first floor. You want to place a camera but don’t want them recorded, only the window. Tap into the privacy occlusion area feature, and using a grid, you can drag up to three areas on the screen which will place black bars over your recordings. No image, or action/motion will be recorded in the occluded area. You can even disable audio recording to give you even more privacy.

For a 1080P camera, the video is pretty good. There is better out there, but ultimately HomeKit Secure Video takes all those 2k and 4k cameras and records in 1080P anyway. Mounted opposite a large sliding glass door, the light streaming in from it washes out some details on that side of the room, but you’re going to deal with that from many cameras to varying degrees. Details in videos like lettering on a picture on the wall, and faces are easy to make out within around 20 feet from the camera, but the further out you go, they’ll lose fine detail.

Supporting Siri, Alexa, and Google Home makes this a great camera for someone like me who uses iOS primarily, but whose wife prefers Google and Alexa. Using Ark 2.0  makes this a unique option for failsafe automation usage. 

In a nutshell, Ark 2.0 allows some of your devices to connect to others via a mesh network and still run local automation even if the internet connection goes down. This is a critical security function because there are those with nefarious intentions who use Wi-Fi jammers to knock out internet-connected cameras before breaking into a home. And those jammers are fairly easy to come by for those interested in committing property crimes. 

In terms of connectivity, the G2H is 2.4GHz Wi-Fi only, with a built-in Zigbee 3.0 hub. It is powered by a dated microUSB to USB-A cable.

Aqara Camera Hub G2H Pro: Build and looks

The Camera Hub G2H Pro is a plastic affair, but I haven't seen a bunch of negative reviews or Reddit posts complaining about long-term durability. It's smaller than Aqara's G3, and E1, standing a diminutive 3.24 inches tall by 2 inches wide, unless you raise it up on its extendable base. 

The bottom of the G2H Pro features a magnet that is strong enough to attach to many metallic or iron surfaces. I mounted mine to an iron apron hook thingy in my kitchen/dining room area, and it feels quite solid there. Also, on the bottom, you'll find a microSD slot that supports up to 512GB of storage and, next to that, a reset button.

Aqara Camera Hub G2H Pro: Ease of use

 Aqara’s Camera Hub G2H Pro is easy to set up and use. Opening the box, you’re met with a micro USB to USB A cable, but no power adapter, a 3M patch for mounting to various surfaces, the manual, an ejector tool, and a metal plate. I didn’t use the metal plate or the 3M sticker for mounting; instead, I used the powerful magnet to attach it to an apron hook mounted on the wall between my kitchen and dining room. Mounting there felt quite secure and gave me views of my dining area, living room, and a portion of my kitchen. 

Connecting the camera to the Aqara app and HomeKit was as easy as scanning some QR codes, and following the prompts, which took less than 10 minutes to do.

Once connected to Wi-Fi, you can go through the Aqara app and configure all of the privacy and security, automation, motion/abnormal sound detection, and custom ringtone settings. Since the Hub G2H Pro now supports Apple HomeKit Security, you can jump into the Apple Home app and set up automation and alerts based on the four-alarm modes supported in that app. With those alarm modes and any motion or sound detection configured, you can use the available onboard storage, up to 512GB via microSD, to run your video continuously 24/7 or per alarm event. You’ll get about a week’s worth of video if you run it 24/7.

Aqara Camera Hub G2H Pro: Competition

At $69.99 the Camera Hub G2H Pro doesn’t really have a direct competitor because it includes the Zigbee 3.0 hub. That said, for $40 more you should take a look at Aqara’s Camera Hub G3. 

The Hub G3 also supports connection with up to 128 Aqara smart home devices, but it advances every feature the G2H Pro has except for image occlusion. The G3 also adds pan and tilt to the equation. And if a $40 difference seems steep, a quick look at historical pricing shows that the G3 has been on sale twice in the last four months for $87.49, which is only a ~$15 difference. 

Aqara Camera Hub G2H Pro: Should you buy it?

You should buy this if...

• You are invested in the Aqara ecosystem
• You want a camera with great mounting options
• You want a camera with great privacy options

You shouldn’t buy it if…

• You want pan/tilt/zoom functionality
• You want 5GHz Wi-Fi connectivity

Aqara Camera Hub G2H Pro: Verdict

A built-in Zigbee 3.0 hub, flexible mounting options, great privacy controls, and good video make the Aqara Camera Hub G2H Pro a great option for those wanting to fill their home up with Aqara’s wallet-friendly sensors and camera options. And the $69.99 price point for all of that isn’t bad either. Add onto that HomeKit Security and Ark 2.0 support and you have a robust hub, camera, and basic security system to help watch over and protect what’s precious to you. 

If you’re just jumping into the market, I’d suggest looking at the newer Camera Hub G3, but you may not need all that has to offer. Either way, the G2H Pro is a good purchase in building out your smart home security.  

There is no shortage of HomeKit smart home accessories these days, and we haven't always been able to say that. Aqara is one company that has a record of producing solid options for people who want HomeKit-compatible hardware, and the company's latest accessory is a new presence sensor.

The Aqara Presence Sensor FP1E is designed to help people create smart home automation that needs to know whether someone is in the room before being initiated. Such a thing would be useful if you want to turn the lights off when people leave a room, for example.

However, while this new Aqara presence sensor does support HomeKit there's something of a catch — you'll need Aqara's Matter Bridge for it to work.

Smart monitoring

Aqara announced the presence sensor via press release, saying that it allows "for precise, prompt presence detection that can be used for various home automation scenarios."

When installed alongside a hub the accessory will work with all Matter-compatible platforms including HomeKit as well as Amazon's Alexa, Google Home, and more.

The press release also detailed what makes a presence sensor so useful.

"Aqara Home users can utilize the FP1E to detect human movement or stillness within a space, unlocking a wide range of automation possibilities triggered by moving/still status along with the status duration," Aqara explains. "For example, the sensor can detect if the user remained still for over 30 minutes and can send notifications or change the color of the user’s smart lights as a gentle reminder to stand up. This automation aims to promote a healthier routine, reduce the risks of sedentary behavior, and prioritize self-care with visual cues and reminders."

If that sounds like something that you could make use of, the new Aqara presence sensor is available now for $50.

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I'm a huge fan of Logitech's Circle View security camera. It's definitely the best-looking HomeKit-enabled smart home camera and I currently own two of them to help keep an eye on my pets (and my home) when I'm away from it.

As a fan and an owner of the product, I was horrified when Logitech's new CEO, Hanneke Faber, said in an interview with The Verge's Nilay Patel that its smart home products — like the Circle View — were "pretty much gone."

In an interview on Decoder, Patel mentioned that the company makes everything from mice to keyboards and even smart home doorbells. In response to that, Faber said "I think those are pretty much gone." When Patel inquired further, the CEO said "I need to double-check, but I’m not even sure those are still being sold."

Logitech's CEO doesn't know what she's talking about

While that sent every Logitech HomeKit fan into a frenzy, it thankfully doesn't appear that Logitech's new CEO knew what she was talking about when she said that its smart home products, like the Circle View Doorbell, were going away for good.

In a statement to The Verge following the interview, Logitech’s Wendy Spander, the company's global head of communications, confirmed the products were alive and well. Spander said “The Circle View products are still in production, and we currently sell them (as do our retail partners). They have not been discontinued. They are in stock and ready to ship.”

Of course, just because the Circle View products are available now doesn't mean that the company doesn't plan to phase them out. Its CEO said that its three key areas are now personal workspace, video conferencing, and gaming. Smart home seems to be taking a backseat, so what if they do get rid of them? Thankfully, Faber confirmed that, if they did get rid of the Circle View products, "We’ll continue to support, of course, what we’ve sold for some time."

I hope the company sticks with its smart home products. They're one of the other brands to support HomeKit Secure Video, so losing Logitech would leave us HomeKit fans with few options.

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Air purifiers can make a real difference to the air quality in your home. Whether you’re susceptible to dust allergies, hayfever, general pollutants, or the dander from pets, an air purifier can capture the particles that would otherwise irritate and annoy our sensitive airways.

They’re an increasingly common sight in our homes, particularly for city-dwellers, but they tend to be quite industrial in their design, medical-looking, even. They’ll get tucked away in a corner, rather than being a centerpiece for your home.

The Smartmi Air Purifier E1 hopes to change that. With its arty covers and wall-mountable design, it wants prominent placement in your living spaces. That it gets its core job done very effectively is a plus — but its unique filters might make long-term maintenance costly.

Price and Availability

The Smartmi Air Purifier E1 is available now direct from Smartmi, with an RRP of $160, with a 3-pack of filters priced at $129.99. Though its price has fluctuated since launch, at that price point it makes for a relatively inexpensive air purification system, but the fact that the filters are built specifically for the E1 means you’ll be locked into a pricey filter replacement cycle for the device’s life. But it’s also one of the better-looking air purifiers available, and so that’s what you’re paying for, ultimately.

What I love

If home aesthetics are important to you, the Smartmi Air Purifier E1 is a great choice. Before you’ve even switched it on, it’s trying to catch your eye. A frame-like box, rather than the cylindrical designs that seem to dominate the consumer purifier market, it can be wall-mounted and is designed to be paired with a number of arty filters. They give a pop of color where other similar purifiers can feel sterile, and the purifier’s not insubstantial 313 x 415 x 118mm size, that’s a good thing.

That slickness extends to the set-up process too. Wall-mounting screw brackets are part of the package, though it’s easier to set up the E1 for a floor-standing setup with the included metal foot frame, which simply clips into the bottom of the purifier. I did find it interesting that the instructions encourage you to keep a 20 cm radius around the purifier when floor-standing it though — I’m not sure what performance effect that would have when wall mounting, given it’d be impossible to make that clearance. Swapping the colorful filters is a breeze, however, sliding up and out of the main plastic housing that holds the extraction fan and electronics. 

There are just two simple controls on the device itself — two orange buttons that control power and the extraction level, each with accompanying LED indicators that can be toggled off — and so most of the interesting stuff is left to the accompanying app. As well as Apple Home integration, the Smartmi Air Purifier E1 works with Google Home and Alexa, so can easily be controlled by your smart home assistant of choice — Samsung SmartThings and Matter support being the only notable missing standards. 2.4GHz Wi-Fi connectivity gets the purifier talking to your other smart home devices and the app.

The app is pretty stripped back as, as we will get onto shortly, there is not the usual array of sensors onboard that you’d find with pricier air purifiers. You can check filter life, set timers, switch power modes (listed as ‘gears’ in the app) and integrate into your Apple Home set up via HomeKit, and that’s about it. Note that, once integrated into the Apple Home interface, the slider-like mechanic for tweaking power levels can be a bit confusing — it doesn’t illustrate the steps between the three different power levels.

Onto the air purifying process itself. The Smartmi Air Purifier E1 is intended for ‘small to medium’ rooms, with Smartmi suggesting a max size of 205 square feet or below for optimal performance. The purifier is equipped with a replaceable HEP13 filter which can tackle irritants like dust, pollen, and pet dander, as well as removing odors and low-level smoke build-up. It’ll handle these up to a PM2.5 rating — which means fine particles 2.5 microns or less in diameter, which is smaller than the thickness of human hair, while an active carbon layer in the filter will deal with many VOCs (volatile organic compounds), such as the airborne chemical leftovers from hair sprays and perfumes.

It’s done a great job around my home. My office window opens out towards a nearby main road, and the annual summer dance between cooling the room with the window open and breathing in the resultant pollutants is never a fun one. After an hour or so with the purifier on after having the window open, I can tell the difference in how much cleaner the air feels. As a sporadic asthmatic, it’s helped too — I’m sleeping much easier with the purifier on overnight, and its quiet operation means it doesn’t disturb too much when on.

What I don’t love

The long-term cost of filters for the Smartmi Air Purifier E1 could be an issue. A proprietary design, you’re not going to be able to equip the purifier with off-the-shelf alternatives that other companies offer. Of course, to do so would be missing the point of what the Smartmi device offers — an arty smart home unit, rather than a generic appliance. But you’ll want to factor that long-term cost into the purchase price, and consider stocking up on filters in advance, as you never can tell how long a product will be supported for.

A second annoyance is the lack of sensor data from the purifier. Though it can handle PM2.5 particles, it doesn’t have the means to track how much it’s pulled out of the air, so you’re going to need to add a secondary air quality sensor to your smart home array for more than an anecdotal sense of cleanliness.

It’s also a shame not to see Matter support included here — the open smart home standard, it would have future-proofed the purifier to any shake ups to your smart home setup in the future.

Verdict

Some of the best HomeKit air purifiers we’ve looked at on iMore succeed in clearing the air in a room, but can be pretty dull looking in the process. The Smartmi Air Purifier E1 doesn’t have that problem — well equipped for cleaning the air of small rooms, and good looking at the same time, it’s a great air purifier. Just don’t go in expecting to get lots of cleaning data from the job, and be ready to stock up on filters.

