It's no secret that Amazon makes some of the top smart home tech on the market — and right now you can score up to 70% off Ring Video Doorbells, Fire TV Sticks, Blink security cameras and more.

A few of my personal favorite finds include the Ring Battery Doorbell on sale for just $69, while the all-new Fire TV Stick HD has dropped to only $19. Plus, you can get the Blink Mini 2K+ and save a whopping 46%.

From boosting your home's security to revamping your entertainment setup, I've rounded up the best Amazon devices that will upgrade your smart home. Keep scrolling to check them out.

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• Fire TV Stick HD: was $34 now $19
• Blink Mini 2K+: was $39 now $21
• Ring Indoor Cam Plus: was $59 now $34
• Blink Arc w/ 2 Cameras: was $99 now $43
• Blink Wired Floodlight Camera: was $99 now $44
• Amazon 40" 2-Series 4K Fire TV: was $249 now $209

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If you've been watching the news, you may have seen the Trump administration's recent robotic ban. In a move by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), the ban targets any new foreign-made humanoid robot imports to the U.S. The thinking is that these products may cause "unacceptable risks" to U.S. security.

But humanoid robots aren't the only robots at risk. It turns out the ban spreads much further than you might think. Far enough to spell trouble for the kind of 'bots you may be using in your own home.

Delve a little deeper into the FCC's definition, and you're looking at a much larger coverage of robots that fall under the term "advanced robotic devices".

If they're "capable of locomotion, obstacle avoidance, navigation, or movement on the ground" then they're targeted under the new ban. Sounds a lot like robotic lawnmowers, the best robot vacuums or even your friendly neighborhood delivery robot, right? Exactly.

No more Roombas?

Now, it's worth delving into exactly what this means for home and delivery robots that fall under the FCC's definition.

Importantly, any existing robots previously authorised to be sold in the U.S. are safe. Equally, any robots that have already been imported from outside of the U.S., are currently being sold, or have been approved are also safe.

But any new "advanced robotic devices" being imported, which essentially means any robots being manufactured outside of the U.S., are banned.

This includes robots where "the combined weight of the device and, if applicable, ground station or docking station is over 4.4 lbs", as well as any with "software running either locally or remotely, including firmware and AI or machine-learning model weights" and "a sensor capable of perceiving its environment" or "a component that is capable of providing network connectivity (wired or wireless, including Bluetooth/Wi-Fi, cellular, or satellite)".

Why? Well, as the FCC has said, they consider these robots to pose a national security risk, stating: "foreign-produced advanced robotic devices could be weaponized to directly harm U.S. national security and U.S. persons".

But what's really interesting is what it's demanding companies do instead.

Safety concerns?

A lot of companies like Roomba, Ecovacs, Dreame, Roborock and more source manufacturing from China. Moving forward, they'll need to acquire waivers to continue to manufacture and sell these advanced robotic devices in the US. But, The Verge revealed the FCC doesn't want to ask any questions about actual security.

Instead, the site reports: "The FCC only wants to know where they're designed and made and assembled and tested and influenced, and get a specific commitment to start manufacturing them in the U.S. instead."

So, for now, existing robots in the U.S. are safe. You won't have to hand over your much-loved robot vacuum to security. But it's a huge deal for the companies making them. Any new models will need a waiver to be manufactured elsewhere, and if they can't get the waiver, then they won't be getting sold in the U.S.

If you were on the fence about picking up one of the best robot vacuums or a robotic lawnmower, you might want to act sooner rather than later.

CTA responds

The Consumer Technology Association, the organization behind CES, also issued a measured response on X in a series of posts.

"At CES 2026, robotics took center stage. Innovation in this space is accelerating fast, and the U.S. must lead the world in developing and deploying these technologies."

"CTA supports efforts to protect our national security and strengthen technology supply chains. But those policies should be targeted, transparent and focused on genuine security risks, not unnecessary costs or supply chain disruption."

"The global race in robotics is on. CTA looks forward to working with the Administration to ensure America leads the world in robotics and the next generation of emerging technologies."

"We encourage continued engagement between industry and government to ensure policies advance trusted supply chains while preserving innovation, competition and consumer access to new technologies."

Companies respond

We reached out to a number of companies following the FCC's announcement. Here's what they had to say.

Anker Innovations

"We are aware of the FCC’s recent update. Based on our current understanding, the new rule does not affect the continued availability, use or support of products we currently sell in the United States. Those products remain available and will continue to receive updates and customer support.

"Like others across the industry, we are seeking further clarity on how the rule will be applied to future products, and we will keep our customers informed. We remain committed to complying with all regulatory requirements in every market where we operate."

Dreame

"We are currently reviewing and assessing the details of the recent announcement," a spokesperson said. "Dreame has always been committed to strict compliance with all local laws and regulatory requirements in every market where we operate globally."

iRobot (makers of Roomba)

"We are aware of the FCC's recent action and are working with them to better understand its implementation and potential impact. We remain committed to serving our customers and will share updates as more information becomes available."

Segway Navimow

"We are aware of the FCC’s announcement regarding restrictions to advanced robotic devices. There is no immediate impact to existing Navimow customers, as all Navimow models currently sold in the US have already received FCC equipment authorization. The ban does not affect the sales, service, or continued use of existing products. We are closely monitoring policy developments and evaluating compliance pathways for future products, including the Department of Defense's "Conditional Approval" process."

What do you think of the ban? Let us know in the comments.

More from Tom's Guide

• Here’s the one robot vacuum I wish was coming to the US (and what to buy instead)
• The 4 best cheap robot vacuums you can buy in 2026
• I’m a robot vacuum expert, and after seeing this vacuum that can climb over obstacles, it’s the only feature I care about

July is usually a great month for Alexa hardware deals. However, this year Amazon decided to move its Prime Day to June. As a result, there haven't been many deals on Amazon devices. Until now.

As part of its annual Black Friday in July sale, Best Buy has Amazon devices on sale from $19. The sale includes Fire TV Sticks, Ring security cameras, Echo speakers, and more. Below are some of my top deals, but act fast as this sale is bound to end soon.

Best Buy Amazon Deals

Arlo has long been a major player in the world of smart security cameras and for good reason. Its cameras have always offered high-quality footage, sleek designs, and advanced features. But over the past few years, we’ve seen more and more low-cost models with similar advanced features — something that has led to the Arlo Essential line, including the Arlo Essential Pan Tilt Indoor Camera 2K.

The new model is part of the third generation of Arlo Essential cameras, and offers pan/tilt functionality, a 2K resolution, AI descriptions, and more, at a pretty reasonable price. Is Arlo successfully taking on the budget players, or should you stick with something else?

Arlo Essential Pan Tilt Indoor Camera 2K Review: Price and availability

The regular price for the Arlo Essential Pan Tilt Indoor 2K camera is $49, but it's frequently on sale. For example, at the time of this writing, it was discounted to $34.99 at Arlo.com. The camera can be widely found at most online retailers.

Arlo Essential Pan Tilt Indoor Camera 2K Review: Design and installation

The Arlo Essential Pan Tilt Indoor Camera doesn’t break any boundaries when it comes to design, but it still looks nice enough. Like most of Arlo’s lineup, it has a white matte plastic body, with a black face. It’s not the most premium-looking camera, and it doesn’t feel as durable as Arlo’s higher-end models, but it still looks and feels perfectly fine.

Its design is kind of split into two parts. There’s a base, which can rotate around as needed for panning. Above that, there’s a bracket holding the camera itself in place – and on the bracket, the camera can tilt up or down. On the back of the base of the camera can be found a USB-C port, which is how the camera is powered. There’s no battery in the camera – you’ll have to keep it plugged in at all times.

The Arlo Essential Pan Tilt Indoor Camera is designed to be easy to set up. You can place it on a table or another surface, but it also comes with a bracket to mount the camera to a ceiling. I opted to simply place the camera on a flat surface.

Once you’ve positioned the camera how you want, all you have to do is plug it in and it should turn on. Then, download the app and sign in to your account or create a new one. When you go to add the camera, it should detect it automatically and allow you to connect it to your Wi-Fi network. The setup process took around five minutes, including installing a firmware update that was available.

Arlo Essential Pan Tilt Indoor Camera 2K Review: Image and audio performance

Generally speaking, footage captured by the camera looks quite good. For starters, it’s decently crisp and detailed. The 2K resolution genuinely helps. I have tested plenty of 1080p cameras and could notice the difference between this camera and those models.

The wide field-of-view, which sits in at 130 degrees, allows the camera to capture most of a room. Theoretically, it can capture most of a backyard when pointed out of a window, however it’s not really built for this purpose (the company makes the Arlo Essential Pan Tilt Outdoor camera for that), and the infrared lights will reflect on the glass in low-light environments, making for footage that doesn’t really show anything beyond the window itself.

The camera has subject-tracking, and it seemed to work well during testing. Decent subject-tracking is one of the biggest advantages to cameras with pan/tilt functionality, as it means that you’ll still be able to track suspicious activity even when a subject would otherwise be out of view.

One of the trade-offs you get by buying this camera over some of the others is the lack of HDR, which can have an impact depending on how you use the camera. For example, it struggled to capture both darker indoor environments and brighter scenes through the window on a bright day, at the same time.

Another trade-off is the lack of a spotlight. This means that you’re stuck with infrared-based night recording, rather than color night footage of any kind. I did find that night footage was reasonably crisp, but without a spotlight to illuminate a scene you will miss out on some details that could be important. That said, depending on the power of a spotlight, infrared is often better at capturing far-away details.

The camera supports two-way audio, and it worked pretty well. Arlo says that the camera has “noise-canceling 2-way audio,” which supposedly lets it detect and play audio more cleanly. In a two-way audio setup, I was able to hear someone in front of the camera, through my phone, quite well, and while I did have to ask them to speak up, the camera’s microphones and audio processing made for a sightly better audio experience than the Wyze Cam Pan v4 that I tested at the same time.

That said, the speaker built into the camera wasn’t as good, and made my voice sound tinier. That’s not a huge deal though – my voice was still easy to hear through the camera’s speaker.

Overall, the Arlo Essential Pan Tilt Indoor Camera 2K offers crisp and detailed video. Only one problem – the Wyze Cam Pan v4 exists, and it costs only $10 extra. I happened to be reviewing the two at the same time, and found that while there are areas in which Arlo does slightly better, like in picking up audio and having a wider lens, the Wyze Cam Pan v4 generally captured far better footage, both in resolution (it’s a 4K camera), and in color accuracy. That’s not to mention the fact that the Wyze camera has a spotlight for color night recording.

Arlo Essential Pan Tilt Indoor Camera 2K Review: App and smart home support

The Arlo app is generally well-designed and easy to use, and if you use multiple Arlo cameras, you’ll be able to manage them all easily. The app is split up into five different tabs. The main screen is the Dashboard tab, which shows thumbnails for all of your Arlo cameras and lets you arm and disarm your security system as a whole (or at least all the Arlo products in your system).

The other tabs include the Feed (which shows footage in chronological order), an Emergency tab (for getting in touch with emergency services and activating sirens), a Devices tab (to manage your devices), and a Routines tab (to set up automations).

From the Dashboard and Devices tabs, you can tap on a camera to access a live feed of what the camera sees and tweak its settings. This is where you can do things like enter two-way audio mode and control the pan/tilt settings of the camera.

Controlling the positioning of the camera is relatively easy, and you can set a “home” point, which is where the camera will return to after it either automatically tracks a subject, or you manually move its position. You can also set additional positions, which will allow you to set the camera’s position easily without having to manually move the camera.

AI features

Some of the smart features included in the subscription worked well too. You’ll get what are now common features, like person detection, animal detection, package detection, and so on. Obviously, you’re unlikely to use a camera like this for package detection, but the camera did a pretty good job at telling me that a person was detected instead of just that “motion” was detected.

The object-recognition tech goes a step further too – using generative AI to provide a short text summary of what was captured alongside events. I was pleasantly surprised with how well this worked. Here’s an example of the kinds of summaries it produced:

“A person is holding a camera and walking towards the camera. The person is wearing a blue shirt. The scene is a backyard with a wooden fence, a lawn, and some patio furniture. There are also some toys on a table in the foreground, including a pineapple-shaped container and a purple bottle.”

For reference, in the clip recorded I was carrying my camera in my backyard as I was taking photos of a speaker for a review. The other details were almost entirely correct – with the only incorrect detail being that the pineapple “container” (a small kids bubble machine) and purple bottle were actually on a Traeger smoker, instead of a table – but there was no way for the camera to possibly know this, as the smoker was directly in front of the window the camera was pointed out of, and only the top of it, with its cover on, was visible.

And, after all, objects were placed on top of it as if it were a table. When I moved the camera to the driveway instead of the backyard, the camera even identified my car make and model correctly in some descriptions.

The Arlo Essential Pan Tilt Indoor Camera 2K works with Alexa, Google Home, IFTTT, and Samsung SmartThings. The main smart home ecosystem it doesn’t support is HomeKit – so if you’re looking for a HomeKit camera, you’ll need to keep looking.

Arlo Essential Pan Tilt Indoor Camera 2K Review: Video storage and subscriptions

The Arlo Essential Pan Tilt Indoor Camera 2K doesn’t have local recording, and unfortunately, it doesn’t work with any of Arlo’s base stations or hubs, so you can’t record locally at all. Instead, you’ll need to subscribe to one of Arlo’s cloud storage plans, called Arlo Secure.

Arlo Secure gets you a 60-day video history, but it also offers other features. Notably, you can’t access features like the person recognition, or the audio recognition features, without it. If you go for the highest-tier subscription, you’ll also get 24/7 emergency response and professional monitoring.

Here’s a rundown of pricing for Arlo Secure. Arlo Secure Plus costs $9.99 per month or $95.88 per year for one camera, or $19.99 per month or $215.88 per year for unlimited cameras. Arlo Secure Premium (which includes professional monitoring) costs $29.99 per month or $299.88 per year, and supports unlimited cameras. There’s no single-camera Arlo Secure Premium option.

Arlo Essential Pan Tilt Indoor Camera 2K Review: Verdict

The Arlo Essential Pan Tilt Indoor Camera 2K is an excellent pan/tilt camera, with a solid app, at a great price. It represents a continuation by Arlo to offer affordable alternatives to its higher-end models – and if you’re in the Arlo ecosystem already, then it’s easily worth considering for those who want an indoor pan/tilt camera. That’s especially true for those who have an Arlo Secure subscription.

But if you’re not already in the ecosystem, then another option might be better for your needs. The Wyze Cam Pan v4 in particular is a better option than the Arlo model, at least when it comes to the basics. It costs only $10 extra, has a 4K camera instead of a 2K one, has similar AI-powered object recognition and tracking features, and even has a microSD card slot for local recording.

The higher resolution genuinely makes a difference, and in general, you’ll get more detailed and accurate images from the Wyze model. The only thing to consider is the fact that while the Wyze model has AI-generated descriptions, they’re locked behind Wyze’s most expensive subscription, which costs $19.99 per month, while Arlo offers it in its Plus plan for $9.99 per month.

Similarly, the Eufy Cam S350 is another pan-and-tilt camera that delivers 4K video, local storage, and even better, gives you AI summaries for free.

Ultimately, if you already have Arlo cameras, then the Essential Pan Tilt Indoor Camera 2K is a good complement to your system. Otherwise, it's worth looking elsewhere.

Wait, wasn't Prime Day last month? This week Amazon is holding a quiet sale with up to 67% off Blink, Ring and Fire TV devices. So if you missed out, now's a great time to upgrade your smart home!

One of my favorite deals is this Blink Mini 2K+ 3-Pack for $44. This security camera bundle is 55% off, its lowest price ever, and is an incredibly cheap way to monitor a large area. You also get improved resolution, color night vision and 4x zoom.

There are plenty more deals up for grabs, so keep scrolling to see them all. I also recommend checking out our Amazon promo codes coverage.

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• Blink Mini 2K+ (3-pack): was $99 now $44
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• Blink Arc w/ 2 Cameras: was $99 now $79
• Ring Battery Doorbell (2-Pack): was $199 now $89
• Insignia 50" F50 4K Fire TV: was $299 now $169

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Arlo has long been known for making some of the best home security cameras — albeit at a premium — but recently it has been expanding into budget territory. The Arlo Essential Pan Tilt is aimed at bringing that Arlo quality to a lower price point, with 360-degree pan capabilities and a 2K video resolution.

The company has both an indoor and an outdoor version of this camera; in this review, I'm taking the outdoor-compatible model for a spin. While the two share most features, the outdoor model is, of course, designed to be mounted and used in a variety of weather conditions, but still at a very reasonable price. It also faces tough competition from the likes of Wyze and other budget models. Is it worth buying over the others?

Arlo Essential Pan Tilt outdoor camera review: Price and availability

The Arlo Essential Pan Tilt camera came out in 2025, costs $59.99 — but can often be found for much less — and comes with an outdoor power adapter. It’s only available in white, and is can be purchased at Amazon, Arlo, and other online retailers.

Arlo Essential Pan Tilt outdoor camera review: Design and setup

The design of the Arlo Essential Pan Tilt is perfectly fine but not necessarily all that premium. It's noticeably lighter and less durable-feeling than Arlo's higher-end models, though it thankfully doesn’t stray into feeling cheap. The overall aesthetic follows typical Arlo design language, with a white body and black face that should blend reasonably well with most home exteriors. The weather-resistant build handles outdoor conditions without issue.

The camera was easy to set up, too. The package includes mounting hardware, and installation involves screwing the base plate to your desired location, then mounting the camera to that base plate.There's no battery option, so the camera has to be plugged in to work, and you’ll need to place it within reach of a power outlet. Arlo includes a long 16-foot power cable in the box.

The entire physical installation took under 10 minutes. The software setup through the Arlo Secure app was equally simple, with clear instructions for connecting to Wi-Fi and positioning the camera.

Arlo Essential Pan Tilt outdoor camera review: Video and audio quality

The Arlo Essential Pan Tilt camera is able to capture video at a 2K resolution, and it has a 130-degree field of view, which is wide enough to see a good amount of even a wide backyard, with the right positioning — plus, of course, it can pan for a full 360-degree view, though not all at once.

For night vision, the camera includes a spotlight for color video in darkness. The spotlight isn't particularly powerful and mainly illuminates the immediate area, but it's fine for identifying people and objects nearby. For far-away subjects, you’ll want to rely more on infrared night vision.

The lack of HDR causes some issues with mixed lighting conditions. In my setup, the camera faced direct sunlight in the afternoon, which could blow out portions of the image. This wasn't a major issue for me since my house blocked the sun as it got lower in the afternoon, but if that wasn't the case, it would have made it difficult to see activity in those areas. The same problem appeared in low light situations — if part of the scene was brightly illuminated by the spotlight at night while other areas remained dark, subjects could appear as dark shadows, lacking detail.

Motion detection performance was fine but not great. The camera started recording immediately when I walked away from just out of view. However, when testing from the opposite direction, I was halfway across my backyard walking toward the camera before recording kicked in and the spotlight turned on. This delay could mean missing the beginning of important events.

Two-way audio worked reasonably well. I could hear others clearly through my phone, though I sometimes had to ask them to speak up for better clarity. The microphones performed slightly better than those on the Wyze Cam Pan v4, picking up voices decently well. However, the speaker quality was worse — my voice sounded tiny and compressed, though it was still understandable enough for basic communication.

Overall video quality was good for the price point, though the Wyze Cam Pan v4 delivered better video with higher resolution, better color reproduction, and a more powerful spotlight.

Arlo Essential Pan Tilt outdoor camera review: App and smart home support

The camera is controlled using the Arlo Secure app, which feels polished, clean, and mostly easy to navigate. The pan and tilt controls are intuitive to use, and it was easy to set a "home" position along with other preset positions for quick repositioning.

As you would expect in 2025, the camera supports a range of AI-based features. For example, there’s a generative AI summary feature for those with paid plans, and they were detailed and accurate, like most competitors. This is perhaps one of the best AI features for security camera so far, and it can definitely help cut down on how many clips you actually look at, versus just read the description for.

The camera also supports "Custom Detection," which uses AI to detect user-defined events. I tested this by setting up detection for "toys left on the grass" that might interfere with my robotic lawn mower. Setup involved taking snapshots of what I wanted to detect versus what I didn't want detected, along with writing a short description. While the feature worked, it triggered incorrectly fairly often, though usually because something else was on the grass rather than complete false positives. It's largely designed for things like leaving a garage door open or a gate open.

Everything else about the app is pretty straightforward. You can set motion detection zones, spotlight settings, and so on. AI-powered alerts for people, animals, and packages require an Arlo Secure subscription -- and without it, you'll only receive generic motion notifications.

The camera can work with Alexa or Google Home, but it doesn't support HomeKit. Within Google Home and Alexa, you'll be able to see feeds from your cameras alongside your other devices, but you'll still need the Arlo app for things like setting the camera up and tweaking settings.

Arlo Essential Pan Tilt outdoor camera review: Storage and subscription plans

The Arlo Essential Pan Tilt doesn't have any form of local storage — there's no microSD card slot, and it can't use Arlo's SmartHub devices for local recording. This means cloud storage via an Arlo Secure subscription is mandatory for any video history beyond live viewing. A subscription is also required to unlock advanced features like smart object recognition, cloud video history, and person detection.

The subscription pricing isn't bad, but it's also not incredible. Arlo Secure Plus costs $9.99 per month for one camera or $19.99 per month for unlimited cameras, dropping to $7.99 and $17.99 respectively when billed annually. The Premium tier runs $29.99 monthly for unlimited cameras, or $24.99 when billed annually. You'll get AI features and cloud storage with the Plus tier, and you only really need to upgrade to Premium if you want things like professional monitoring.

Arlo Essential Pan Tilt outdoor camera review: Verdict

The Arlo Essential Pan Tilt delivers excellent coverage with its pan-tilt functionality and sharp 2K video at a very solid $59.99 price point. The camera does a good job at monitoring large areas that would typically require multiple cameras, and the motion tracking works quite well. It's not perfect — there's no local storage and you'll really have to get a subscription to get the most out of it. But, that's often expected these days anyway.

Or it is for the most part. The biggest competitor right now comes in the form of the Wyze Cam Pan v4, which offers a better video quality, a spotlight, local recording, and AI features, for the same price. For those new to home security, the Wyze Cam Pan v4 is a better option overall — but if you're in the Arlo ecosystem and want something to add to your setup, you're still getting a great product with the Arlo Essential Pan-Tilt.

As summer temperatures soar, we aren’t the only ones suffering — your best smart home devices are feeling the heat, too.

This is especially the case when they are exposed to extreme temperatures for long periods of time. While many assume it’s just our door/security cameras affected, you’d be mistaken.

According to a tech expert, many of our common smart home gadgets are prone to overheating in the summer.

From smart hubs, plugs, and indoor cameras, these can all affect their overall performance, and you might even notice things are running significantly slower or not at all!

Luckily, there are a few simple things we can do to minimize the risk of overheating and get the most out of our smart home gadgets this summer.

1. Keep smart devices out of direct sunlight

If any of your devices are placed near windows, be sure to move them out of direct sunlight.

“Devices placed near windows or in direct sunlight are most at risk, as glass can intensify heat significantly indoors,” advises Michael Fernandes, tech expert at Tapo.

“Similarly, hubs and plugs positioned in warm spots, like near radiators or in the kitchen, can struggle in the summer months even without direct sun.”

In addition, use window treatments such as blinds/curtains during peak sunlight to reduce excessive heat and maintain a cooler space.

2. Make sure you have adequate ventilation

Another top tip is to avoid tucking your tech into cramped or small spaces — without proper airflow, heat builds up quickly as it has nowhere to ventilate and spread.

What’s more, this will likely cause your smart device to overheat quickly and start to malfunction.

“When a device overheats, you might notice reduced performance like running slower, disconnecting from Wi-Fi, or restarting unexpectedly,” adds Fernandes. “As well as affecting performance, heat can also accelerate battery degradation and can shorten their overall lifespan.”

For more top tips, be sure to check out these 6 easy ways to create a smart home.

3. Always switch off and unplug when not in use

While it’s quite common for us to leave our electronic devices on Standby, you should always switch them off and unplug during a heatwave.

Not only will this prevent overheating, but it can also preserve battery life as it puts less strain on the device.

“Smart home devices are built to handle a reasonable range of temperatures, but a little extra care during a heatwave, like keeping devices shaded and in well-ventilated spaces, can help reduce the risk of performance issues and support their long-term reliability,” adds Fernandez.

“We also recommend checking the specified operating-temperature range for your particular device.”

So if you want to ensure your smart gadgets are on top form during the summer heatwave, follow these 3 expert steps right now.

More from Tom's Guide

• 7 smart home gadgets under $50 that will make your life easier
• The best smart plugs in 2025
• The best smart lights

We're now into July, which means we've done six full months of testing here at Tom's Guide in 2026. From coffee machines, through to vacuums, gaming handhelds, laptops and phones — not only is it our job to put tech through its paces, it's what our journalists, editors and contributors love to do.

I'm Pete, Senior Reviews Editor here at Tom's Guide, and I head up our reviews coverage on site. My team of dedicated reviews writers alone have lab tested and reviewed hundreds of products already this year, with the wider Tom's Guide editorial team having testing dozens more. If you've not had your finger precisely on the pulse of the latest tech this year, well, I don't blame you — it's hard to keep tabs on everything. That's why we exist.

To help, I've gathered the Tom's Guide team's favorite products from 2026 so far. Obviously, I can't fit everything into a single article, so I asked our subject experts across the site to give me their top picks, too. I've also curated the top five highest scorers, which stand above the rest. Every product on here has been tested by us, hands-on, as part of a full, extensive review.

Read on to see the tech Tom's Guide loved in the first half of 2026.

Tom's Guide's Top 5

Every product on this list has scored at least four stars, earning our TG Recommended or Editor's Choice badges. But there are five products on this list that scored our full five stars after testing. These are the best of the best so far this year. To save you some time, here are the links to our reviews.

• DJI Osmo Pocket 4 review ★★★★★
• 007 First Light review ★★★★★
• KitchenAid Artisan Plus review ★★★★★
• Gozney Dome XL Gen 2 review ★★★★★
• Samsung S95H OLED review ★★★★★

Keep reading to see the rest of our top tested picks for 2026.

AI

Rokid Glasses

After 5,000 miles in the Rokids, we were seriously impressed
Score: ★★★★☆

The best smart glasses without a display are cool and all, but their features are usually rather limited to just asking questions about what you see. The Rokid Glasses proved to me that adding a screen turns that superpower into an ambient computing platform — offering features only when you need them and disappearing into the background in some stylish specs.

