Smart home essentials: 6 beginner-friendly gadgets under $100

Turning your house into a smart home might isn’t the dauting task you might think it is. It’s also not going to cost an absolute fortune, because most most smart home devices are quite affordable these days.

From smart speakers to outlets, to lights, we found quite a few basics to get the ball rolling. So let’s dive in and see some of the best smart home gadgets under $100 that are perfect for beginners.

Tapo Smart Light Bulbs

Tapo

Most people who are just getting started with their smart homes kick things off with smart light bulbs. This 4-pack from Tapo is affordable, and each of the bulbs delivers 1100 lumens of brightness (that’s equivalent to a 75-watt incandescent bulb). They’re also dimmable and you can change their color to your liking, set up schedules, lighting scenes, and much more. While this pack usually costs $45, we’ve seen it for $35 quite often.

The Tapo bulbs are Matter compatible and work with Amazon Alexa, Apple Home, Google Home, and Samsung SmartThings.

Kasa Smart Plug Mini 15A

Kasa

Another good option if you’re starting a smart home setup is to get some Kasa smart plugs. These smart plugs go into traditional outlets and you just plug your lamp, fan, space heater, coffee machine, or other small appliances into them. Boom! You can now turn everything off with one voice command or a touch of the Kasa Smart app (or the Tapo app, if you also bought those smart bulbs. The Tapo and Kasa Smart brands are both owned by TP-Link, so the apps and devices are interchangeable). A four-pack of these costs $30, but we’ve seen it on sale for $20 on occasion.

The Kasa Smart Plug Mini 15A is Matter compatible and works with Amazon Alexa, Apple Home, Google Home, Samsung SmartThings, and IFTTT.

Amazon Echo Show 5 smart display

Amazon

You’ll need a smart hub of some sort to get the show rolling, and picking up Amazon’s Echo Show 5 is fantastic first step. It’s both a smart speaker and a display, so in addition to telling Amazon’s Alexa digital assistant to turn your smart lights on and off (and a whole lot more), you can also stream live video feeds from your video doorbell and home security camera. While this smart display usually sells for $90, we’ve seen it sell for as little as $40 on (very rare) occasions.

Tapo Smart Light Switch

TP-Link Tapo

Smart light switches are a fantastic alternative to getting a ton of new light bulbs. You just replace your the dumb versions in your walls these, hook them up to the app, and you’re good to go. You can get a four-pack for $40, but we’ve seen them on sale often. Want a dimmer instead of an of/off switch? Tapo makes those, too, and you can get a two-pack for $45. Both the Tapo switches and dimmers connect to your 2.4GHz Wi-Fi network, but they do require the presence of a neutral wire in the electrical boxes where you install them.

Tapo Smart Light Switches and Dimmers are Matter compatible and work with Amazon Alexa, Apple Home, Google Assistant, and Samsung SmartThings.

Ring Battery Doorbell

Ring

If you’re dancing to the smart home music, you might as well make your life safer, too. The Ring Battery Doorbell is a good pick if you want a video doorbell to see who’s on your doorstep or if any packages have been delivered. This one comes with live head-to-toe view of your visitors and two-way talk, so you speak with them. It sends alerts when it detects motion, and records video to the cloud if you sign up for a subscription. This Ring doorbell costs $100, but we’ve seen it as low as $55 at times.

The Ring Battery Doorbell only works with Amazon Alexa, although it also has limited support for IFTTT.

TP-Link Tapo SolarCam C402 Kit

TP-Link

Keeping your home safe is easier with a smart setup, and these cams from Tapo are uber easy to install. The SolarCam C402 comes with its own solar panel mount, so you simply need to install the Tapo app on your smartphone and connect the camera to your home Wi-Fi network. The camera sends notifications when it detects motion, and it can distinguish between people and cars. You can even insert a microSD card for on-device storage, eliminating the need a cloud subscription. This camera is usually $55, but it’s been as low as $40 at times.

The Tapo SolarCam C402 works with Amazon Alexa and Google Home.