Popular smart home accessory maker Eve has today unveiled its brand new Eve Weather smart weather station, which comes with Matter compatibility for interoperability with smart homes beyond HomeKit. 

The company’s previous Eve Weather station (which remains available), is a HomeKit-exclusive weather station that integrates with your Apple Home ecosystem to give you hyperlocal weather data including temperature and humidity. Now, a new version replete with Matter means you can add one to your smart home even if you don’t have a HomeKit ecosystem. 

Matter is a new umbrella smart home connectivity standard that brings interoperability across ecosystems like Apple Home, Google Home, Amazon, and beyond. It means in principle that you can control HomeKit devices with Alexa, or devices that aren’t HomeKit enabled with Siri, to name a couple of uses. 

Why Eve’s weather station matters 

Eve’s new Weather Station is $79.95, just like the HomeKit version. It also looks the same, with a water-resistant (IPX4) aluminum housing. It features sensors for temperature, humidity, and air pressure, so you can get an accurate picture of the weather where you are without relying on Apple’s (frankly erratic) Weather app. 

Eve Weather can also automatically analyze the changes in air pressure to deliver a weather trend for the next 12 hours, with data delivered right to your iPhone or Android device. You can also connect Eve Weather to Alexa, Siri, or Google Assistant. 

Just like the HomeKit version, this one also supports automation, for instance, if the temperature falls below a certain level, your smart home can turn on your heating. Only now, these automations extend across a multitude of smart home ecosystems, not just HomeKit. 

The Eve Weather is available now from evehome.com and Amazon for $79.95. If you already own Eve’s HomeKit version, there’s a free firmware upgrade that will bring Matter support to your existing device. 

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• Netatmo Weather Station is long on looks, longer on data
• iPhone weather apps are bad at predicting snowfall 

As Prime Day draws to a close for another year, now is a perfect time to consider upgrading your home with smart HomeKit devices.

Back in 2021, I spent much of the year upgrading our home with smart lights as well as cameras to monitor our dog Jolly when we had to go out for an errand. In the three years since I bought these smart devices, they've been incredibly helpful in using Apple's Home app on the best iPhones and best iPads to toggle the lights and check the rooms in the house for peace of mind.

Amid the Prime Day rush, I've spotted a few HomeKit accessories that have some great discounts, making it a perfect opportunity for you to get started on transforming your home into a smart one.

Six of the best HomeKit deals so far

Keep in mind that if you want to use all of these devices remotely through Apple's Home app, you'll need a hub such as an Apple TV or a HomePod. This will use your internet to keep you connected via your iPhone, iPad, Mac, and Apple Watch.

With Prime Day deals constantly changing and disappearing before the sales event ends for another year, you'll likely see more discounts on some HomeKit peripherals very soon.

Maker of all things smart home, Aqara, has today announced the official launch of its brand new Smart Lock U200, which can retrofit any front door with smart home security, fingerprint recognition, Apple home keys, and more. 

The U200 is now available on Amazon in North America (US, Canada) and Europe (France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Poland, Spain, UK), as well as through select Aqara retailers worldwide. 

It comes with a “hassle-free retrofit design”, so you can upgrade your existing locks, including Euro mortise locks and US deadbolt locks, without getting new keys or modifying your door. Once installed, your front door won’t look out of place in Fort Knox.

Aqara U200: the breakdown 

The U200 supports fingerprint recognition and PIN codes. That means you can access your home with just your fingerprint or a personalized code, the latter being easy to share, of course. 

More importantly for HomeKit adopters and Apple Home users, it supports both, so you can control your front door from your iPhone or using Siri. There’s also support for Apple home key, so you can access your home with just an iPhone or Apple Watch, again with the capacity for sharing among friends and family. 

The U200 also supports Aqara’s NFC key fobs, and of course, a good old-fashioned key in emergencies. The U200 stores data locally and behind encryption, and has protections against hacking as well as a tamper alarm on the keypad. You’ll also get real-time notifications about the status of the lock and your home. 

The U200 isn’t cheap at $269, but it’s a serious bit of kit and one of the most potent HomeKit door locks for the Home app we’ve seen to date. Out of your price range? Or are you looking for a different type of smart home gadget, check out the best Prime Day HomeKit deals instead.

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Homekit, Apple’s own smart home standard, is great but can be pretty limiting. There’s nothing worse than shelling out hundreds on some new smart device, only to find out it doesn’t work with everything else you have. Without compatibility with Homekit, you have to get a new hub for the specific devices you buy and will have even more to keep track of. For this reason, despite the pain of getting the right devices, it is worth making sure your home security systems are Homekit compatible. With Amazon Prime Day set to kick off from July 16 to July 17, now is the perfect time to get that order ready. 

If you struggle to spot the difference between a eufy or Blink and Aqara or Ultraloq, here are the best Homekit-compatible smart home security options we recommend keeping an eye on as Prime Day arrives. 

A smarter home

The smart home is one of the most useful and exciting ways to turn tech to your advantage, yet getting started can be daunting. Apple lists 22 different categories of smart home products on its website, and nearly all of them are interoperable. That means with the right combination of products you can automate your home beyond all reasonable expectations. Want a sprinkler that comes on every time you open the window? Easy. Need speakers that start playing every time the garage door gets opened? No problem. But what if you’re just starting your smart home for the first time?

If you’re about to embark on the journey of building your smart home and you’ve no idea where to start, where should you look? Ideally, you want good, reliable smart products that are going to make a tangible difference to your home (so you can actually enjoy the benefits of smart home tech and automation) without breaking the bank or putting you off the idea because they’re too complex. 

With that in mind, I reckon that there are maybe four perfect gateway smart home devices that you can pick up to get you started. Before you know it, you’ll have that smart home bug for good, but we all have to start somewhere. Here are my top picks.

•  Smart home deals: Best Buy | Walmart | Amazon 

 Smart plugs

A smart plug is possibly the simplest way to start your smart home, but that doesn’t mean they’re not incredibly useful. A smart plug can make any “dumb” electronic device smart. A smart plug simply plugs into your wall socket and can be switched on and off through your smart home app of choice. On Apple Home via HomeKit, that means using a quick tap in the Home app or a Home Screen widget, or even a command via Siri. Smart plugs generally come with two settings, on or off. They can be used for a variety of different purposes. For example, you could plug in a regular light or lamp using a smart plug so that you can switch it on or off remotely. Or, you could use it to control power to a hard-to-reach appliance. Smart plugs can also be used for peace of mind, controlling items like hair straighteners or curling tongs so you don’t have to worry about leaving the house having left them on. Any smart plug worth its salt will even provide you with energy readings so you can see how much energy an appliance uses, and how much you save switching it off as a result. 

With Amazon Prime Day fast approaching, you can score two meross mini Smart Plugs for just $22.99, meaning they’re not even 12 bucks a pop. Each comes with Wi-Fi connectivity, HomeKit support, and features such as a timer. You will need a HomePod, Apple TV 4K (or HD), or an iPad to make it work, but otherwise, this is as simple as the smart home gets.

 Smart lights 

Smart lights are quintessentially smart home, and even if you have no interest in smart home tech you’ve probably heard about smart light bulbs and ranges such as Philips Hue. The benefits of smart lights can be summed up as convenience and customization. To start with the latter, any good smart bulb will let you choose from a variety of millions of different colors, letting you light your home to any mood you can think of. While some smart bulbs only come in white, you might as well grab a color option as this is one of the biggest benefits of smart lighting. With enough bulbs, you can start to craft scenes, automations, and more. But for the starter, a smart light is another perfect way to start your smart home. They’re a little more complex than smart plugs, with many offering brightness and color options beyond the simple on/off choice, but decent apps and solid Apple Home app integration ensure that all of this remains straightforward. 

When it comes to convenience, what could be more convenient than controlling your lights with your voice or your smartphone, rather than a switch on the wall like an animal? As with smart plugs, remote control and some very basic automation can ensure you never leave the lights on when you’re out. Heck, you can even use smart lights to feign a resident at home while you’re on vacation or traveling so your house doesn’t look empty. 

We’ve gone with meross again because their smart bulbs are excellent value and work with a host of ecosystems including Apple’s HomeKit. Philips Hue lights are a good alternative, but they’re more expensive and require Philips’ hub as a separate purchase.

 Smart home security camera 

Security might seem like a much too important task to entrust to a smart home ecosystem you’ve no experience using, but there are plenty of options out there that can make a smart home security camera an ideal smart home starter. What’s more, HomeKit security cameras are often introduced to smart homes which otherwise wouldn’t have any secure video whatsoever, so any addition is an improvement. 

To start a smart home, you don’t need a camera for every corner of the house, a hub to connect them all, and a server to store your footage. One camera will do, at least to start with. You can of course opt for an outdoor or an indoor version, depending on your needs, but this TP-Link Tapo 2K is a pretty good bet. As you might expect, it provides the basic functionality of a security camera, with features including night vision, motion tracking, and two-way audio so you get sound as well as visuals. With support for Apple HomeKit, you can access your camera’s live feed at a moment's notice, perfect for keeping an eye on a pet or checking in on a motion alert. The Tapo includes a microSD slot so you can store your footage locally, rather than in the cloud, too.

 Smart doorbell 

Smart video doorbells are possibly some of the most well-known and popular smart home devices. The core concept is very simple, a smart video doorbell combines a doorbell with a camera, giving you a live video feed from your front door whenever someone presses the button. It can be used to issue instructions to delivery drivers, avoid unwanted cold-callers, or advise expectant in-laws that you’ll “just be down in a second.” Different from a smart lock, a doorbell doesn’t give any access or control to the security of your front door, so there’s no risk of accidentally letting someone into your home. Like the other smart home devices here, a smart doorbell shines when you’re not home, because it really means you can answer the door from anywhere in the world, provided you have a mobile data connection. We have to stray away from HomeKit to find a decent deal here but this $37 Kasa number is a great starter point. It comes with a separate chime unit, features 2K resolution, and gives real-time notifications to your phone. You’ll need to hardwire it, so installation is a little more tricky, but once it’s in you’ll never have to worry about battery power. In terms of installation, this one requires a little more effort, but with just a wee bit of tinkering, you’ll have the ultimate front-door concierge in the palm of your hand.  

Henry Hoover and I have a love/hate relationship. I’ve tripped over its wire so many times that I’m ready to look elsewhere. This is why I’ve been looking at robot vacuums as Amazon Prime Day approaches.

Amazon’s sales event takes place on 17-18 July, which gives me enough time to research how a Robot vacuum can help my family, especially when it comes to cleaning up the accidental spills made by our 10-month-old son. The first thing that comes to mind, which Henry cannot do, is the fact that I can automate a Robot Vacuum to map out our home and clean up when we’re out of the house.

Most Robot vacuums return to a dock that empties any collected debris. Some docks even wash the bristles on the vacuum. These features have already made me add a few to my wishlist on Amazon. However, there’s another aspect that’s been driving my research.

At WWDC 2024, Apple announced that Apple Home, the company’s proprietary system that can control smart devices such as cameras and light strips, will add support robot vacuums later this year, through the Matter 1.2 standard. Matter is a type of smart home software that can work with other products, which can then be controlled through the Apple Home app.

Although robot vacuum manufacturers like eufy, Shark, and more haven’t yet confirmed HomeKit support, compatibility should be possible through a firmware update. With this in mind, here are a few more reasons why a robot vacuum could be top of my Prime Day HomeKit wishlist.

Apps

Shark, eufy, and iRobot all have apps you can download from the App Store that let you control your Robot Vacuum from wherever you are. If you leave the house and realize you’re having friends over as soon as you get back, quickly launching the app to activate the vacuum for a quick once-over could be very helpful.

There are other features in these apps as well you can take advantage of. For example, Shark’s app, SharkClean, allows you to locate the vacuum and direct it to specific parts of your home for a quick clean. SharkClean can also estimate how long the vacuuming will take, which is very useful for ensuring the robot has enough battery to complete the task.

Self-Maintenance

A vacuum that self-maintains itself is a big appeal to me, as cleaning out Henry Hoover every fortnight can get messy. This is why I’ve been looking at the eufy X10 Pro. After it finishes vacuuming, it goes into a docking station which cleans out the Robot, ready for its next use. Granted, you still need to empty the dock’s dirt collection after a while, but it’s much easier than taking apart a vacuum like Henry Hoover.

Some can mop as well as vac!

There’s a good chance that your bathroom and kitchen have tiled flooring, and cleaning this type of surface requires some extra effort. Right now I use Henry to initially clean up any dirt, then use a mop to wash away any potential bacteria and keep the floors smelling fresh.

Imagine my surprise when I discovered that some Robot vacuum cleaners can also mop! The eufy X10 Pro, for example, has two mop-pads at its base that can press down on carpet and hard-surface floors. These can spin at up to 180 RPM, washing your floors without you having to do it yourself.