With that display, you get real-time conversation translation with text subtitles so you’re not having to try to listen to your smart glasses talk over the person in front of you. And the multi-modality unlocked by asking a question and just getting answers you can see makes them much more subtle. Not to say they’re perfect — the camera quality for snapping pictures suffers in low light and some features are very China-specific (like Alipay). But arm these with Google Gemini in setup, and they’re a genuinely helpful companion on your face for a decent price.

Jason England, Managing Editor, Core Tech
Read Jason's full Rokid Glasses review

Cameras & drones

GoPro Mission 1 Pro

GoPro's return to form in the action camera game
Score: ★★★★½

After years essentially re-releasing the same Hero cameras with minor tweaks, GoPro has finally pushed itself. The Mission 1 Pro is pricey, but it’s the first GoPro I’ve been excited about in a while. It seriously impressed me with its powerful and versatile video credentials in testing, namely open gate 8K and a wealth of shooting features that make it ideal for its target market: professionals. Thanks to revised processor architecture and a shiny new battery, I managed to extract unparalleled battery life and thermals versus other action cameras in my standardized battery tests. GoPro is back!

Pete Wolinski, Senior Reviews & Cameras Editor
Read Pete’s full GoPro Mission 1 Pro review

DJI Osmo Pocket 4

The best all-around tool for content creation
Score: ★★★★★

I awarded the DJI Osmo Pocket 4 our full five stars in my review, and that’s because I literally couldn’t find anything wrong with it. Aside from the fact that it’s not available in America (yet?) due to tariffs and DJI’s ongoing feud with the U.S. government. The Osmo Pocket 4 improved on its predecessor in every single way that mattered: video, stabilization, storage, thermals, battery life, and more. If you’re after a single tool for professional-looking content creation, I really can’t think of anything better to recommend.

Pete Wolinski, Senior Reviews & Cameras Editor
Read Pete’s full DJI Osmo Pocket 4 review

DJI Avata 360

Although a little late to the 360 party, DJI absolutely smashed it
Score: ★★★★½

The DJI Avata 360 does exactly what you want a drone to do: make flying fun. It stakes its claim as the best 360° drone around (granted, there are only two at the time of writing, but still!) and its twin lenses capture every single angle in 8K at 60fps. 120MP hi-res stills, user-friendly editing software, and exceptional build quality make it the drone to buy today. It also undercuts its main competitor, the Antigravity A1, and with dual ways to fly (FPV and with a standard controller), the Avata 360 is versatile and oh-so-powerful. Every day I still think about it — and as someone who’s tested many, many quadcopters, that’s saying a lot.

Nikita Achanta, Senior Reviews Writer
Read Nikita’s full DJI Avata 360 review

Computing & gaming

MacBook Neo

Our favorite budget laptop, literally ever
Score: ★★★★½

Value for money in laptops has become a bit of a running joke this year (thanks, RAMageddon). But of all the companies building notebooks, I didn’t anticipate it would be Apple to deliver the goods and give you an honest-to-god well-priced system. Yes, there’s been a $100 increase recently, but even with that, the premium aluminum build quality, great display, tactile keyboard and zippy performance of that A18 Pro makes for a great system for the day-to-day essentials.

I must admit, to see Apple actually having fun with colors in its MacBooks is a refreshing change from the blacks and silvers of its more expensive lineage. All of this comes together into a laptop that has terrified the budget Windows laptop market, and the best ultra portable we’ve tested this year.

Jason England, Managing Editor, Core Tech
Read our full MacBook Neo review

Asus Zenbook Duo (2026)

Dual OLED panels = chef's kiss
Score: ★★★★½

Yes, this is a dual-screen OLED beauty of a premium laptop; Asus has really paid attention to the design and ergonomics of a system like this. But the real superpower is what lies inside that shell. Intel Core Ultra Series 3 (codenamed Panther Lake) has been a truly generational moment for Team Blue in its Windows laptops, and it comes down to huge updates to both the performance and power efficiency.

Those new CPU cores and efficiency architecture they’re built onto gives this a gargantuan battery life that would make a MacBook blush, while the superpowered GPU (alongside XeSS 3) gives this some serious gaming laptop chops too. Usually, you had to be considerate of just what you wanted to do with your Windows laptop and decide on the strengths and compromises around that. With anything that sports an X9 chip like this, though, that’s no longer a compromise you have to make.

Jason England, Managing Editor, Core Tech
Read Jason's full Asus Zenbook Duo (2026) review

MSI Claw 8 EX AI+

A true next-gen gaming handheld
Score: ★★★★☆

The MSI Claw 8 EX AI+ delivers the performance jump I’ve been waiting years for. With Intel’s new Arc G3 Extreme chip, games are pulling a 20 to 30+ FPS advantage over AMD Z2 Extreme handhelds. Battery life gets a big boost too. I could hit the same performance as the Z2 Extreme at half the power consumption. Combine that with its major redesign bringing more Xbox-like controls, better haptics, and its large 8-inch 16:10 display, and you’re getting, in my opinion, one of the best handheld gaming consoles of 2026.

Paul Antill, Video Producer
Read our full MSI Claw 8 EX AI+ review

007 First Light

Forget GoldenEye: this is the best Bond game ever
Score: ★★★★★

Gamers are being treated to a licensed games renaissance right now. The days of cheap cash-ins launched to coincide with a new blockbuster movie are over. But even in this golden era for video games based on popular media franchises, 007 First Light surpasses expectations.

Forget GoldenEye, First Light is the best James Bond game ever. With its ludicrously cinematic gameplay, compelling narrative that focuses on a younger Bond (played by Patrick Gibson), and deep commitment to authenticity, 007 First Light is easily the best thing to come out of this long-running spy series in 20 years, movies included. There’s a reason it was only the second video game I’ve given the full five stars. Whether you’re a longtime Bond fan or a newcomer, 007 First Light is quite simply unmissable.

Rory Mellon, Senior Entertainment Editor
Read Rory's full 007 First Light review

Epomaker Glyph

Nikita's dream keyboard
Score: ★★★★½

I’ve tested close to 100 keyboards in my time as a reviews writer, and it isn’t often that I get to proclaim, “I’ve found my dream keyboard.” Ever since I tested the Epomaker Glyph, it hasn’t left my desk, and it’s my daily driver when I’m at the office. Typewriter-like aesthetics, a return lever that acts as an Enter or Backspace key, beautiful RGB lighting, a creamy sound profile, and a typing experience that’s nothing short of stunning — all of these characteristics come together to deliver what’s probably the best mechanical keyboard I’ve used for typing. I’m a speed demon when I’m bashing out 109 words per minute of this thing.

Nikita Achanta, Senior Reviews Writer
Read Nikita’s full Epomaker Glyph review

(A note from Nikita's editor, Pete: "I can confirm, the Glyph genuinely hasn't left her desk!")

MSI MPG 341CQR QD-OLED X36

Pro performance for under $1,000
Score: ★★★★½

It’s no secret that MSI knows how to make a great gaming monitor, and its MPG 341CQR QD-OLED X36 is one of the most beautiful displays I’ve ever tested. Blistering 360Hz refresh rate and 0.03ms response time for buttery smooth gameplay? Check. Ridiculously accurate colors and wide color coverage? Yep. AI sleep and wake features that are actually useful and not just a gimmick? Oh yeah. And all of this is packed into a sleek design with plenty of ports. Not much to complain about here, really.

Nikita Achanta, Senior Reviews Writer
Read Nikita’s full MSI MPG 341CQR QD-OLED X36 review

Viture Beast AR glasses

Beast by name, beast by nature
Score: ★★★★½

I’ve traveled the world testing all of this year’s biggest AR glasses releases, and Viture Beast stands head and shoulders above the pack as the best I’ve used this year (so far). There’s three reasons why: picture quality, comfort and features. Viture’s color science and fidelity really shines in those micro-OLED displays with a massive 58-degree field of view. There’s a little edge fringing on the sides, but given the massive vision field, it’s unlikely you’ll notice it. And this is packed into a nice-feeling pair of glasses with a soft-touch coating that sits gently on your ears with optimal weight balance. Cap it all off with plenty of customization built in, plus the SpaceWalker app for multi-monitor home office setups, and the Beast are…well…pretty beastly for work and play.

Jason England, Managing Editor, Core Tech
Read Jason's full Viture Beast review

Fitness

Fitbit Air

The best Whoop alternative, and subscription-free
Score: ★★★★☆

The Fitbit Air is my fitness tracker of the year so far. Discreet and distraction-free (no screen), this is a fitness tracker that's easy to use, lightweight, and oh-so-comfortable. Just $99 and subscription-free for core features, it offers a week of battery life and covers all the holistic metrics you'd expect from a modern device, like heart health, sleep quality, daily movement, and workouts. For most people, this is the best screen-free fitness tracker you can buy, and the new Google Health companion app makes viewing all your health data a dream.

Jane McGuire, Managing Editor, Fitness
Read our full Fitbit Air review

Salomon XT-6

Hike, shop or relax in comfort and style
Score: ★★★★½

The Salomon XT-6 shoes have become a staple in my closet. Whether I’m heading to the store or hitting up a challenging trail on the weekend, I know I’ll be supported. I wore these hiking sneakers on a city break, where I clocked over 93,000 steps and didn’t have a single complaint. Not only that, the multidirectional lugs kept me stable on even the trickiest terrain, as I hiked in mud, over rocks, and through water.

On top of their technical ability, the XT-6s are a fashion statement, worn all over New York by fashion-forward celebs; these shoes have earned a coveted spot in my daily rotation — although you’ll find me cleaning the mud off them after each adventure.

Ashley Thieme, Staff Writer
Read Ashley’s full Salomon XT-6 review

Homes

Dyson V16 Piston Animal Cordless

A powerful cordless Dyson that's perfect for pet owners
Score: ★★★★☆

I’ve tested my fair share of Dyson vacuum cleaners in my time, but I must say that the V16 combines all of my favorite features in one cleaner. First, its upgraded ‘Fluffy Cones’ head is designed to be used on both carpets and hard flooring without the need to swap over attachments. This is a great time-saver, and lets me quickly zip around my home without pausing. Perhaps my favorite feature is the dust-detecting green light which reveals those hidden dustballs lurking underneath furniture and in corners. Plus, it’s lightweight and easy to store, which is why it’s now my go-to for daily maintenance, and why I awarded our Editor’s Choice badge.

Cynthia Lawrence, Homes Editor
Read Cynthia’s full Dyson V16 Piston Animal Cordless review

KitchenAid Artisan Plus

The latest version of KitchenAid's legendary mixer, and the best one yet
Score: ★★★★★

I got to test KitchenAid’s newest stand mixer, the Artisan Plus, and it’s even better than I imagined. I’d been happily using KitchenAid’s Artisan stand mixer as my go-to appliance for a good few years, and I really didn’t see how it could be improved, but it has. It may only seem like a few tweaks, but they have made a big difference. From the sliding speed control that just glides, to the in-bowl light, which illuminates the mix — and let's not forget the double-edge flex beater that cleans the bowl as it sweeps past— I loved it so much during testing that I gave it a 5-star rating.

Camilla Sharman, Staff Writer
Read Camilla’s full KitchenAid Artisan Plus review

Gozney Dome XL (Gen 2)

The undisputed king of pizza ovens
Score: ★★★★★

If you’re a dedicated — and I mean dedicated — at-home pizza maker, the Gozney Dome XL (Gen 2) is the closest you’ll come to actually building a pizza oven from scratch. It can run on either gas, wood, or charcoal, has dual temperature probes, and is big enough to fit a 16-inch pie with room to spare. I loved its easy-to-ready displays, and the design of the oven is just gorgeous, too. Yes, it’s huge and it’s expensive (I’ve made equally good pizzas in much cheaper ovens), but this is the oven that’ll signal you’re the real pizzaiolo in your neighborhood.

Mike Prospero, U.S. Editor-in-chief
Read Mike’s full Gozney Dome XL (Gen 2) review

Fellow Espresso Series 1

Beginners or pros, coffee snobs or otherwise — this one is for everyone
Score: ★★★★½

When Fellow designed the Espresso Series 1, it looked at the other espresso machines out there and thought, “I’m going to do something different.” And different the Espresso Series 1 is. When I tested this machine, I loved that it provided coffee-snob-approved features while still being usable for complete beginners. On top of having a litany of customization options on the machine itself, I loved having the app, which walked me through how to make every type of coffee ever invented. You may think this is too ambitious, but for me, the Espresso Series 1 hits all its marks and comes out victorious.

Erin Bashford, Senior Reviews Writer
Read Erin’s full Fellow Espresso Series 1 review

Phones

Apple iPhone 17

A surprisingly solid update over the previous generation
Score: ★★★★½

Apple launched more new phones than in any previous year, but the iPhone 17 remains my favorite for several reasons. One thing that makes it stand out is that it finally got a long-overdue upgrade to a 120Hz refresh rate, making its screen look even more fluid than before in testing. On top of that, I really love how it didn’t get a price hike and still managed to get double the starting storage.

John Velasco, Senior Phones Editor
Read John's full iPhone 17 review

Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra

The phone that'll get better over time
Score: ★★★★½

When it comes to Android phones, nothing caught my eye more than the Galaxy S26 Ultra. Samsung’s flagship received all the iterative updates it deserved, but one particular new feature stood out most: the Privacy Display. It works like magic, making the screen look dark when someone tries to peek at it from the side. You can even customize it to block out specific parts of the display — like when you’re messaging someone. This exclusive feature is what sets it apart from everything else.

John Velasco, Senior Phones Editor
Read our full Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra review

Sleep

Saatva Zenhaven Mattress

What you should be sleeping on in 2026
Score: ★★★★½

The Saatva Zenhaven latex mattress blew our socks off during testing, thanks to its naturally cooling and supportive sleep feel for eco-conscious shoppers. Handcrafted in the US from (mostly) organic materials, the Zenhaven boasts a flippable design with a different tension on each side: Luxury Plush and Gentle Firm. We appreciated how one side boasted more cushioning for side sleepers, while the unyielding feel of the firmer side best-suited back and stomach sleepers. At $3,549 at full MSRP it’s a splurge, but cheaper during Saatva mattress sales. However, it’s worth noting that latex mattresses can last up to 20 years, so we think it’s worth the investment.

Nicola Appleton, Sleep Editor
Read our full Saatva Zenhaven Mattress review

Fitnexa SomniPods 3

If you struggle sleeping, these earbuds are for you
Score: ★★★★☆

The Fitnexa SomniPods 3 are compact sleep earbuds that helped me sleep better in even the most disruptive environments (like my neighbor's son playing basketball at unsociable hours). Fitted with built-in white noise, excellent active noise cancelation, plus sleep tracking features, they’re an easy recommendation for any troubled sleepers. But the real stand-out feature for me is the Fitnexa app. Here, your own AI coach waits for you, ready to provide personalized advice based on your sleep tracking data, activity logs and food diaries. The info isn’t quite on par with a qualified sleep professional but thanks to the wealth of data to draw from, it was pretty spot on in testing, helping take the SomniPods from sleep earbud to all-round sleep enhancer.

Ruth Jones, Senior Sleep Writer
Read Ruth's full Fitnexa SomniPods 3 review

Smart home & security

Blink Battery Doorbell 2K+

A fantastic way to improve security on a budget
Score: ★★★★☆

Blink has long been one of our favorite budget smart home brands, and its newest battery-powered video doorbell furthers its reputation as a value leader. The Battery Doorbell 2K+ delivered very good 2K video in our testing — not the tops, but for a sub-$100 device it was more than acceptable. And, while it runs on AA batteries, they’ll last up to two years on a charge. You can also use this video doorbell without a subscription (you’ll need to purchase a separate adapter), but Blink’s subscription price is relatively affordable.

Mike Prospero, U.S. Editor-in-chief
Read our full Blink Battery Doorbell 2K+ review

TV & Audio

Samsung S95H OLED

Supreme picture quality, even in bright rooms
Score: ★★★★★

I’ve tested countless TVs, but the Samsung S95H is the first unit in several years that truly surpassed all my expectations. It completely shatters the familiar rules of OLED, obliterating ambient glare and delivering an unprecedented, jaw-dropping brightness in the self-emissive category. Even the floating metal bezel (a design choice I fully assumed I'd hate) adds a striking, premium presence I grew to love. Between its breathtaking performance and how seamlessly it transitions into a decor piece via Samsung Art Store support, this is a flagship that stands as a definitive standard-bearer.

Kate Kozuch, Managing Editor
Read Kate's full Samsung S95H OLED review

AirPods Max 2

Everything is dialed up to 11
Score: ★★★★½

It’s impossible to be a tech lover and not have strong opinions about Apple’s new AirPods Max 2. Some people love them, some people hate them, but I’m firmly in the first camp. The AirPods Max 2 are headphones that know what they’re about, and they’re not apologizing for it. With gorgeous anodized aluminum ear cups and an all-metal headband, they’re not the lightest cans in the world, but the sound more than makes up for it.

Every detail is clear, mids are melodic and vivacious, and the bass is balanced, rich, and warm. Of course, you’ve also got industry-leading smart tech features like Live Translation and integrated Siri, but Apple users looking for the best headphones need look no further than Apple’s own.

Erin Bashford, Senior Reviews Writer
Read Erin’s full Apple AirPods Max 2 review

Beyerdynamic Amiron ZERO

Open earbuds that make no sacrifices
Score: ★★★★½

The Beyerdynamic Amiron ZERO have completely changed the way I think about open-earbuds (and I’ve tested a lot). Up until testing the ZEROs, I’d accepted that if I wanted ambient awareness, comfort and stability while working out, I’d need to sacrifice sound quality — but they prove that’s not the case. They provided me with the detailed listening experience I love from Beyerdynamic’s other headphones, without compromising bass performance, delivering perfectly balanced sound. I wear them when I’m working, running, or hiking in the rain (thanks to IP54 durability). They’re the only open earbuds I’ve tested with no compromises.

Ashley Thieme, Staff Writer
Read Ashley’s full Beyerdynamic Amiron ZERO review

JBL Xtreme 5

The party speaker for summer 2026
Score: ★★★★½

The JBL Xtreme 5 came, it saw, and it conquered. JBL really understood the assignment with the surprise follow-up to 2024’s Xtreme 4. Everything about the Xtreme 5 oozes confidence: the deft, controlled bass that’ll have your floorboards shaking and your bones quaking; the literally unbeatable IP68 rating that protects it against rain, sand, and drops; the gorpcore, utilitarian design; and of course the rugged 24-hour battery life. This is the party speaker of 2026. I’ve tested hundreds of audio products and Bluetooth speakers, but the Xtreme 5 is a special one.

Erin Bashford, Senior Reviews Writer
Read Erin’s full JBL Xtreme 5 review

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This summer has been hot, with record-breaking temperatures all across the globe. Europe was baking with 100-plus-degree heat, while back here in the U.S., we weren't doing much better. At least we have air conditioning!

Unless we're suddenly plunged into another ice age, summers are only going to get hotter — and our bills will continue to rise — so we need to find better, and more efficient ways of keeping our homes cool without emptying our 401(k)s.

Over the past few years, I've tested a number of smart air conditioners, smart thermostats, and fans, so I've found a few things that really help to keeping myself, my family, and my house at a comfortable temperature.

In the house

Keeping cool for the summer

My house doesn't have central air, so we rely on window air conditioners to keep things cool during the summer. It offers me an excellent opportunity to test the best smart air conditioners; I've been using the LG Dual Inverter window air conditioner for about seven years now, and it's shown no signs of stopping.

Even though I don't have central air, I do have an Ecobee Premium smart thermostat, which controls the heat in the winter. However, during the summer months, I can still put it — and its remote sensors — to use, by creating a smart home routine to activate my window air conditioners if things get too hot.

For example, my attic doubles as my office, so there's a lot of electronics up there. If I'm not around, I want to make sure things don't overheat, but I don't want to use a ton of energy cooling it to what I would consider comfortable. So, I created a smart home routine that will cool my attic to around 85 degrees F, but only if no one is up there.

Of course, you can use lots of different devices to act as remote temperature sensors, such as the Amazon Echo Dot. My colleague, Anthony Spadafora, has even used one to monitor the temperature in his garage to keep it cool.

You can also use a less expensive sensor, like the $9 IKEA Timmerflotte. The latter is even Matter-compatible, and while others have had difficulty in connecting IKEA's new smart home devices, I was able to add them pretty easily to my Apple Home setup. I tried all of IKEA's smart home devices, and two really stood out to me.

Wife check

The biggest issue with the LG air conditioner? It's super-heavy (around 90 pounds), so I need my wife's help to put it in the window, and then take it out in the fall. To ease her (and my) burden), I decided to test the Dreo 740S portable air conditioner — the first portable model I've tested.

I've had it installed since early June, and it's seen us through a couple of heat waves, where the outside temperature was in the upper 90s. But while I've been pleased with its performance (and the fact that I can simply wheel it around), my wife pointed out that its hoses not only take up a ton of space, but they don't really look great, either.

Yes, it's far easier to install, and it's one of the most efficient portable air conditioners, but aesthetics do matter. It's not something I might have noticed on my own, which is why it's been great to have a second opinion.

Making your yard work

What about staying cool outdoors? Last summer, I put two smart coolers to the test, and the Anker Solix Everfrost 2.0 came out on top for its rollable design and much longer battery life.

I'm still using it this summer; I recently hosted an outdoor watch party for a World Cup soccer match, and filled the cooler with beer and other beverages for my neighbors. Just make sure not to leave it out in the rain; I did that once, and messed up one of the charging ports. Fortunately, the rest of the cooler was unaffected, but I do wish it was a little more weather resistant, given its price.

Kid-tested

My kid doesn't always like her air conditioner on — she says it makes too much noise — but what she does like is a small portable fan right by her bed. She's been using the Switchbot Circulator fan, which is surprisingly silent, even at its maximum speed. The fan can oscillate and tilt, be set on a timer, and even has a nightlight.

The fan can be plugged in or run on battery power depending on the model that you get, and can be controlled either by pressing buttons on the fan's base, using the remote, or via Switchbot's app (she's already lost the remote).

And, because it's a connected device, I can also use it in smart home routines to turn on automatically if the temperature in a room gets too hot. Just note that to use the smart features, you also have to buy a Switchbot hub, which will run you an extra $50.

Pet corner

Keeping the pets cool

As the owners of 2.75 pets — two cats and a dog with a missing leg — we like to find ways to keep them happy and healthy, while making less work for us.

I've been using the Petsafe Drinkwell water fountain now for six years, and it's mostly held up. Both the cats and the dogs have been using it with no complaints, though I have had to make some modifications to it over the years.

Inside the fountain, there's a pump at the bottom which connects to a filter, and then to a pipe which pumps the water up to the top of the fountain. After a few years, the connection between the filter and the pipe loosened a bit, which meant that water did not flow upwards as easily.

As a result, the water did not flow out the top of the fountain with as much force, so the waterfall was more like a dribble, and when it landed below, it didn't hit the diffuser. Instead, it hit the water in the basin, which makes a ton of noise — it's like when your kid leaves the faucet running.

I tried a few things to fix this. First, I hot-glued the connection between the pipe and the filter, but that only worked temporarily. I ultimately just cut a piece of a plastic milk carton and taped it to the top of the fountain, so that the water would hit the right spot. It's not pretty, but it works.

Petsafe no longer makes the fountain I tested, but the Petsafe Oasys looks to be the closest successor. It comes in multiple sizes; the 2-gallon model works for both cats and dogs.

Have your say

Do you have any questions about what devices you should get, or how to best use them in your home? Are there any topics you'd like to see me cover? Let me know by dropping me a line.

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Anyone can automate their home nowadays. From turning on the AC to switching off lights, building a smart home is easier than ever. And now Best Buy is trying to make it more affordable thanks to its latest deal.

For a limited time, Best Buy has the Google Home Speaker bundled with a Nest Learning Thermostat with Sensor on sale for $299. That's $80 cheaper than buying them separately.

The newly updated Google Home Speaker looks better than ever thanks to its more compact design and stylish new look. In our Google Home Speaker review, we said the new speaker can do a lot more than just turn on your lights. It now sports Gemini support, which is much smarter than Google Assistant. It includes Gemini for Home for free, but we recommend upgrading it to Google Home Premium Standard ($10/month), which gives you access to a more conversational version of Gemini.

Meanwhile, the Nest Learning Thermostat is one of the best smart thermostats we've tested. It, too, has received an AI upgrade which makes managing your cooling and heating easier while helping you lower your energy bill. Plus, it's easier to spot problems with your HVAC system right from your thermostat instead of waiting until something goes wrong. The new version is also easier to install than previous models. (You don't need a C-wire to power the device and you don't need to buy an adaptor kit).

The Nest Learning Thermostat can usually be found on sale, but Best Buy's discount is unique in that it saves you $80 and includes the Google Home Speaker. It's the perfect device combo for anyone looking to automate their home.

The best smart locks have long been a useful tool, but one of the biggest issues hampering their adoption has been battery life. Unlike most other smart home devices, smart locks have to operate without being plugged in, which means you have to change or recharge their batteries on a regular basis.

Now it seems that issue is being solved. I recently tested two smart locks that have solar panels built right into them. That means you never have to worry about your lock running out of juice and having to find an external power bank or the physical keys in order to do something as simple as get inside your own home.

The Desloc V150 Plus and Lockin Veno Solar offer some similar features, but actually vary more than you might expect. Here's a look at both of them, and what makes one better than the other.

Desloc V150 Plus vs. Lockin Veno Solar: Price and availability

The first major difference between these two locks is their price, and it's a pretty dramatic difference. While the Desloc V150 Plus has a Kickstarter price starting at $169. Its retail price is as high as $399.99. It will be available through retail channels starting in August, so if you want one it may be worth seeing if it's still available at a discount through Kickstarter.

The Lockin Veno Solar, by contrast, is available now, and it's dramatically cheaper when it comes to the retail price. There are actually two models available: one which has a face scanner and the other a palm vein scanner. I tested the face scanner, which put it on a more level playing field with the Desloc V150 Plus. Both models, however, cost $199 or around half the retail price of the Desloc. There's also a bundle with a door handle for $259.99.

Winner: Lockin Veno Solar

Specs

Desloc V150 Plus vs. Lockin Veno Solar: Design and setup

While the two locks don't look exactly the same, I wouldn't necessarily say that one of them looks much better than the other. Both of them definitely look like smart home gadgets, which isn't necessarily a bad thing, but is worth noting for those who might want something more that leans more towards luxury.

The exterior portion of both of these blocks is a relatively bulky black rectangle made of metal and plastic. The Desloc V150 Plus has a large rectangular solar panel which sits in between the face scanner and a fingerprint scanner. It does not have a PIN pad.

By contrast, the Lockin Veno Solar does have a PIN pad, but there is no fingerprint scanner. Both locks have an interior portion that houses the battery and has a thumb latch for manual locking and unlocking.

