Smarten up your home in five easy steps
Is it just us, or do household gadgets seem to have a mind of their own lately? With more and more smart home products entering the market — everything from speakers, lightbulbs and thermostats to air conditioners, refrigerators, lawnmowers, sprinklers and pet monitors — a fully connected home has never been more possible, or affordable. Not sure where to start? Best Buy’s resident consumer tech expert Zayn Jaffer, vice-president of the company’s emerging business, tells us how to create a smart home in five easy steps.
1. GET CONNECTED
Smart home devices rely on a Wifi connection so make sure you have an up- to- date router capable of broadcasting signal to all areas of your home. In larger houses, test remote bedrooms, basements and outdoor- living areas, and add a mesh networking router to extend coverage if needed.
Try this: NETGEAR Orbi AC3000 Mesh WholeHomewifi System
Blanketing up to 5,000 sq. ft. of space with blistering 3 Gbps connectivity, this router connects with Amazon Alexa or Google Assistant, so you can use voice commands to control your Wifi network.
2. STARTWITHAVOICE ASSISTANT
Rather than overhauling your entire home overnight, Jaffer says, begin with one device: a voice assistant. Compatible with either Google Assistant or Amazon Alexa, it can play music, search the Internet and serve as a hub for other compatible devices — all with a simple voice command .“maybe you start with a smart speaker in your kitchen, and then you go and buy a smart plug and add your coffee maker to it so that you can activate your coffee maker via voice before you even roll out of bed,” he says. And build out from there.
Try this: Google Nest Hub withgoogle Assistant
This new screen-based device is a hub for your smart home. You can make calls, get news and reminders, access your calendar and control compatible home devices.
Or this: Amazon Echo with Alexa
This handy device comes with Amazon’s Alexa voice assistant built in, and can stream music, make calls, retrieve the latest news and more through voice commands.
3. HIT THE LIGHTS
Smart lighting solutions — bulbs, switches and plugs — are the most popular category of smart home devices after voice assistants, says Jaffer. Set a lighting schedule, dim bulbs via an app or voice assistant, change colours on command, or turn lights on and off remotely; a great security feature if you’re away from home.
Try this: Philips Hue A19 Smart LED Light Bulb Starter Kit
This gives you a variety of lighting options — colours, dimming and even alarms and timers.
Or this: TP- Link Smart Wifi Plugmini
Turn any lamp into a smart light you can control with a phone or voice assistant. The ‘Away’ mode turns lights and other devices on and off at different times, creating the appearance you’re home, even if you’re not.
4. UP YOUR AV GAME
Cut the wires and ditch the clunky speakers, because smart home systems give you seamless multi- room multimedia. Play the same music t hroughout t he house or different music in different rooms, easily accessing online streaming services.
Try t his: Sonos One Voice Controlled Smart Speaker with Amazon Alexa Built In
Blending great sound with seamless voice assistance, this speaker pairs easily with other Sonos speakers for whole-home listening.
Or this: SONYXBR75X950G 75” 4Ksmarttv
In addition to offering the crispest, most vibrant picture possible thanks to its Triluminos display, this smart TV boasts Google Assistant and Android TV integration and comes packaged with Best Buy’s Geek Squad Elite Service ($ 430 value), which includes delivery, setup, wall- mounting and a tutorial.
5. SMART- SECURE YOURPERIMETER
Now that you have the basics, you can move outside. “Two big smart home areas that are really growing right now are security and access,” says Jaffer. As in: smart security cameras, doorbells and locks.
Try this: Arlo Two- Camera Ultra Wire- Free Security System
These ultra- HD cameras record sharp 4K video day and night with autozoom and free cloud storage, alerting your mobile device when they detect sound or motion. Plus, you can activate a spotlight or siren remotely, or communicate with visitors — welcome or not — via twoway audio.
Or this: Google Nest Hello Wifi video door bell
This door- side video camera provides an always-accessible HD video stream of your front step, offering two- way audio and sending mobile alerts when someone approaches, rings or leaves a package.
Need help setting up your smart home? Best Buy’s in- store Blue Shirt team can help you select the right tech for your needs, while the Geek Squad is your source for expert technical support and setup. For more info, visit bestbuy. ca.