One More Thing — HomeKit

As I mentioned above, the big appeal to me is the upcoming HomeKit support for Robot vacuums, which Apple says will arrive later this year. I already control lights and cameras within the Apple Home app with my iPhone, Mac, and Apple Watch. Being able to also control a Robot vacuum like the eufy X10 Pro in the future with the app is a big appeal to me.

In the meantime, I’m happy to use the apps that Shark, eufy, and iRobot offer, as I don’t think I can spend much longer with Henry Hoover.

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When Apple announced iOS 18 at the WWDC event on June 10 it confirmed a slew of new features. While Apple Intelligence understandably took most of the headlines, there's one new feature that could be a big quality-of-life improvement for smart lock owners.

The new feature in question is the ability for an iOS 18 iPhone to automatically unlock a smart lock just by being close to it, allowing owners to walk to their door and open it without ever taking their iPhone out of their pocket. That's a solid upgrade, but there's a catch.

While many people might already have a HomeKit smart lock installed, they'll have to buy a new one if they want to take advantage of this feature — no current model has the ultra wideband chip required to make it work.

Security on lock

Multiple smart lock companies confirmed the news to The Verge including Aqara, U-tec, Yale, August, Level, Lockly, and SwitchBot.

"Almost universally, the manufacturers I talked to said they were exploring potentially incorporating the tech, but only U-tec said it had a UWB lock in development," The Verge's Jennifer Pattison Tuohy reports. U-tek apparently said that its next-gen Ultraloq smart lock will support UWB when it arrives towards the end of this year.

As for iOS 18, that's also set to ship to the public later this year. A mid-September launch is expected, right around the same time that Apple announces the iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Pro.

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It's now the second day of Amazon Prime Day, and we've got some stunning deals on Homekit devices so that you can save some money if you're looking to ensmarten your home. It doesn't matter if you're just starting out, or whether you're looking to add some new devices to an existing setup — you'll save some money.

There are loads of deals to be found over the last few hours of the sale, from some great prices on smart door locks and doorbells, as well as smart lights and more. Of course, trawling through the many, many deals on Amazon can quickly become a chore — which is why we've made this list, so that you can more easily find exactly what you're looking for. Here are the best HomeKit Prime Day deals.

• Smart home deals: Best Buy | Walmart | Amazon

Prime Day Apple HomeKit deals at a glance

• Meross LED Lights 2-pack | $30.99 $23 at Amazon
• Kasa Smart Plug Mini 4-pack | $49.99 $32.99 at Amazon
• meross Smart Plug Mini 2-pack | $29 $19 at Amazon
• August Wi-Fi Smart Lock (4th Generation) | $229 $155 at Amazon
• Level Bolt Smart Lock | $200 $183 at Amazon
• Eve Light Strip | $79 $52 at Amazon
• Philips Hue White and color A21 | $65 $46 at Amazon
• Eve Aqua Smart water controller | $149 $129 at Amazon

Prime Day HomeKit smart light deals

Prime Day HomeKit smart plug deals

Prime Day HomeKit smart door lock deals

Best Prime Day HomeKit security camera deals

Best Prime Day HomeKit sensor deals

Best Prime Day HomeKit vacuum deals

Vacuums aren't HomeKit enabled just yet but future-proof your smart home by buying one of these Matter-enabled robot vacuums that will work with iOS 18 and the Home app later this year. We don't know for certain if these specific models will be compatible with the Home app but we expect them to be.

Q&A

If you're the proud owner of a smart home powered by Apple's HomeKit system, you're going to like what the upcoming iOS 18 iPhone software update has to offer. Ignore Apple Intelligence and all the other big features announced earlier this week — the biggest improvement for you is one that has so far avoided the limelight entirely.

The new feature is a simple option hidden within the Home app that will allow people to choose their own home hub. Whether that's a HomePod or an Apple TV 4K, it's up to you. But once you choose a preferred hub that's the one that will be used from there on out.

That's a bigger deal than you might think, too. I've already written about the problems that HomeKit can cause when allowed to choose its own home hub — normally brought about by the system choosing a HomePod in a far-flung corner of the home on a flakey Wi-Fi signal. But soon, HomeKit will have to do as it's told.

Now that's smart

The problem normally rears its head when people have multiple devices that can act as a home hub. One could be an Apple TV 4K box that's wired into the network and would, for obvious reasons, be the preferred choice. But as mentioned, HomeKit has a habit of choosing the other device which, more often than not, is on a poor connection and can't always be reached.

That causes issues in a variety of ways, and can often manifest itself in terms of automations not firing properly or smart home accessories not behaving as expected. But with iOS 18, set to launch this fall, you'll be able to tell HomeKit to always default to the Apple TV and its nice, fast Ethernet connection as spotted by HomeKit fans on Reddit.

I think people will be surprised just how many smart home gremlins this will address and iOS 18 can't come soon enough.

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Controlling your HomeKit accessories via the Home app or with your voice with Siri is truly magical. However, that magic can quickly turn to frustration if your accessory suddenly comes down with a case of the dreaded No Response error. The No Response status not only means that you lose the ability to control your accessories but also impacts automation and scenes, which can disrupt a home.

Since HomeKit relies on various factors and involves multiple devices, tracking down an exact fix for the No Response issue can be tricky. Sometimes it's a spotty wireless connection; the next day, it could be an issue with the Home app requiring a reboot. Don't worry; with a little patience, you can bring your accessory back to life — just follow the steps below to get started.

First things first

Before we dive into the deep stuff, there are a few simple settings that you should check on your iOS device. These include ensuring that your device is connected to your Wi-Fi network at home and checking to see if Bluetooth is on. Check out our guide: How to turn off WiFi or Bluetooth on iPhone and iPad if you need help locating these settings.

Next, make sure that your iPhone is signed into your iCloud account. You can do this by simply going into the Settings app and checking to see if your name is at the top. If it isn't, our guide: How to set up and customize iCloud on your iPhone, iPad, and Mac will steer you in the right direction.

Finally, ensure that you are running the latest version of iOS, iPadOS, or macOS, as well as tvOS on your HomeKit hub. HomeKit hubs include the Apple TV, Apple TV 4K, HomePod, and HomePod mini.

On iPhone and iPad, updating is just a few taps away in the Settings app. For a step-by-step walkthrough, the guide: How to update your iPhone and iPad will get you up to date in no time.

For the Mac, you can check out the process by looking at How to download and install macOS on your Mac. We also have the guides: How to download and install tvOS on your Apple TV and How to install software updates for your HomePod.

Narrow it down

Sometimes, a HomeKit accessory may show the No Response message even though it is connected to your home network. To narrow it down to either an accessory issue or a Home app issue, you can check the device-specific app for your accessory to see if you can control it from there. If you can, then you can turn your attention to troubleshooting HomeKit.

Suppose your accessory is available in another HomeKit app. In that case, you can check for firmware updates that may address the problem or refer to HomeKit-specific steps provided by the manufacturer.

Home or away

If your HomeKit accessory only shows No Response when you are not home, you may need a HomeKit hub. HomeKit hubs bridge the gap between the accessory and the internet, allowing you to access your gear while out and about while also letting you create scenes and automation.

There are currently three HomeKit hubs available: the Apple TV (4th generation or later), HomePod, and HomePod mini. HomeKit hubs, even on standby, will handle all of the connections in the background automatically when you sign into your iCloud account during the setup process for the device.

If you already have one of these devices in your home, you can check their HomeKit status in the Home app on iOS. An active HomeKit hub will be displayed as Connected in the Home app, and if you have other hubs in the home, they will show as Standby. 

If your hub isn't showing Connected or displayed at all, you will have to enable it on that specific device. As you might have guessed, we have a guide for that, too: How to make your Apple TV or HomePod a HomeKit hub.

Reboot all the things

As with most problems, sometimes a simple reboot is all it takes to get things back up and running. For HomeKit troubleshooting, rebooting your HomeKit hub, iOS device, and even the accessory itself is one of the quickest and easiest ways to make an unresponsive accessory available again.

We suggest starting with your iPhone and iPad. Follow the steps outlined in the guide How to reboot or reset your iPhone and iPad if you need help.

Rebooting a HomeKit accessory usually requires unplugging it from the wall or removing its batteries. You can also use the associated app if it is connected to your home network and if the app can see it.

Rebooting an Apple TV requires unplugging it, using the on-device menus, or using a combination of buttons on the Siri remote. Here's How to restart or put your Apple TV to sleep with the Siri Remote.

For the HomePod, you can simply unplug it or use the Home app. Restarting it via the Home app can be a little dangerous, though, as you will be presented with options to restart or reset the HomePod, so make sure that you pay attention to the steps outlined in the guide How to restart or reset your HomePod or HomePod mini.

Go the distance

Most HomeKit accessories on the market use wireless radios to communicate with your home network. Common wireless types are Wi-Fi, Thread Bluetooth, ZigBee, and RF, all of which are limited in their maximum range. If you have just a single accessory that comes and goes, it may be a victim of a spotty signal.

Fixing the issue can be as simple as moving the accessory to a different location or relocating your HomeKit hub. There are a few other tools that you can use to help diagnose an accessory's connection, most of which you may already have.

For Wi-Fi connections, check the app or web portal you use to manage your router. Most modern routers will display signal strength as an easy-to-read icon or as a description like Excellent. Some routers will show strength in numerical forms, such as -50 dBm, and the lower the number, the better your signal is. If your signal is at or above -70 dBm, you may experience connectivity issues.

Consider looking into the best Mesh Wi-Fi router kits if your signal isn't strong and you cannot move your accessories, hub, or router. These routers have multiple access points spread throughout the home to extend range, and some also support HomeKit Secure Router features.

For Bluetooth and Thread accessories, you will likely need a third-party HomeKit app to check signal strength. We recommend the HomeScan for HomeKit app for Bluetooth devices, as it is tailored for HomeKit, and comes with a handy companion Apple Watch app that makes diagnosing a connection even more straightforward.

The HomeScan app will display strength in numerical form, and just like with Wi-Fi connections, a signal around -70 dBm or above can cause inconsistent performance. If you have a HomeKit hub, you will need to ensure that you measure strength in relation to where your HomeKit hub is. You can do this by setting your iPhone on or near your Apple TV, or HomePod, then using the Apple Watch while standing near your HomeKit accessory.

Currently, Thread accessory status is limited to basic information only in apps like Eve for HomeKit. In the Eve for HomeKit app, you can see the Transport status (whether or not it is connected via Thread or Bluetooth) and you can see signal strength indicated in terms such as Excellent.

ZigBee and RF accessories communicate to a dedicated hub, and as such, signal strength, if available, will be reported through the accompanying app. The most popular brand that uses ZigBee is Philips Hue, which uses it for its line of light bulbs and lamps, and for RF, Lutron's Caseta line is one of the most well-known.

In most cases, these types of accessories utilize a form of mesh networking that extends coverage in the home by allowing accessories to connect to one another. However, these radios are generally low power, meaning they have a shorter range and are affected by walls and materials within the home. 

If you cannot move your accessories or the dedicated hub, adding a brand-specific range extender or another accessory in between may help. You can also try changing the hub's channel that it operates on if the manufacturer's app supports it.

The nuclear option

If all else fails, resetting your HomeKit accessory or HomeKit home may be the only solution. When resetting an accessory, it will revert to the original settings, removing it from HomeKit and your home network. This process varies, but typical methods include holding a button on the device for a few seconds or removing it from the manufacturer's app. Once reset, you will need to add it to your network by following our guide on How to set up your HomeKit accessories.

Resetting your HomeKit home should be the last step you attempt, as it will remove the problematic accessory and all of your accessories, scenes, and automation. Since there is no backup and restore process provided by the Home app, this option means that you will need to set up everything again, starting from scratch, which is the most time-consuming. Some third-party apps, like Controller for HomeKit, can back up your automation and scenes but will not restore your accessories. If you want to go to this extreme, see our guide on How to remove a home from the Home app.

No more No Response

As you can see, there are quite a few options that you can take to combat the No Response message in the Home app — so don't give up hope! Whether it is rebooting your HomeKit hub, adjusting the distance between devices, or a simple reset, you can solve your frustrations — if you have the patience. Once you solve the issue, you will be back to living that sweet, smart home life with all of the best HomeKit accessories.

If you're an Apple HomeKit user and have a smart home full of cameras, switches, bulbs, and more, it can be easy to sometimes forget exactly where some of them are. It's surprisingly easy to do, but an update to the popular Controller app might have the answer.

Controller for HomeKit has long been an option for people who want to be able to manage and control their HomeKit-compatible devices but its new version 7.0 update takes things to a whole new level.

It does that via the Floor Plan feature that uses your iPhone's LiDAR technology to create a real map of your actual home, and the results can be pretty impressive.

Putting your smart home on the map

The new app update is available for download via the App Store and while the Floor Plan feature isn't the only new addition, it's undoubtedly the standout one.