The build quality is pretty similar, but the Desloc does feel slightly more durable. It has an IP65 rating for weather resistance, which is better than the IP53 rating offered by the Lockin Veno Solar. I suspect both of them will be able to withstand most weather events, but if you're worried about damage, then the Desloc is probably the more durable option. They both have BHMA Grade 3 deadbolt certification.

Installation of the two locks is pretty similar. Both of them require that you completely remove your existing deadbolt and locking mechanism. Once that's done, you'll install the included deadbolt, then thread the exterior portion of the lock through the deadbolt and attach it to a base plate. Finally, you'll screw the interior portion of the lock into the base plate. Then you'll download the lock's respective apps, create an account, and add the lock to your account.

Winner: Desloc V150 Plus

Desloc V150 Plus vs. Lockin Veno Solar: App and smart home

Software support is another area in which the two locks diverge. The V150 Plus runs on Desloc's existing app and connects to Wi-Fi and Bluetooth without needing a hub. I found the app decently easy to use. Adding fingerprints and faces was straightforward, I could remotely lock and unlock the door, and I got real-time access logs and battery information, including a chart showing how much battery the device has gained through solar power. Hopefully, of course, you won't need to worry much about battery at all.

The Lockin Smart app, similarly, covers the basics well. You can generate one-time PINs, enroll new faces and codes, configure auto-lock, and so on. I would have liked an overview of how much battery the lock gains over time, the way Desloc offers, but its absence isn't a big deal. With the Desloc, I found that I checked the battery gain once or twice over the first few days, then mostly forgot about it.

The big area where the Lockin Veno Solar pulls ahead is in smart home support. The Desloc V150 Plus supports Google Home and Amazon Alexa, but Lockin goes much further with Matter support. That essentially means that you can add the Veno Solar to any modern smart home ecosystem, including Google Home, Amazon Alexa, Apple Home, and more.

Sure, for those who use Google Home or Alexa, that difference may not be a very big deal. But what if you want to change ecosystems down the line? Or what if your partner uses an iPhone while you use an Android device? Matter support solves all of these issues, and it's kind of becoming table stakes for smart home devices, at least when the Matter spec supports them like it does locks.

Winner: Lockin Veno Solar

Desloc V150 Plus vs. Lockin Veno Solar: Performance

When it comes to speed and reliability of unlocking, neither of these smart locks is incredibly impressive. However, each has one feature that the other doesn't. The Desloc V150 Plus doesn't have a PIN pad, which is kind of a major omission, and means that you can't easily assign guest codes. What it does have is a fingerprint sensor, and that can come in handy given the fact that the face scanner is pretty slow. Much of the time I found that it was faster to scan my fingerprint to unlock the door than wait the few seconds for the lock to scan my face.

The Lockin Veno Solar doesn't have a fingerprint scanner but does have a PIN pad. It was actually faster to just wait for the lock to scan my face, even though it did take a few seconds. I'm not sure either of these two locks was faster at face scanning than the other. That's not a good thing; they were both slow. If you're deciding between these two locks, you'll have to determine whether you prefer to have a PIN pad or a fingerprint scanner.

It's also worth quickly noting that the Lockin Veno Solar had much more reliable Wi-Fi connectivity. Both of these locks were installed on a garden shed in my backyard, which can sometimes have spotty reception. The Desloc V150 Plus struggled a fair bit to retain a Wi-Fi connection, but the Lockin Veno Solar had no such issue. That will really only be an issue for you if you plan on putting your smart lock in an area where Wi-Fi reception isn't all that good. For most people who install the lock on their front door, both locks will retain connectivity perfectly fine.

Winner: Lockin Veno Solar

Desloc V150 Plus vs. Lockin Veno Solar: Battery life and recharging

Given the fact that these are both solar-powered locks, perhaps one of the more important questions is whether or not you'll need to worry about battery and charging. Thankfully, they both charged perfectly fine, and while they don't charge very quickly, that doesn't really matter. Basically, you'll never have to worry about whether or not your lock is charged up.

Again, don't expect them to fully charge overnight. When I first installed the Desloc V150 Plus, it had around 12% battery. A week later, it had 34%. When I installed the Lockin Veno Solar, it arrived with around 83%, and a week later, it had 90%. The actual charging speed, of course, doesn't really matter all that much. What matters is that they're not losing power over time. And if you fully charge your lock when you first get it, I expect both of these locks will remain around 100% at all times.

Winner: Tie

Desloc V150 Plus vs. Lockin Veno Solar: Verdict

For now, if you're looking for a smart lock with a solar charger, it's probably worth buying the Lockin Veno Solar. It may not have a fingerprint reader, but it does have a pin pad, plus it's around half the price of the Desloc V150 Plus.

That said, if a fingerprint reader really is important to you and you find a solar panel important, then you'll still like what's offered by the Desloc V150 Plus. You'll just have to stomach the additional cost or try to snag one from the Kickstarter campaign.

The alternative, of course, is to wait a little for solar panels to become more common on smart locks. The first few smart locks with solar panels feel a bit more like proofs-of-concept rather than the complete package.

I would have liked to see a lock with both a fingerprint scanner and a pin pad. That's not to mention support for Matter and even tech like Apple's Home Key and Ultra Wideband. I expect eventually we'll get these features in solar-powered locks, but for now, we'll have to wait.

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Of all the annual chores I have to perform around my house, one of my least favorite is installing window AC units in the early summer, and taking them out in the fall. While most of the ones in my house are fairly small, the one we use to cool the first floor — the LG Dual Inverter window air conditioner — is a monster. I always feel like I’m going to either throw my back out or somehow drop the entire unit out the window.

That’s why Dreo’s new 740S Portable Air Conditioner looked so intriguing to me — I wasn’t going to risk a herniated disc trying to keep my house cool. And, because this unit uses inverter technology, it’s a lot more efficient than older portable ACs.

So, I set up the Dreo 740S in my house to see how it compared to the best smart air conditioners, and if it could genuinely replace my trusted — but heavy — window unit.

Price and availability

Dreo has six portable air conditioners in its lineup; The 740S, which went on sale in the late spring of 2026, costs $699, and is the most expensive model. However, some of the other models in Dreo’s lineup are more powerful, have many of the same features, yet cost less. So why is that?

It’s because the 740S uses an inverter to cool air, whereas all of Dreo’s other models use older compressor technology. As a result, the 740S is far more efficient than Dreo’s other portable air conditioners.

While the 740S isn’t as efficient as, say, the Midea U or the LG Dual Inverter (15 and 14.7 EER, respectively), it’s pretty close.

Design

The Dreo 740S air conditioner itself looks rather sleek. It’s about the size of a mini fridge and has curved edges that taper gently towards the top which has two louvers. The front of the AC is clean, except for a large circular display and some touch controls beneath. The controls were easy to read and use, as was the display.

Even more clever: On the top of the unit, just behind the louvers, is a small flat surface that’s magnetized; here, you can place the Dreo’s remote, which will remain securely in place.

As someone who’s heaved their share of air conditioners in and out of windows, I really appreciated the casters on the bottom of the Dreo, which let me roll it wherever I wanted, as well as the handles on the side of the unit.

It’s around the back of the Dreo where things get a little messy. There are two large circular vents — one for exhaust air intake, and one to expel the hot air. To these vents, you connect large accordion-style hoses, which attach to a plastic insert that goes in your window. The insert can expand or retract to fit windows from 20 to 53 inches wide, and can be mounted either vertically or horizontally. Each hose is about six inches in diameter.

If I lived in a modern house with windows that extended all the way to the floor, it would be easy to conceal these hoses and have the AC sit closer to the window. However, because my window sits about two feet above the floor, I have to extend the hoses up and out. Not only is it far less attractive, but it also means that the air conditioner sits about two feet into the room.

Of course, this is a problem endemic to all portable air conditioners, so perhaps I might be knocking Dreo a bit too hard, but it's still a major consideration if you're choosing

By comparison, the window unit I’ve used for the past few years extends less than a foot into the room, making it far less obtrusive.

Like most air conditioners, the Dreo also needs to expel condensation; it has a built-in evaporator, so it should be able to handle most water on its own, but it does have two drain plugs on the back: one at the bottom, and one in the middle of the unit. The company includes a small drain hose, so if you’re in a high humidity environment, you can let the Dreo drain itself.

However, as with the vent hoses, I had no easy way to route the drain hose outside of my house. Fortunately, even though I live in a pretty humid area, I have yet to need to drain the air conditioner myself.

Performance

The 740S did nearly as good a job cooling the bottom floor of my house as the 14,000-BTU LG Dual Inverter air conditioner that I’ve been using for nearly eight years. It was able to bring the temperature down on the ground level of my house in a relatively short amount of time, and keep it there. It took slightly longer than the LG unit, but that's to be expected given its smaller capacity.

At full power, I recorded a noise level of 54 dB from 10 feet away from the air conditioner; the ambient room noise was 33 dB. That’s a bit louder than I’d like, but once the temperature hit the right level, the AC ramped down, and was much quieter.

On one of the hotter days of the year, when the temperature reached the upper 90s, the Dreo kept the temperature on the ground floor of my house (a few hundred square feet) at around 79 degrees F. Over the course of seven and a half hours, it used 3.54 kWh of electricity, according to the Dreo app.

I also like that you can adjust the angle of the Dreo’s louvers (using either the app or the remote control) so you can better direct airflow throughout your room.

Smart Home and app

Dreo’s app is well-designed and easy to use. Devices are grouped by rooms, which gives you a quick overview of its status; a tap then brings you into the settings for that device. For example, tapping on the AC’s temperature opens a screen where you can adjust its temperature, cooling mode, fan speed, and more.

I also like that Dreo lets you turn off the AC’s display and sounds, so that it’s not distracting if you’re using it in the same room as the one in which you’re sleeping.

The Dreo works with both Alexa and Google Home, but surprisingly, is not Matter-compatible, which was a bit of a disappointment, considering some of Dreo’s other smart home devices use this new universal standard. Still, I was able to easily create a smart home routine that turned the Dreo on to a set temperature if another sensor noted that things were getting too hot.

Verdict

As far as portable air conditioners go, the Dreo does a good job at keeping things cool. I also liked that I could easily roll it around, and didn’t have to worry about draining it. However, the aesthetics of having two large tubes extending out your window isn’t great, nor is the fact that it takes up a lot more space than a window air conditioner.

And while it’s far more efficient than other portable air conditioners, you’ll pay for the privilege. A comparable LG 10,000 BTU dual-inverter window AC unit (with a higher SEER rating of 15) costs $499 at Amazon. Yes, it weighs 62 pounds, but my spouse is game to help me.

If you happen to have a window whose openings are closer to the floor, then you can better hide the Dreo’s large exhaust vents, and make the whole thing look more aesthetically pleasing — and take up less space in the process. Until I can remodel my house, though, I’ll have to remember to lift with my legs.

Unlocking your smart lock from your phone is cool, but the real challenge now is ironing out the practical issues that come with making your lock smart — like having to keep it powered when you never had to worry about that before. A few newer locks are trying to solve this, and the Desloc V150 Plus might be the most interesting attempt.

The V150 Plus has a solar panel built right into it, designed to charge the lock so you never have to think about whether it has enough juice to let you in. It doesn't skimp on other features either -- you get fingerprint and facial recognition unlocking, so it's easy to get through your door without pulling out your phone.

So how well does that solar panel actually perform, and is this one of the best smart locks outside of that? I've been using the Desloc V150 to find out.

Price and availability

The Desloc V150 Plus is now available through a Kickstarter campaign, and Desloc says that it will be available from retailers starting in August. The Kickstarter lists the lock as being around $169 though, so if you know you want it, it may be worth buying through the Kickstarter.

Design and setup

For the most part, the Desloc V150 Plus looks much like other smart locks — until you look a little closer. Like other smart locks, the exterior portion is rectangular and made of a combination of black metal and plastic. But unlike many other smart locks, when you approach it, a pin pad won't illuminate for you to punch in a code. That's because the surface on the front of the lock isn't a pin pad at all — it's a solar panel that charges the built-in battery.

Apart from the 4.8-inch solar panel, the lock also has a fingerprint sensor towards the bottom and two cameras towards the top that are used for facial recognition. In other words, while there's no pin pad, there are still multiple ways to unlock the door.

The interior portion looks even more like other smart locks. There's a thumb latch to manually lock and unlock the door, along with a cover for the main battery, which hopefully you'll never have to actually open.

The lock should be able to survive most weather with its IP65 rating. Plus, it has BHMA Grade 3 certification for deadbolt strength.

This is a full deadbolt replacement, not a retrofit overlay. You'll remove your door's original deadbolt, align the new tailpiece with the latch, and mount the exterior and interior assemblies. Once it's powered, the lock runs a calibration routine to learn the bolt travel and ensure smooth locking, after which you can test the interior thumb-turn. None of that is unusual, and Desloc's installation process on previous locks has been straightforward enough.

Once you've physically set up the lock, you'll download the Desloc app and create an account, or sign in if you don't already have one. From there, you'll be able to add your face for facial recognition and add your fingerprint for the fingerprint scanner.

App and smart home

The V150 Plus runs on Desloc's existing app, and it connects to Wi-Fi and Bluetooth without the need for additional hubs.

For the most part, I found the app easy to use. I was able to add fingerprints and faces without issue. Plus, I could remotely lock or unlock the door with it. You'll also get real-time access logs and battery information, which, again, hopefully you'll never really need to see.

Another thing that the app shows, which is only really interesting for a solar-powered model like this, is how much power it gets each day. The app also includes a "Landlord mode" for rental scheduling and access-profile management, built around a calendar-style interface for organizing tenant codes and monitoring usage.

Combined with the self-charging design, that could make the V150 Plus genuinely appealing to small landlords, since the solar system would cut down on site visits just to swap batteries — though of course that might introduce complications around accounts and unlocking methods; since there's no keypad, each new tenant would have to register either their fingerprints or face.

Auto-lock, meanwhile, ties into a door-closure sensor so the lock only engages once the door is fully latched -- a subtle detail, but an important one, because it prevents the false sense of security you get from a lock that fires before the door has actually closed.

On the smart-home side, the lock integrates with Amazon Alexa and Google Home for voice control, but that's it, which is pretty disappointing. Unlike cameras, locks have been supported in the Matter spec for some time now. And at this point, there's really no good excuse for smart locks not to support Matter. Without Matter support, you won't be able to use the Desloc V150 Plus with Apple HomeKit or other smart home standards beyond Alexa and Google Home.

Performance and battery life

Perhaps the most important aspect of this lock, of course, is how its battery and charging system works. I found it to work perfectly well. When I first set up the lock, I skipped the instructions to fully charge the battery, and the app reported that the battery had 12% left.

After around a week, it was at 34%. In other words, it doesn't charge all that quickly, but if I had fully charged the battery when I first set up the lock, I would never really need to worry about the lock running out of juice, and would expect that it would retain near 100% of its battery at all times. I had the lock set up in a location that doesn't get tons of direct sunlight, but it does get a few hours per day. It also has a USB-C port for emergency power if, for example, the battery stops working.

I did find, unfortunately, that the fingerprint scanner and face scanner were somewhat slow, but they did work the majority of the time. It usually took a few seconds for the face scanner to recognize me, and I actually found that it was faster to use the fingerprint scanner. What that means is that while the face scanner is a nice feature, it's perhaps likely to be treated as a backup for when you're carrying something, rather than as the primary way to unlock the door.

Verdict

The Desloc V150 Plus is a perfectly fine lock, but needs a bit of refinement before it can compete with the best smart locks. Obviously, the fact that you'll never have to manually replace the batteries or charge it is a nice feature. But without Matter support, it's limited in the smart home ecosystems that it works in.

Plus, it unlocks relatively slowly, especially compared to plenty of other smart locks out there. Again, it's not a bad product. For the right person, it might be the way to go, especially for those in the Google or Amazon ecosystems, or who don't mind using the dedicated app.

If you're looking for a lock with a built-in solar panel, the Lockin Veno Solar is Matter-compatible, comes with either face or palm unlocking, and has both a keypad and a physical key slot, making it feel like a more complete product.

Mowing my yard is one chore I never look forward to. Well, at least not as I get older. I used to love mowing the grass for the workout, but now it does nothing but trigger my allergies.

I've experimented with robot lawnmowers in the past. I've paid $175 a month — even during the winter, when they weren't in use — to rent a couple of Husqvarna mowers from a landscaping company. Eventually, I realized it wasn't a wise investment, so I canceled the contract. Later on, I tested the EcoFlow Blade for a while, but its wheels loved to dig holes in my yard with each and every turn, so eventually I stopped using it.

For the last month, I've been testing the Sunseeker S4, a robot lawnmower that leverages AI and LiDAR for mapping and navigation. I don't want to spoil the review, but I'm smitten.

Sunseeker S4 review: Price and availability

The Sunseeker S4 is currently available directly from Sunseeker with a regular price of $1,799 but a sale price of $1,299, but Amazon has it on sale right now for just $984. That includes the robot lawnmower, a docking station, extra blades, and a cleaning brush for the LiDAR sensor.

If you're reading this and the S4 has returned to its normal price, I'd wait for a sale.

Sunseeker S4 review: Design

The S4 doesn't break the mold when it comes to the robot lawnmower's overall design. It's compact, measuring 25.12 x 16.61 x 10.79 inches, and weighs 26 pounds. In the event the robot gets stuck somewhere and you need to lift it, there's a handle built into the rear of the housing that makes it a breeze to pick up.

On the front of the S4 is a monocular camera with a 360-degree LiDAR sensor on top. It's tucked into a bumper that slightly moves in when the lawnmower presses against a hard object, The sensor is easy to spot due to its black bubble-like housing.

Behind the LiDAR bubble is a flip-up cover that hides an LCD display and a few buttons you can use to interact with the S4 — although I rarely had a need to do so — and a manual dial you use to adjust the cutting height, which ranges from 1.6 to 3.2 inches. There's a giant red STOP button that you can press to immediately stop the S4 in case of an emergency.

Underneath the stop button is the handle I previously mentioned. The S4 is rear-wheel driven with two trolley wheels that spin and move wherever the two rear wheels push the robot. Sunseeker's specs put the max gradient at 22 degrees — a stat that didn't apply to my mostly flat backyard. However, there's a slight slope to my front yard (I've never measured it), but the S4 didn't have any issues with slipping, even if the grass was wet.

When you flip the S4 over, you'll see six blades attached to a disc. It always amazes me when I test a robot lawnmower how small the blades are; they often look like razor blades you'd find in a box cutter.

Sunseeker S4 review: Installation and mapping

Setting up the S4 was a breeze. You'll first need to decide where you want to — and can — install the charging station. It measures 30 x 19 x 14.5 inches and can be placed at the edge of your yard, or even outside of it if you'd rather. You'll need a weatherproof electrical outlet nearby.

I already had a section of my yard that'd been killed by previous robot lawnmower docks, so it was an easy choice for me. I swapped out the old broken station and replaced it with the Sunseeker S4 in about 10 minutes. After sliding the S4 into the charging station, I created an account in the Sunseeker app, connected the S4 to my account and waited for the battery to fully charge.

The app walked me through the initial mapping of my yard, which required me to drive the S4 to a starting point along the edge of my grass. At that point, I could either continue to use my phone as a Bluetooth remote control and manually map my yard, or I could let the S4 automatically roam around the edge and create a map on its own. I stood by, ready to take over if needed, but the S4 slowly and judiciously creeped along the edge of my grass.

The S4 is the first robot lawnmower I've used that maps on its own, and I was impressed. There were a few areas I had to go back and manually drive the S4 over, adding to the existing map, but it was a much easier and streamlined process than I'd experienced with the EcoFlow Blade.

After mapping my backyard, I created a second zone, consisting of my front yard and let the S4 work its magic with mapping. There are a couple of trees in that yard, along with more corners and angled sections — unlike my backyard that has three flat edges. The S4 needed a little more help with correcting the front yard's map, but overall the process was simple.

So simple, in fact, I deleted both maps in the app and went through the process multiple times with similar results. You can save maps in the Sunseeker app and easily switch between them, which is also a nice touch.

My favorite part of mapping my yard, however, wasn't how easy it was, but instead it was the 3D map the LiDAR sensor created that I could view in the app.

It's one thing to read that a device has LiDAR and assume it'll help with object identification, navigation and mapping — but it's another to actually see what the S4 sees, down to the batting cage in the back corner of my yard along with the power and cable lines that run above my yard.

As far as object detection and avoidance goes, the S4 routinely routed itself around objects as big as my English Bulldog who walks in front of it daily, or as small as a Wiffle ball my kids leave in the yard. I didn’t expect it to see the latter at all and run it over instead, but once it gets within a few inches, it stops, slightly turns and goes around it.

Sunseeker S4 review: Performance

With two zones created, I used the Sunseeker app to create a path between them. I then set a schedule for Zone 1, the backyard, to be mowed Monday-Friday between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. There's a gate between my yards, so I couldn't set a schedule for Zone 2 as I have to manually open and close the gate when the robot needs to get through.

According to the Sunseeker app, Zone 1 is 3,184.96 square feet and Zone 2 is 2,690 square feet, for a total of 5,874.96 square feet between the two.

The initial pass over my backyard with grass — which was longer than I'd like to admit — required a couple of trips to the charging station. The S4 ran for around 90 minutes each time, and then took a couple of hours to charge before heading back out to complete the task.

The same can be said about mowing the front yard, which I asked it to do the following day. That process was tedious, only because I had to monitor the battery status in the app to let the S4 into the backyard so it could charge, and then let it back out once the battery was full. In total, it was two trips back and forth.

However, after that initial cut, the S4's cut time has dropped significantly. The backyard does require a return trip to charge for a little over an hour, then it heads back out for 20 minutes to finish the job. In total, it takes just under 2 hours of cutting time to mow the backyard — or just over 3 hours if you include charging time.

If I'm paying attention, I can catch it right after it finishes the backyard and manually redirect it to the front yard. From there, it tackles the rest of the lawn and returns to the dock on its own, completely finished in roughly an hour and forty-five minutes.

As for how good of a job it does at cutting grass, for the first few sessions it'd leave little rows of grass between each pass with the default cutting direction setting. However, after switching the cutting direction to traceless, which means each time the S4 cuts it changes direction, those missed rows have disappeared. If you’d prefer to have patterns cut in your yard, you can set the S4 to create items like a heart, a trophy, a star, or a soccer ball. It can also cut a pattern to represent numbers.

My lone complaint about the cutting performance of the S4 can be said about any of the robot lawnmowers I've owned — none of them can cut the edge of the yard. For the S4, it has a cutting width of 7 inches, but there's 4.3 inches between the edge of the lawnmower's housing and the blades. So, no matter how close you get the map to the edge of your grass, there's always going to be a small section of grass it just can't cut.

It's a fair trade, I guess. Instead of having to bribe my son to mow the yard maybe once every two weeks, my yards are mowed multiple times a week.

Sunseeker S4 review: Storage & maintenance

The S4's charging station serves as the main storage area for the robot when not in use. Along with charging it, there's an overhang to protect the top of the S4, complete with a brush to keep the LiDAR bubble clean. If you want more protection, Sunseeker sells a Sunproof Garage that extends the protection to the entire lawnmower.

During the winter months — and for that matter if you're expecting a lot of rain — I'd recommend removing the S4 from the dock and moving it indoors. During my testing, I had a rainstorm come through that dumped two inches of rain on us in an hour. It took me a couple of days to notice the S4 hadn't run on its set schedule, and upon further inspection I realized it wasn't even turning on.

I turned it upside down, removed the battery and let it dry out for a day, after which it came back to life. I have no idea how high the water got in my yard, but I do know there was standing water most of the night.

It's a good reminder that even though the S4 has an IPX6 waterproof rating, it's still susceptible to the elements.

As for routine maintenance on the S4, the Sunseeker app has a device maintenance menu that tracks when you should replace the blades (after 120 hours of use) and when you should wash the cutting disc (after 60 hours of use).

Otherwise, keeping the front camera and the LiDAR bubble clean are the only things you need to worry about.

Sunseeker S4 review: Verdict

This was my first time using a Sunseeker robot lawnmower, and it did not disappoint. My yard hasn't consistently looked this good in years. The Sunseeker S4 was easy to set up, forgoing the need to install a dedicated GPS antenna like the EcoFlow Blade, or bury a guide wire like previous Husqvarna mowers I've used.

Battery life is good enough for its 0.25-acre limit, and after fine-tuning the settings you'll get a clean cut every time.

Well, except for the edges. Make sure to keep a trimmer handy.

Last week's Prime Day event featured some of the best Amazon device deals of the year — but the good news is, a few hefty discounts are still sticking around. Select Blink, Ring and Echo devices are currently up to 71% off on Amazon.

For instance, you can save up to 56% on a 3-pack of Blink Mini 2K+, bring the price down to just $44. Plus, a two-pack of Ring's latest Battery Doorbell is now 55% off. And if you happen to be a U.S. Soccer you're going to want to pick up this limited edition Echo Pop smart speaker for just $44 to support your team.

Whether you're looking to boost your home's security ahead of summer or you're hoping to revamp your entertainment setup, Amazon has the best devices to help upgrade your smart home. Keep scrolling to check out these deals.

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One of the biggest drawbacks of smart locks is that, unlike traditional locks, they’ll eventually run out of power, which means replacing or recharging their batteries at least once a year.

The best smart locks try to lengthen this time as much as possible, but the Lockin Veno Solar could eliminate that inconvenience entirely. It has a solar panel on the exterior portion that very slowly charges up the lock's battery, so that you never have to worry about recharging it or replacing the batteries.

The Lockin Veno Solar is actually available in two variants -- one has a facial unlock feature, and the other has a palm vein unlocking feature. I’ve been testing the Face model to find out if it does enough beyond simply taking care of power for you to be worth buying.

Lockin Veno Solar review: Price and availability

The Veno Solar series went on sale in mid- 2026, with both the Palm and Face models starting at $199 (you can pay $259.99 for a model that bundles a door handle). I'm reviewing the Face variant.

You can get the Lockin Veno Solar series for yourself straight from the Lockin website or from Amazon.

Design and setup

Installing the Lockin Veno Solar is very similar to installing any other smart lock that replaces your deadbolt. This is not a retrofit lock, so you will need to replace the interior thumb latch, the deadbolt in the door, and the exterior portion of the lock.

Essentially, you'll unscrew your existing lock and deadbolt, then fit the included lock and deadbolt and thread the exterior portion of the lock through to the inside. Then screw the base plate into that exterior part of the lock and fit the thumb latch portion onto the base plate. The whole process should only take 15 to 20 minutes.

After you're done physically installing the lock, you'll need to add it to the Lockin app. I also found this process to be quite easy. You'll download the app, then either sign in to your account or create a new one if you don't have one already. Then simply follow the on-screen instructions to add a new lock. I found it was recognized immediately. In this process, you'll be walked through the face scan.

