Cheap Smart Home Devices that are WORTH IT
If you’re looking for cheap smart home devices that are still GOOD, you came to the right place! Building a budget smart home is easier than ever with this tech.
Amazon list with most products: https://www.amazon.com/shop/smarthomesolver/list/1Q6HYSGUNF697?ref_=cm_sw_r_cp_ud_aipsflist_XJBFPBYJPN4ETJ6377J8
*Links in chronological order*
(affiliate)
Kasa bulb: https://amzn.to/4cRR0XH
Linkind bulb 800 lumen: https://amzn.to/3ERZX6L
Linkind bulb 1600 lumen: https://amzn.to/4372rrg
WiZ light strip: https://amzn.to/42QuEkP
Aqara T1 light strip: https://amzn.to/44d5krF
Reolink WiFi doorbell: https://amzn.to/44fz0EA
Eufy E340 doorbell: https://amzn.to/3Ypenlv
Eufy E31 lock: https://amzn.to/3YohIRU
Aqara U100 lock: https://amzn.to/4lZ2IUS
Kasa dimmer light switch: https://amzn.to/4lUecbV
Kasa on/off light switch: https://amzn.to/4cUhb07
Tapo C120 indoor camera: https://amzn.to/4jrN42o
Reolink RLC-810A camera: https://amzn.to/3EHLcna
Aqara motion sensor: https://amzn.to/3ETIV8l
Thirdreality motion sensor: https://amzn.to/3YnNXRk
Treatlife mmWave sensor: https://amzn.to/4d1DzVl
Aqara FP1E mmWave sensor: https://amzn.to/3YnYPP8
Apollo MSR-2 mmWave sensor: https://apolloautomation.com/axxmGE
Thirdreality contact sensor: https://amzn.to/4julLo7
Aqara contact sensor: https://amzn.to/44c45sN
IKEA water leak sensor: https://www.ikea.com/us/en/p/badring-water-leak-sensor-smart-90504360/
Thirdreality water leak sensor: https://amzn.to/42BqRZV
Thirdreality smart button: https://amzn.to/4lT5WsE
Philips Hue smart switch: https://amzn.to/4jWkHJD
Aqara vibration sensor: https://amzn.to/4d07v4k
Thirdreality vibration sensor: https://amzn.to/42PbID4
Kasa smart outlet: https://amzn.to/4cWs5Ch
IKEA smart outlet: https://www.ikea.com/us/en/p/inspelning-plug-smart-energy-monitor-90569846/
Thirdreality smart outlet: https://amzn.to/42VZrwK
Meross garage door opener: https://amzn.to/4iCAlbO
Meross garage door opener (HomeKit): https://amzn.to/3YNVcSL
Honeywell X2S thermostat: https://amzn.to/4k0iaP7
Ecobee Essential: https://amzn.to/3F6bLCL
Apollo MSR-2 with CO2 sensor: https://apolloautomation.com/cQLBNf
IKEA VINDSTYRKA air quality: https://www.ikea.com/us/en/p/vindstyrka-air-quality-sensor-smart-30498239/
Rechargeable AAA batteries: https://amzn.to/4k2qyO1
My smart home favorites: https://www.amazon.com/shop/smarthomesolver
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0:00 Intro
0:21 Smart bulbs
2:17 Light strips
3:30 Doorbell
4:48 Smart lock
6:46 Light switch
7:11 Indoor camera
7:58 Outdoor camera
9:09 Motion sensor
10:21 mmWave sensor
11:45 Contact sensor
12:43 Water leak sensor
13:41 Smart button
14:33 Vibration sensor
15:13 Smart outlet
16:02 Garage door opener
16:50 Thermostat
17:50 Air quality monitor
18:52 The right choice?
———
MUSIC
Digifunk by DivKid
Ending song is The End by EVA.
https://open.spotify.com/artist/6UIs5b0zSXztIW5GHkCTkK
I would like a if money was no question version of this video too.
Fantastic list. Would be a great starting point for anyone starting out. Shame thirdreality donβt appear to be available in the UK, they look decent.