In a press release received by iMore, developer Acasa Software detailed exactly what people can expect from the new update. "The new Floor Plan offers users a revolutionary way to quickly and easily scan their house or apartment and create an impressive 3D model," we're told. "This 3D model can be enriched with buttons for direct device control, display of current sensor values, execution of scenes and workflows, as well as room navigation." The upshot of that? Controller users can create a new, visual overview of their home that makes it more intuitive when turning on lights and interacting with other HomeKit accessories.

You'll need an iPhone 12 or newer or a LiDAR-equipped iPad Pro to make the most of this update and use Floor Plan, while redesigned app screens and a new Floor Plan widget round out the big new features.

Those who already have the Controller app installed can grab the new update now. For everyone else, you can download the app from the App Store today.

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Apple's HomeKit smart home system is pretty great in the way that it takes accessories and systems from various different companies and then melds them into one, cohesive collection setup that seems to always work..... is what I would say if it were true. But it isn't.

Not to do HomeKit a disservice, but cause when it works, it works well. Its biggest problem used to be that there were just so few accessories that worked with it that people would be better off sticking to Google Home or Amazon's Alexa smart home options. But these days that's all been rectified thanks to the advent of Matter and whatnot. Now, there's a new problem — the flakey home hub.

See, you need a home hub to control your HomeKit and Matter accessories whenever you're away from home, want to share access to your accessories with others or have the audacity to try and automate your smart home accessories using the Home app. Apple's HomePod, HomePod mini, and Apple TV can all work as home hubs, and once your home hub is up and running, it works well. So long as you only have one of them. Have multiple, and things can go awry — automation stops working first, then you start to experience other oddities. But there might be a workaround, and all you need is a spare Apple TV.

The home hub dance

My HomeKit setup involving an Apple TV 4K, a HomePod, and two HomePod minis has worked relatively well for some time now so I'd forgotten the farce that can be a system that misbehaves when you have multiple devices that are capable of acting as a home hub. Thankfully, Brian Stucki reminded me in a blog post that detailed how to force an Apple TV to act as a home hub, preventing other devices from taking over.

See, it's the taking over that causes the problem. If you're using a home hub that works well, with a solid connection to your network, everything's great. The problems come when your setup decides all on its own to switch from using that hardwired Apple TV 4K to a HomePod in a bedroom with an iffy Wi-Fi connection. And there's seemingly no way to stop it from doing it.

"I'll start off by saying that there is no official way to determine which device is used as the home hub," Stucki explains. "You can disable HomeKit on an Apple TV so it's not selected as a hub. You cannot disable the HomePod as a home hub. But there is no option anywhere to say "Use this device as the home hub."

So what's the fix? Some believe that the device with the lowest IP address or fastest connection is the one Apple chooses as the home hub, but that doesn't seem to be the case. Instead, Stucki believes, "the device with the most current software is chosen as the home hub."

That's where the spare Apple TV comes into play.

"About a week ago, I took an Apple TV that has been sitting in my "unused tech" drawer for a couple years. (What? We all have that drawer right?) Luckily, it was one with an ethernet port which isn't the case for all current Apple TV units being sold," Stucki explains. "I connected the Apple TV to a monitor and set it up as normal with my iCloud login. I enabled HomeKit and assigned it to my 'Office' room. I then enrolled it in the Apple Beta Software Program and set for updates to be applied automatically. I also disabled sleeping and screen saver."

That setup has apparently been running for a week with no issues, even after "switching routers, resetting wifi networks, and lots of other things" that would normally cause HomeKit to switch home hubs of its own accord. So far, so good.

The real problem? Stucki says that "all of this could change at any time," and that's an issue. With Apple's desire to hide options and settings, it removes the power to really troubleshoot these kinds of issues. And even if this spare Apple TV option does do the trick, it simply isn't a viable option for most.

I'd love it if Apple gave us more configuration options for HomeKit, but I won't hold my breath. With Apple's newfound focus on AI with iOS 18 and beyond, the chance of Apple taking the time to make something as simple as turning on the lights work each and every time seems remote, at best.

Still, it isn't all bad. "Plus...this new role frees up an Apple TV Remote to serve as a replacement when others are lost," Stucki adds.

We've all been there.

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When Apple announced the HomeKit Secure Routers feature back in 2019 it had a lot of promise. The idea, we were told, was to tie HomeKit into network routers and mesh systems so as to add a new layer of security and privacy. It was supposed to make it easier for people to configure their routers and have everything work as it was intended to, especially when using HomeKit-powered accessories. The whole thing would be managed via the Home app, but router support was slow to arrive. And as you'd expect, it never did come to the budget models your ISP gives you. Now, it looks like it probably never will.

Apple is no stranger to abandoning features and services — Ping, we hardly knew ye — but it looks to be at it again, this time with HomeKit Secure Routers. The feature, not to be confused with the more popular HomeKit Secure Video, requires that Apple give the go-ahead for companies to add support for it. And to do that, those companies have to apply. However, a new report claims that Apple is currently not accepting new routers onto the program with no suggestion of when that could change.

The result, right now at least, is that the HomeKit Secure Routers we have on sale today might well be the last that are made available. Two different router vendors say that they tried to get Apple to add it to the HomeKit Secure Router program, only to be told that it is no longer accepting additions. What that means for those who already have them up and running at home, however, remains to be seen.

Abandoned?

While we don't know the two router vendors in question, AppleInsider reports that it told the outlet at CES 2024 that it was given the no-go by Apple after asking to be part of its program.

"During CES 2024, two router vendors separately told AppleInsider that Apple is no longer accepting new routers into its program," the report explains. "If that claim is correct — and it probably is, since it came from the same rejected manufacturers — given the lack of HomeKit Secure Routers on the market, it appears that Apple has abandoned the idea."

However, it's important to note that Apple has yet to confirm the status of the program or whether new vendors can indeed join it, but things don't look good based on the information that is already available. It's also important to note that Apple's own website currently only mentions a pair of compatible routers — one from Amplifi, and one from Linksys.

Why Apple might choose to abandon HomeKit Secure Routers is a matter for debate, but it always seemed unlikely that router companies would willingly hand over control of the management of their hardware to the Home app. In recent years companies like Linksys and others have made a big deal out of their apps and how easily they can be used to set up, configure, and manage even complicated mesh Wi-Fi systems. As AI features also start to join the discussion, a vendor's own app becomes more vital than ever before.

Ultimately, if Apple really has started to cool on its HomeKit Secure Router vision it's time that it put it out to pasture for good, rather than leaving it fester. Another option would be to launch its own router, but it's been years since the AirPort was discontinued and we have to imagine that would have happened by now if it was ever part of Apple's plans.

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If you’ve been waiting to make the switch to smart lighting but wanted something a little more stylish than a simple light bulb, Nanoleaf’s new lighting project may be perfect for you. 

Made in collaboration with Umbra, a home decor company based out of Toronto, Canada, the Nanoleaf Umbra selection includes two new lamps that are both Matter-enabled. Matter is a universal standard that allows smart home devices of different kinds to work together, even if they aren’t designed to. This means that both lamps will work with many of the best Homekit hubs, as well as offerings from Google and Amazon.

First off, we have the Cono Portable Smart Lamp which is, as the name suggests, portable. It has up to four hours of battery life and can be charged through its USB-C charging port. You can control it through buttons on the lamp itself, via Bluetooth, or via a Matter-enabled smart home hub. 

Curiously, the Cono has four legs spread evenly at the base, which means you can angle it in a specific way or even hold it as a torch. With 16+ million colors available from the bulb and the base coming in Grey or Sierra, it has a great deal of versatility and looks capable of fitting into many different kinds of aesthetics. The Nanoleaf Cono Smart Lamp releases March 26 and retails for $110 but can be preordered for $98.99 now. 

One more lamp

If you aren’t looking for a portable lamp and want something that sits in a space without moving around too much, the new Nanoleaf Umbra Cup Smart Lamp is shaped like a cup to put all your stationery in. Coming in a black color with a light on the top pointing down, the Umbra Cup could work to light up the room or just add a bit of ambiance. The Umbra Cup Smart Lamp also comes with 16+ million color choices and is Homekit compatible. Like the Cono portable, it can be operated with buttons, Bluetooth, or with Matter smart home hubs. 

Nanoleaf says it is a “beautifully crafted lamp that adds a touch of elegance to any workspace or study area.” Given it looks quite nice, I’m inclined to agree. The Nanoleaf Umbra Cup Smart Lamp releases March 26 for $150 but you can preorder now to get it for $134.99

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It’s all well and good having reams upon reams of colorful lighting on the inside of your house, but what about the outside? LIFX looks to fix the drab, white, or yellow-lit exterior of your home with some very tempting HomeKit-connected smart lights, which bring the color in some very cool ways.

The new outdoor range from LIFX has some wicked new options, and they all come in at some pretty incredible prices — so let’s take a look at the line.

LIFX outdoor smart lights

The first on the list are the LED string lights — they’re kind of like holiday Christmas lights, only you can change their color with your iPhone, or Siri. There’s a 24-foot cable with 12 individual LEDs on it, designed not just for Christmas but all year round. These ones are a bit bigger than your standard string lights, so you might not want to hang them on your Christmas tree immediately in March. Don’t worry, I forgot to take mine down, too. You can grab one for $149.

The second are what LIFX calls ‘Outdoor Neon Flex.’ They’re kind of like the string lights, only the lights aren’t individual units along the cable — instead, they’re diffused along the length of the strip for a smoother light transition. It’s 16 feet long, so there’s plenty to go in the eves of your house or around a table. The flex is available for $169.

There’s an LED spotlight as well so that you can light up your house like you might see a fancy opera house lit up. It’s bright, too, at 1600 Lumens, making sure that whatever you point it at is lit properly. The spotlight costs $60.

Finally, two kinds of smart LED path lights. These lights sit along the side of your garden path, and illuminate it in the dark so that you can always see where you’re going. One in a box here — so you’re going to want to pick a few up to line your walkway. There’s a round and a square option available, and both cost $109.

All the outdoor LIFX lights are available to purchase now from HomeDepot, and they connect to low-voltage outdoor wiring systems to make installing them super simple. LIFX makes some of the best LED smart lighting around, so these should be excellent as well.

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Apple's HomePod with an iPad-like screen attached is still in development, but it doesn't look like it's coming anytime soon.

That's the latest from Bloomberg's Mark Gurman's latest Power On newsletter, which says that Apple continues to work on new ways to combine its devices.

"There was a device that would combine the Apple TV, FaceTime and HomePod in one system, as well as a HomePod with a screen that swivels like a robotic arm", Gurman explains, also noting "Apple also has explored making iPad-like smart displays that could be magnetically attached to a wall."

Sadly, we shouldn't expect any of the above anytime soon. Gurman doesn't believe Apple has made enough progress on any to expect them soon and notes indecision on Apple's part about how to best approach building its smart home product line.

Despite iOS 17.4's beta suggesting a new HomePod with a display could be on the cards, Gurman doesn't believe the mythical device will launch anytime soon.

Where is Apple's smart speaker with a screen?

Gurman does note that Apple is sounding out some suppliers about the concept, notably China's BYD which helps manufacture some iPads, and the project is being helmed by Apple executives Matt Costello and Brian Lynch. Still, the report suggests we'll be waiting until 2025 at the earliest.

The reported smart hub that would add a tablet-like display onto a HomePod-style smart speaker has seemingly been in the works for years. The idea would be to allow for FaceTime calls via the speaker, as well as potentially tying in with Apple TV.

Rivals such as Amazon's Echo Show offer similar functionality, but for the time being you'll need to use the iPhone's StandBy mode for a similar experience within the Apple ecosystem.

For more from Gurman, be sure to check out the latest wearable tech Apple is reportedly looking into, including AirPods with cameras.

Building a smart home is a complicated affair. Some devices need to be hooked up directly to your existing HomeKit hubs, and then some need an extra hub to connect to those hubs. Some devices from the same manufacturer even need different hubs for different products to work and rely on different connection methods to hook it all up. It’s easy to see how complicated it can all get.

Nuki, the smart lock manufacturer, just streamlined the process of getting one of its devices connected to your HomeKit setup — and it’s all thanks to a little thing called Thread.

Matter-compatible smart lock

Nuki’s Smart Locks now connect to a smart home system with Thread rather than WiFi or Bluetooth, for what Nuki calls a connection method “more responsive than Bluetooth, more stable and efficient than Wi-Fi.”

Of course, that’ll leave you thinking — what does all this mean? To put it simply, a Thread device acts as its own router using its own wireless protocol. This means that the lock can connect to any device that accepts that wireless protocol, such as your HomePod or Apple TV. Where before Nuki’s lock needed a Nuki hub to connect to the main hub, this is no longer true, as the fourth generation of Nuki’s locks all support Thread connections, something that not even the best HomeKit door locks can boast.