On the outside of your door, there's a keypad with either the palm vein scanner or the face scanner, depending on the model you go for. There's no fingerprint sensor on either of them, but there is a solar panel on the bottom third or so, and you might not be able to tell that's what it is if you didn't already know. The lock also has a physical key slot, which can come in handy if something stops working or a guest needs to enter.

On the inside, there's a thumb latch along with a button to mechanically lock or unlock the door. There's also a cover for the battery compartment which, hopefully, you'll never have to open after you install it.

The lock seems to be durable enough, but it's not quite as weather resistant as some other smart locks. It has an IP53 rating, which is fine for some water spray. It held up during my testing, but to be fair, the weather has been pretty nice where I live. The lock also has an ANSI Grade 3 certification.

Performance

The Face model that I reviewed captures depth-sensing 3D face recognition that Lockin rates at under one second. In practice it was generally fast enough, though I wouldn't call it instant -- and it didn't feel like it was under one second. It usually took a second or two for the lock to realize there was someone outside the door and start scanning in the first place. Once the scanning started, it took less than a second, but there was still that initial lag.

This isn't a dealbreaker, and to be clear, face scanning is still convenient — but it would be even more convenient if the lock supported a feature like Ultra Wide Band (UWB) or Aliro, which allows the lock to sense your phone or watch, and unlock based on that signal.

I did find that the lock's Wi-Fi connectivity was quite good. I placed the lock on the door to my garden shed, which has historically had limited reception -- plenty of other smart locks I've tested struggle to hold a connection out there. This one stayed reliably online throughout.

As for the solar charging, it's slow. The lock arrived at 83% out of the box, and a week later it had crept up to 90%. That sounds underwhelming, but it's worth remembering what the point isn't fast charging — it's that the battery doesn't drain over time. And it didn't. It slowly gained power instead of losing it, which is exactly the behavior you want from a solar lock.

App and smart home

The Lockin Smart app is how you'll control the lock's settings and features. You can create one-time PINs, enroll new faces and PIN codes, set up auto-lock settings, and so on. One thing I would have liked to see is an overview of how much battery the device gets over time, but not having it isn't a huge deal.

Unlike the Desloc V150 Plus, which is the other solar-powered smart lock that I've reviewed recently, the Lockin Veno Solar supports Matter, which means you can integrate it into a variety of smart home ecosystems. You have to set the lock up in the Lockin app, but you don't have to control it there. Instead, you can control it through apps like Google Home or Apple Home and integrate it into automations and other cross-product systems. Matter support is kind of table stakes for smart locks these days, so it's nice to see it here.

Verdict

The Lockin Veno Solar is a solid smart lock, and for what it offers, it's perhaps the best option. That's to say, the lock has solar charging, so you never have to worry about manually charging or replacing the batteries. But it goes beyond that with a decently convenient unlocking method and, perhaps even more importantly, Matter support, so it'll work with a wide array of modern smart home ecosystems.

There are some limitations. For example, if you routinely get torrential rain, you might be slightly concerned about the IP53 water resistance. And it's worth keeping in mind that it's going to take a second or two to unlock your door if you rely on the face scanner. But, if you like the idea of not having to worry about charging your lock, for now, this one is the way to go.

Introducing the winners of the Tom’s Guide Smart Home Awards 2026. From robot vacuum (and pool) cleaners and air purifiers to security cameras and large home appliances, these are the gadgets, tools and accessories worth celebrating for making our homes the best they can be.

Whether it’s a smarter outdoor product to make yard maintenance easier or an appliance that automates a daily chore, these awards represent the best in smart living because they are practical, powerful, and ready to use right now.

The winners of the Tom’s Guide Smart Home Awards 2026 are the tools and devices that solve real problems, from the kitchen to the bedroom and beyond. Some help you save time without adding complexity, while others offer ingenuity that makes them stand out from the rest. Most importantly, they’re ready to fit into your daily routine right now.

Smart home

BLUETTI FridgePower Ultra-Slim Battery Backup for Refrigerators

Even in 2026, a power outage can occur at any moment, and if you do suddenly find yourself in a blackout, you’ll be infinitely glad to have the BLUETTI FridgePower in your home. This sleek and simple device is an easy-to-install battery system that keeps appliances like your fridge running via two standard AC outlets.

Thanks to the ultra-slim 75mm (2.95-inch) profile, you can place it vertically or horizontally for discreet installation behind refrigerators or anywhere within your kitchen. The system delivers 2,016Wh capacity — expandable up to 8,064Wh — paired with a low 4W idle drain to maximize efficiency during extended outages.

The system features a 10ms UPS switchover for near-instant protection of perishables and medicine. What we love so much about the BLUETTI FridgePower is how it solves a single, simple problem very well with the minimum of fuss.

Lockin Veno Solar smart lock

Smart locks can be power-hungry additions to your home, but the Lockin Veno Solar smart lock rewrites the script somewhat with an integrated solar panel. This means it can harvest ambient light even in heavily shaded entryways and eliminate the hassle of battery swaps and recharges. .

Beyond its eco-friendly aspirations, the Veno Solar can unlock your door using either your palm, face recognition, a pin code, or a traditional manual key. We also like the fact that it's Matter-compatible, so it'll work with pretty much any smart home system.

Best of all, this lock costs less than $200, making it not only functional, but affordable, too.

Zafro Auro Dual Window Air Conditioner

Summer heat is no joke without an A/C unit and the Zafro Auro Dual Window Air Conditioner is both an efficient and feature-rich way of cooling down your house. It’s a cinch to install as well as doubling up as a heat pump in the wintertime.

Instead of a traditional window air conditioner design that hangs the heavy compressor and condenser outside the window frame and risks falling during the installation or afterwards, Zafro’s Auro AC is balanced on the windowsill, in an inverted U-shape.

This design keeps the unit’s center of gravity firmly on the sill with less chance of it falling. You can power it via its remote control, its app or just with your voice thanks to Alexa and Google Home integration.

Tapo C675D Kit

TP-Link’s latest home security camera, the Tapo C675D Kit, includes not one but two 4K cameras in a single housing. One lens is stationary while the other can rotate a full 360 degrees. There's also a spotlight, a microSD card slot for local storage, and local AI for basic object detection, all of which are powered by the included solar panel. The C675D includes a 10,000 mAh battery that should last up to three months on a charge

This kit checks nearly every box of what you could want in a modern outdoor security system. It boasts 4K video, two independent cameras in a single housing, local AI combined with local storage, bright spotlights and night vision.

Video quality is superb, the lights are bright, and the motion detection range will make sure nothing gets past it undetected.

Dreame Aero Ultra Steam

Cleaning up after pets or kids usually requires an entire closet full of vacuums, mops, and chemical sprays. The Dreame Aero Ultra Steam solves that chaos by combining everything into one incredibly powerful machine.

We’ve seen plenty of wet-dry vacs, but Dreame takes it to a new level by blasting stuck-on grime with 200°C steam and 90°C hot water mopping, eliminating the need for harsh chemicals. It also packs a massive 30kPa of suction power and TangleCut 2.0 tech to prevent annoying hair wraps, while a front-facing foam spray neutralizes pet odors at the source.

What impresses us most is the smart sensor array, which automatically adjusts suction based on the mess it detects, alongside an ultra-slim lie-flat design that easily slides under low furniture. Add in an epic 80-minute cordless runtime and a self-cleaning base, and your chore list just got a lot shorter. The Dreame Aero Ultra Steam is set to launch on July 15, 2026.

Eufy Omni S2

Eufy's latest flagship robot vacuum passes the smell test — literally. Not only is it a strong cleaner, but it can also make your house smell better in the process. That's because the Omni S2 has a built-in aromatherapy system, which diffuses pleasant scents as it cleans via a cartridge that lasts up to 120 hours. It left our house smelling fresh and pleasant.

The Omni S2 proved to be a capable cleaner in our tests, thanks to 30,000 pa of suction power, and its mopping system also kept our hardwood floors shiny. Its 3D vision system, which can detect over 200 objects, successfully avoided obstacles, too.

After a built-in scent diffuser, who nose what will come next?

Home appliances

GoveeLife Smart Nugget Ice Maker Pro

Whether you’re hosting a party or simply want unlimited ice (without the long wait) in your household, GoveeLife's portable Smart Nugget Ice Maker Pro is a great option. What’s more, this countertop ice maker can be remotely controlled via the app — even when away from home.

The machine can produce up to 60 pounds of nugget ice per day — enough to get the party started and keep it going well into the night. It also features a dual water tank system that can hold up to 15.6 pounds of ice in a single session, which caters to around 60 drinks (impressive). It also comes with a handy app and voice activation, which is smart enough to notify you and stop making ice once the basket is full or out of water.

Beyond its high-quality performance, this gadget operates whisper-quietly and boasts impressive energy efficiency — making it perfect for frequent daily use and the ideal summer gadget.

Hisense TopLift Smart Dehumidifier

Having one of the top dehumidifiers is essential if you want to instantly reduce moisture in the air — but one major gripe is emptying (and carrying it without spillage) the collected water in the tank. This is why the smart Hisense TopLift stands out by solving a common problem with its more ergonomic design.

Designed with an internal pump, it quickly extracts collected water upward into an 18-pint top-mounted cartridge, which can be easily removed and carried around the home fuss-free. This eliminates the typical mess and heavy lifting associated with traditional tanks.

This is convenient, especially since it can remove up to 50-pints of moisture a day with a coverage of 4,500 sq ft — making it ideal for any room. Additionally, we know the perils of having a noisy dehumidifier, but the Hisense top-lift comes in at a low 46 dB, which is quiet enough to watch your favorite Netflix show in peace.

What’s more, connect via Hisense's ConnectLife app to monitor real-time humidity levels, adjust settings and schedules, and receive alerts from anywhere. It's also fully Matter-certified and compatible with Apple HomeKit, Google Home and Alexa.

Cosori Iconic Stainless Steel 6.5-Quart Smart Air Fryer

The Cosori Iconic is one of our favorite air fryers right now, mainly for its quick results at cooking up tasty treats, ease of use, and eye-catching design.

Alongside its impressive power, it comes with six cooking modes, five fan speeds, and temperature settings ranging from 90 degrees to 450 degrees. It also has a decent capacity of 6.5 quarts (serves 3-5 people), which is ideal for a family. Perhaps its winning feature is the stainless steel exterior and tempered top glass, which gives it that premium look. Plus, all the touch-sensitive controls live beneath that glass.

You can also control the Iconic using Cosori’s VeSync app, which is very easy to use. For instance, you can send the cooking time, temperature, and settings straight to the unit and monitor cooking progress from your phone.

LG Signature Smart Induction Slide-In Range

Whether you’re a pro cook, enjoy cooking up feasts, or run a large family, you’ll want the best range that can do it all. And if you want to monitor how well your food is cooking in real-time, without leaving your seat, this smart LG Signature Induction range is impressive.

Built with an AI Gourmet camera inside, it allows you to take pictures of your tasty treats that you can even show off to your family or friends via the app. What’s more, the app provides a host of recipes that are tailored to your specific ingredients at home to help you decide what to cook for dinner.

Besides its impressive tech, the range comes with a ceramic induction cooktop for faster and more responsive heating, and its Dynamic ProBake Convection, which allows for evenly cooked and tasty food. It also comes with an air fry, sous vide and pizza mode — to suit everyone’s tastes.

Plus, with its sleek 6.8-inch LCD color touch display and premium Flex Control knobs, it certainly looks the part and will bring premium style to any kitchen.

Blueair CoolDrift Air Circulator Fan

Typically, powerful fans are noisy, especially when cranked up during a heatwave. But this Blueair CoolDrift circulator fan offers an ‘ultra-quiet’ operation, designed to help you sleep peacefully.

Despite its compact size, the CoolDrift does exactly what it says — its powerful whole-room circulation can quickly cool down a space and maintain a consistent temperature. This is thanks to its wide horizontal and vertical oscillation, which reduces hot and cold spots.

It also features a smart Night Mode with auto-dimming that adjusts to the temperature over an 8-hour cycle to keep you cool and comfortable throughout the night. This is also ideal for a home office or even a nursery room where comfort is key. Plus, we like that you can customize your settings and schedules through the handy app, anywhere in the home — to tailor to everyone’s needs.

Home Office

LiberNovo Omni

Spending time at your desk feels more like taking control of a starfighter when you're sitting on the LiberNovo Omni, thanks to its sleek, sci-fi styling and extremely comfy cushioning. While other chairs have adjustable lumbar depth mechanisms, the Omni’s is motorized and will change position with just the press of the button inside the left armrest. What’s more, it leans back to a full 160 degrees.

But what makes this truly stand out is the OmniStretch feature that uses the motorized actuator to slowly lift and lower your spine repeatedly for five minutes. It helps relieve tension and straightens things just like you’d expect from a trip to the chiropractor.

Secretlab MAGNUS Pro

The Secretlab Magnus Pro may be a gamer-focused piece of furniture, but even if you’ve not picked up a controller since high school, you should be consider this for your office. It’s got a sturdy steel build with an integrated power supply column and full-length cable management tray.

What’s more, there’s a robust set of accessories available to help you get even more from this desk, including a bespoke mat that protects the entirety of the Magnus Pro’s surface. You can also pick up a magnetic cable anchors to keep loose wires in position. Whether or not you’re a gamer, this is one of the best electric standing desks you can get.

Simple Furniture Height Adjustable Desk

As you might have guessed from the name, the Simple Furniture Height Adjustable Desk is all about nailing the basics and not charging you a premium for it. This electric sit-stand desk marries minimalist aesthetics with solid durability with a scratch-resistant, UV-stable Thermally Fused Laminate top. It won’t be defeated by an early morning coffee spill.

The intuitive LED handset features four programmable memory presets that make switching postures effortless and you’ve also got integrated cable management and a 5-year warranty. If it’s a clutter-free powerhouse built for lasting productivity.

Satechi ChargeView 140W Desktop Charger

Considering the myriad of devices we always need to keep charged up these days, every home office needs an integrated charging solution and they don’t come much sleeker than the Satechi ChargeView 140W Desktop Charger.

You can position it either horizontally or vertically to fit with your desk setup and the live per-port digital LCD display shows real-time power distribution across all four of its USB-C ports. Powered by advanced GaN technology and supporting USB PD 3.2 AVS for the fastest iPhone charging, it’s an efficient, clutter-free solution built to keep your entire workspace fully charged.

UPLIFT V3 Standing Desk

The Uplift V3 is a further refinement of what made its predecessor such a great standing desk. The assembly is more straightforward and the cable management tray is wider and even more adjustable. This desk’s real value also lies in its ecosystem You have the option to start with the base model first and upgrade it later on piece by piece (like adding different power grommets), turning it into a truly long-term investment.

If you're looking for a smooth, stable, and highly customizable standing desk you can use reliably for years to come, look no further. Its ability to grow and change with your setup makes it a true long-term investment and a worthy prize winner this year.

Garden and Outdoor

Yarbo Y Series

What we love about the Yarbo Y Series is that it combines lawn mowing with clearing leaves and snow, making it our first snow-removing robot. This all-season robot lawn mower is designed for large yards and challenging terrain. In fact, it can operate on slopes up to a 70% grade.

The gearbox-free design also reduces mechanical noise, lowering operating sound from ≤75 dB to ≤60 dB, making the Y Series better suited for early-morning or late-night yard care without disturbing the neighborhood.

Yarbo's latest offering has also undergone a core upgrade and now features a dual-hub-motor drive system, improving mobility, torque, speed and acoustic performance. What’s more, its maximum travel speed has increased, enabling faster, smoother operation across larger sites.

Aiper Scuba V3 Ultra pool cleaner

Aiper’s Scuba V3 Ultra lets you get the most out of your swimming pool without getting your hands dirty. What we love is that it’s an all-in-one system with six functions that covers your pool's maintenance.

Designed with homeowners in mind, it cleans the floor, walls, waterline, surface and shallow sun shelves, while dispensing chlorine to keep it hygienic without manual intervention. Using cognitive AI and a dual-camera system alongside ultrasonic sensors it can identify over 20 types of debris, and use learned behavior, weather patterns, and pool conditions to optimize when and how it cleans.

It delivers up to 8,500 GPH suction and a multi-layer MicroMesh system that filters particles down to 3 microns without clogging. It also employs BioClaw robotic arms to guide floating debris, such as leaves and insects, into the intake, and WaveLine™ technology to ensure the waterline is scrubbed clean. Battery life stands at up to 4 hours of floor cleaning and 8 hours for surface cleaning.

Induction Hardware 36" Outdoor Built-In Induction Griddle

Induction Hardware has introduced the first outdoor induction griddle, allowing you to enjoy the benefits of precision cooking outdoors. It delivers the performance chefs expect from induction, while eliminating the fire hazards of cooking with a traditional gas griddle outside.

Apart from looking sleek, the 36” grill features a removable carbon-steel griddle that unlocks four oversized square induction coils, while offering single-zone, dual-zone, and bridge functions for even, full-surface heating.

We’re impressed by its functionality and by the fact that, once the griddle is removed, it reveals a full induction cooktop. It’s not designed for your everyday budget BBQ, but we’re impressed with how it could take center stage in a modern outdoor kitchen and deliver anything from seared steaks to hearty pasta.

Thermacell LIV 2.0 On-Demand Mosquito+ Repellent System

The LIV is a mosquito-repellent system that emits a vapor mosquitoes hate, and it’s controlled by a Smart Hub that communicates with up to 10 satellite-based repellers. It works by creating a large, scent-free zone of protection against mosquitoes, no-see-ums, and biting midges, covering up to 3,000 sq ft.

The user can activate, schedule and monitor the system through app control, while it’s also compatible with voice control via Amazon Alexa and Google Home. It’s not a cheap setup and will need to be installed, but the technology provides on-demand protection season after season, offering a smart outdoor living solution for pest control.

Birdfy Feeder Metal 2 4K

If you love watching birds in your yard, the Birdfy Feeder Metal 2 4K AI-powered smart bird feeder is designed to bring them within range without disturbing them. The sharp camera brings the birds to life, capturing their fine details and subtle movements often missed by the naked eye. What’s more, the AI tech identifies each species and offers you real-time alerts through the app. It’s a real plus for those not quite sure of the feathered creatures that come to visit and want to track all visits without being present.

We’re impressed by how the bird feeder invites nature into your backyard and wildlife into your home. And during testing, we appreciated its durability, the multiple ways it can be installed, and how easy it is to fill.

Bedroom and sleep

Amerisleep AS3

The popular Amerisleep AS3 is available as either a hybrid or all-foam mattress and is a great option for both side sleepers and light-average weight back sleepers, too. The Bio-Pur memory foam molded to the body better than you might expect and offers good support at the same time.

The edge support and motion isolation on this mattress are also excellent. If you share your bed with a restless partner or are a light sleeper, you're unlikely to be disturbed by the AS3 as the Bio-Pur foam absorbs motion successfully. It also does a great job of temperature regulation throughout the year.

Blueair Mini Restful Sunrise Alarm Clock Air Purifier

BlueAir’s Mini Restful Sunrise Clock Air Purifier can lay claim to being your ultimate bedside companion by marrying air filtration with routine-enabling sleep tech. It comes in a soothing Coastal Beige colorway and boats a compact footprint that won't clutter your nightstand.

We especially love how it reinvents the morning routine by eschewing jarring alarms for customizable sunrise lighting and gentle sounds to wake you naturally. All while Blueair’s signature HEPASilent filtration works away under the hood to clears 99.97% of dust, dander, and allergens from a 140-square-foot room in just 12.5 minutes.

You can manage the Mini Restful Sunrise Clock Air Purifier through a companion app for custom schedules to personalize this all-in-one sleep sanctuary.

ComfortNext Lux

If you’re looking to level up your mattress game, then the ComfortNext Lux is the way to do it. This is one of five new smart mattresses from Sleep Number and promises better pressure relief, cooling and support. There are 100 different firmness levels controlled by the internal air chamber that you can select from the accompanying app.

The thick top layer of foam makes this a soft mattress but, providing you have an adjustable base, you can enjoy a range of motion from the bed’s top and bottom sections. And finally, you’ll get personalized sleep insights delivered to your phone every morning. This is the future of sleep.

RENPHO x Headspace Eyeris Zen Eye Massager

The RENPHO x Headspace Eyeris Zen Eye Massager is a calming way to shut the world out and get a few moments of valuable relaxation time. Wrapped in an exclusive soft-matte purple finish, its feather-light build won’t weigh you down while you unwind. We especially love its phone-free approach to relaxation: right out of the box, it comes pre-loaded with nine guided Headspace meditations targeting sleep, anxiety, and daily mindfulness, allowing you to completely disconnect from digital noise.

Under the hood, the newly engineered ZenTech motor operates at a near-silent 40 dB, ensuring your tranquility remains entirely undisturbed. It delivers highly customizable comfort, offering three dynamic compression modes and three soothing heat levels to melt away screen fatigue and temple tension.

If you're planning to take a vacation this summer, you want to make sure your house is protected against any eventuality, but some of the best smart home devices can get a little pricey, especially if you buy them all together.

Fortunately, Prime Day is a good opportunity to stock up on these devices, as many are on sale, often for a good discount. I've tested dozens of smart home gadgets, and have edited reviews of dozens more, so I've scoured Amazon, Best Buy, and other retailers for the best deals on products that actually work. So, before you pack your bags, make sure that you have these smart home devices looking after things while you're gone.

Security cameras

You'll find plenty of deals on Amazon for all sorts of security cameras and video doorbells, but I'd recommend a camera that doesn't require a subscription, so you don't have to pay a monthly or annual fee just to see the video it recorded.

Smart locks

If you're leaving pets at home or need someone to water your plants, then one of the best smart locks will let you monitor and manage who gets into your house. Smart locks can be programmed with specific codes for specific people, so you'll know when someone types in a code into the keypad.

Water leak detectors

There's nothing worse than coming home to a flooded basement. There's the massive cleanup expense, you'll have to throw out thousands of dollars of waterlogged items you stored in the basement, and there's a potentially huge water bill, too.

At the very least, the best water leak detectors can alert you when something's amiss; these sensors are relatively cheap, so you can place them all around the home, under every sink or anywhere else. Other, more expensive models can automatically shut off your water, saving you even more hassle. Better yet: they may even decrease your insurance bill.

Electricity monitor

Power surges and outages are also something you'll want to keep tabs on. If there's a blackout, you'll want to know if all the food in your fridge will need to be tossed. Or, if there's a power surge, you'll also want to get an alert.

The Ting is a small plug-in device that monitors all the circuits in your home, and measures the voltage and current running through your house. If anything is out of the norm, it will send you a message to your phone. It can also let you know if anything you've plugged into an outlet has faulty wiring.

Smart light, plug or switch

How to you make it look like someone's home when you're not? With a smart light, smart light switch, or a smart plug. They all work pretty much the same these days, but look for ones with specific "vacation modes." This setting will have your lights turn on and off randomly during specific times, to give the appearance that your house is occupied.

If you have floor lamps, a smart plug or smart light will do the trick; if you have a lot of ceiling lights, a smart light switch might be the better choice.

Smart thermostat

Did you know the best temperature to set your AC during the summer is 78º F? Yeah, that may seem a bit high, but whatever your preference, one of the best smart thermostats can manage your home's climate more efficiently, so you're using less energy while still keeping your house cool.

The best smart thermostats can take into account not just the temperature inside your house, but also look at weather reports and other data to recommend proactively cooling your home, so you're using less energy during peak hours.

And, as they're linked to your phone, you can program them so that you're not cooling your house excessively while you're away, but you can still return home to a comfortable environment.

Even better: Many utility companies offer some excellent rebates on smart thermostats, so you can often find them for very little money.

More from Tom's Guide

• I always put a coin in my freezer before I go on vacation — here's why
• I’m a frequent traveler and these are the 15 Amazon travel essentials I swear by — starting at just $6
• 5 tech travel hacks I learned after 2 months backpacking in Asia — don't make the same mistakes as me

Amazon’s Prime Day sale may be a great time to pick up those expensive big ticket items you’ve had your eye on for a while, but in my experience it’s also a fantastic time to save on the little things. We’re talking chargers, portable battery packs, smart home devices, and more. Luckily, Anker sells all of those things, and there’s an abundance of deals to be had this Prime Day.

Anker is one of those companies that has an interest in a bunch of different products — to the point you might not always realize. Anker is best known for its charging accessories, but over the years it’s branched out to offer headphones and earbuds, portable solar panels, home batteries and even smart home devices (under the Eufy brand).

That’s a lot of potential deals to get through, and these are my picks for the best Prime Day Anker deals on offer right now.

Anker Prime Day deals: Quick Links

• Anker Solix C300: was $298 now $209 @ Amazon
• Anker Soundcore P20i: was $39 now $18 @ Amazon
• Anker 20,000 mAh Power Bank: was $69 now $47 @ Amazon
• Anker MagGo Power Bank (10,000 mAh): was $89 now $64 @ Amazon
• Eufy E340 Video Doorbell: was $149 now $99 @ Amazon
• Anker MagGo UFO 3-in-1 wireless charger: was $89 now $59 @ Amazon
• Eufy SmartTrack Card: was $19 now $13 @ Amazon
• Eufy Baby Monitor (2K): was $199 now $113 @ Amazon
• Eufy Omnio E28 Hybrid robot vacuum: was $999 now $629 @ Amazon
• Anker 65W folding charger: was $39 now $24 @ Amazon
• Eufy S1 Pro Heated Wearable Breast Pumps: was $349 now $229 @ Amazon

Best Anker Prime Day Deals

We're tracking all the best Prime Day deals

Some of the most popular Prime Day deals are smart home devices, such as security cameras, video doorbells, and smart speakers. But while you'll often see deep discounts on a lot of these gadgets — upwards of 40% off — many come with a hidden fee: subscriptions.

You see, these companies realized that they can create a recurring revenue stream by charging you a monthly fee for something as simple as being able to record and save video from your security cameras.

Don't be lured into these cheap deals, only to realize later that it wasn't the bargain it seemed. To help you, I've put together a list of deals on the best security cameras and video doorbells from companies that don't charge a subscription. That way, your mind — and your wallet — can rest easy.

Quick links

• Blink Mini 2K+: was $39 now $17 @ Amazon
• Blink Outdoor 2K+: was $89 now $30 @ Amazon
• Tapo 4K 8MP Wired Pan/Tilt Outdoor Security Camera: was $99 now $79 @ Amazon
• Eufy SoloCam E42: was $179 now $113 @ Amazon
• Wyze Duo Cam Pan: was $69 now $53 @ Amazon
• Blink Battery Doorbell 2K+: was $69 now $34 @ Amazon
• Wyze Wireless Duo Cam Video Doorbell: was $119 now $94 @ Amazon
• Eufy E340 Video Doorbell: was $149 now $99 @ Amazon
• Tapo 2K Wireless Smart Video Doorbell: was $49 now $34 @ Amazon

Security cameras

Video doorbells

At long last, Google has refreshed its smart speaker lineup with the new Google Home Speaker; first announced in the fall of 2025, it took nearly nine months for the device to come to market, and replaces the six-year-old Google Nest Audio as the top-shelf smart speaker in the company’s portfolio.