Send your locks to lockpickinglawyer (youtuber) for review, see what he thinks about security π
Comming here to ask for the review of the new SwitchBot smartlock & vision keypad. Please bump these comments if enough of you guys also want to see it.
Can you do an episode on smart smoke/carbon monoxide alarms?
I have tried dozens of Smart locks over the past 5 years, Aqara U100 has been easily my favorite. My problem with the Eufy was it wasn’t as quick of a fingerprint reader, and the battery life wasn’t great. Aqara battery life is significantly better, and I like the fact that it uses regular batteries, rather than me having to take out the rechargeable one, and wait a few hours before we can be back up and running.
Also I love the Apple home integration, so I can open the lock with a tap of my watch when my hands are full of grocery bags. It’s the simple things that make a difference.
Would of liked to of seen smart thermostats. Nest thermostat alone saved me about $80 a month
They laughed while I held everything together. Then blamed me when it broke.
I have the aqara g4 with HomeKit Secure Video , bought it for 80 Bucks on Amazon
The ikea contact sensor is only $12 and uses zigbee and a single AAA battery. Works great with home assistant and the skyconnect dongle as a zigbee hub. (You do not need the ikea hub)
Google for "ikea parasoll"
The ikea zigbee buttons work great for me with home assistant. Using skyconnect dongle and ZHA
My minimum requirements: Matter, No fees, option to store data onsite only, no Google/Alexia.
I have been using Tapo bulbs for quite a while now, never had an issue. Except for first connecting to the system, the trick is when using phone to connect for 1st time, make sure data is turned off, over the years I have fond this is a problem for quite a few WIFI devices. Always turn data off now for 1st connection of any WIFI device now.
Didn’t eufy have a scandal where their "local only" doorbell actually sent out video to the cloud and did so without encryption… I wouldn’t recommend them π
But when I stopped crying, they asked what happened.
Odd, I have the Ikea rodret switches set up fine with home assistant. They’re great, I don’t remember doing anything crazy for that
I would always end up getting the IKEA Smart Bulb + Remote combo and pair them sepeately with my HA zigbee hub. Just make sure to turn off the all the IKEA bulbs completely before you start the pairing process and you should be good. I do get 2 buttons with toggle and long press for each running off 2 AAA batteries
My Tapo matter light bulb will disconnect almost once a week. Had to replace with my old Kasa smart light bulb
Shelly BLE sensors are pretty good.π
First of all, really nice with a budget review!
But I must admit that I was a bit surprised with your problems with the Ikea sensors, I am running what was formerly known as Skyconnect π and ZHA and I have not had any problems with the latest generation of Ikea zigbee sensors but be sure to use rechargeable batteries otherwise they behave really strange!
A video on future proofing a new house would be great.
100% agreed on the ThirdReality vibration sensors. I’ve *never* gotten their Aqara equivalent to work correctly.
Also, while you didn’t mention it, ThirdReality’s tilt sensors are ππ. I was able to cobble together a "poor man’s garage door sensor" by just checking to see whether the sensor shows open or closed.
There’s a pretty decent ecobee integration for HA, or were you specifically mentioning homekit for a local-only use case?
How’s the battery life on Third Reality sensors? The coin cells may sound like a pain on Aqara but my motion and contact sensors are on their third year with the original batteries. I’ll take replacing coin cells once every three years over replacing AAAs every few months.
I wanted to mention about a new presence sensor that I’ve been using for the last few weeks, the Sonoff Zigbee SNZB-06P which is one of the cheapest I could find for about 15β¬. I am very happy with it and the magnetic base helps move it around very easily. The only issue I have is with the light sensor that is not configurable and updates it’s status after it detects a motion.
Awesome video!!!!!
Thanks to Paul H, I had just set up my first home assistant machine using a mini PC yesterday! Spent the day working on Alexa and Spotify integration! Yay. π but I definitely want to add some new sensors and replace my old nest with an eco bee thermostat. I appreciate the long video and how thorough it is! Thank you.
Great video. Thanks for the great info.
Smart device should be configurable from any device/system that can connect. It should not require the factory app to set up a device.