For Smart Lock Pro, you don’t need to pay any more than the standard purchase price of 285 Euros/$307, but those who purchase or already own the standard smart lock will need to buy “Remote Access via Thread” in Nuki App for 49 Euros/$52 on top of the 169 Euros/$180 asking price. All of Nuki’s products are compatible with Matter as well, which means they’ll work with a massive range of smart home standards. That means HomeKit support, along with SmartThings, Alexa, and more. You can learn more about Nuki’s products and where you can buy them on the Nuki website.

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If you’re looking for smart lighting to brighten up your home you are spoilt for choice — and Philips Hue just added a couple of very cool extras to make your lighting smarter than ever.

Not just lighting though — there’s a new security camera with a flood light available, a first for the brand which has mostly stuck with lighting prior. The camera is available to buy from today, while the lighting unit comes out in late February.

New smart lights for outdoors, and something secure

First of Philips’ new lighting is the Dymera wall light, a light that has what Philips calls “controllable beams’. Philips makes some of the best smart lights for Apple Home, so we're looking forward to seeing how these stack up. You can control them by fitting the light either horizontally or vertically for some fun lighting options, and the beams of light can be manipulated in-app. You can change the color of each beam separately, so you can have two different colors at once. Slick.

The second big launch from Hue is the ‘Secure floodlight camera’. Fix it up around your house and add it to the Hue app so that you can keep track of what goes on outside. This camera comes with new secure features within the Hue app so that the camera is more secure: “New updates are expected in the first half of 2024 and include improvements to security push notifications and the event timeline, as well as automatic light and sound alarms when motion is detected.”

Hue says that it’s working to get Amazon Alexa and Google Home support for the secure features in the app, and we’ve reached out to Philips for information about HomeKit support. This is Hue’s first foray into the camera space, so we’re interested to see what kind of hardware and software features it brings to the table. We're also looking forward to seeing how it stacks up to the best smart cameras for Apple Home.

The Dydera light costs $220/£199, and is coming to the US and the UK on February 27. The Secure Floodlight camera will cost $350/£299 and is available for purchase today. 

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With Wi-Fi 7, the latest Wi-Fi standard to be announced by the Wi-Fi Alliance on January 9, it’s made me take a nostalgic look back at when Apple made its own wireless routers, called AirPort.

For those unaware, these were announced way back in 1999 as Apple’s take on Wi-Fi. Instead of having this built in, it was marketed as an expansion card that you would have had to buy as an optional purchase for an iBook — the precursor to the MacBooks we see today.

This expanded to all of Apple’s Macs by 2005 by including AirPort as standard, but AirPort Extreme, which was a router, was also brought out in 2003. Connecting this to the internet in your home was such as pleasant experience because you could configure your network within Apple’s user interface, instead of the confusing ‘Admin’ screens that you would usually be brought to, with a router given to you by an Internet Service Provider (ISP).

Despite how good these were, Apple scrapped the entire line in 2018 without giving a reason why. I can’t help but feel that it was, and still is, the wrong decision for a variety of reasons.

A time machine, but not out of a Delorean

In order to explain why Apple’s wireless line has to return, I need to explain how I started using AirPort and its features in the first place.

Back in 2007, I owned an Intel iMac, and because this was an era before iCloud, I would constantly have a hard drive full of photos, videos, and more. Around August of that year, an incident occurred where I almost lost everything, so I wanted to own something that could back up everything automatically.

This is where some good timing occurred. Apple announced Mac OS X Leopard for release in October, which came with a feature called Time Machine. For those unaware, Time Machine backed up almost all of your files, and if you lost something, you could ‘travel back in time’ and grab the file from the ‘past,’ all from a fantastic wormhole-like user interface.

Fast forward slightly to January 2008, and Apple announced Time Capsule — essentially an AirPort Extreme router with a built-in hard drive. This was purposely made to work with Time Machine, but also as a wireless router. It was perfect for me at the time, and it got a lot of use until it stopped working in 2011, and I had to get rid of it.

Time Machine is still in macOS today, but it’s a feature that Apple no longer seems to talk about. It’s still a fantastic feature, and I still use it with a third-party Samsung SSD, but it’s not the same as having Time Capsule.

Since 2011, I’ve also had many wireless routers, thanks to the countless ISPs I’ve signed up to — and they’ve all been terrible. Some can be so slow to change one setting, other routers could have Ethernet ports that simply fail.

Apple’s exit from this category in 2018 only makes it more baffling to me — it had a good thing going with AirPort, but it feels like the company simply abandoned it.

Time for a new AirPort

Apple making a return to the category with new routers and a new line of Time Capsule products would make a lot of users happy — myself included.

With Wi-Fi 7 now official, let’s see an AirPort Extreme router take advantage of these standards and have HomeKit built-in. Currently, you need an Apple TV or a HomePod to act as a Home Hub in order for your smart devices to work with HomeKit when you’re away from your home, but it makes perfect sense to have this as part of AirPort.

Home Hub needs to use the internet to reach your iPhone when you’re away from your home — so surely, having this built into a router like AirPort fits perfectly for its use?

Let’s not stop there, however — a ‘Time Capsule 2’ would be great to see again which not only backs up the Macs in your home but also your iPhones and iPads, alongside storing backup images of your Apple Watches. This would bring another layer of security and comfort that your devices have been securely backed up somewhere else instead of using iCloud Backup — Apple’s method of backing up to its cloud storage service.

Also, privacy is a big part of Apple’s mantra, offering features such as iCloud Private Relay, which encrypts all your connections, including any websites not using ‘https’, to hide your real IP address. It also prevents anyone from knowing both who you are and where you're connecting to on the web. This feels like a perfect feature to have on a router.

Finally, we live in an age when Apple now offers products that stay in the home, and work only by being plugged into a power socket, such as HomePod and Apple TV. So bringing in some AirPort features would be perfect to bridge the gap between a smart home and these products.

One that comes to mind would be AirPort Express — this was Apple’s take on a smaller wireless base station that would plug into any wall socket. It would extend the home network and allow other devices to connect to the internet if they were further away from the main router. Having this built into HomePod would make a lot of sense, as it needs a power socket to work — it would also give users the added comfort of being able to connect devices to the internet with lower latency.

Could it still happen?

Granted, all of the above is wishful thinking on my side — but again, it makes perfect sense for AirPort to be integrated into these products, alongside seeing some other products make a return. Privacy is a massive part of Apple in everything it does — we all use routers to connect to the internet, and most of us use firewalls and VPNs to secure our web browsing.

For Apple to not provide a hardware solution to this through AirPort is baffling to me — it’s time that it realizes that there is a big market there that it’s ignored since 2018, and it’s time to bring AirPort back, in a big way.

Mila, the maker of some very impressive interconnected home hygiene devices, just extended its range to include a brand-new air purifier. The Mila Air 3 is a brand-new version of the firm's core product, featuring some updates on the inside that position it to be one of the best HomeKit air purifiers that money can buy.

Yep, one of the biggest updates here is support for the Apple smart home standard, with HomeKit built in. The previous versions of the purifier only supported other standards and Mila’s own app, so this update just widened the pool of users who might be interested in picking one up.

Why an air purifier?

Wow, hold up there — let’s talk about the other new stuff with this air purifier first. Over the previous models, Mila has made the motors more powerful, giving you more circulation around the room allowing for better purification potential. That new fan is also quieter, so you won’t find yourself deafened every time the system detects the need for cleaner air.

Alongside the Air 3, Mila is launching the ‘Halo,’ a mix of Air purifier and humidifier. This device can detect the moisture and humidity in the air and then compensate by pumping water from its internal tank out in a kind of humidifying vapor. According to digital trends, “It’s also powerful enough to eliminate aerosols from the inorganic solids found in tap water, along with bacteria and fungi.”

Ok, so why an air purifier?

The air that we breathe on a daily basis, thanks to cars, lorries, and other pollutants, is not the cleanest. That, for some people, can be a real problem. An air purifier cleans the air of these issues and makes it cleaner to breathe.

They can also be good for those who have allergies to pollen and other airborne pollutants. I have asthma, and the air purifier in my room cleans the air and makes it much easier and safer to breathe over the course of the day.

A homekit-connected air purifier is going to make sure that it knows when the air needs purifying and when it can go to sleep, potentially saving you energy. It can also give you readouts of air quality and other metrics — all in the Apple Home app.

More from iMore

• HomeKit and the Home app: The ultimate guide to Apple Home
• Getting started with HomeKit
• How to make your Apple TV, iPad, or HomePod a HomeKit hub

With CES 2024 now thoroughly underway there are plenty of announcements to take in, including one that just saw a very interesting new smart lock unveiled.

Smart locks are everywhere these days but there's no denying that they're still pretty cool. They add a hint of smarts to any home without too much complication and can be a real boon for people who forget their keys. This new smart lock, the Lockly Visage, has all of the usual bells and whistles as well as one that you might not have come across before.

Because while you can indeed tie the new lock into HomeKit and control it via the Home app, that's far from the only way to open your door. Add in a touchpad and RFID support and you're starting to get the picture. But the real fun comes when you remember that this thing also supports facial recognition.

That's right. You can use your face to unlock your door now.

You read that right

Lockly announced its new product via a press release that takes some reading if only because of the sheer number of ways the Visage can be unlocked.

You can use RFID cards if you like, while you can also use your fingerprint if that's more you kind of style. On top of that there's support for HomeKit so you can use the Home app and then you can of course also use Siri if you want to roll that way.

But the real story is the facial recognition, right? Being able to unlock your door with your face sounds amazing, although we're yet to see how well that works.

The lock itself supports Matter, although certification is pending, which is where the Home support comes from. And you can add Home support to your older Lockly apps via an additional $30 hub if you'd rather not replace the whole thing, too.

As for the lock itself, that'll cost $349 when it goes on sale this summer with both Satin Nickel and Matte Black colorways offered.

More from iMore

• HomeKit and the Home app: The ultimate guide to Apple home
• Getting started with HomeKit
• HomeKit Secure Video: Everything you need to know

U-tec, the maker of one of our top picks for the best keyless entry door locks you can buy, has just unveiled an all-new Ultraloq Bolt Fingerprint Matter ahead of its official launch at CES 2024 next week. 

As reported by The Verge, the company has this week shown off the world’s first deadbolt smart lock with a fingerprint scanner that supports Matter-over-Thread, making it a potent pick for a great future-proof smart door lock. 

For the uninitiated, Matter is a burgeoning smart home standard that merges previously walled-off smart home ecosystems, such as Apple’s HomeKit, under one connectivity standard, allowing for greater interoperability. It will mean, in its final form, that you can use HomeKit devices with Alexa, Google Home devices with Siri, and much more. Thread is just one of the connectivity standards that powers Matter, but is noteworthy because of its extremely low power consumption. Utilizing both of these technologies, U-tec has a chance to offer a door lock that boasts good connectivity and lengthy battery life, two incredibly important features of any door lock. 

Ultraloq Bolt Fingerprint Matter 

The new Ultraloq is priced at $299, and, as noted, will work with Apple Home, Alexa, Google Home, and more. While this isn’t the first Matter smart lock to hit shelves, it is the first with a fingerprint scanner. As you might expect, it will be launched at CES 2024 alongside some other new smart home goodies, as well as a Wi-Fi version of the fingerprint lock, and a different version that supports Apple’s home key feature but doesn’t come with a fingerprint scanner. 

As the report notes, all three are “full deadbolt replacement locks” that can be opened using either fingerprint (or home key, depending on the model), your actual key, a numeric code, the app, voice control, or auto-unlock. 

The headline grabber is the Ultraloq Bolt Fingerprint Matter (Thread), which costs $299 and is launching at the end of March. The Thread version doesn’t support NFC or Wi-Fi. Before then, the Ultraloq Bolt (Wi-Fi) model will launch in January, with support for Wi-Fi and Apple Home, priced at $249. In April, the Ultraloq Bolt NFC (Wi-Fi) model, which also costs $249 will be launched. This offers Wi-Fi support for Apple Home, and NFC for home key, but doesn’t come with Matter support. 

More from iMore

• Best HomeKit door locks for the home app in
• Aqara unveils new Smart Door lock with Apple Home Key support
• Schlage puts your keys into the Wallet app with a new HomeKit smart lock

Christmas comes but once a year — yet your holiday decor need not be locked into one single look. With the new, affordable Nanoleaf Smart Holiday String Lights, you’ll be able to tune 20m of lights to any sparkling, twinkling, or flashing colored pattern that you want to see on your tree, with the ability to download hundreds of preset looks, make your own, and control them all with your voice or iPhone.

Happily HomeKit compatible thanks to integration with the fledgling, platform-agnostic Matter standard, they’ll bring festive cheer without the headaches sometimes associated with smart home lighting.