Things have changed a lot since Google last released a smart speaker. During that time, AI got real big, so now the assistant powering the Google Home speaker can do a lot more than just turn on your lights.

So how does the Google Home Speaker stack up against the best smart speakers? I’ve used it for a few days and compared it against its main rivals, the Apple HomePod mini and the Amazon Echo Dot Max, to find out.

Google Home Speaker review: Price and availability

The Google Home Speaker went on sale on June 24, 2026 for $99. You can get it in one of four colors: Jade (green), Berry (red), Porcelain (white) and Hazel (grayish black). However, the Jade and Berry colors are exclusive to the U.S.

The Google Home Speaker replaces the Google Nest Audio, and, for the moment, the Google Nest Mini, both of which are no longer for sale at Google’s online store.

Google Home Speaker review: Design

The Google Home Speaker looks a bit like someone took the Apple HomePod mini and smushed it a little

There are two touch-sensitive buttons on the top of the speaker to control the volume. You can’t see the buttons, as they’re hidden by the fabric, but if you tap the top of the speaker, two LEDs turn on to show you their location. You can’t tell which is volume up or volume down by sight; you’ll have to tap them to find out which is which. Tapping the top of the speaker will also play/pause your music.

Google had similar hidden touch-sensitive buttons on its previous smart speakers with an equally mixed reception; the Mini’s buttons had to be deactivated because of their finicky nature. I just find it annoying that you have to give the speaker an extra tap.

Similar to the Echo Dot Max, the Google Home Speaker has a circular ring of LEDs which changes color based on the circumstance; for example, it turns white when Gemini is listening, multiple colors when it’s thinking, and orange when the microphone is off.

Also on the base of the speaker is a physical switch to disable its microphones, which is a commendable feature. Less so is the nonremovable power cord; break it, and you’ll have to replace the whole device.

Google Home Speaker review: Sustainability

As with most companies’ claims, Google throws out some numbers which are ultimately a little vague. Google says the speaker and its adapter is “Made with at least 37% recycled materials based on product weight.” Whether that means the metal or plastic parts is unclear.

By comparison, Amazon says the Echo Dot Max is made from 23% recycled materials; the fabric parts are made from 98% post-consumer recycled fabric, while the plastic is made from 41% post consumer recycled plastic.

The Apple HomePod mini uses 99% recycled rare earth elements, and 35% or more recycled plastic in multiple components.

Google Home Speaker review: Audio performance

Where the Nest Audio had a 75mm woofer and a 19mm tweeter, the Google Home Speaker has a single 58mm driver. I didn’t have the older Nest to compare the two side-by-side, but the tl;dr is that the Google Home Speaker performs well for its size.

I played a variety of tracks on the Google Home Speaker, as well as the HomePod mini and Echo Dot Max, and though there were some subtle differences between them, they weren’t all that disparate.

I might give a slight edge to the Echo Dot Max; it’s the only device that has two speakers (an 0.8-inch tweeter and 2.5-inch woofer) which helped midtones stand out a bit more than the Google Home and the HomePod mini, which has a single 2-inch driver

Mids sounded a bit compressed, such as Billy Joel’s voice in “Movin’ Out.” Joel’s voice sounded better and warmer on the Echo Dot Max, and there was also better bass. However, the HomePod mini sounded the best of the three.

Olivia Rodrigo’s “Drop Dead” sounded best on the Echo Dot Max, as it was able to better separate the mids and highs; the Google Home Speaker and HomePod mini mushed things a bit.

Not surprisingly, bass was just ok, I threw on some old-school Snoop Dog “Who am I (What’s My Name)?” and the groove was much better on the Echo Dot Max and the HomePod than Google’s speaker.

Google Home Speaker review: Google Gemini

The hardware may be new, but the bigger upgrade inside the Google Play Speaker is Gemini, which is far more capable and powerful than Google Assistant.

Gemini for Home works with all of Google’s smart speakers and displays, but only the newer ones — Nest Audio, Nest mini (2nd Gen), Nest Hub Max and Nest Hub (2nd Gen) — will support the full Gemini for Home experience, as well as Gemini Live, where you can have a more natural, free-flowing conversation.

To test out Gemini on the Google Home Speaker, I asked it a series of questions, which it answered correctly, and was much more engaging than the old Assistant. For example, when I asked “Hey Google, what’s a good recipe for chicken wings?”, Gemini responded with a wide range of options, as well as certain things that it thought were popular.

I then asked Gemini to save the recipe, and it told me it created a note, but not where it was saved. I was able to find it in my Google Keep folder.

I also tested Gemini on sports, and here, it was a bit slower on the uptake. I asked ““Hey Google, did France win today?” and received the response “No, France did not play today,” although they had just defeated Iraq in the World Cup.

I then followed up with “Are you sure France didn’t play today?” and Gemini quickly corrected itself, gave me a summary of the game, and told me that Les Bleus secured a spot in the round of 32.

Google Home Speaker review: Subscription costs

You get Gemini for Home for free with the Google Home Speaker, but to make the most out of Gemini (and the speaker), you’ll need to sign up for a Google Home Premium subscription. Otherwise, you won’t get conversational Gemini, among other things.

If you sign up for Google Home Premium Standard ($10/month or $100/year), you get the following:

• Gemini Live (Get expert help, brainstorm ideas, and learn new topics)
• Help me create (lets you describe to Gemini the smart home routine you want to create)
• Sound detection (Smoke/carbon monoxide alarm and Glass breaking)
• 30 days of video event history

If you sign up for Google Home Premium Advanced ($20/month, $200/year), you get those features as well as these:

• Search video history - Quickly search your camera history by just asking
• Daily summaries - Ask about what you missed when you were away
• 60 days of video history
• 10 days of 24/7 video history
• Descriptive notifications
• Event descriptions

If you’re more invested in Gemini, you can also get the Standard plan as part of a Google AI Pro subscription ($20/month), and the Advanced plan with Google AI Ultra ($99/month).

Google Home Speaker review: Home theater features

Similar to its rival smart speakers, the Google Home Speaker works well with the Google TV Streamer to create a home theater experience. You can pair either a single speaker or two to the streaming device; if you pair two, you can also set up spatial audio. Dolby Atmos is supported, and the Google TV Streamer can also convert HD audio into a proprietary spatial audio format.

Amazon takes things a step further with its Echo Dot Max and Echo Studio speakers, as you can create a full surround sound experience with up to five speakers.

Google Home Speaker review: Smart Home functionality

As a smart home device, the Google Home Speaker is less capable than its Apple and Amazon rivals. For example, the HomePod mini has temperature and humidity sensors; the Amazon Echo Dot Max can act as an eero mesh router extender and has ambient light and temperature sensors, as well as presence detection.

Those other sensors make the other smart speakers far more functional. For example, you can create an Apple Home or Alexa routine to turn on your air conditioner if the temperature as measured by a speaker rises above a certain level, or if it senses someone entering the room.

Google Home Speaker review: Bottom line

Smart speakers aren’t quite the commodity they once were; Like Amazon, Google has gone from releasing a new model every year to waiting more than half a decade between the Nest Audio and the Google Home Speaker.

And that’s fine. There’s only so much you can do, though both Amazon and Apple have done more with their smart speakers than Google in terms of embedding additional sensors to make their devices more integral to a smart home ecosystem.

As smart home assistants, both Alexa and Google are very capable, especially now that they’ve gained extra AI abilities. If you’ve already started using either smart assistant, it’s unlikely that you’re going to switch your smart home from Alexa to Google or vice versa.

At this point, a smart speaker is more or less a delivery mechanism for the smart assistant of your choice. If you already own a Google smart speaker and it’s working well, there’s no real reason to upgrade, unless you want to create a Google-centric home theater system.

Prime Day is here. I've seen countless deals on Amazon hardware in the run up to the event, but for the next four days, prices are at their lowest. From Fire TV Sticks to Kindles, everything is discounted.

But what should you actually buy? There are tons of options on Amazon that aren't actually all that great. For example, unless you have a HD TV, you really shouldn't be buying the Fire TV Stick HD. Luckily for you, Tom's Guide has reviewed dozens of devices from Echo Speakers to Blink security cams, and I've spent the last five years filling my brain with knowledge on the subject.

Below, I'm cutting out the mediocrity and sharing the Amazon device deals you should actually buy. To see deals across all categories as they arrive, check out our Prime Day deals live blog.

Quick Links

• shop all Amazon device deals
• Blink Mini: was $24 now $9
• Amazon Smart Plug: was $24 now $12
• Fire TV Stick 4K Select: was $39 now $17
• Blink Battery Doorbell 2K+: was $79 now $39
• Echo Dot Max: was $99 now $64
• Kindle (16 GB): was $109 now $84

Blink Deals

Amazon Smart Home

Echo

Fire TV Deals

Kindle

Ring Deals

Imagine the scene: it's down to the final minutes of a grueling World Cup match. Your team (in my case, England) steps up to take a penalty. Because with England, it's always a penalty. You're leaning so far forward you're practically pressed against the television screen, and suddenly, the ball flies past the goalkeeper and smashes into the back of the net.

Naturally, the room erupts into celebration, and with you, your Philips Hue lights start to flash red and white. Suddenly, your tense watch party has turned into a festival.

Well, I can't promise any penalty success, but if you're wondering how to set up your Hue lights to pair with the World Cup, all you need is a Bridge and a couple of minutes on your Hue app. I set it up myself, and now I'll be parked firmly in front of my smart lights for the next month.

Here's how to turn on the "Sports Live" setting on your Philips Hue app, and the one crucial step you need to follow to make your viewing party spoiler-free.

How "Sports Live" works

I first used Sports Live setting during an entertaining but goal-free viewing of Spain v Cape Verde. The more action-packed the game, the more you'll get out of this setting.

The full list of tailored responses are as follows:

• Start of match: Lights blink for five seconds
• Goal scored: Five second flashes in the scoring team's colors
• Penalty: Blue flashing lights for five seconds
• Yellow card: Yellow flashing
• Second yellow card: Alternating red and yellow lights
• Red card: Red flashing
• Match resumes: Five seconds of flashing lights
• End of match: 15 seconds of flasing in the winning team's colors

How it looks

"Sounds cool," I hear you say, "but what does it look like?"

Well, I put this to the test with my Philips Hue Play Wall Washers and the Hue bulb in my ceiling lights. Both enhance the viewing experience, but if you've got a washer or a Play Lamp, which casts multi-colored lights up against your walls, it'll transform your viewing experience.

As you can see in the video above, I was streaming the match a split-second behind the live game, which resulted in some very slightly premature (but still welcome) red and white flashing lights. If you don't take the time to sync your display to the game, it could result in some major spoilers.

While I think the viewing experience is unmatched when you've got Hue wall washers, I still enjoyed the vibrant celebrations coming from my Hue bulb. Albeit slightly less, because those are the Croatian colors.

How to set it up

Setup is simple. You just need a Philips Hue Bridge or Bridge Pro, and at least one compatible light (although I have four, two of which conveniently sit either side of my TV!)

Prime Day is on the way. But if you're a bit behind on your spring cleaning, never fear — you can already save up to 56% off a range of robot vacuums at Amazon.

The sale includes some of the best robot vacuums we've tested. The cream of the crop is the Shark PowerDetect UV Reveal Robot Vacuum on sale for $799 (38% off, save $500.) It delivers truly outstanding cleaning performance, and it cleans hands-free for up to 30 days.

On a smaller budget? I'd grab the TP-Link Tapo RV30 Max Plus on sale for $199. For under $200, you're still getting powerful cleaning and a handy self-emptying base.

Keep scrolling for more Prime Day robot vacuum deals! Don't forget to sign up for a Prime membership and stay tuned to our Prime Day deals live blog.

Quick Links

• shop all Prime Day deals
• shop robot vacuum deals at Amazon
• ILIFE V2 Robot Vacuum Cleaner: was $99 now $79
• Roborock Q7 L5: was $249 now $139
• TP-Link Tapo RV30 Max Plus: was $229 now $199 [Best value!]
• DREAME L10s Ultra Gen 2: was $589 now $379
• Eufy Robot Vacuum Omni C20: was $599 now $379
• Shark PowerDetect UV Reveal 2-In-1 Robot Vacuum & Mop: was $1,299 now $799 [Best robot vacuum!]
• Dyson Spot+Scrub AI: was $1,199 now $849

Prime Day robot vacuum deals

More from Tom's Guide

• I can clean my whole home without lifting a finger — this is the self-sufficient robot vacuum of dreams
• 'The MacBook Neo is just an iPad with a keyboard' — here’s why that is utterly wrong
• This is the trendiest BookTok accessory right now, and it's only $15 in the Amazon Big Spring Sale

Prime Day is almost here. Undoubtedly, a lot of people are going to be buying Ring video doorbells and Fire TV Sticks over the event. But if you want the best smart home devices, you should make sure you're not stuck in Amazon's bubble.

Most of the best smart devices we've tested come from brands other than the big names Amazon owns. For example, the best video doorbell in our books is the Google Nest Doorbell (3rd Gen, Wired) on sale for $139. It offers sharp 2K video and six hours of free video storage. Right now it's on sale for $40 off, its lowest price ever.

Keep scrolling to see more of the best Prime Day deals on affordable smart devices that aren't made in-house by Amazon! If you want to see the competition, check out the best Amazon device deals.

Quick Links

• shop all Amazon Prime Day deals
• TP-Link Tapo C100 Indoor Security Camera: was $24 now $17
• Govee Smart Light Bulbs (4-Pack): was $39 now $32
• TP-Link Kasa Smart Plug Mini (4-Pack): was $44 now $37
• Arlo Video Doorbell 2K: was $79 now $40
• Google Nest Security Cam Indoor (Wired, 3rd Gen): was $99 now $69
• Google TV Streamer 4K: was $99 now $79
• Google Nest Doorbell (3rd Gen, Wired): was $179 now $139
• Sonos Era 300: was $479 now $379

Security cameras

Streaming devices

Video Doorbells

Smart Bulbs

Smart Plugs

Smart speakers

Prime Day may not have officially started yet, but there are so many deals already live that we're covering the latest discounts on a dedicated Amazon Prime Day early deals live blog right here.

Prime Day is just a week away, but we're already seeing some pretty impressive deals and discounts roll out ahead of time — specifically when it comes to Amazon devices.

Whether you're looking to boost your home's security ahead of summer or you're hoping to revamp your entertainment setup, you can score up to 70% off best-selling Amazon devices including Fire TV Sticks, Blink security cameras, Ring Doorbells and more.

Below, I've rounded up the best Amazon devices to help upgrade your smart home. Keep scrolling to check out these early Prime Day deals. (Interested in the competition? Check out these Google, Roku and Eufy smart device deals with up to 49% off.)

Quick Links

• shop all Amazon device deals
• Amazon Smart Plug: was $24 now $12
• Fire TV Stick HD: was $34 now $15
• Blink Wired Floodlight Camera: was $99 now $29
• Ring Stick Up Cam: was $79 now $39
• Blink Arc w/ 2 Cameras: was $99 now $89
• Amazon 40" 2-Series 4K Fire TV: was $249 now $179

Amazon Smart Home

Fire TV Stick Deals

Ring Deals

Blink Deals

Fire TV Deals

Echo

Kindle

Philips is a brand that knows a lot about having fun with smart lights. Philips Hue lights, for example, can be positioned around your home illuminating rooms in a variety of ingenious ways.

And now, Signify, the manufacturer of Philips' products, has released something new. The Philips Skylight is designed to bring the feeling of daylight right into your home.

The range aims to recreate the natural brightness, depth and rhythm of sunlight within your home. Why? Well, Signify did some research across 2,000 adults and concluded: "58% feel they spend too much time indoors, and 89% say they feel more energetic when they get enough daylight."

Bring the outdoors in

Using Signify's NatureConnect technology and BioUp technology, Skylight automatically adjusts brightness and tone throughout the day, creating a brighter blue-enriched light in the day and a warmer light at night.

Users can also take advantage of five preset scenes that are inspired by the daylight that you can adjust to fit your mood or the ambience you're after. Plus, with a surface-mounted slim ceiling profile, it'll fit in nicely with your home.

This all sounds really wonderful, but you'll have to wait until September 2026 for it to become available for purchase in the U.S. Another sticking point might be how much it costs, which for some may be a little prohibitive.

Starting at 499.99 euros — around $580 — it's a big investment. But there are some cheaper alternatives that could be worth considering, especially if you don't want to wait.

Philips Skylight alternatives (available now)

More from Tom's Guide

• I just gave my home the ultimate smart light upgrade — and I can control it all with my phone
• Philips Hue lights: A guide to what each bulb does (and costs)
• The best smart lights: tried and tested

The Blink Battery Doorbell 2K+ is the company's first video doorbell capable of capturing 2K video, with battery life that lasts up to 22 months. That's almost unheard of when it comes to security cameras, let alone one that watches your door. And it does it all starting at $69.99. Blink's lineup keeps getting better, while also maintaining an affordable price.

So, how does the Battery Doorbell 2K+ compare to the best video doorbells? I tested it over the course of two weeks, using it to monitor activity on my back porch, including during a graduation party that triggered nearly 900 activity alerts in one afternoon. During that time, I also learned what the true meaning of 2K+ is.

Blink Battery Doorbell 2K+ review: Price and availability

The Blink Battery Doorbell 2K+ is available through Amazon for $79.99, including the required Sync Module. However, if you already have a module, the price drops to $69.99. There are two color options: black or white. The Blink Chime, an add-on doorbell chime, is available for $29.99 in matching colors. Or if you want to buy everything in a bundle and save $10, you can buy the entire kit for $109.98.

Blink Battery Doorbell 2K+ review: Design and installation

Blink didn't try to break the mold or set a new design standard with the Battery Doorbell 2K+; it looks like most video doorbells on the market, only slightly more refined. It's minimal, with curved edges instead of a box-like shape with hard edges.

It measures 5.19 x 1.89 x 1.34 inches, with a rounded square button below a similarly sized camera lens. As mentioned, it's available in black or white. I was sent the white model. It has a matte finish that makes it not overly bright — I rather like it.

Included in the box are the doorbell, three AA Energizer batteries, a template and all of the mounting hardware you need to install the doorbell. There's also a small tool to remove the doorbell from the mounting plate when it comes time to change the batteries. If you lose the tool, which is likely given that the batteries can last up to 22 months (more on that below), I imagine you can just use a flat-head screwdriver to pop the doorbell off the mounting plate.

In order to connect the Battery Doorbell 2K+ to the internet, you'll need one of Blink's Sync modules. I was sent a bundle which included the Sync Module Core, which lacks support for local storage or clip backup.

Initial setup and installation are straightforward. You'll need a drill to attach the mounting plate with the included hardware. If you're replacing an existing wired doorbell with a mechanical chime, just make sure to turn off the power before messing with the wiring.

With the doorbell installed, you'll need to set up the Sync module first, followed by the doorbell. The app does a good job of walking you through the entire process.

Blink Battery Doorbell 2K+ review: Video quality and features

The Battery Doorbell 2K+ (1920 x 1920) has a 1:1 aspect ratio, which means the field of view is square, measuring 140 degrees by 140 degrees. That's more than enough to see a nearly complete picture of what's at your door. It's not quite tall enough to see what's directly below the doorbell, which would be helpful for those times when a delivery person leaves a package close to your door, but it's close.

In comparison, Wyze's Battery Video Doorbell has a slightly larger field of view at 150-degrees square, giving you just a smidge more coverage.

During the day, video clips are recorded at 24 frames-per-second, and 15 frames-per-second at night. The Amazon page for the doorbell says you'll get color video in low-light situations, after which it'll switch to infrared black-and-white video.

My experience has been mixed, with nearly all video I've captured at night having the same level of light from inside the house plus a floodlight covering the yard, and in only one or two instances did I see a color video clip recorded. Instead, the majority of clips at night were captured using the infrared sensor. That's not necessarily a bad thing — but to say that the Blink Battery Doorbell 2K+ has color video at night hasn't been my experience.

Overall, video quality is good enough. Clips during the day are sharp, but suffer from some pixelation whenever an object is moving. The moment the movement stops, it goes back to being really clear. This means that as someone walks up to your door you'll see some blurring as they move, but when they stop to ring the doorbell the video sharpens That's not to say you can't see who is walking to your door — you can definitely do that.

At night, when the infrared sensor is in use, there's some pixelation around all objects, even when there's little motion. The clips are clear enough to see what triggered the alert and, if needed, who is at your door, but you can definitely see it's captured at a low frame rate.

By default, the doorbell will record 10-second clips whenever it detects an event. You can set it to record longer clips, and even toggle whether or not you want it to stop recording when motion stops.

I've left it at the default 10-second setting and haven't had any issues with a clip being cut off too soon. In situations when a clip is cut short, and as long as you have a paid subscription, Blink will create a Moment by combining multiple events into one video so you can get a full picture of what happened.

The doorbell's 2K+ name would make you think that there's something more to it than 2K video, or maybe better than 2K video, and you'd be right. Well, not when it comes to video, but on the box it says "2K clarity plus enhanced audio" thanks to noise cancellation. The audio did sound clear during testing, and will surely help with those awkward video doorbell conversations when both parties can't quite make out what the other is saying.

Blink Battery Doorbell 2K+ review: Battery life

The Blink app doesn't measure the current battery level with a percentage. Instead, when I look in the Blink app right now, I see "Battery Level OK." I have no idea if over the last two weeks I've used 10% or 50% of the charge on the included AA batteries.

Blink's battery life estimates for the doorbell range from 16 to 22 months, depending on your video quality setting. At the 2K (1920 x 1920) max, you can expect up to 16 months before the batteries will need to be replaced. If you drop the video quality down to 1440 x 1440, you can expect up to 19 months. At the lowest setting of 960 x 960, you'll get up to 22 months.

Personally, I have zero issues leaving the quality setting at max and replacing the batteries every 16 months. Of course, that estimate could be drastically overstated as battery life is impacted by things like temperature and number of motion events.

Blink Battery Doorbell 2K+ review: AI features

After installing the doorbell and signing up for the free 30-day Blink Plus AI trial, I started getting activity alerts, complete with descriptions. Sometimes it'd be as straightforward as "a dog is on the grass" or more complex like "a person is feeding a child." (I found that one particularly funny, because my kids are all teenagers and we often eat on our patio, but we're definitely not feeding them as you would a toddler.)

As I've tested security cameras and video doorbells in the new era of everything must use AI to be relevant, I've grown fond of the detailed alerts they bring. Instead of getting a simple alert stating a person has been detected at the door, I can (usually) gather whether that person is carrying a box — Blink will even let you know if they're carrying an Amazon box, naturally — or if a dog is the cause of an alert.

I do wish Blink's alerts were more descriptive pertaining to what a person is wearing, or I'll even go one step further, that Blink offered the ability to security identify familiar faces so you know if the person is a stranger or someone who should be there without even opening the alert.

When we tested Blink vs. Ring, Nest, Arlo and other security camera AIs, it didn't fare as well as the competition.

Ring and Tapo both do a good job of being very descriptive with their respective AI video descriptions, and I'm sure Blink is working on adding similar capabilities. I've been spoiled, I guess. But there is true value added by AI video descriptions.

One feature I wish the Blink app had is the ability to search its AI video descriptions for a keyword or two. For example, I know at various points during my testing I saw alerts that properly called out a bulldog walking on my patio. Other times, the alerts stuck with a basic "dog" description. I want to open the app and search for clips where a bulldog was detected instead of scrolling through the nearly 2,000 clips the app has recently saved.

Since we tested the Blink Battery Doorbell 2K+, Blink has added a new AI feature, which groups related motion events together to provide a summary of the entire event.

Blink Battery Doorbell 2K+: Video storage and plans

Blink has several subscription plans, each with its own list of features. There are the standard Basic and Plus plans, which start at $3.99/month or $39.99/year for Basic and $11.99/month or $119.99/year for Plus. Both plans include 60-day video cloud storage, extended live view, person and vehicle detection, and the ability to snooze notifications, among other features. The Basic plan covers a single Blink camera, while Plus covers unlimited Blink devices.

Blink also offers AI versions of both plans, with Basic AI and Plus AI. The former is $6.99/month or $69.99/year, after an introductory price of $49.99 for the first year. Plus AI is $19.99/month or $199.99/year after paying $149.99 for the first year.

The main difference between the standard and AI plans is AI-created video descriptions, both in alerts and in your video clip history.

Blink's approach to subscription plans differs from Ring, another Amazon-owned company, and even Wyze. Instead of offering core plans with and without AI, both competitors include AI-based features like video descriptions in their high-end plans, without an option to pay slightly more to add it to the base plans.

This Amazon page breaks down the differences between all of Blink's plans.

Alternatively, if you pair the Battery Doorbell 2K+ with a Sync Module or Sync Module XR, you can forgo cloud storage and store video clips locally on either a USB drive or microSD card (depending on which module you have). However, you'll be limited to motion-activated alerts and live view without an active Blink subscription.

Blink Battery Doorbell 2K+: Verdict

The Blink Battery Doorbell 2K+ checks a lot of boxes when it comes to affordable, battery-powered video doorbells. It has 2K video, long battery life, local storage option and affordable subscription plans. The AI video description features could be more helpful, but they're better than the more traditional generalized alerts.

Compared to the Wyze Battery Video Doorbell, the Blink Battery Doorbell 2K+ offers stiff competition. Both cameras give you long battery life, clear video and wide field of view. Wyze's subscription plans are slightly less expensive, starting at $3.99/month or $29.99/year, and there's only one AI-bundled plan that's the same price as Blink's Plus AI plan. But Wyze offers AI video search.

The Blink Battery Doorbell 2K+ has a higher resolution, but smaller field of view. Blink requires a sync module, while Wyze does not. You're going to pay more over time if you opt for Blink, but not by much.

So which one should you get? I don't think you can go wrong with either.

Palm vein recognition technology has been around for a while, but it's typically been reserved for relatively expensive smart locks. Wyze is changing that with its Palm Lock, bringing biometric palm scanning to a price point that undercuts most alternatives. The lock promises to let you unlock your door with just your palm, along with traditional methods like PIN codes and physical keys.

At $129, the Wyze Palm Lock isn't the first palm vein model on the market, but it's certainly one of the most affordable. The question is whether Wyze has managed to deliver reliable palm recognition without cutting too many corners. I tested the Palm Lock for several weeks to see if this budget-friendly biometric lock is worth considering, and how it compares to the best smart locks.