You mentioned Wyze but did not include any of their products?? I have noted quite a few channels ignoring them for some reason, but their lights (strips included) are amazing and cheaper than your recommendations with fantastic colors. Cameras are fantastic and get a decent free package, but cloud recording over SD cards is much more secure if it is stolen like you mentioned. Even the outlets from them work without fail for me. Is there some reason everyone seems to be ignoring them as a viable and cheap option?
How is a doorbell 110$ "cheap" ?
how did you integrate the tapo video stream into home assistant? ( minute 7:46 ) as far as I know there is no manufacturer integration, only third-party apps…
also before you say that there are no costs with tapo, but in reality I noticed that after a few months, having the free account, the stream starts to go jerky and sometimes errors of missing resources appear… users who pay the subscription solve this problem…
while reolink always remains stable and free
I too used to hate coin batteries – mostly because everyone wants to rip you off for the good ones, and buying cheap ones seems very hit or miss (mostly miss). Eventually solved my problem by buying OEM batteries in bulk from electronics supply houses: in my case Digikey (I’m assuming Mouser has them too). Yes, you have to pay for shipping, but even with that figured in, I’m getting OEM batteries (Panasonic, in my case) for about $0.49 each, not the $2-5 each I see at stores. I used to use IKEA PLATTBOJ, but I think they have discontinued them?
First
If only Kasa had those same switches that do not require
I love your videos. Only downfall is all I use is smarthings and Google but we don’t really use any automation. We have around 145 smart items in the house including lightbulbs. That’s the reason I love all your videos <3
P.s. have you checked out Geeni light bulbs? There cheap and good just a thought.
got a reolink camera at home, which i want to connect and use with my home assistant installation. is it normal that actions like start recording to a home assistant folder or stuff like that have a pretty high latency/delay? when i start recording or taking images it takes around 10seconds till it started, so effectively when someone enters the propperty to deliver a package they already left when the camera starts recording
A lot of this seems to assume you are using Home Assistant, some of us may be on Apple HomeKit or even SmartThings. Knowing the Matter compatibility is great though.
Bought the Tapo C120 based on your recommendation and adding it to Home Assistant has been a complete horror show. Hours wasted googling around for a solution.
Care you share your secret before I return this thing..
I use the TAPO cams too but they sssm to take forever to view in app, and frequently disconnect from WiFiβ¦ I have one outside garage and one for front door, both outsideβ¦ you mention you use TAPO inside And reo outsideβ¦ so since Iβm trying to use outside that may be my issue?
I don’t know about you apperantly but everything I bought from Ikea is just flipin’ awesome. It just works, not a single issue so far and I have their lightbulbs, all 3 types of switches, smart outlets (with meter and without), air quality sensor. I wish they had even more Zigbee stuff. And the BEST part is, many times I find these devices in the clearance section because people returned them and I snatch everything for 40 % off!! (I got the Ikea air quality sensor which you suggested this way for 18 β¬ (20 USD) for which you wrote 50 $, crazy.
you should be careful showing the QR codes of your smart devices
BRO, do you have a Tesla model Y like if you think if Reed has a Tesla model Y
I wasnβt difficult. I just stopped accepting crumbs.
Canβt find the Aqara smart lock U100 anywhereβ¦ AliExpress Temu Amazon π
FINALLY a video for all of us who want to save some money! These work out of the box and most are on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/shop/smarthomesolver/list/1Q6HYSGUNF697?ref_=cm_sw_r_cp_ud_aipsflist_XJBFPBYJPN4ETJ6377J8
Kind of pointless having a front door smart lock for me from a convenience perspective (security reasons are legit though). Many home insurers demand that you still have secondary locking mechanism such as a mortice deadlockβ¦so you still need a standard key.
Disclaimer: only speaking for UK here.
I had a lot of problems adding and using ikea products to my zigbee network until I added one of their lightbulbs and now their zigbee products work pretty fine. I was following someone on the home assistant forum suggest that solution and it worked great
Shelly has a door sensor too, 5 year battery
I’m not sure why people have been having so many issues with the IKEA buttons. Mine worked no issues with ZHA π€·π»ββοΈ
awesome vid! Also worth mentioning those thirdreality rectangular motion sensors are often like $2-3 on aliexpress with free shipping – even a thread version! Highly recommend people get them off of there if they can wait.