Nanoleaf Smart Holiday String Lights: Price and Availability

The Nanoleaf Smart Holiday String Lights are available now and cost $99 / £119.99. While that’s a lot for 20m of string lights (especially in the UK, where this Nanoleaf offering is more expensive), these are a huge cut above the quality of standard string lights, and offer premium features that dumb lights can’t. For reference, the Philips Hue Festavia are a similar product and cost more than twice as much.

Nanoleaf Smart Holiday String Lights: What I Loved

Having watched Chevy Chase struggle with his festive lights annually in Christmas Vacation, anything that makes getting the Christmas cheer up and running as quickly and simply as possible is welcome in the Lynch household. The Nanoleaf Smart Holiday String Lights thankfully are about as simple to set up as any smart home gear gets. 

Download the Nanoleaf iPhone app, scan a QR code on the instruction manual, follow the prompts to get the lights onto your Wi-Fi network (or connected to your handset’s Bluetooth signal) and away you go. In a few minutes, you’re ready to change the colors, twinkle settings, and more within the Nanoleaf app.

Whether you’re rocking a HomeKit smart home controlled by Siri, a Google Home set-up, or an Amazon Alexa system, it’s a piece of cake integrating the Nanoleaf Smart Holiday String Lights into your existing smart home. That’s because it’s built with the new(ish) platform-agnostic Matter standard at its heart, letting the lights communicate seamlessly with practically every smart home system worth its salt on the market. It’s great to see Matter starting to trickle down into more niche smart home devices.

Split across two strands, you’ve got a total of 20m of lights, totaling 250 programmable LEDs at intervals of 8cm. These end in a control box with a physical button that you can use to cycle through lighting settings if your connected devices aren’t immediately handy or you’re having connectivity issues.

You’ll have a lot of fun with Nanoleaf’s lights. Fire up the app and you’ll see the string lights have a handful of presets installed, ranging from simple all-white twinkles to fireplace-like crackles or 80s-style blasts of color waves. But that’s the tip of the iceberg — Nanoleaf lets you choose from hundreds of user-generated lighting patterns to download directly to the lights, some made by Nanoleaf’s own team but many more just from smart home enthusiasts. These can range from soothing meditation patterns to lights that sync up to music heard on your phone’s microphone, and even some themed lights to match a film or game’s prominent color schemes — I had a good laugh making my tree look like the retro green computer text from The Matrix, for instance.

If the community download options aren’t your thing, you’ve all the same tools in the app to create and save your own patterns, too. There’s a toolset here to achieve some quite complicated stuff, and those looking for a very specific lighting action could spend hours fine-tuning to their exact specifications.

The lights themselves look wonderful. There’s a far wider range of colors that they can hit than standard string lights, with 16 million color shades available, and 250 lumens peak brightness, dimmable through the app. Available to include in your standard smart home schedules, they’ll also work outside, with an IP44 rating protecting them from a bit of snow and rainfall, if not a full-on deluge, and operational between temperatures of -15c and 40c. You’ll still need to keep the standard plug and control box inside though.

Nanoleaf Smart Holiday String Lights: What I Didn’t Love

There’s not too much to fault with the Nanoleaf Smart Holiday String Lights, but a few improvements could be made all the same.

The key one is connectivity. Though the Nanoleaf Smart Holiday String Lights can talk to your smart home via Bluetooth and Wi-Fi, you’ll need that Wi-Fi connection to download or preview new lighting patterns. In my testing, the Bluetooth remained stable throughout, but Wi-Fi could be a bit hit or miss, making some voice-activated commands from Alexa or HomeKit fail — not to mention preventing you from immediately accessing the hundreds of different styles available to you.

Secondly, there’s not much in the way of cable management here. The 20m length is split into two separate 10m cords, which might help when packing up (even if it’s a bit odd when it comes to twirling them around your tree). But a spool to collect all the lights in might be longed for when it comes to untangling these in a year or so’s time.

A final smaller issue is that the black cabling that connects each LED is quite thick and a bit unsightly unless you’re particularly skilled at weaving it among the branches of your tree. In fairness, it’s no worse than you get with traditional string lights. But perhaps a clear cable option would be easier on the eye? It certainly will limit where you’d want to hang these lights once the festive season is over, should you intend to keep them up once the gifts have been unwrapped.

Nanoleaf Smart Holiday String Lights: Competition

Philips Hue Festavia is the key competition here when it comes to string lights specifically tuned for holiday decorations. They’ve a few different features that Nanoleaf’s alternative doesn’t offer — a more sophisticated music awareness mode and intricate light-movement patterns — and have similarly wide smart home compatibility.

But! They cost about twice as much as the Nanoleaf option at $219, and don’t have quite the intricate level of customization options and user-generated lighting styles as the Nanoleaf option, making Nanoleaf the pack we’d pick.

Should You Buy the Nanoleaf Smart Holiday String Lights?

Buy the Nanoleaf Smart Holiday String Lights if...

• You want full customization control over your festive decorations
• You don’t want to push the boat too far when it comes to price
• You’re already invested in a smart home ecosystem

Don't buy the Nanoleaf Smart Holiday String Lights if...

• You don’t care about smart features
• You’re still waiting to see how the Matter ecosystem plays out
• The Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come hasn’t visited you yet, Scrooge!

Nanoleaf Smart Holiday String Lights: Verdict

If you’ve been a good girl or boy all year round, you could do much worse than asking Santa to pick up the Nanoleaf Smart Holiday String Lights for you this Christmas. They offer a ton of customization options, won’t break the bank at a pricey time of year, and look great wherever you decide to hang them. An excellent addition to the best HomeKit lights out there, I’m in fact thinking of finding them a permanent place around my home, all year long.

Securing your home is extremely important, and HomeKit security cameras are one of the easiest ways to do it. Fit the camera to the side of your house, connect the cameras to the hub, and then add them all to the Home app so that you can see a live feed from your iPhone or iPad.

This EufyCam deal will save you $110 for a pair of cameras and a hub. That's a wicked deal on one of our favorite security cameras for HomeKit. Need more cameras? Pick up one of the other bundles, all the way up to 4 cameras.

Where to find HomeKit security camera deals

• Amazon — Massive HomeKit deals
• Best Buy — Save big on a HomeKit camera
• Target — Save $$$ on a new camera

• Smart home deals: Best Buy | Walmart | Amazon
• Smart speaker deals: Best Buy | Walmart | Amazon

This is one of the best HomeKit security cameras, with loads of great features to make them a compelling option to go on the outside of your home. One of the coolest bits is the fact that a hub already comes packed in the box, making it a one-purchase option for your HomeKit security setup.

1080p camera resolution, motion sensors and night vision make sure that this camera won't let you down when you need it most, and being able to view recordings from your iPhone is just the icing on the cake. You can also add more of the same camera to your setup for a whole-house monitoring solution — and you can do it for less over Cyber Monday.

I didn't think I would need a smart doorbell — until I strapped one to the front of my house. There's something extremely helpful about getting a notification when the doorbell goes, or having my HomePods ping whenever I'm somewhere that I can't hear the sound unit.

This is my smart doorbell — the Aqara smart doorbell G4. It looks cool, has a solid camera, and works seamlessly with HomeKit without the need for an extra hub. I even wrote about why it's so good — and now you can get one with $30 off in the Cyber Monday sale.

Where to find Cyber Monday Doorbell deals

• Amazon — big doorbell savings
• Best Buy — smart doorbell deals
• Target — $$ off smart doorbells

• Smart home deals: Best Buy | Walmart | Amazon

This doorbell is my favorite off our best video doorbells list, and there are a multitude of reasons why. I liked how easy it was to fit on my house, how easy it was to connect to my HomeKit setup. My HomePods ring when I get someone at the door, and, best of all, I can answer the door when I'm not even in the house.

Not missed a parcel since fitting it to my house, and never had one placed in an annoying place. I can talk to the delivery person when they're at the door, and let them know where I want my parcel to go. Nice.

Here at iMore, we know a thing or two about smart video doorbells, especially ones that work with Apple's HomeKit ecosystem and the Apple Home app. Cyber Monday is often the perfect time to add products to your smart home or to take the plunge in building one for the very first time. 

With that in mind, we've found not one, not two, but four HomeKit video doorbells from our best HomeKit video doorbells for the Home app roundup that are discounted during the Cyber Monday sales event, currently happening this weekend. It's now possible to pick up a smart doorbell for less than $85 thanks to this Arlo video doorbell on sale at Walmart, making It the perfect starter doorbell, especially for those who are just entering the smart home world for the first time. 

Smart Home Cyber Monday deals

• Amazon — Save on hubs, Nest, and Alexa tech
• Best Buy — Echo Dot and more reduced
• Walmart — Google Nest Mini from $36.95

Our top HomeKit video doorbells, now discounted

• Smart home deals: Best Buy | Walmart | Amazon

Sometimes, a simple light bulb isn’t fun enough to make you feel like you’ve actually got the smart home of the future. You want your lights to look like they’ve jumped off the set of Blade Runner, all multicolored strips and flickering neon. While the lights on this list aren’t going to give you the complete Cyberpunk experience (they don’t contain cyberware or look like a replicant), they can bring some of that future cool to whatever space you stick them in.

Where to find the best Smart light deals

• Amazon — some of the lowest prices on smart home
• Target — big smart home savings
• Best Buy — deals on smart lights and other devices

Black Friday, now just a week or so away, has already started to lower the prices on loads of different items — including the HomeKit lightstrips on this list. These are some of the best that we have had the opportunity to play with, so you know they’re going to be good. Now you just need to choose the one that suits you and your space…

Save on HomeKit light strips

Smart lights were one of the first things that I equipped my smart home with. Connecting them up to Siri makes turning on various lights around my house super easy, and in some cases, the color-changing variety makes it fun to set a mood for a different living space. Since that first set of smart lights, I’ve tested loads more – so I have a good idea of what to look out for when buying some connected lights.

Where to find the best Smart light deals

• Amazon — some of the lowest prices on smart home
• Target — big smart home savings
• Best Buy — deals on smart lights and other devices

Given that Black Friday is getting closer and closer, there are some great deals on smart lights that can save you some money when putting together your smart home. With big names like NanoLeaf and Philips Hue reduced, there are some great options for all budgets and needs.

Black Friday Smart light deals

One of the most important parts of keeping your home safe is having a smart doorbell — having one with a built-in camera is even better. HomeKit doorbells are particularly useful because they connect up to your iPhone, and then give you a live feed of whatever is happening outside your front door. As soon as someone pushes the button, you know who they are and what they’re doing, and you get a better idea of whether they’re legit.

They can also be useful when you’re not in the house. With two-way intercoms between your doorbell and your phone, you can talk with the person at the door when you’re at work, or at the shops. A postman, for example, can be told to leave a parcel by the back door, or with a neighbor. Even just being in a different part of the house can be annoying with a traditional doorbell, but with a HomeKit doorbell you can get a notification on your iPhone, or you can have a tone pumped out of your HomePod, wherever in the house it may be.

Now, with Black Friday well on the way, You’re going to be looking for a great deal on a HomeKit doorbell — well, we’ve tried loads, and we’ve put together all our favorites that are currently on sale. These are some of the best HomeKit doorbells around, so you know you’re getting something top quality.

HomeKit Doorbells deals

Where to find the best HomeKit Black Friday deals

• Amazon — Big savings on smart home tech
• Best Buy — Deals on Homekit devices big and small
• Target — Save big on smart devices
• B&H Photo — Spend less on Homekit devices

An Englishwoman's home, as they say, is her castle, and mine is no different. Mine is chock full of engineering samples, review hardware, and all my gadgets and belongings that I want to keep safe — that, and, you know, me. A Homekit door lock is, in my eyes, one of the best ways of keeping my stuff safe, my home locked up tight, helping me sleep a little safer at night.

See, they’re more than just a simple door lock with a key. They connect to the Apple Home app so that you can unlock them remotely, let people in without getting up from the sofa, and even change codes from the other side of the country in case you think your home could be at risk. In most cases they’re easy to fit to loads of different types of doors and simple to connect — although some might need a battery or two.

Now generally, they tend to be pretty costly devices, so you’ll want to find one of the best deals possible. Thankfully, the biggest sale of the year is on the way, with some massive savings on loads of different devices — including HomeKit door locks. Before the sale, however, we’ve found some of the best HomeKit door lock deals to enjoy now — let’s get started.

Security savings

Where to find the best HomeKit Black Friday deals

• Amazon — Big savings on smart home tech
• Best Buy — Deals on Homekit devices big and small
• Target — Save big on smart devices
• B&H Photo — Spend less on Homekit devices

After using an air purifier for the first time this year, I’m not buying another one on Black Friday. Instead, it’s going to be two more to add to my collection.

LEVIOIT’s P350 Pet Purifier was a revelation to me in September when I was given the chance to try it out. Before my son was born, my wife and I were making sure the house was ready for him. But while cleaning each room from top to bottom, there was constant dust and fluff, mainly due to our dog.