Wyze Palm Lock review: Price and availability

The Wyze Palm Lock comes in at $129.98 and is available directly from Wyze's website, Amazon, and select other retailers. It comes in a single black finish, which should look fine on most doors – though I still would have liked more options.

Wyze Palm Lock review: Design and installation

The Wyze Palm Lock has a decent build quality that exceeds what you might expect from its budget price point. While it doesn't feel quite as premium as locks from August or Yale, it certainly doesn't feel cheap either. The lock comes with an ANSI/BHMA Grade 3 rating.

The lock is notably bulky, with the exterior portion measuring 6.1 × 2.9 × 1.3 inches and the interior portion measuring 7.2 × 2.9 × 1.2 inches. Both the interior and exterior portions are noticeable on your door, and while it doesn't look ugly, it's also not subtle. The interior section has the thumb latch for manual operation and a compartment for the batteries, while the exterior features the PIN pad and palm reader positioned above it. On the bottom of the exterior portion of the lock is a USB-C port, which is uncovered. A rubber cover would have been a good idea, but considering it's on the bottom, it seems unlikely much moisture will get trapped inside.

Installation is straightforward, though to be fair I've installed dozens at this point. Still, the included paper instructions are clear and comprehensive, and the app also provides a step-by-step installation guide, so most beginners should have no problem with it. The one minor issue is that you wouldn't necessarily know about the app-based installation guide unless you start the setup process in the app first, which the initial documentation doesn't explicitly direct you to do.

The lock includes a backlit keypad that's easy to see, along with a discrete manual key slot for emergency access. It also has a dual battery system, which is handy. There's a main battery pack that lasts approximately six months, and a backup battery that provides an additional two weeks of power when the main battery needs charging or if it runs out of juice. If both batteries die, there's a USB-C port that can provide temporary power from a power bank.

The IP53 weather resistance rating isn't particularly impressive on paper, but during my testing period, the lock survived several reasonable heavy rainstorms without any issues. I expect it will do just fine in the vast majority of weather conditions.

Wyze Palm Lock review: Locking features and performance

The headline feature is palm vein recognition, which unlocks the door in about one second and can store up to 50 different palm profiles. The technology reads the unique vein patterns in your palm, which are supposedly more secure than fingerprints since they're internal and harder to replicate.

In practice, I found the palm scanner worked reliably, and it almost never failed after I got the hang of proper positioning, which barely took a few tries. While some reviews have reported hit-or-miss performance with the palm reader, I didn't experience significant issues during my testing.

The palm scanner only unlocks the door – it doesn't lock it. This isn't really an issue though. There's a built-in gyroscope-based auto-lock feature, which worked exceptionally well, plus you can just press the lock button on the PIN pad if you prefer to disable auto-locking. You'll also get an alert if the door is left ajar.

The keypad supports up to 50 user codes and includes anti-peep technology, allowing you to enter random digits before and after your actual code to prevent onlookers from determining your PIN. Both the keypad and palm scanner performed accurately in my testing.

The lock also includes mmWave radar that detects human presence within 2 to 3 feet, supposedly distinguishing between humans and other moving objects to conserve battery life. While this is difficult to test thoroughly, it seemed to work perfectly well.

Security features include local encryption of palm data and passcodes stored on the device itself, not in the cloud. After five failed entry attempts, an alarm sounds and the lock enters a five-minute lockout period. The lock also has a traditional key slot for backup access or for giving temporary access to guests.

Wyze Palm Lock review: App and smart home

The Wyze app is well-designed and integrates seamlessly with other Wyze devices if you're already in that ecosystem. Navigation is generally intuitive, though I wish you could control the lock directly from the home screen. Instead, you need to tap on the device first, then tap a button to lock or unlock the door.

There are a few settings you can tweak relating to the lock. You'll be able to control auto-lock settings, one-time guest codes, and calibration options. There's also an event history, so you can see usage. All of this can be accessed remotely, as the lock has Wi-Fi built in.

Smart home integration is unfortunately limited to Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant, with no support for Apple HomeKit or Matter. This is disappointing, as wider smart home compatibility would make the lock more versatile. To unlock the door using voice commands, you need to speak your PIN code aloud, which is an obvious security concern. I understand the need for some form of authentication, though.

The lock is designed to work in tandem with Wyze video doorbells, allowing you to lock or unlock the door directly from the doorbell's interface in the app. It would be interesting if Wyze could leverage their doorbell's face recognition capabilities for automatic unlocking in the future, but that's not an option just yet, and perhaps wouldn't be secure enough anyway (various doorbells regularly confuse our local FedEx guy with me).

Wyze Palm Lock review: Verdict

The Wyze Palm Lock is a solid entry point for anyone interested in palm vein recognition technology without breaking the bank. It's not perfect – the lack of wider smart home support is frustrating, and the bulky design won't win any aesthetic awards. But, it delivers on its core promise of reliable biometric unlocking at an accessible price point.

For the right buyer, particularly someone already invested in the Wyze ecosystem or simply looking for an affordable smart lock with palm scanning capabilities, the Palm Lock represents good value at $129.98. The palm scanning technology works well once you get the hang of it, and features like the dual-battery system and gyroscope-based auto-lock add genuine convenience. Just don't expect the refinement or universal compatibility of locks that cost twice as much.

There’s no doubt in my mind that the best robot vacuum cleaners are getting closer in performance to their non-autonomous cousins every year, and I've tested my fair share.

Narwal might be a less familiar brand to some of you, but it’s one of five big Chinese brands that’s made a huge impact on the robot vacuum market. Narwal in particular has been focused on robots that mop as well as vacuum, and that's exactly what I tested here.

Over two months, the Narwal Flow primarily lived in the hallway adjoining my dining room and sitting room. With a busy period falling right in the middle of our testing window, it saw a fair bit of action in cleaning up after visitors. That included vacuuming our guest bedroom's low-pile carpet, and mopping our tiled kitchen and downstairs loo, and the vinyl in our bathroom. That's a lot of social pressure, so how did it fare?

Narwal Flow Robot Vacuum & Mop Review: Price and availability

The Narwal Flow has an official RRP of $1,599.99 and is currently available on the US Narwal site for $1,399.99and at Amazon for $1,499

UK users can purchase this on Amazon or on the Narwal UK website for £1,330.

Narwal Flow Robot Vacuum & Mop Review: Design

The first thing that strikes you when the Flow arrives is its heft. It comes in a huge box that is marked as heavy – I'd suggest you heed the warning and have two people lift it.

Open the box from the top and there is a cardboard sleeve containing the rather sparse instruction manual (there are just five pages of instructions in English) and the two spinning brushes that clip into the base of the vacuum.

Lift this off and the vacuum and its docking station are held in place with a cardboard support. The vacuum is already housed in its base (with some polystyrene for good measure), and both are wrapped in a plastic bag.

Open the lid of the dock and you'll find two water tanks – one housing some pleasant surprises. First there's a spare dust bag (one was already fitted inside the dock), as well as a bottle of detergent, a spare vacuum filter (again, one is already fitted) and a spare 'insert bin' – the small bin that sits inside the vacuum itself and is emptied after every visit to the docking station.

It's nice to have these replaceable parts included, especially as it's probably the first time most of us will have bought a Narwal product. New dustbags will set you back $19.99 for two on Narwal's website, while a new filter costs $35.99, again for two. Narwal says a dustbag will typically last 120 before it needs replacing.

I was, however, a little disappointed that there were no spare side brushes at this price point. In my experience of robot vacuums, I've found these need replacing reasonably frequently. That said, Narwal's have survived two months of testing very well.

The Flow's vacuum design is pleasantly simple. It has an all-over white, slightly glossy finish, which I preferred over black – I find the latter tends to show up even the tiniest amount of settled dust quite badly.

Underneath, there's a mop pad that lifts by 0.47in/1.2cm when not in use so that you won't get carpets or wood floors damp, and shuffles left and right to get tight up against edges.

There are also those two side brushes that easily clip into place and can shift from a V formation to a "II" one and reverse direction so that nothing gets tangled in them.

Finally, there is a tangle-free roller brush, which rather ingeniously connects on one side only. This is meant to help hair to flow cleanly into the dustbin – and as I'll explain, worked brilliantly.

Initially, setting everything up seemed straightforward. The only extra bits I needed to attach were the two spinning brushes, which clipped into place easily. Everything else – the mop pad, the filter tray in the base of the docking station, dust bag, mini vac bin and water tanks were already in position.

As explained, I popped the the vacuum in my narrow hallway. Now, Narwal recommends leaving a 0.45m long space in front of dock so that the Flow can easily manoeuvre in and out. I only had a 34in/88cm-wide space to play with, but the robot seemed to take this in its stride. It is a bulky unit though, so you will need to think carefully about where it might live without it becoming a nuisance. Also, the 1.4m power cable will limit you in terms of nearby power sockets.

As the five-page instruction manual wasn't much help, I was eager to download the app and pair my robot to WiFi. Both processes were easy, I entered my router password, and the Flow was online in a handful of seconds. So far, so good — but then I had to deal with the app.

Narwal Flow Robot Vacuum & Mop Review: App Experience

When you first open the app, you'll be asked to select your model of Narwal, agree to terms and conditions, and then you'll be prompted to link to your WIFI.

Then, you'll be directed to set up an initial map for your robot. I did this without really thinking, assuming it would be easy to change later. But I suggest you pay close attention and prepare your main cleaning area beforehand. Otherwise, it gets a bit fiddly to change things, and the vacuum might take a while to respond.

Clear the floor of obstacles, open doors where you want the vacuum to travel between rooms and close doors to doors you don't want it to clean. Also, be sure that the cleaning cycle is set to vacuum only. Otherwise you risk it mopping carpets, wood floors and other things that really shouldn't be wet.

I made the mistake of not properly clearing my floor, and it took a few days for the vacuum to realise where it was allowed to go.

Unlike the far less expensive Roborock Q7 M5 vacuum, the Narwal also didn't pick up on my kitchen in its initial mapping. While it mapped the dining room, hallway, and living room area reasonably successfully (albeit not picking up the correct position of the sofa), it didn't seem to 'see' the kitchen beyond, even though I took a risk and left the door to it open.

On the first pass it simply ignored the space. Then, on the second clean, it actually threw itself down the kitchen step in a dramatic move that left it upended and crying for help. So I wouldn't put total faith in its edge detection.

But one thing I did love about the Narwal Flow was its smarts when it came to detecting the surface below. It doesn't clean during its initial mapping so there's no danger of it trying to mop a rug, for example. But it was quick to spot surface materials (wood, tiles, rugs, carpet) and committed them to memory almost immediately. And while I have seen other reviews saying that the Narwal accidentally mopped carpet on occasion, I had no issues.

Scheduling cleaning in the app

Scheduled cleaning is also relatively easy to add and set up. You'll first need to select whether you want the Narwal Flow to Vacuum and Mop, Vacuum then Mop, Vacuum or Mop Next, you hit schedule (bottom left) and pick the next date you want it to clean. From here, you'll be able to set the time, date and frequency of when it cleans (you have options of every 1-6 days or 1-4 weeks), as well as the rooms to clean.

While you can't set it to do different tasks in different parts of the house on one schedule, you can set multiple schedules focused on different tasks.

I found this all really easy to do, and the Narwal Flow loyally followed my instructions each time.

Other app features

There's also a 'history' section where you can see how much cleaning your robot has done in the past day, week or year, including the area cleaned and time taken. To be honest, I'm not sure how useful people will generally find this, bar resolving a family dispute about whether the housework has been done!

There are two other key areas of the app worth pointing out. The 'Dock' icon on the bar to the left of the map will take you to a handy screen that lets you know if your dust bag needs emptying. And the hexagon on the bar to the top right takes you to various settings such as the language, voice (male or female) and volume of the voice, or pet-friendly mode, which you can activate to make sure the robot is extra-cautious in case it runs into any furry friends. This also does clever things like enable a 'pet cleaning zone' that will up the intensity of cleaning in certain areas.

My general feelings about the app were that it was a little slow, with some lag. A lot of functions were hard to find, such us the child lock (under general), and I found the map management quite fiddly. I did get used to it after a couple of months. But its worth spending some time to familiarise yourself with all the settings.

Narwal Flow Robot Vacuum & Mop Review: Performance

What's it like to use on hard floors?

Initially, I gave the Narwal Flow access to our hallway, dining room, and living room, leaving the door to the kitchen open to see if it would acknowledge the step down to this area. All three have solid wooden floors.

I also used the vacuum regularly on my tiled kitchen floor and in my lino-covered bathroom. The robot worked in a logical way, first working its way around the perimeter of the room, before crossing up and down. It felt that no spot was missed, and lots of dirt and debris was captured. I did leave a sprinkling of small debris along with things I didn't want it to pick up – including a Lego Minifigure. Impressively, my Lego friend was avoided while other scraps of paper were collected.

However, on close inspection, the edge cleaning wasn't exceptional. The Narwal Flow struggled to clean the dust that gathered under my radiators, and also when picking up dirt along the kitchen skirting boards. It wasn't just an issue of tight corners – it wasn't great along long edges either. On more than one occasion, I manually used a dustpan brush to sweep out debris from tighter corners to the main floor, where it was then successfully picked up.

I did like, however, how it avoided obstacles. As you are cleaning, if it encounters any, it will take a picture of what its seen. This then appears as an icon on the cleaning map, and if you click through, you'll see what it avoided.

And unlike other robot vacuums I tried, the Narwal Flow has less of a tendency to get stuck, thanks to its low profile and impressive navigation. Unlike the Roborock Q7 M5 it was able to glide under my sofa and TV bench with ease, and tucked under radiators, even if it didn't actually clean those edges very well.

Next, let's focus on the noises it makes. I've come to realise that most robot vacuum cleaners like to talk, and the Narwal Flow is no exception. As soon as 'she' (there is an option for a male voice if you prefer, but the default is female) is prompted to clean via the app or the button on the top of the dock, she will tell you 'vacuuming starting'. When she's done, she returns to base and says 'self cleaning started', then 'charging started'. There's lots of other chat in her repertoire, too, depending on whether she's mopping, or just plain stuck.

One thing the Narwal Flow has over some other robots though, is that it responds to voice commands. Say "Hey Nawa, start cleaning the living room" and it will. I also asked it to "stop cleaning", "go back to base" and "adjust suction power to super powerful" and all instructions were obeyed. It also reassuringly says 'I'm here' whenever you command it, so you know it's listening.

There is a little trial and error involved. If you haven't set room names in the Map Editing area, it's not automatically going to know what you mean by 'vacuum the kitchen'. And it didn't respond to 'return to dock' or 'reduce suction' – you do need to be quite specific. But once you've mastered the specific commands, the voice control is really useful. Especially if you have your hands full and want to clean a spill quickly without reaching for your phone.

As more of a scientific test of its cleaning abilities, we cleared a 5ft x 5ft area of both a tiled and carpeted floor, and asked the Narwal Flow to pick up 20g each of Cheerios, kitty litter and a mix of dog and human hair. The results were as follows

In general, the Narwal Flow seems great at picking up ground-in dirt, but seemed to struggle with larger pieces of debris.

I was quite surprised that when I weighed things out, it actually picked up a larger volume of kitty litter than it did Cheerios on both carpet and hard floors. Instead, it seemed to push these items towards the edges of the room, where they weren't always collected. Increasing the suction to 'super powerful' did help, but cereal was still left behind.

The same went for the small clumps of hair (a mix of human, pet and artificial), that I littered the floor with. The Narwal didn't always do the best job of picking them up. At one point it did wonder if it was actively avoiding them! However, the hair it did pick up generally got sucked into the dust bin and little got caught in the brush roller which I was super impressed with.

Noise levels

Using a sound meter app, I measured the average volume of the Narwal Flow while standing around 1m away in these different scenarios:

Cleaning wood floors: 55dB (Quiet) to 74dB (Super powerful)
Cleaning carpet: 49dB (Quiet) to 68dB (Super powerful)
Cleaning ceramic floor tiles: 55dB (Quiet) to 71.5dB (Super powerful)

The moral is, when the Narwal is quiet, it's very quiet, and when it's loud, you don't really want to be in the same room. That said, the noise really does convince you of its suction power!

What is it like to use on carpet?

Anyone that read my review of the Roborock Q7 M5 will know that I was pleasantly surprised regarding its performance on carpet, but the Narwal Flow took things to another level when it came to extracting dirt and dust.

The picture below shows the nastiness extracted from the same bedroom carpet that had been vacuumed two weeks before (yikes). I was in equal parts impressed and horrified...

As the Cheerios/kitty litter/hair testing data shows, it was marginally better at picking up hair on carpet compared to hard floors. Otherwise, the vacuum performed better on hard floors when it came to picking up cereal and grit.

This was good news in a way, as hair tends to collect on my bedroom carpet, as it's where I blow-dry and style my 'do. I don't tend to eat or wear shoes in the carpeted parts of our home, so I wasn't too concerned about its performance in the other tests and would still highly recommend it based on the dirt I saw it remove.

What is it like to use as a mop?

If there is one good reason to buy the Narwal Flow, it's that it is brilliant at cleaning floors. I was actually amazed at the job it did – in fact, it actually beat out a plug-in Bissell steam cleaner when it came to cleaning up dried-on ketchup.

The only suitable floor to test the Narwal's mopping ability on was our kitchen, which meant relocating the dock down a step to the kitchen floor. This is because the Narwal will periodically return to the dock to empty any dirty water and pick up some fresh water-detergent mix. As a task, this was cumbersome, but if your hard floors are all on one level, it won't be an issue.

The Narwal's base station has two water tanks – one purple, for your clean water and detergent, and one for dirty water. Narwal recommends adding one to three capfuls of detergent for every full tank of water, which I measured to be approx 4.6 litres using a jug. In our tests, we decided to go for two capfuls – I'd imagine the bottle would last as long as 6-8 tankfuls of water, and given I'd use less than half a tank for each wash, that's at least 12-16 cleans of my kitchen.

Narwal does recommend you only use its own cleaning solution in the tank 'otherwise the device may become faulty', according to the instruction manual.

Once you have added the water and detergent you simply reload the clean water tank, and command the robot to mop. It takes a few minutes for the tank to heat up the water, and you'll hear a lot of gurgling as it does so. It then works around the room, again starting at the perimeters and then working back and forth, up and down.

The water that comes out of the mop steams hot, and leaves the floor reassuringly warm and slightly damp. I was impressed that there were never any puddles of water on the floor, which can often be left by the Bissell cleaner I'm currently testing, and that this careful release of water cleaner effectively yet dried quickly.

The Narwal Flow will repeatedly run the mopping cycle until it deems the floor to be totally clean. In the case of the kitchen, it ran four cycles, going back to the base each time to reload with fresh water. My kitchen measures approximately 6 sq m (2 x 3m), and the whole process took 27 minutes.

Beforehand, I deliberately left some ketchup to dry overnight on the tiles, and you can see the results below. The Narwal cleaned the mess almost instantly – going over the area twice. But I was impressed at how quickly the ketchup lifted from the surface.

You can also see the dirty water collected by the Narwal at the end of the cleaning cycle.

Narwal Flow Robot Vacuum & Mop Review: Ease of cleaning and maintenance

In the main, the Narwal Flow is very easy to look after. The large water tanks are very easy to wipe clean, with few awkward nooks and crannies, and the dust mag is extremely simple to unclip and replace.

Usually the bane of my life when it comes to vacuums, the brush roller on the Narwal is one of the best I've ever encountered. To remove it, you simply press down on a purple catch and push in and up to unclip the cover. As the roller is only secured to one side of the main body of the vacuum, it's then just a case of pulling it out. As the roller is slightly tapered, any hair naturally works its way down the roller and gets sucked into the dust cavity. I would occasionally have to remove hair that had been tightly wrapped, but this happened rarely and was easy to pull free without scissors due to the design.

My one major bugbear is the two side brushes. Once clipped in, there is no obvious way to remove them. For now, that's not an issue, but if you did want to replace them down the line, I'm not sure how you'd do so.

Narwal Flow Robot Vacuum & Mop Review: Comparisons

As mentioned, I have recently tested the more basic spec Roborock Q7 M5, which doesn't have the self-emptying function, and costs a fraction of the price. In my opinion, the Roborock is superior to the Narwal Flow in its suction power and ability to pick up larger pieces of debris, and I also found its app and mapping easier to use and navigate. And the fact the Q7 M5 takes up a lot less space will be a boon to many.

However, if you are looking for a vacuum-mop hybrid, the Narwal Flow wins hands down. Its mopping ability is simply superb. And the Narwal is also more suited to allergy sufferers, since all the dust is collected up into a bag – as long as you're happy to pay extra for the dust bags.

I will also give the Narwal some credit for its voice control feature, which works well once you've mastered the commands. And I did like certain aspects of the app – for example, that it takes pictures of any obstacles it encounters so you can see what's causing issues from your phone. It's one of those little details that might no be particularly necessary, but is still clever. And imagine if you have pets you'll really appreciate it!

Narwal Flow Robot Vacuum & Mop Review: Verdict

There is a lot to like about the Narwal Flow. Top of the list are its exceptional mopping capabilities and easy maintenance. It's also on the quiet side for a robot vacuum, particularly on carpet, where its powerful suction pulls out deep-seated dirt with ease. And while it sometimes struggles with larger clumps of hair, it's unlikely you'll find them tangled in the brush roller for once!

I found the Flow less successful at edge cleaning and picking up very large particles such as cereal. My other main bugbear is that if you want to use it in other rooms that aren't on the same level as the base station, it can be temperamental or unwilling to co-operate.

Be aware that replacement dustbins and cleaning solution are quite pricey, so ongoing usage may be more costly. And the app take some getting used to. I did like the easy scheduling though, and was impressed by its AI smarts, such as floor material detection.

However, I'd recommend the Narwal Flow for homes with large living areas on one level and for those that prize good mopping skills. It's definitely worth considering.

As expected, the all-new Siri AI and Apple Intelligence took up the bulk of the announcements during the WWDC 2026 keynote. From improved camera editing tools, better awareness of everything happening on your iPhone, and even a dedicated app, there's a lot to unpack as Apple plays catch-up with Google and Samsung.

As someone who covers smart home products a lot, one Apple Intelligence feature really stood out for me, and it's something that could make Apple Home far more attractive than Ring and Google Nest for those looking to purchase one of the best home security cameras or video doorbells for their house.

When the new-and-improved Apple Intelligence rolls out, those who use Apple Home Secure Video will now be able to get detailed video descriptions of what's happening in not just individual videos, but across all stored video.

In addition, you'll also be able to use natural language search to more easily look for specific events.

Also of note: You'll now be able to store 4K video; until now, HomeKit Secure Video has been limited to 1080p, a serious restriction.

What's notable is not the features themselves — Ring, Google, and plenty of other companies already offer AI-generated search results — but the price at which Apple is offering these features.

Apple iCloud vs. Google Home Premium vs. Ring Pro

If you want to use Apple Home Secure Video — and these new features — you'll need an iCloud 2TB plan, which costs $9.99 per month and covers an unlimited number of cameras. (Apple offers higher-capacity plans, but we'll set them aside for now).

While I wish that Apple had extended these features to its base iCloud+ accounts ($0.99 per month for 50GB of storage and one camera, $2.99/month for 200GB and up to five cameras), that's still half the price as what its major competitors offer.

By comparison, if you wanted those same features from Ring or Google, you'd have to spend $20/month for Ring Pro and Google Home Premium Advanced.

The two caveats

I should note two things here. The first is that Apple's iCloud+ storage is not just for security camera footage; it's used for everything else, so if your cameras are recording a lot of video, you might run out of room a lot faster for your iPhone backups.

The second caveat is that there are comparatively fewer cameras and doorbells that are compatible with Apple HomeKit Secure Video than with Ring and Google Nest. Apple's own page only lists six cameras and video doorbells that work with HomeKit Secure Video, though we've reviewed others, such as the EufyCam 2C Pro.

The fact that HomeKit Secure Video was, until now, limited to 1080p has also put a damper on our enthusiasm for it, but its upgrade to 4K — plus these new AI-assisted features for much less than the competition — make it a much more compelling option.

I'm also curious to see how Apple Intelligence compares to other security cameras with AI, when it comes to delivering actionable messages and more.

Apple is doing for AI security video what it did with the MacBook Neo: offering a very competitive product for a lower price than the competition. Now, we just need more cameras.

More from Tom's Guide

• Apple just completely rebuilt Siri AI — here are the 7 biggest upgrades coming to your iPhone
• Apple Intelligence just got its biggest upgrade yet — here are all the new features announced at WWDC 2026
• Apple Time Allowance adds more parental controls to its devices in iOS 27 — here's what's new

Everyone knows that solar panels work best when the weather is sunny and the skies are clear, but what actually happens when that doesn't happen? Contrary to what your conspiracy-loving uncle may believe, solar panels do still work when it's cloudy. To be sure, they don't work as well as when the sun is out, but as long as there's daylight, those panels are converting what they can into electricity.

I bring this up because last week was the hottest week of the year so far in the U.K., and where I live, outdoor temperatures peaked at around 91 degrees F. Needless to say, the skies were about as clear as they could be, and I took the opportunity to crunch some numbers and see just how much money I was saving by offsetting my electric bill with solar.

The past seven days have been a totally different story, though. It's mostly been cloudy and raining, with the sun only making itself known at rare intervals. This got me thinking: how much of a difference has that made in my solar generation, in terms of both power generated and money saved.

How solar helped me during the heatwave

During the recent U.K. heatwave, I was able to generate 145.01 kWh of solar energy over the course of seven days — 59.88 kWh of which was exported back to the grid. My total energy consumption was recorded at 83.02 kWh, 18.5 kWh of which was imported from the grid. Those imports either happened overnight or when my electricity usage exceeded that of my solar generation.

Considering my 12-panel array rarely produces more than 2500W of power at any given moment, consumption can overtake generation pretty easily. Usually, all it takes is for a couple of kitchen appliances to be switched on at the same time.

Had I imported all of my energy from the grid, my bill for the week would have been £21.30 (roughly $28.61). This hypothetical figure includes £18.41 ($24.73) for energy imports and £2.90 ($3.89) for a standing charge. This is a daily fee every home pays to cover the cost of maintaining an active grid connection. But, because my solar panels covered the lion's share of my energy usage, my bill amounted to £7 ($9.40) — £4.10 ($5.51) of which was for imported grid energy.

Having those panels effectively saved me £14.31 ($19.22) over the course of the week, alongside an additional payment of £8.63 ($11.63) for the electricity I sold back to the power company. In the end, so long as you ignore my gas bill, I ended up making £1.63 ($2.20) of profit over the course of those seven days.

You can argue that the energy I generated isn't free, because my panels are still several years away from paying for themselves. I have only had them for six years, and I don't live in an area known for its annual sunshine. You could think about it as having paid for my energy bills in advance, but no matter what your perspective is, it doesn't change the fact that these panels are reducing my monthly energy bills — especially in summer.

