Best Smart Home Tech for Back-to-School in 2024

Though you may not be familiar with the name Wiz, the company makes some of the best smart lights on the market. Aside from the fact that you won't need any extra hardware to set up this light other than Wi-Fi, it's MatterNanoleaf Essentials Smart LED Color-Changing Light Bulb's also very affordable and has a very unique feature. The Wiz Smart Light Bulb with SpaceSense can act like other high-quality smart bulbs and has motion detection built-in. Using the Wi-Fi signal to determine if someone is in the room, you can set it up to turn the lights on and off so you don't have to worry about touching a light switch again.

While Nanoleaf made a name for itself with fun light panels you put on your walls, like the Nanoleaf Shapes, its Essentials line of products that covers more traditional lighting devices are equally as impressive. The Nanoleaf Essentials Matter Bluetooth & Thread Smart LED Lightstrip offers the same vibrant colors that Nanoleaf is known for and fun customizations in the Nanoleaf app but at a more affordable price point. With various ways to connect the lightstrip to your devices, you'll be up and running in no time.

If you haven't had the pleasure of experiencing active TV backlights, then you need to get the Govee TV Backlight 3 Lite. The kit comes with an LED light strip that you attach to the back of your TV, a controller box to plug it all into and a camera that watches your TV screen. After setting the lights up in the app, the lights react to what is happening on the TV and mimic the colors onto your wall for a more immersive viewing experience. Once you use them, you won't want to watch TV without them again.

Smart plugs are excellent for making non-smart products smart. Kasa has some of the top devices on the market that simply work. You can schedule times for the outlet to turn on and off, set timers and see energy usage. Plugging in something like a basic coffee pot, fan, lamp or others is a great way to utilize this plug. And it's small enough that you don't block the second outlet.

The Echo Dot is a powerful smart speaker in disguise. The small form factor could easily fool someone into thinking it is low powered and won't have much oomph for playing tunes. That's not true. While it isn't the speaker for the next blowout party, it is plenty for a dorm or bedroom. Plus, with Alexa built-in, you can control all your other smart home devices, set reminders and get help with random questions that pop up while hanging with friends.

Powered by Google Assistant, the Nest Hub (2nd Generation) offers great sound quality with a vivid 7-inch display. The screen adds another level of functionality to the smart speaker by showing visual information in addition to the audio. You can link your Google Photos to it for a slideshow of your pics, watch YouTube, Netflix and more. Also, the Nest Hub (2nd Generation) can track your sleep all without the use of a camera.

If you want your room to really stand out, then the Govee Smart Curtain Lights are a great way to do that. These 5 x 6.6-foot IP65 water-resistant lights consist of a total of 520 LEDs to cover your wall in customizable lights. You can pick from the many excellent premade scenes from Govee, check out what other Govee owners have made or make your own lighting scenes. From words to pictures and reactions to sound, these lights are going to make your room the place to be.