So I decided to look into LEVOIT’s Smart WiFi Air Purifier, as I wanted to see how well it would do when switched on at certain times, all while being able to control it with my iPhone.

You don’t really know just how much dust is in the air until you use something like this and you take its air filter out — only to find it smothered with grime and gunk. But it was also the features that LEVIOIT’s set of Purifiers offer, that have now convinced me to be on the lookout for a deal once Black Friday starts on November 24.

Dust? Anyone? Dust?

Before I get into how easy it is to use this Purifier through an app, I have to mention how quiet both are for the job they do. It took under five minutes to unbox the Pet Purifier, and have it absorb all the dust and dog hairs in our front room. Whirring away in the corner, it was sucking in air to grab all of the dirty hairs and more without us noticing. Very simple and straightforward.

There are three fan settings - low, medium, and high. Yet when you enable the high setting, you’ll often wonder if you’ve set it lower, as it's very quiet when in use. You can also set it to be on for one hour, two, four, or eight. Once the time runs out, it switches off, ready to be turned on again later. This is perfect for times when you need to go to the store or if you decide to have it on during the night as the dog is sleeping nearby.

We have it two feet away from where we sit to watch Netflix and play games on our TV, and not once have we thought that it’s too loud or too big. It fits into the home easily. But it’s when you start to use the Smart WiFi Purifier's smart features that it goes to another level in how it can help you.

Yes, there’s an app for this

This Purifier has Wi-Fi built in, which means that it can connect to your home network, and to an app on your iPhone. So I could be in my office upstairs, and realize that it’s not on. All I have to do is open up the VeSync app, free to download on the App Store, and I can remotely turn it on, and then set the fan speed.

But that’s not all. I can schedule when the purifier will switch on. So if we’re out of the house, or fast asleep, I can make sure it does its thing without me touching it.

There’s also the matter of making sure the filter is clean - an important part of a Purifier. If you don’t maintain the filter, it won’t be able to absorb all the dust and dog hairs in the room. This is also where the app comes in handy. It will let you know when the filter needs cleaning, so you can be on top of it as soon as enough dirt has built up. Cleaning it is a simple affair. You unscrew the bottom of the Purifier, take out the filter, wipe it down with a cloth, then you put it back in and use it as before.

Granted, it’s a shame that there’s no Apple Home app integration, so I can’t manage the rest of my smart home products in one place, but it turned out to not be an issue. The VeSync app does its job well as all of these features are two taps away. It’s to the point and lets my wife and I control the purifier wherever, and whenever, we are.

LEVOIT, you’ve convinced me

Considering how easy the set-up process is, how quiet it is when enabled, and how easy the app is to use, it’s made me consider a rare thing. It’s made me think about buying two more of these for around the house. One in the bedroom for when it’s bedtime for us all, and one for the office where I spend most of my working day.

I’ve already noticed far less dust in the front room thanks to the Pet Purifier, and as I think about how air quality will start to affect our son, I want to make sure that, his lungs at least, get the best chance possible.

So once Black Friday begins on November 24 and the deals start rolling in, you can be sure I’ll be there, looking at two more Purifiers from LEVOIT.

My wife and I recently became parents, so I’ve been looking at ways to beef up our home with a bunch of HomeKit appliances to control things more easily when we’ve got our hands full.

I’ve had smart lights in the home for years now - just so we could set a timer on our lights so they would switch on when we would be away visiting family. We’ve since been able to control our LG G2 TV and Apple TV 4K with Apple’s Home app too. But a new arrival has prompted me to look into a dedicated camera for our newborn baby.

It’s a far cry from the days when you would have to buy what would essentially be a two-way radio. If there were any sounds, there would be a pulsating red light, alerting you that the baby needed tending to.

With the ability to watch and set cameras and other appliances on your Apple devices through its HomeKit system and the Home app, it’s now much easier to see what’s going on in other rooms around your home.

So, with Black Friday approaching on November 24, I’ve already been looking at some HomeKit cameras to help us keep an eye on our newborn as we get into sleep routines.

Listening out for the cries

It’s getting to the point where we need to leave our baby alone to sleep at certain times, but as we live in a two-story house, we usually work or watch TV downstairs. So, to have a HomeKit camera that could track his movements and any loud audio when he cries would be incredibly useful for us.

This is where a eufy camera comes in. We’ve had one in our front room for a couple of years now. It’s mainly been used to keep track of our dog, Jolly when we are out doing errands. With its 360-degree movement and the built-in microphone giving us the ability to speak to him, it’s been fantastic, especially with Apple’s Home app.

We can load the app up on our Macs, iPhones, and Apple Watches and know exactly what Jolly is doing and where. The same can now apply to our son. Placing the eufy camera on a shelf near his cot will let us hear and see exactly what he’s doing.

However, if for any reason we miss his cries, we’ll be able to get a notification of excessive noise on our devices. Easy. But with an Apple TV, the experience is even better.

And yet, that’s not all

I’ve said before how tvOS 17 is a great update to Apple’s set-top box, especially when it comes to FaceTime. If we want to make a video call, we can use our iPads and iPhones as cameras through Apple’s Continuity Camera feature, and the Apple TV will show the recipient on said call.

But it’s only recently that I’ve found how useful it is to view the cameras within tvOS. Holding the TV button will let you access Control Center, your profiles, and a ‘lite’ version of the Home app.

Here, you can view any enabled cameras, and have them display as a Picture-in-Picture video as you watch another Netflix or YouTube video. Using the eufy Camera, we could have our son as a constant display on our TV if we wish.

It’s a great example of how tvOS can work in the home, especially when it comes to newborns. So I’m looking forward to seeing what discounts there’ll be on this eufy Camera once Black Friday begins on November 24, and how well we’ll be able to see how he’s sleeping on his own, while we’re downstairs, watching him through Apple TV.

I, just like many who grew up watching cartoons about robots in the early 2000s, have a massive toy collection. I won't bore you with the details, only that it is extensive, takes up inordinate amounts of space, and has an incredibly annoying habit of getting absolutely smothered in dust. The selection of figures, plastic robots, and starships seems, in fact, to suck dust out of the air from the other side of the world, layering the stuff on top of the various decidedly difficult-to-clean sculpted surfaces, doomed to live there until the heat death of the universe.

I am also asthmatic, so the dust-collecting ability of my collection only serves to make life a little trickier every day. I work in the same room where my collection resides, and so I find myself breathing in all the horrible particles that they collect and subsequently occasionally pump out. Not. Fun.

The fix

I should say that this was a problem, for I have found a solution — and it connects up to my HomeKit system. It's a HomeKit air purifier, and it cycles the air in my office, filtering out all kinds of horrible particulates, including dust. Now, not only does my precious collection remain relatively dust-free and easy to clean, but my lungs are able to breathe freely, without worrying about any horrible stuff in the air.

I can turn it on and off with my phone, keep an eye on pollutant levels in a handy app, and change the level at which the filtering fan works manually when I know there's something horrible in the air. It's been a game changer for me personally, and it could stand to make your house a whole lot safer as well.

Thankfully, there are now a whole host of HomeKit air purifiers that work simillarly and are reduced in the Amazon Big Deal Days sale: Here they all are.

The Purifiers

• Smart home deals: Best Buy | Walmart | Amazon

Any one of these is going to improve the air quality in your room, with filters designed to keep all the gross bits out of your space. That means that not only will there be less dust around, but also harmful pollutants from the outside world that find their way inside your home will be filtered out.

For people with respiratory problems, like asthma, this can be very helpful, as it makes sure that the air in your home is cleaner. For me, for example, my asthma has improved no end by putting a purifier in my office room allowing me to breathe cleaner air where I spend the majority of my time.

The byproduct is that my room is easier to clean, with less dusting needed — which is always a bonus.

Don't forget about the filter

One of the most important, or arguably the most important part of an air purifier is the filter that sits inside. All of the above options use a carbon filter, which filters particles as small as pollen, which can make those summer and spring months a little nicer for those with allergies.

Those filters do not last forever, however, so you'll need to make sure you've got a replacement ready for when it does go. Some filters can be washed, extending their life a little — but nothing lasts forever.

This is where you need to be clever and check the air filter that comes in the device. Most will use their own, proprietary filter design, so you'll have to go to the maker of the purifier to find the correct model. If you're not completely sure, check with the manufacturer of the purifier.

Your lungs will thank you

As we see air quality in different areas around the US steadily decline, an air purifier could well be a great part of your defensive line against bad air. They're don't cost the world, smart ones are useful with their apps and wifi connectivity, and their ability to keep the air clean is helpful for everyone, not just those with breathing problems and allergies.

Like filtered water, filtered air is a wonderful thing to have around the home — particularly where you spend most of your time sleeping, and working. 

They also happen to be good for toy collectors, which is always nice.

HomeKit and smart home systems are very cool, but often you’re left controlling everything either with your iPhone 14 across multiple apps, or with Siri voice commands that can sometimes be temperamental.

There are some impressive bespoke systems that you can buy with touchscreens in every room that control aspects of your smart home setup, but those often need fitting in your house, and wiring in. They’re expensive, and if you’re a renter, they’re intrusive and impossible to wrangle around a landlord. Thanks to smart home specialists Brilliant, however, it looks like getting a wall-mounted touchscreen controller has never been easier than with its new Plug-in Panel.

Control your house with a touch screen

Brilliant has a long legacy of excellent smart home control units, and this new touchscreen model is its most powerful controller yet. With an easy-to-fit design that’s perfect for those with older houses, it’ll fit even renting lifestyles — you can mount it on any wall, and plug it into any outlet without the need to connect it to your internal electrical wiring system.

Once you’ve got it mounted on a wall and plugged in, it will connect to Wi-Fi and pair with all the smart home kit that you’ve got dotted around the house. That includes support for HomeKit devices, so all your accessories that work with Siri and your HomePods are going to be detected.

Thanks to the Matter smart home standard, it will have wide support for a range of other smart home devices as well — and as the list of Matter products grows, so too will the number of devices that the Brilliant touchscreen controller will work with.

What can it do, though?

Well, loads. There’s the obvious stuff, of course; control the different lighting zones you’ve created around your house, check the time, see the temperature, etc etc. But there’s a lot more to its slick white chassis than first meets the eye.

It’ll work with HomeKit standards, yes, but also, according to Brilliant, connect with dozens of devices from leading smart home brands across the industry, including “Ring, Google Nest, Sonos, Philips Hue, Kwikset, Schlage, Yale, August, Honeywell Home, Resideo, ecobee, TP-Link, Samsung SmartThings, Genie, Hunter Douglas, Somfy and more." That’s an excellent selection of different standards, and will make sure that it slips seamlessly into any smart home setup.

When connected to a smart doorbell, for example, it will show you a video of who is at the door so that you can answer with the two way microphone. You can control Sonos devices on the screen too, so you can change tracks without having to go to the device itself — and read what's playing without looking at your phone. You can even let people in when you’ve got an attached smart lock, working in tandem with the doorbell for a truly handsfree experience.

There’s a motion sensor built in as well, so you can program it to turn the lights on when you walk into a room; it’s a powerful device, that’s for sure. 

Aaron Emigh, CEO and founder of Brilliant says “We’re excited to bring this new plug-in model to the Brilliant Home Control Panel lineup, providing more flexibility for installation and expanding the addressable market for complete smart home control systems at an affordable price.” 

Looks like they’ve done a good job, too, on paper — although we’ll have to get it in our hands to see just how powerful it is.

The panel costs $399, which is not cheap — but compared to the traditional wire-in systems that require a professional fitting, it’s a bit of a bargain. You can find one at the Brilliant website, or Amazon.

Need more HomeKit tips? Check out the ultimate guide to HomeKit for more information about Apple's smart home standard.

Smart home accessory outfit Leviton has announced that it is bringing a free upgrade to a number of its products covering smart light switches and dimmers. The upgrade will add Matter support and you can try it now.

Matter support is coming to two light switches and two dimmers, the company announced in an email press release sent to iMore. And while they already supported HomeKit, the addition of Matter support should allow for improved performance across the board.

Those switches and dimmers gaining Matter support are the Decora Smart Wi-Fi Dimmer, Decora Smart Wi-Fi Switch, and Decora Smart Wi-Fi Mini Plug-In Dimmer.

What's the matter?

Leviton says that while it isn't rolling the full Matter support out just yet, those who don't want to wait can get in on the early access program right now.

"Using the My Leviton app, customers can easily enroll directly in Leviton's Matter Early Access Program," the email reads. "Once enrolled, Matter firmware can be downloaded to their devices." With the update applied, device owners can then connect their Decora Smart Wi-Fi 2nd Gen Dimmer, 2nd Gen Switch, 2nd Gen Mini Plug-In Dimmer, or 2nd Gen Mini Plug-In Switch to any Matter-enabled smart home platform including HomeKit.