What happens when the clouds roll in?

I'll admit, there hasn't been a complete absence of sunshine over the past seven days. But compared to the heatwave, the weather has been positively dreary. Looking over the data, and it's clear that the weather has made a huge impact on how much energy my solar panels were able to produce. But at the same time, the cooler temperatures mean I don't have to worry about running the AC to cool myself and my house down. So my overall usage has been noticeably lower too. Take a look.

As you can see, my total consumption for the week was 63.68 kWh, which is 19.34 kWh lower than the 83.02 kWh I used up during the heatwave. Running multiple fans and a portable air conditioner can really do a number on your finances if you're too liberal with their use.

Solar generation took a huge hit too, with the panels producing 103.37 kWh of power over the course of seven days. That's a loss of 41.64 kWh compared to the heatwave week, where they managed to generate 145.01 kWh. Naturally, that meant my total export was lower, selling 49.65 kWh versus 71.88 kWh — a 22.23 kWh difference.

Less generation also meant I had to import more energy, though not quite as much as you might think. During the heatwave, I had to import 18.5 kWh, while the cloudy weather only required 19.06 kWh — a 0.56 kWh difference.

Reduced energy consumption definitely played a part in this, but I also have to consider that my own usage will generally fluctuate over time and no two weeks will be the same. At the very least, it's clear that I was either using less energy at night or limiting how many appliances I had switched on at any given moment.

What does this mean financially?

Seeing energy figures in kilowatt hours is pretty meaningless if you can't visualize them in a way that matters for you. So I crunched the numbers again to see exactly how much of a difference was made.

If I had been completely solar-free, my total energy consumption would have cost me roughly £14.12 ($18.90), which is noticeably lower than the £18.41 ($24.73) I would have paid during the heatwave. Taking the standing charge into account would mean my total bill should have been £17.01 ($22.77)

Of course, my actual grid usage was higher this week, costing £4.23 ($5.66) compared to £4.10 ($5.51) last week. Meaning my actual energy usage cost me £7.13 ($9.55) once the standing charge was taken into account. This means having solar panels saved me a total of £9.89 ($13.24), which is quite the difference from my £14.31 ($19.22) savings while the sun was shining all week-long.

The reduced amount of generation also affected the export, limiting the amount of available energy I could sell back to the grid. In total, I managed to earn £5.96 ($7.98), compared to £8.63 ($11.63) last week. In other words, costs are higher, rebates are lower, and it means I have to pay the energy company more money.

My total bill during the heatwave should have been £21.30 ($28.61), but thanks to a combination of solar savings and export, the energy company actually owed me £1.63 ($2.20) at the end of the week. This week, my solar-free bill would have been £17.01 ($22.77), but solar savings and export income reduced that by £15.85 ($21.22) — meaning my bill is £1.16 ($1.55). It's not a huge overall difference, but it is a little disappointing to have to owe money when I ended last week on such a high note.

Bottom line

It's no huge surprise that solar panels are not as effective when there's less direct sunlight. Generation is totally reliant on converting light into energy, and without as much light you end up with significantly less power coming out of your panels. Which means the amount of money you end up saving starts falling.

That said, there are still savings to be had even in pretty miserable weather. So even if they aren't operating at maximum efficiency, they're still generating some energy to help reduce the cost of your electric bill. Either earning you some profit, or helping pay off the initial cost of actually installing them.

There is a point where generation completely stops, and I've noticed that happen during abnormally heavy rainstorms. But just because the sun isn't own threatening to burn your lawn to a crisp doesn't mean your panels are sitting there completely useless.

More from Tom's Guide

• Expert reveals the one solar panel mistake costing you money — and how to fix it
• I tested this portable solar generator and it managed to bring power to places my home solar system couldn't reach
• 9 ways to get more out of your solar panels this winter

Building a smart home from scratch is no easy feat. There are countless brands and products to sift through, and for most people, making an 'ecosystem' choice is understandably overwhelming.

But here's the thing: the cost for beginner-friendly smart home products is low, and it's okay to change your mind early on. You don't have to go all-in on Google products or stick with Apple no matter what.

Plus, a lot of smart home products nowadays are compatible across ecosystems via smart hubs or third-party apps. So it's absolutely acceptable to start with one or two small smart home products, and build your way up from there. For anyone with zero smart home tech in their homes, these 12 products are the ones I'd recommend trying first.

When I first looked into IKEA's affordable smart home devices, I realized I could now give my home a futuristic makeover without having to part with a load of cash. Smart home gadgets have always felt a little out of my price range or a little overwhelming, so inviting a few of these into my home to try out on a budget has been a fun endeavor.

Then, when the hot weather hit, I realized one of these devices was going to be a game changer for the rest of summer – the TIMMERFLOTTE tempereature/humidity sensor.

Why? Well, it's actually pretty simple. With a constant digital readout of the temperature or humidity, it helps me keep a check on what's happening inside my home. Not only that, but you can hook it up to anything else in the IKEA Matter Compatible System, or other devices linked up to the Matter hub. Then, you can link it up so when the weather's hot, it'll connect to other products like the MYGGBETT door/window sensor to tell you if you need to go and shut or open up to let some fresh air in.

How to use it

The IKEA TIMMERFLOTTE temperature and humidity sensor is a simple device used to keep a check on the climate inside your home, which is a super helpful tool especially when it's getting hot outside.

When we reviewed some of IKEA's new smart home devices, we noted that the TIMMERFLOTTE's all-white face shows a readout of either the temperature or humidity and to swap between the two, you simply press it. We also added: "Since the LEDs are white, it can be a bit hard to read if you're in direct sunlight."

As long as you attach it to the wall, as per the assembly instructions, out of any immediate sunlight, it'll be easier to read and a big help when you want to know how hot your home s getting.

But why it's really great for tackling the heatwave is that it's part of IKEA's smart home range. This device is built on the open standard Matter, compatible with smart systems like Amazon, Google and Samsung.

Specifically, it uses Matter over Thread, which means you need a Thread Border Router to control it through your phone, like IKEA's DIRIGERA hub. Link it up to a Matter-compatible fan or AC unit and you've got yourself a handy tool to track the temperature and then do something about it.

More from Tom's Guide

• I'm an interiors expert, and these are the 5 things I stock up on every time I go to IKEA
• This IKEA storage essential is ideal for family camping trips, and it's only $10
• I found this IKEA tool in the kids' section, but it's been a game-changer for my productivity

The security camera market is crowded, and most of the big companies want you to pay a monthly fee to actually get the most out of your hardware. There are some exceptions to that rule though. One of the latest of those is Baseus, which launched the new X1 Pro dual camera system.

The system offers two independent 3K cameras into a single unit, each capable of tracking its own subject or working together for panoramic coverage. It even has a built-in solar panel, which itself isn't all that unique -- but on this system, the solar panel is attached to a motor and designed to follow the position of the sun over the day, something we haven’t seen from the best home security cameras.

But, it's not necessarily the ultimate system that you might think it could be. To find out why, you’ll have to read the rest of our Baseus Security X1 Pro review.

Baseus Security X1 Pro review: Price and availability

The Baseus Security X1 Pro launched in early 2026. It comes in at $269.99, which gets you the dual-camera unit, the built-in solar panel, and the mounting hardware you'll need to install it. Baseus also runs promotional pricing that drops the cost to $179.99 and includes a microSD card.

What you won't pay is a monthly fee. All of the features are included out of the box, with no subscription required to unlock them later.

Baseus Security X1 Pro review: Design and setup

The X1 Pro isn't small, but it's not overly large given what it comes with either. It's IP65 rated for water resistance, so it should handle whatever weather you throw at it.

The build quality of the X1 Pro is fine, but not exactly premium. Some of the plastic parts feel a little cheap, though nothing broke during my testing and everything felt solid enough once mounted. Sure, the camera doesn't necessarily need to look like a piece of jewelry on the side of your house, and its overall look is pretty similar to other outdoor security systems.

The system combines a solar panel with a relatively large built-in battery. Baseus says the 7,800 mAh battery will last up to 150 days on a charge, and the 3W solar panel on top is self-adjusting, with a 120° coverage angle (60° left and 60° right).

The ability for the solar panel to rotate is a pretty smart idea, but I'm not sure it's really all that necessary. I've never had problems with static solar panels keeping a security camera powered. I have a EufyCam 2C Pro (which I use for its HomeKit Secure Video support) in my backyard that never dips below 90% battery with its static panel. The rotating design could be more useful in areas with spotty sun coverage, but even then, with a 150-day battery, your sun coverage would have to be pretty rough for it to make much of a difference.

Setup is straightforward. You physically install the mount to a wall, then attach the solar panel and camera assembly to the mount. From there, you open the Baseus app and follow the on-screen instructions to add the camera. It's no different than setting up any other security camera — the app walked me through the whole process without any major hiccups.

As a whole, the Baseus X1 Pro's design is...fine. It doesn't stand out all that much, and it could be built a little better, but most will be perfectly happy with it.

Baseus Security X1 Pro review: Video and audio quality

The X1 Pro captures video at 3K (3072 x 1536) per camera, with F2.0 lens apertures. In good lighting, the footage is solid. Details are crisp, colors are vibrant enough, and dynamic range is good enough that you'll get detail in both shadows and highlights, within reason.

The two cameras can work either independently or together. When independent, they can track up to two subjects at once — useful if you've got a large area with multiple potential points of interest. When stitched together, they provide a 300° horizontal field of view, which covered my entire backyard on its own. Baseus will "stitch" the two feeds into a single panoramic view, but it's not great at this — there's a noticeable seam between the two camera feeds where they join. It's not a huge deal, but it's not invisible either.

The camera supports up to 8x digital zoom, but there's no optical zoom. In other words, while the reasonable resolution means you can zoom a little when you need to, you'll lose detail the more you zoom in.

Night vision is handled by 12 IR LEDs plus two 100-lumen LED spotlights for full-color night vision. Infrared night vision worked pretty well in my testing, and the camera actually did a better job triggering on motion at night than the Eufy camera I have installed in the same backyard. It captured three kittens walking through my yard one night that I'd never seen before.

The spotlights are there for color night vision, but their reach doesn't match the use-case of the camera itself — the camera's designed to be able to see large areas, but the spotlights won't illuminate areas anywhere near as large. If you do use the cameras to cover more than a small area, you'll need to rely on external lighting or the infrared night vision.

Motion detection and audio

Motion detection is a mixed bag. Motion detection itself seemed to be fine -- even smaller movements, like the aforementioned kittens triggered recording. But, it took some time for recording to actually begin. The camera could see my entire backyard, including around 100 feet from my back door to a garden shed.

However, in recordings of me walking from the door to the shed, I was already mere steps from the shed before the beginning of the recording. That represents a good three or four seconds of movement before recording, which could be the difference between catching a significant event or missing it.

The camera supports two-way audio, but it's not great at actually picking up that audio. The microphone is sensitive enough to pick up audio near it, but not super consistently, and you can forget about audio that's further away -- again, representing a mismatch between the purpose of the camera and its actual tech.

Baseus Security X1 Pro review: App

The Baseus app is available on both iOS and Android, and it covers the basics you'd expect. You get a live view of the camera, an Events tab for captured recordings (including being able to see a split view or a stitched view), and settings for the alarms and night recordings.

It's not the slickest security camera app I've used, but I could find what I needed without much hunting. There are also some handy features, like an automatic patrol mode that has the two cameras rotate out and back at a pre-set time interval -- though unfortunately you can't use this feature when you've set the footage to be stitched. I don't see why -- there's no reason the footage from patrol mode can't just be un-stitched, and have other footage stitched.

The object detection is where the app, and system as a whole, falls down. In theory, it differentiates between people, pets, and vehicles. In practice, it's not super accurate. Several times when motion was triggered by an animal, it just registered as generic "motion" with no classification. One time, it registered a cat as a person.

Facial recognition was also inconsistent, and a pain to use. Unlike other security cameras that automatically record faces and have you classify them as you go, you have to manually add familiar faces using either the camera itself or by uploading an image. Even after you do that, it often doesn't properly recognize the face you uploaded.

In other words, while the camera can record footage when it detects motion, it's not very good at actually classifying that motion or differentiating between people and other movement.

The camera is heavily marketed as a no-cloud option, but there's actually a 30-day cloud storage backup feature in the app, offered for free. It's disabled by default, and even after I enabled it, I couldn't access clips that were marked as being backed up in the cloud. I could only play back clips stored locally. I'm not sure why, and it's possible this is a bug or something that'll get ironed out in a firmware update — but as of now, cloud backup exists but doesn't really work, at least in my testing.

Baseus Security X1 Pro review: Smart home compatibility

Smart home support is limited to Google Home and Amazon Alexa. That's it. No Apple HomeKit, no Matter, no SmartThings. If you live in the Apple ecosystem, you'll be stuck using the Baseus app exclusively.

The other connectivity limitation is Wi-Fi. The X1 Pro only supports 2.4 GHz — no 5 GHz option. In practice, this means streaming can lag if your signal is weak or if you're in a congested area with lots of 2.4 GHz interference. I found that footage streamed through the Baseus app regularly needed a second to load, which isn't a dealbreaker but is noticeable.

Baseus Security X1 Pro review: Storage and subscription plans

The Baseus X1 Pro is designed to be completely subscription-free. In other words, even with a 30-day cloud backup (supposedly), you won't need to pay anything to use the system after actually buying it. That's a double-edged sword, of course -- what if you want a cloud system instead of local recording. If that's you, it's worth looking elsewhere.

Local storage supports up to a 512 GB microSD card, which is plenty of capacity for weeks or months of footage depending on your settings.

As mentioned, there's also a free 30-day cloud storage backup option — but it's meant to supplement local storage, not replace it. You'll still need a microSD card to get the most out of the camera. And in my testing, I couldn't actually access video events stored in the cloud even after enabling the feature, so I wouldn't factor cloud backup into your buying decision at this point. The X1 Pro also works with Baseus' own hub, if you happen to own one, though you don't need one to use the camera. I didn't test the hub integration.

Baseus Security X1 Pro review: Verdict

The Baseus Security X1 Pro is a solid camera overall, but it falls short in a few key areas. Image quality is good, the dual-camera design gives you genuinely wide field-of-view coverage from a single unit, and the no-subscription model is always helpful. For basic security monitoring, it does what you need it to.

Where it falls short is on the smart features. Don't expect to rely on the AI-powered classification — motion detection can be delayed, facial recognition is unreliable, and the app will sometimes misidentify what it's looking at. Zoom clarity isn't great past a few times magnification, and the 2.4 GHz-only Wi-Fi can cause occasional stream lag.

If you're looking for a wide-angle dual-camera setup without recurring fees and can live without elite AI smarts, the X1 Pro is a compelling option. But, it's worth considering subscription-free security cameras from the likes of Reolink and TP-Link. For example, the TP-Link Tapo C246D is another dual camera system with a slightly lower resolution, though it doesn’t have the ability to track two subjects at once. But, it can track one subject faster.

It’s official. Prime Day is back and it’ll land on June 23, 2026. This year’s Amazon shopping event is a four-day long deals extravaganza, so the savings will continue until June 26.

Prime Day has been running since 2015, but there’s a difference this year. The event is traditionally held in July. But this year the festivities will start a whole month earlier than usual!

• shop early Prime Day deals

In case you didn’t know, Prime Day is basically a members-only sale held at Amazon. Amazon Prime members will get exclusive discounts on everything from Ring video doorbells to groceries. You can sign up for an Amazon Prime membership for $14.99/month, or you may also be eligible to sign up for a free trial.

Rival retailers like Best Buy and Walmart have also historically held rival sales at the same time as Prime Day to tempt shoppers away from Amazon, so you’re likely to find good deals across the web even if you’re staying away from the big A this year. In the meantime, there are early Prime Day deals on Adidas and Yeti, and early savings on Amazon devices from Blink, Ring and Fire TV.

Quick Links

• Audible: 3 months free @ Amazon
• Prime Video: up to 50% off select titles @ Amazon
• Kindle Unlimited: 3 months free @ Amazon
• Haul: deals from $1 @ Amazon
• Little Caesars: large pie for $5 @ Amazon

Prime Day freebies

Prime Day deals aren’t the only thing going on this June — Amazon also has freebies up for grabs.

Right now Prime members can get 3 months of Audible for free. This will get you access to free audiobooks!

There are also prizes to win. If you set up a deals alert with Alexa, you’ll have the chance to win a $1,000 Amazon gift card.

Plus, while it's not totally free, you'll probably be buying groceries at some point this month. Amazon Prime shoppers have the chance to win free groceries in sweepstakes after a $15 spend.

Prime Day streaming deals

Prime Day streaming deals are hotly anticipated. Last year, add-on subscriptions were discounted for Prime members — basically meaning you could level up your Prime Video subscription with extra content, at crazy-low prices. In 2025, Paramount Plus dropped to $0.99/month and Apple TV Plus dropped to $4/month on Prime Day.

Ahead of Prime Day 2026, you can get up to 50% off digital titles to rent or buy. You can also purchase Prime Video add-ons starting at $0.99!

Prime Day Kindle deals

Amazon likes to make us wait for Kindle deals — but they will be back this Prime Day! If it’s been a while since you’ve upgraded your e-reader, or you’re buying for the first time, all your summer reads are about to be bliss.

As well as discounts on Kindle devices, we will also see discounts on e-books and physical books. And Prime members can also get 3 months of Audible for free, which means free audiobooks.

Prime Day Amazon Haul deals

Amazon Haul is one of my favorite underrated ways to save at Amazon. It’s a bit like an online jumble sale packed with discounts on everything from string lights to big-brand shoes and apparel. There are definitely lots of junk deals in here, but it’s still always fun to go treasure hunting.

Prime Day Amazon Haul deals start as low as $1. They include everything from crafting essentials to toys and home decor.

More Prime Day perks

Possibly the tastiest offer of the bunch is the chance to get a $5 pizza from Little Cesar’s. This offer starts on June 15 and runs through June 26. I’ll be hungrily awaiting this one myself.

Plus, Prime members have the chance to see early screenings of Spider-Man Brand New Day, the MCU’s latest summer blockbuster.

Amazon and its Ring doorbell cameras are back in the legal spotlight and given the company's expanding privacy rap sheet, this latest lawsuit could be its most damaging yet.

Virginia resident Charles Sigwalt has filed a federal class action suit in Seattle, alleging that Ring's AI-driven Familiar Faces feature secretly harvested and stored facial recognition data from unsuspecting passersby — all without their knowledge or consent.

The suit is seeking upwards of $5 million in damages on behalf of the class. It comes on the heels of a $5.8 million FTC settlement in 2023 stemming from employee surveillance allegations, and adds fresh fuel to longstanding concerns over Ring's law enforcement data-sharing practices.

What is the 'Familiar Faces' feature?

Ring's optional 'Familiar Faces' feature uses artificial intelligence to identify and remember individuals who appear on camera, sending notifications that include specific names when recognized people approach a property.

While the feature is opt-in for Ring device owners, the lawsuit argues that the people being identified and stored in the system: passers-by, neighbors, delivery workers, etc, never agreed to be part of it.

According to the suit, those captured "did not consent to have their privacy rights violated at the entrance way."

What happens next?

The case is currently before federal court in Seattle. No trial date has been set, and Amazon has not yet responded publicly to the allegations.

Given Ring's history of privacy settlements, the outcome of this lawsuit will be closely watched by both privacy advocates and the millions of households that use Ring devices across the U.S. We'll keep you updated as the case develops.

More from Tom's Guide

• Google settles Android class action lawsuit for $135 million with payouts to 100 million users — here's how to claim your share
• Roku and TCL accused of 'bricking' TVs with poor software updates in new class action lawsuit
• Ring's Search Party feature can help you find your lost dog — here's how it works

Prime Day is on the way! There's just three weeks to go until the deals kick off for real, but in the meantime, Amazon is offering tantalizing early Prime Day discounts. And some of the deals I'm most excited about are included.

Right now, you can get up to 70% off a range of Blink, Ring, Fire TV devices and more. Now's your chance to score some early Father's Day gifts or get your security setup prepped for summer trips away!

I've rounded up the best Amazon devices that will upgrade your smart home. Keep scrolling to check them out.

Quick Links

• shop all Amazon device deals
• Blink Wired Floodlight Camera: was $99 now $29
• Ring Battery Doorbell: was $99 now $59
• Ring Battery Doorbell (2-Pack): was $199 now $89
• Blink Arc w/ 2 Cameras: was $99 now $89
• Insignia 55" F50 4K Fire TV: was $349 now $209
• Hisense 55U65QF 55" Class U6 Series Mini-LED TV: was $547 now $397

Blink Deals

Ring Deals

Fire TV Deals

Now, there are many robot vacuum cleaners you can see and hear, but the Eufy Omni S2 is the only one you can smell — in a good way, of course.

Eufy’s previous flagship vac, the S1, was a commercial success, but since its launch in mid-2024, it feels like rivals have surpassed it in terms of vacuuming power and features.

With extending mop arms, edge-cleaning roller mops, and even object-moving robotic arms, smart vac technology has been nothing short of trailblazing, with the S1 feeling a little outdated by now.

However, the Omni S2 is here, with a host of purported features, including a fragrance system and cleaning power that should set it ahead of the pack again. But are they enough to reclaim the crown from a market packed with rivals and innovations?

Eufy Omni S2 review: Price and availability

The Omni S2 is yours for an eye-watering $1,599.99 from Eufy.com. It’s right in the upper echelons of robot vac prices, but expect a raft of features and some forward-thinking design.

However, you’re locked into the S2’s more bespoke accessories, including the hard floor detergent for $22.99, dustbags for $18.99, and fragrance refills for $26.99 for the pack of three.

Eufy Omni S2 review: Design

Like its predecessor, the S1 Pro, the Omni S2 features a taller pedestal unit that hits 107cm in height. It looks striking, and a breath of fresh air against the wider docks that you need to squeeze into small gaps.

This UniClean station also has controls on its pedestal, letting you send the robot out to clean or return home without accessing your app or bending down to operate the vac itself. This 12-in-1 dock also packs lots of smarts, with a dirt detection system that can trigger an additional cleaning cycle, a 60°C hot water mop wash, an electrolysis system that generates ozonated water for sterilising cleaning elements and surfaces, and a 55°C hot air mop dryer, amongst other features. Finally, with regular use, you shouldn't need to touch the dock’s dustbag for 68 days.

Again, the robot vac unit is similarly designed to its older brother. Notably, both models do without the spinning LIDAR turret, creating a slimline height clearance of a few hairs short of 10cm. It’s not quite the uber-svelte 7.8cm height of the Roborock Qrevo Curv 2 Pro, but I’ll forgive it, as it packs in a roller mop, my preferred wet cleaning implement, over dual spinning pads.

This roller mop muscles in 1.5kg of downforce, which should be able to tackle persistent stains. It also has two scrapers and 32 water injectors as part of its real-time cleaning system. For reference, the Roborock Curv 2 Flow had 8, so this should practically eliminate streaking. Last but not least, the 29cm mop extends across its right side for enhanced edge coverage. This has been one of the main vac/mop features I’ve raved about, so I’m delighted to see it in the S2’s arsenal.

I should also say that the vac unit looks really impressive — underneath, you get the familiar DuoSpiral and anti‑tangle brushes, and a pair of spinning brush arms, one of which can extend to get at corners and edges. The top features a bumper and translucent cover that shows off the S2’s internals via a swirling array of lights when in action.

The S2 has an impressive laundry list of features. Firstly, the important stuff. There’s no skimping on suction, with 30,000 pa of power to play with. That’s a massive jump over the S1 Pro’s 8,000. It can also adjust suction and height for carpets up to 2 in, while being able to clear intimidating thresholds up to 1.65 in.

Plus, its 3D MatrixEye 2.0 reportedly detects over 200 obstacles, while time-of-flight (ToF) sensors are dotted across the body to map the space around it.

Last but not least, the S2 is the first-ever robot vac to incorporate an aromatherapy system, which diffuses pleasant scents as it cleans via a triangular cartridge that lasts up to 120 hours.

Eufy Omni S2 review: Performance and test results

We use standardized testing to objectively measure how robot vacs perform against rivals. These involve sprinkling 20g of Cheerios, 20g of kitty litter, and 5g of pet hair on a laminated 5x5-foot hardwood floor and low-pile carpet to determine how much the vacuum sucks up and what percentage remains. On top of that, I’ve been using the Omni S2 almost every day for 10 days.

In the tests, the S2 scored pretty solidly across the board, though I was a touch disappointed to find that it didn’t ace them. Wildly, the Omni C28, Eufy’s more affordable model, achieved better scores. In my observations, the S2 seemed to shy away from groupings of the Cheerios and was reluctant to clean all four edges consistently. Its strong fan also blew clumps of the cat hair across the testing area, so it was unable to collect more than its overall 84%.

Still, I consider the S2 to be a strong contender in my house. It vacuums really well, with enough suction to hoover up a lot of dust and debris across carpets and hardwood floors. When cleaning my office, living room, hallway, and kitchen, it needed one stop off to the dock to make a deposit, a testament to how much it’s managed to pick up. Mopping is also excellent, with enough water applied to the roller mop without streaking. It dealt with my ketchup floor art with style, without spreading the red further. It also left my kitchen and hallway areas pretty much spotless, with that clean “under-the-feet” feeling.

If there’s one area where the S2 needs a little work, it's the navigation. It can generally move confidently and quickly across areas, but the edge-cleaning never feels uniform. Particularly under overhanging kitchen cabinets, the vac would go into these tight spaces but then quickly bail out, leaving slivers of uncleaned areas here and there. It would also get into difficulties in tight spaces, using its bumpers and some trial and error to free itself. Still, it does avoid obstacles like toy cars and rogue feet fairly reliably. Roborock’s vacs have the best navigation in the business — with pinpoint excellent accuracy, they can attack rooms methodically and predictably.

They also know exactly how wide they are and how to get out of awkward nooks, and having reviewed this unit so soon after evaluating the fairly solid Qrevo 2 Pro, some enhanced wayfinding is something the S2 needs. What would be useful here is better navigation and a tweak of object recognition so it could better detect when an area was cleaned or not. Whether it’s misidentifying debris as objects to avoid (a common issue with smart recognition systems), there’s some work needed here. Hopefully, more over-the-air updates can solve some of these issues.

With regards to the aromatherapy system, it does leave my rooms smelling very pleasant — I’m a particular fan of the Citrus and Basil flavor. I do wish there was a way to crank up and down the scents, though. Sometimes the smells can be really subtle, so being able to kick the diffuser up a notch would have been useful.