“Our team is proud to be able to bring Matter support to our core Decora Smart Wi-Fi 2nd Gen products to help lead the way with Matter smart lighting and load control,” said James Shurte, senior product manager of smart home for Leviton via email. “Giving Decora Smart customers the ability to connect their devices to any Matter-certified platform adds additional value to our award-winning product line.”

More second-gen Leviton smart accessories will get Matter support in the future, we're told, with free firmware updates adding compatibility when they're available.

But do you still need to grow your own smart home system even further? Be sure to check out our collection of the best HomeKit smart home accessories before buying anything.

Apple Home and the HomeKit ecosystem isn’t just about turning your home into a comfortable and convenient roost The Jetsons would be proud of, it’s also all about making your home a safer place to live (or leave) for you and your family. 

Many of the most basic safety features of a home that we now take for granted have been upgraded for the 21st century with smart home compatibility. That includes security cameras, door locks, and smoke detectors. So how can a smart home be a safer home? Here are five top HomeKit devices to get you started on your journey to a safer and more secure abode, powered by Apple. 

Smoke and CO Detector

Smoke detectors and Carbon monoxide detectors are now a staple in any home, and often a legal requirement in some countries, such as Scotland where I live. With that in mind, it makes sense that one of the most important safety items in your home could benefit from a HomeKit upgrade. After all, a smoke detector can be vital in alerting you to the presence of smoke in your home, which is usually the sign of a fire. While I most often use our smoke detector as a harshly-toned cooking timer, a working smoke detector at the onset of a house fire can literally be the difference between life and death. The same goes for Carbon Monoxide, which is colorless, tasteless, and odorless (a lot like my aforementioned cooking). Low doses can cause serious health issues, and in high concentrations, CO can cause death in less than five minutes. 

Thankfully, the best HomeKit smoke and CO detectors are often combined into one handy device, such as the First Alert Onelink Safe & Sound. In fact, Onelink offers three of our six top picks for a smart HomeKit-enabled CO and smoke detector that come with all of the features of a standard detector, plus smart home integration including all important alerts sent straight to your phone. That of course gives a smart detector one key advantage, it can alert you to a problem with CO or smoke even if you aren’t in the house, allowing you to take action accordingly. 

Security Camera

The security camera is another safety device as old as home safety itself. Security cameras, both inside and outside your home can benefit your home safety in a number of ways. Visible cameras often serve as a deterrent to intruders and other folk up to no good, warding off potential crime before it even begins. Should the worst happen, however, and you experience a break in, theft, or vandalism, a smart security camera could be vital in helping you recover lost goods, making an insurance claim, or even during legal proceedings. 

A security camera can also provide peace of mind, especially when you’re away from home, as you can use it to check on a pet, or just your dwelling in general. Smart security cameras allow you to access live feeds from all your devices using HomeKit Secure Video, they also store footage safely and securely in the cloud. Our roundup of the best HomeKit security cameras is littered with entries from Eve and eufycam, but we recommend the Logitech Circle as one of the only cameras that works both inside and outside. 

Smart Door Lock

Five minutes after I leave the house, I always turn to my wife and ask “did we lock the door?” Locking your door is about as rudimentary as it gets when it comes to home security, and a smart door lock can transform the activity and give you immense peace of mind. A smart door lock can be checked and activated anywhere in the world through your iPhone, so you never have to worry about forgetting to lock your door again. 

Many of the best HomeKit door locks for the Home app in 2023 come with multiple layers of entry, be it a key, NFC from your iPhone or Apple Watch, biometric security such as a thumbprint, and even a numeric passcode. This makes it easier for you to gain access and secure your home, all while making it even harder for troublemakers to gain entry. Like security cameras, global connectivity through your iPhone means you can lock, unlock, and check your front door from anywhere on the planet. 

Water sensor

One of my favorite HomeKit uses is a lesser-known strand of water detection devices. As the name might suggest, these devices are designed to sit in areas that might be prone to flooding or water leakages, such as your boiler or under a sink. Sensors can detect rogue water and alert you to a leak before it gets out of control, allowing you to shut off the water supply and make repairs. The Eve Water Guard is a connected water leak detector that can alert you to water leakage as soon as it happens, preventing potentially catastrophic and expensive damages. 

Motion and contact sensors

Motion and contact sensors are another important safety feature that HomeKit can fully leverage to make your home safer. Motion sensors are a known entity, used to detect motion of unwanted intruders and set off an alarm system. Through HomeKit, motion sensors can be used to do menial tasks such as turning on lights when you walk past them, but they can also form an important part of your home’s security system, with alerts for motion coming straight to your iPhone. 

The best HomeKit motion sensor is the Eve Motion, with a sensor that can detect motion up to 30 feet away.

Contact sensors are a lesser-known, but still important item that can be used to detect whether a window or door is open or closed. These are perfect for a smart home heating system, ensuring you aren’t running the heating or the AC while your windows are open. But they can also be used to provide alerts for when a window or door is opened that shouldn’t have been. These contact sensors can save you money by making your heating more efficient, and save you stress by giving you peace of mind that all your doors and windows are shut. 

The Prime Day sales may be finishing for another year, but there are still some great HomeKit devices up for grabs.  This surprising design from Philips is something we didn't expect to see though, and great if you're looking to add some retro charm to your modern HomeKit smart home.

The Philips Hue Lantern is discounted to just $151 on Amazon at the moment, a saving of almost $20. It works great with the Philips Hue Bridge, letting it work with wireless controls wherever there's an internet connection.

Using its Hue app from the App Store, you can also set routines to switch it on automatically, and program it to turn to certain colors. You can even sync it with music and games if you've decided to install the lantern inside your home somewhere.

But it's the design that's most special — almost a throwback to the ye olde lanterns that you have seen in Dickensian movies. It's modern tech with a nostalgic element, and if you can see it working around your home, it could be a great talking point.

Light up the porch in style

Back to the Future

Philips Hue is one of the go-to brands in HomeKit lighting, alongside Nanoleaf. If you need some smart lights for your office or bedroom, or you've decided to overhaul the lighting across your home, Philips Hue is a safe bet to do this with.

Remember that a HomeKit hub and Philips Bridge will be needed for those smart devices to be controlled outside of your home, which is where a HomePod or an Apple TV comes in, which double up as HomeKit hubs.

With this lantern almost $20 off, it's a great saving for something that's most likely going to be sticking around for years, even decades to come.

As Prime Day deals are wrapping for another year, this price cut may not last long, so we advise you to snap this up for your home before someone else does.

Grab an Apple TV 4K HomeKit hub to go with it!

As Prime Day is almost reaching the finish line for 2023, that doesn't mean we've not stopped looking for deals - especially when it comes to our own homes and devices.

My wife and I own a dog called Jolly - I've mentioned him before about how using an Apple Watch accessibility feature helped our walks. But one of the main reasons why we have a bunch of HomeKit cameras around our home, is to keep watch on him when we need to go out.

Using Apple's Home app on our iPhone and iPads, we check to see how he's doing on his cooling mat, and if he looks as though he's about to do something mischievous, we speak to him through the microphone.

But as we've recently moved house with a bigger garden, I'm looking at some outdoor cameras that can also light up the area when in use.

So in the midst of Prime Day wrapping up, I've spotted a few HomeKit cameras that could help me with this, but I also wanted to highlight the ones I've been using this past year as well.

Three of the best HomeKit deals so far

All for one and all for Jolly

Peace of mind is something I value, and it's thanks to technology that it helps give me that when needed.

HomeKit cameras have been a revelation in the past year, especially when it comes to Jolly. We've spoken countless commands to him when we've been on the other side of town, and even when there was a situation where someone knocked on the door for a delivery, we were able to tell them to post it at the back of the house.

Eufy is a great brand for cameras like these, and if you haven't tried them out, Prime Day is a great time as any to do it.

It's important to remember, though, that if you want to use all of these when you're away from your home, you'll need a hub to do that. This is where an AppleTV or HomePod can manage the devices within the Home app and will use your internet connection to keep in touch with you through your iPhone, iPad, Mac, and Apple Watch,

With Prime Day deals disappearing and other ones taking their place across Amazon's site, you'll most likely see another HomeKit peripheral with a big discount soon. So if you're looking for something else, there's a good chance it'll appear by the time Prime Day ends later today.

Now that Prime Day is on its second and final day, there are some great HomeKit devices to look into, and this one is a great example.

The Qingping Thermometer sensor for $27.99 on Amazon, works directly with HomeKit, so you pair it with Apple's Home app, and you can see exactly what the temperature is in whichever room you decide to place it in.

Plus, you can download Qingping's app from the App Store, where you'll have more detailed history data of the temperature in certain rooms, so you can try to adjust it if needed, especially if you have a newborn and they may feel like they're getting too warm.

So with this in mind, this sensor could be a great way of checking the heat on that summer day through its great e-ink display.

Check the humidity

Check the heat with the Qingping Thread Thermometer

If you're about to become a parent, the Qingping Thread Thermometer could be very useful to give you peace of mind about how hot your child's room can be as you're working away in another room.

But if you want to check it as you're all out to see family, remember that a HomeKit hub will be needed for those smart devices to be controlled outside of your home, which is where a HomePod or an Apple TV comes in.

With this sensor being 30% off the price, you may as well look into one just to see if it works for you and your home.

As Prime Day deals are changing almost every hour as it wraps up for another year, this price may not last long, so we advise you to snap this up before others get wind of this great deal.

Do you know what's better than getting a smart plug cheap? Getting two of them, and right now you can do exactly that as part of the annual Amazon Prime Day extravaganza.

Amazon is now selling a pair of meross smart plugs, complete with HomeKit compatibility, for just $18.99. You don't need to jump through hoops to get that price either which means there are no discount codes or coupons here. But you do need to keep in mind that this price is a limited-time affair — Prime Day isn't going to be around forever.

HomeKit smart plugs with 34% off

• Unmissable Prime Day HomeKit deals

If you're in the market for new smart plugs that are compatible with HomeKit, look no further. You'll be able to plug dumb devices into them and make them smarter, enabling remote control from anywhere in the world.

Because these plugs support HomeKit you'll also open them to a world of automation thanks to the Home app and this could be a great way to smarten up your whole home. Plug in a lamp, coffee maker, or just about anything else and you're good to go.

Looking for yet more bargains? Check out our collection of the very best free deals you can get without spending a penny. Yes, you read that right — not all deals involve buying something this Amazon Prime Day.

Converting your home to a smart home is far more affordable during Prime Day. Right now there are several HomeKit-compatible smart locks deals for some of the biggest names in the smart lock industry.

Just use your iPhone or Apple Watch to connect the two with Siri voice commands or proximity detection. With this in mind, here are the best HomeKit door locks on sale now.

While you're at it, you should check out the best iPhone Prime Day deals and Apple Watch Prime Day deals so you don't miss out on anything that would work well with your new smart lock.

Best HomeKit door lock and doorbells for Prime Day

There are dozens of smart lock companies on the market, but these are the ones that have the best reputations and work the best with HomeKit.

The best start to smarten up your home

The best HomeKit Door Locks integrates seamlessly with your iPhone or Apple Watch and give you peace of mind that your home is secure. Unless a smart lock has built-in WiFi, it will need a hub of some kind to connect it to your internet. Some people prefer a sleek look that makes it look like you don't even have a smart lock. However, there's also convenience in having a touchpad in case you forgot your phone or need to let a relative in unexpectedly while you're away.

Once everything is in place, you'll be able to control your door using Siri voice commands or can even allow the smart lock to detect when you approach and recede so that it automatically locks or unlocks when you want it to. One thing is sure. This will make it a whole lot easier to enter your home when your hands are full of groceries.

Prime Day is finally here, with deals coming thick and fast, but sometimes there's a deal that you see where you realize that it could help you with a certain issue, which is where this humidifier came in for me.

I've been having trouble sleeping lately - sometimes I'll struggle to fall asleep, and sometimes I'll wake up and struggle to go back to my dreams of being a Viking. But while some apps like Dark Noise have helped in the past, I've been looking for something more to help, and for my wife and dog when they've been struggling.

This is where the VOCOlinc Smart Humidifier appeared with a 15% deal on Amazon, and as it works with HomeKit, I can set timers on it to have it ready for when it's bedtime.

15% off for sleepy Prime subscribers

The perfect sleeping companion

As we get older, we start to value our sleep even more - especially if we work late or have kids with random sleeping patterns. So it's great to have devices like these that can help in some way to let you have a night of better sleep - and it's even better when it's cheaper.

This humidifier is going to help me sleep so much better, and as it can be automated through HomeKit, with being able to change its RGB lights and run for a certain amount of time as I sleep, I'll be able to dream more of being a Viking more than ever.

With Prime Day deals changing almost every hour, it's also a great way to look into other HomeKit products so you can control the lights, music, and even blinds from your iPhone, iPad, and AppleTV.

But for now, if you want to dip your toe into the HomeKit game with this Humidifier, you would struggle to find a better one than VOCOlinc's offering for now.