Eufy Omni S2 review: App

Eufy’s app isn’t as customizable as Roborock’s bevvy of micromanagement systems, with up to dozens of adjustment levels for each variable. It’s altogether a simpler experience, with its clean and simple settings, usually three or four adjustments for the cleaning intensity, water distribution and suction power. In the back-end settings, you can adjust its drying, mop washing and emptying cycles, along with adding maps, and even seeing the predicted remaining lifespan of its refillables.

The latest 3D map update gives household objects an extra dimension that looks cool on a smartphone, even if it's just for aesthetics. It’s also fairly good at recognizing furniture types and placing them on the map, though it also confused the white door in my office for a fridge, so there’s that.

Eufy Omni S2: Verdict

The Omni S2 is generally an excellent vacuum, with strong suction to rival your Dyson Spot + Scrub - great mopping, gorgeous design, and a raft of extra features that earn it those stripes.

However, great robot vacuums aren’t just dependent on performance, but also on precise navigation. Whether it's the lack of a proper spinning LIDAR tower or general nav gremlins, the S2 fared a little lower than expected in my standardized tests, leaving a handful of edges and gaps uncleaned, which is the reason this gets 4 out of 5 stars.

Having said that, while rivals have performed better with superior navigation, these models usually have a weakness, either in the vacuuming or mopping. The S2, in both categories, fared excellently, so if you’ve got a large pad with lots of open space, it’ll work wonders for you. If you’ve got a more conservative property with lots of tight spaces and nooks, it’s best to look elsewhere, as rival models offer more consistent performance.

Solar panels are easily the best home upgrade I've ever paid for, and over the past six years, I've saved thousands of dollars on my energy bill because of them. Naturally, the amount of benefit I get from my 12-panel system depends on a bunch of factors, the most important of which is the weather. The more sun there is, the more energy you can generate, which means a better return on investment.

I live in the U.K., which just endured a pretty big heatwave, which meant this week was the hottest week of the year so far. That coincided with some of the clearest skies I've seen for several months, and it sent my solar panels into production overdrive. Hotter temperatures mean my energy usage skyrocketed, and that had me wondering just how effective my panels were at keeping my energy bills down.

So I decided to do the math to figure out what was going on — and calculate just how much money my solar panels saved me over a seven-day heatwave (May 22 to May 28).

For the sake of my own convenience, I'll be doing all my math in Pounds Sterling (£) and pence (p), and will convert the totals to dollars at the end.

The solar situation at my home

I don't have a particularly large house, but the roof space is almost completely uninterrupted — meaning I had room for quite a few solar panels. My system is made up of twelve 345 watt solar panels, with a maximum production capacity of 4.14 kilowatts. While I could theoretically generate 4.14kW from this setup at any given moment, I've never actually seen my panels generate more than 3.5kW at a time — and that's a rarity.

Eight of my panels are at the front of the house, facing the south when most of the energy is generated, while the other four are in the back room facing north. I also have a 3.3 kWh home battery, but it doesn't really factor into these calculations since all the energy it stores either gets used up or exported at some point throughout the day.

My current electric plan means that I pay 22.17p for every kWh of electricity I import from the grid, plus a 41.35p daily standing charge — which is kind of like a rental fee for maintaining a connection to the national power grid. That standing charge doesn't change, and means my weekly electricity bill will always be at least £2.90 ($3.86) even if I don't use any electricity. My provider also pays me 12p for every kWh of electricity I export to the grid, which ensures I get some money back for any excess solar power that I don't personally use or store.

It's also worth mentioning that I don't have any HVAC installed that would drive up my electricity usage. My heating and hot water is powered by a gas boiler, rather than a heat pump, and any air conditioning I get to enjoy comes from a vented portable unit rather than a central air system.

My energy usage over the past week

Let's get down to the math of it all, starting with my own electricity usage over the course of the week-long heatwave.

As you can see in the table below, you can see a breakdown of my electricity usage for each day — based on the stats in Levelise — the app I use to monitor and manage my solar system. You can see my total energy usage, how much my panels generated, as well as how much energy flowed between my house and the grid.

As you can see the generated energy exceeded my total usage every single day, and by a considerable amount. I consumed 83.02 kWh of energy throughout the week, while generating 145.01 kWh — 59.88 kWh of which was exported back to the grid in exchange for cold hard cash.

Sadly, this wasn't enough for me to be completely off grid. Part of this is because my energy use is stretched out over a 24-hour period, while solar generation is limited to 12 or 13 hours of the day. The other factor to consider is that there's a limit to how much power my panels can generate at any given time. If my usage exceeds that number, power from the grid flows in to keep everything switched on.

Sadly, the relative cost of grid energy versus exports (22.17p vs 12p) means that any imported power makes a dent in my overall savings. However, I was still able to save a considerable amount compared to not having solar panels at all.

The actual monetary savings

Knowing about energy usage and generation in kilowatt hours is one thing, but it's harder to visualize in terms of actual monetary value. So I crunched the numbers and figured out exactly what all this energy was costing me, as seen in the table below.

If I had no solar panels installed and was importing all my energy from the grid, this entire week would have cost me roughly £18.41 ($24.73), plus an additional £2.90 for the standing charge, making my total for the week £21.30 ($28.61). As much as I would like to marvel at the nice round number, it's still a lot of money to spend on electricity — and I pin most of the blame on my portable air conditioner.

But thankfully, I did have solar panels, which made a huge dent in the amount of grid energy I needed to import. Thanks to those 12-sheets of metal and glass, I only had to pay roughly £4.10 ($5.51) for all the additional electricity I needed — or £7 ($9.40) when you add the standing charge on top.

If you just look at the total cost of electricity itself, this means my panels saved me roughly £14.31 ($19.22) over the course of this seven-day heatwave. Then you have to take export earnings into account, with my 59.88 kWh of exported energy earning me an additional £8.63 ($11.63) of credit that is applied to my energy account.

This means that my energy provider actually owes me around £1.63 ($2.20) after everything is taken into consideration.

That's a pretty weak amount of profit, especially when you consider the fact that I also have to pay my gas bill. But it doesn't change the fact that I would have had to pay considerably more money if I didn't have a rooftop solar system subsidizing my electricity usage.

Bottom line

I will admit that a heatwave is not a particularly normal occurrence where I live, even in summer. Normally, the weather throughout the summer months is peppered by periods of cloud and rain, both of which have a noticeable impact on solar generation. It is true that the summer months are generally rather fruitful from a power generation perspective, which means the pricier winter energy bills don't seem quite so extreme.

When it comes to solar generation on your own home, the amount you can save is going to be totally dependent on your circumstances. More expensive electricity means fewer savings, but having a large roof means you can get more panels installed and boost your generation capacity. Likewise, panels installed in states like Arizona or Nevada, which get more sunlight on average, are going to reap the benefits more than they would in Alaska or Vermont.

But in the end, it doesn't matter whether you're a tried-and-tested tree-hugger or a diehard proponent of fossil fuels; there are real monetary benefits to being able to generate your own electricity at home. The number may not be huge in isolation, but they do add up over the course of months and years — which could help offset the cost of running your home.

More from Tom's Guide

• Expert reveals the one solar panel mistake costing you money — and how to fix it
• I tested this portable solar generator and it managed to bring power to places my home solar system couldn't reach
• 9 ways to get more out of your solar panels this winter

As the weather warms up, it’s time to get outdoors and tackle lawn care. Lymow is a relative newcomer to the mower market, and the One Plus is only its second-generation robotic mower. But Lymow has packed in the updates, including dual rotary blades and a cyclone airflow system designed to achieve consistent cutting across different types of grass. But does it live up to the hype?

I put it to the test in my 6,800-ish-square-foot backyard, complete with obstacles like a shed, playset, and random items my kids and dog leave out there. I wanted to see whether the Lymow One Plus could replace my current gas-powered riding mower, which I bought about six years ago. Read on to see how it fared during my testing over two weeks in the Ohio spring.

Lymow One Plus robot mower review: Price and availability

The Lymow One Plus is available directly from Lymow’s U.S. website and retails for $2,999 (at the time of writing, it was on sale for $2,699). It’s not currently available on Amazon or from any big-box retailers.

You can pre-order the Lymow One Plus in the U.K. with shipments expected to begin at the end of May 2026. The robot costs £2,799 full price and is currently on sale for £2,499.

Lymow One Plus robot mower review: Design

The Lymow One Plus arrived in a large, heavy box that required two people to move safely. Inside was the robot unit, the charger, an RTK station, and various cables for charging and navigation.

The mower itself looks rugged, and my kids compared it to a tank. It has tracked treads rather than wheels, which helps it navigate rough terrain better than many of its competitors. Its dual rotary blades can cut long, thick grass, leaves, and other yard debris with ease. And its tracks allow it to conquer slopes up to 45°, making it a good fit for hilly yards.

The RTK station connects to the docking station via a cable, and Lymow provides an extension cable if the standard cable isn’t long enough. Additionally, the docking station must be installed within reach of a power outlet, but again, there’s an extension if you need it. I played around with the placement of the docking station and the RTK station until I found the right setup at the corner of my deck.

But if in doubt, Lymow provides clear instructions and instructional videos that show you how to set everything up properly.

Lymow One Plus robot mower review: App

The Lymow app is essentially the control panel for your mower. It lets you control the robot, set up maps, mark no-go areas, and set preferences. This is also where you can name your mower, which is arguably the best part. I let my kids name the mower, and they chose ‘Mow Willems’ after one of their favorite authors.

After you download the app, you’ll need to add the device and pair it via Bluetooth. Then you can connect it to your WiFi network and bind it to the RTK reference station. This part is crucial because it lets you create a map and ensures navigational accuracy. I set up the RTK station at the corner of my deck, next to where I set up the docking station. To bind it, all I had to do was scan a QR code on the station, tap bind, and voila!

Creating maps was a little time-consuming but easy enough, and I actually enjoyed the process. The app lets you control the mower with forward/backward and left/right controls, like a remote-control car. I drove the mower around the perimeter of my yard.

Then, I set up no-go zones around my shed, raised beds, kids’ playset, and trampoline. In total, this took me about 20 to 30 minutes. Plus, you can set up to 80 zones in the app. Finally, I set up the charging station just outside the map boundary, then created a “channel” for the mower to follow back to its home.

Then, it was time to mow (more on that below). I could monitor progress in the app and see the mower's exact location at any time. The mower stayed within the boundary and had no issues avoiding my preset no-go areas.

In the app, you can also:

• Start a mowing session
• Cancel an in-progress task
• Send the mower to the dock
• Set up a mowing schedule
• Change your preferences for mowing speed, cutting height, and blade speed
• Backup and restore maps
• Set up safety and permissions
• Update the mower’s software

For my second test, I set up a mowing schedule to repeat biweekly. It was easy to set a schedule in the app, and I could choose days, times, frequency, and mowing preferences. After setting up my first schedule, the mower started at the correct time with no input from me. This was one of my favorite features — I hate mowing and tend to be forgetful, so this took something off my plate and mental load.

Lymow One Plus robot mower review: Performance

I first tested the Lymow One Plus on my unmowed spring lawn. My grass grows unevenly, so there were thick, tufty patches and thinner patches with lots of dandelions. Lymow says the mower can handle tall and dense grass easily, so I wanted to put that to the test.

I set the cutting height to 4 inches for the first mow of the season. After a few false starts, we were off! The Lymow One Plus navigated my backyard easily, sticking to the map boundaries I’d set up and avoiding the obstacles I’d designated as “no-mow” zones. But it did struggle a little with the thickest, longest grass.

Although it could easily cross those patches thanks to its tank tracks, it left tufty areas behind. I noticed that the mower pushed the grass down, and because it was flattened, it didn’t get cut properly.

The Lymow struggled a little with dandelions. I’ll admit my lawn has more than the average number (gotta keep those pollinators happy), but I noticed the mower would flatten the stems as it went over them, leaving only the ends cut off. This was similar to the issue I noticed with the thick, long grass.

A mowing session took 104 minutes and used 124% of the battery, so it had to dock and recharge partway through. After the mowing session ended, my lawn looked professionally mowed, with even stripes throughout.

Lymow One Plus robot mower review: Verdict

I feel that Lymow designed the Lymow One Plus to replace, rather than supplement, their current mower. After a couple of weeks of regular use, I’m not sure I’ll be ditching my trusty riding mower completely.

The Lymow made it easier to maintain my lawn between mowing sessions, but it left enough patches in my yard that I do think I’d need to mow at least every few weeks. However, the Lymow is a great addition to decrease the number of times I need to mow, so it’ll remain a regular fixture in my backyard.

Memorial Day Weekend has come and gone, but it sure seems like the deals and discounts are sticking around — specifically when it comes to Amazon devices.

Whether you're looking to boost your home's security ahead of summer or you're hoping to revamp your entertainment setup, you can score up to 50% off best-selling Amazon devices including Fire TV Sticks, Blink security cameras, Echo Dots and more.

A few of my personal favorite finds include the Ring Battery Doorbell on sale for just $59, while the brand-new Fire TV Stick HD has dropped to only $21. If you're in the market for a smart TV, the 65" Fire TV Omni 4K QLED TV is sporting a $100 discount.

I've rounded up the best Amazon devices that will upgrade your smart home. Keep scrolling to check them out.

Quick Links

• shop all Amazon device deals
• Fire TV Stick HD: was $34 now $21
• Blink Mini 2K+: was $39 now $25
• Ring Indoor Cam Plus: was $59 now $34
• Blink Arc w/ 2 Cameras: was $99 now $51
• Ring Battery Doorbell: was $99 now $59
• Amazon 40" 2-Series 4K Fire TV: was $249 now $209

Fire TV Stick Deals

Ring Deals

Blink Deals

Fire TV Deals

Before there were permanent outdoor lights you could leave up all year long, there were smart string lights that could adapt to whatever holiday or mood you needed them to. Now, Govee is back with a brand-new set of smart string lights that manage to cram an entire rainbow of color into every single bulb.

Over the years, I’ve tried out loads of different Govee smart lights. I've tested everything from its smart curtain lights that turn a wall into a customizable pixel art canvas, to its hardwired ceiling lights that can instantly transform a dark hallway. However, it was the company’s smart string lights that finally convinced me to ditch Philips Hue and its much more expensive ecosystem behind for good.

I used my first set of Govee smart string lights to decorate my porch year-round so I wouldn’t have to deal with the annual hassle of putting up and taking down holiday lights. Later, when we put up a fence to finally seal off our side yard from the street, I used a newer set of Govee string lights to decorate that, too.

After seeing Govee’s latest string light innovation back at CES, I knew I had to find a place for them in my yard. With a few poles mounted in the ground and some hooks screwed into the side of my porch, I managed to do just that and I’m incredibly glad I did. Govee’s Outdoor Chromatic String Lights are a sight to behold at night — but shockingly, they look equally stunning during the day.

Here’s why they’re worth the extra splurge, especially if you want to add some much-needed color to your next backyard gathering, be it day or night.

A more colorful redesign

Even though the unboxing experience was nearly identical to the Govee smart string lights I’ve checked out in the past, it was immediately clear I was dealing with something else entirely here. Govee’s Outdoor Chromatic String Lights aren’t trying to copy traditional backyard lights. Instead, with their dual-layer design, they’re trying to do something completely different.

In the box itself, you get either a 32-foot strand or a longer 65.6-foot version like I have here. Since these lights pack a total of 54 individual RGB LEDs inside every single bulb, they require some serious power. As a result, you cannot daisy-chain multiple strands together. You definitely want to measure your space carefully and map out your power outlets before deciding which kit to buy. Since I wanted these lights to cut across my yard in a zig-zag pattern, I went with the longer 65.6-foot option.

While the Outdoor Chromatic String Lights themselves carry an IP67 waterproof rating, the large included power brick is only rated IP44. If you plan on keeping these up year-round — or even for a single season — I strongly recommend picking up a waterproof outdoor enclosure for the power adapter. I already use two of these boxes for the smart string lights on my fence, so I was good to go. Still, it’s the exact kind of "pro tip" you won't find on the product page or the back of the box.

Just like with all of the best smart lights set up inside and around my home, I always make sure to test them before starting the actual install. When I plugged this set in, I was met with a literal rainbow of color that instantly showcased how those 54 individual LEDs can push out multiple shades and colors simultaneously.

Although Govee’s single-light rainbow system is the star of the show, I was equally impressed by the dual-layer aesthetic. All of those LEDs and the underlying tech are tucked behind a milky white inner shell, while a clear outer shell gives the capsule bulbs a reflective quality that really makes the colors pop.

With everything unboxed and tested, it was time to begin the install. One thing I love about Govee’s newer string lights is that they come with dedicated plastic clips for each bulb — a feature the very first set I bought years ago lacked. These clips attach securely onto the top of the sockets to ensure each bulb hangs down at the exact same distance while absorbing the physical tension off the main cables.

There’s also a loop at the top of each clip in case you want to thread a metal guide wire through them to prevent the line from sagging over longer runs. Since I was setting these up primarily for testing, I skipped the guide wire. However, if you are doing a permanent installation, those loops will certainly come in handy. With my lights safely hung from two freestanding yard poles, it was finally time to fire them up and see just how bright they could get during the day — and, of course, at night.

Afternoon ambiance

After recently reviewing Govee’s new Lightwall, I honestly wasn’t expecting much from the Outdoor Chromatic String Lights during the day. The Lightwall — which is a larger, portable version of the company's smart curtain lights — just wasn’t bright enough to show off its pixel art scenes or animated GIFs before the sun went down, even on a heavily overcast day. Much to my surprise, these string lights delivered the exact opposite experience.

As I cycled through the preset scenes I typically use on my other Govee gear, I couldn’t believe my eyes. Instead of making me squint to see their color-changing effects, the colors remained perfectly clear even with the sun shining bright overhead. Normally, I have to wait until at least dusk to turn on my backyard lighting, but that wasn’t the case here. I could easily picture leaving these on to add a vibrant pop of color during afternoon BBQs or family parties. You could easily pick a theme to match the occasion hours before sunset — like switching to a pastel palette for an afternoon Easter egg hunt or firing up a vibrant festival scene during a midday cookout.

Adding the lights to my smart home was as simple as tapping the plus icon in the Govee app. However, just like with most of the company’s outdoor gear, you are required to physically press the power button on the inline control box during the pairing process. This is exactly why I always recommend testing and setting them up before you start hanging.

Within the app, you get over 100 preset scenes ranging from holidays to nature. I particularly gravitated toward the "Universe" themes on these lights, as they do a phenomenal job of showcasing the fluid, single-bulb rainbow effects. If you can't find a preset that fits your vibe, you can use Govee’s AI Lighting Bot to generate a custom look via text prompts. You can also sync the strand to your music, but since the inline control unit features a built-in microphone, the lights can dynamically bounce along to the audio from one of the best Bluetooth speakers too.

You aren’t locked into Govee’s presets, either. When you drill down into the color settings for individual bulbs, you can choose from several pre-configured gradient mixes or tap into the manual color wheel to craft your own custom watercolor-like layouts.

I walked away incredibly impressed by how well Govee’s Chromatic Outdoor String Lights perform in broad daylight. As the sun finally began to dip below the fence line, it was time to see how well they could light up the night sky.

Still best at night

Just like with the other two sets of smart lights in my backyard, Govee’s Outdoor Chromatic String Lights work best at night, and this is to be expected. Although the picture above doesn’t do it justice, watching the lights shift from one color to another within each bulb definitely makes these smart string lights stand out. In fact, they remind me more of the Skyline Light Kit I mounted on the other side of the beam that runs across my living room than the other Govee string lights I’ve tested in the past. This makes sense because underneath that inner layer, the 54 RGB LEDs in each bulb almost look like a mini lightstrip wrapped in a circle.

At $299 for the 65.6-foot set Govee sent over for me to test out, these smart string lights are certainly an investment. However, since you’ll likely use them during the day too and not just at night, I’d say they’re worth spending a bit more on. Alternatively, if you go with the shorter 32.8-foot set, they only cost $169.

Now, I know this is still expensive for string lights. However, for the price, you’re getting smart ones you can control with your phone or your voice using one of the best smart speakers. Likewise, you don’t have to worry about changing bulbs, and you can switch up their color or lighting effects with a single tap. Personally, I really like this new design from Govee as the dual-layer aesthetic and overall look is a lot more futuristic than you see on most string lights, even smart ones.

Honestly, I don’t know where Govee will go from here, but its smart string lights are still a great way to add a splash of custom color to your yard. They’ve served me well for years now, and they’re a great alternative to permanent outdoor lights that you can install practically anywhere.

More from Tom's Guide

• I just installed Govee’s largest smart light yet and it turned my boring living room ceiling into a giant display
• I took my gameplay to the next level with AI-synced lighting and it's just what my desk setup was missing
• I bought a smart fan to beat the heat and I never thought I’d have this much fun controlling a fan from my phone

Not long ago, I hardwired a Ring Wired Doorbell Plus to my front door and enjoyed all the benefits that come with it, most notably the ability to wire the Ring unit to my existing chime. The 2K video it delivered was quite impressive. Now, the Ring Battery Doorbell Pro has landed on my doorstep, and it’s perfect for my garage, where I often operate my side photography business. And it’s got 4K video to wow me. That’s so many Ks!

There’s no existing chime or hard-wiring in my garage, so the battery-powered Ring Battery Doorbell Pro is ideal for the space, when paired with the Chime Plus ($60) that Ring included with my test unit.

From installation all the way through to using the app on a daily basis, the Battery Doorbell Pro couldn’t be easier to use. And the Retinal 4K footage is excellent in almost all conditions, though in the deep of night, footage does lose some detail unless you’re looking at objects close to the camera.

All told, the Battery Doorbell Pro is a great addition to any space that doesn’t already have a hardwired chime. Here’s how it compares to the best video doorbells.

Ring Battery Doorbell Pro (Retinal 4k): Price and Availability

The Battery Doorbell Pro came out in early 2026, and is available for purchase on Ring’s website for $250, as well as Amazon and other online retailers. You can split the purchase up into payments using Affirm at checkout. While Ring does offer the option to have the doorbell professionally installed, you shouldn’t need to do that with simple-to-install unit.

You can also purchase the Ring Doorbell Pro at other retailers like Best Buy, Home Depot, Walmart, and many more. Pricing and availability may vary.

Ring Battery Doorbell Pro (Retinal 4k): Design

The Battery Doorbell Pro keeps the aesthetics of the other doorbells in the Ring lineup, though the Battery Doorbell Pro does come in four different colors. It’s slightly taller than the Ring Battery Doorbell Plus, at almost six inches tall. That’s to give enough room for the long-lasting battery within.

The faceplate pops off using the included tool. Keep that tool in a safe place, since you’ll need it to remove the faceplate whenever you want to remove the battery for charging. You can use any small pry tool, but the plastic one included with purchase is a great way to easily remove the faceplate without it getting scratched or otherwise damaged.

The quick-release battery comes out easily simply by pressing the release button. You can then charge the battery using the included USB-C cable.

The Battery Doorbell Pro also comes with a mounting plate and an angle mount. You’ll want to use the angle mount if you need to position the doorbell inward or outward to capture the widest view of your space. Otherwise, you can simply install the regular mount and have the camera face directly outward. Be sure to screw in the security screw once you’ve installed the doorbell; this will secure the doorbell to the mounting plate to prevent theft.

You’ll set such alerts in the Ring app. That’s also where you’ll set up your unit and change various settings based on your specific needs. More on the app in a moment.

Finally, the Battery Doorbell Pro supports LiveTalk with Audio+, allowing you to talk to visitors from the safety of your living room and hear what they have to say back to you, all with enhanced sound quality.

Ring Battery Doorbell Pro (Retinal 4k): Video performance

I now have what you might call a doorbell ecosystem on my property. The front door, garage camera, front gate camera, and now the Ring Battery Doorbell Pro mounted on my garage all report straight to the Ring app, so I can see what’s going on around the house at any time, day or night.

Two of the doorbells — the Pro and the Plus mounted on my front gate — are paired to the Chime Plus in my garage. So when clients come to my house, I can have them ring either doorbell to activate the Chime in the garage. If I’m already with another client, I can use Live Talk to tell them not to come in just yet, or if I’m ready for them, tell them to come right in so we can get started. It’s super convenient; I don’t have to walk all the way to the front of my house to interact with clients.

But I can do a lot of that with other, less expensive doorbells in Ring’s lineup. What really sets the Battery Doorbell Pro apart from the others is the Retinal 4K video with 10x Enhanced Zoom. In bright sunlight, the footage is crystal clear, and I can zoom in quite far and read small text like license plates, provided they aren’t obscured by shadows and my internet speeds are sufficient.

That’s important to keep in mind: The best footage comes when your internet speeds are fast. Ring recommends speeds up to 15Mbps. My internet connection rarely, if ever, gets that fast, even on my 5g network; it tops out at 12Mbps, and is usually closer to the range of 7-9Mbps. So my video suffers slightly as a result. If you get consistently faster speeds, your images will be consistently sharper.

This is more apparent at night. In low light, I still get a fairly clear picture with true colors. But when the sun sets and there’s far less ambient light, it’s hard to get crystal clear footage. I can still make out people and objects close up to the camera, and even decently far away, but reading small text or license plates is probably out of the question.

The field of view is excellent and I love being able to see just about my entire yard in one image. It’s also great to get a head-to-toe image of anyone ringing my doorbell. Again, in broad daylight, this image is superlative. In low light, it’s still very good. At night, the image quality will suffer depending on your internet speeds. That said, it’s still pretty incredible that it’s possible to make out people and objects in complete darkness. The Doorbell Pro still allows me to make out faces clearly, especially if those faces are within a close range of the doorbell.

Ring Battery Doorbell Pro (Retinal 4k): Battery

The battery is USB-C rechargeable. Simply pop it out of the Doorbell and throw it on the charger. Since there’s no hardwiring, you can mount the Ring Battery Doorbell Pro just about anywhere you find it useful.

In my testing, the battery life has been exceptional. After two straight weeks of use, the battery has lost less than a quarter of its full charge.

It’s important to note that the Battery Doorbell Plus comes with the Quick Release Ultra Battery Pack, and this particular battery is only compatible with the Battery Doorbell Pro and Battery Doorbell Plus. So users may experience some compatibility issues if they have older-style batteries already at home.

I read a few reviews online about this doorbell, and users noted frustration that the Doorbell Pro isn’t compatible with the Ring Solar Panel and Charger. But I checked in with Ring and this isn’t the case; the Doorbell Pro is indeed compatible with the solar panel and charger, and if you use these accessories, your battery gets charged as it sits mounted in place, no need for you to plug it in.

Differences between the Battery Doorbell Pro and Battery Doorbell Plus

The Ring Battery Doorbell Plus costs $150, saving you $100 compared to the Ring Battery Doorbell Pro.You still get Live View, Two-Way Talk (without Audio+), Motion Detection, and Color Night Vision. But the resolution drops to 1536p HD+ video.