7 Smart Home Devices That Actually Make Life Easier

We've all been there with smart home products, devices that take hours to set up, others that suddenly go offline, major compatibility issues, and then when you think you've solved those problems, the products don't work as well as you expected. Hi, I'm Kim Pfeiffer, Director of Features and Special Projects at Forbes Vetted, and I want to show you seven smart home devices that actually make life easier, all chosen by our editors and testers for the 2026 Forbes Vetted Smart Home Awards. We were completely blown away by how capable these products are and how easy they are to use. These smart devices all have really cool features, but they also work incredibly well and are so well designed that they might just change your life. Get ready to take your everyday routine to the next level. The Ecobee Smart Thermostat Premium isn't just any smart thermostat. I love that it's actually a few different smart home devices in one, a thermostat, an air quality monitor, and a smart speaker. As a thermostat, the Ecobee Smart Sensors can track temperature in multiple rooms rather than just a single room or a hallway, so the most important rooms in your house are balanced temperature-wise. Plus, the glass touchscreen is nice and bright and very responsive, so it's almost like having a smartphone app on your wall. Its air quality monitor tracks VOCs and carbon dioxide, and it even reminds you to change the filters on your Alexa is built into Ecobee, and it can even play music. With the Mavic Robot Vacuum and Mop, cleaning your floors can actually be fun, and not just because you don't have to do it yourself. I love the Mavic's pickup performance. It can capture debris as large as graham cracker pieces and as small as fine dust particles, and fast. We found it can clean two and a half rooms in about 18 minutes, and when it automatically builds a map of your home using its onboard cameras and navigation technology, that's super fast too. It's like the robot is on a mission. Obstacles are no problem whatsoever for this robot. It's so impressive how well it can dodge clutter, pets, or furniture that are in its way without bumping into things. It even recognizes specific details like the fringe on rugs without getting tangled or stuck. It doesn't require daily emptying either. The dry and wet debris collects inside the robot in one bag, and it tells you when it's time to throw the bag away and replace it with a new one. Another useful feature that's actually quite cute is that when the mop needs more water, the Mavic navigates itself to the sink to alert you to refill it. I have two cats, so I'm really excited about the Whisker Litter Robot 5 Pro. If you have cats as well, it will surely change your life. The Litter Robot's tight seal and carbon filter provide serious odor control, and there's plenty of room for cats to move around. There's also an extra large waste drawer and a laser sensing system that helps control the litter cycle. It's not exactly small, but it's whisper quiet and incredibly smart. The app monitors litter and waste levels, and it has built-in AI-powered cameras for recording, activity tracking, and streaming. Another really cool feature is the waste ID. It's able to tell number one from number two and triggers a cycle depending on which one. The Mova 3000 is the future of lawn care. It can handle everything your yard throws at it, from slopes to tough turns to walls and flower beds. And I love that it's fantastic at edge mowing. The machine can move internal blades outside for a cleaner cut on the edge. As far as obstacles go, the Mova 3000 is genius at avoiding anything in its path that shouldn't be there. If you accidentally leave out a toy or a pool float, it pulls up to it slowly, turns slightly, pulls forward, and continues doing that until it's clear of the object. Another thing I like, the noise level for this machine is almost non-existent. It's no louder than a house fan. Plus, as soon as it detects a wheel off the ground, it turns off the blade. Its battery life is excellent. The mower returns itself to the charging dock if the battery dips lower than 10%. Then it gets just enough juice to finish the task. I'm a huge fan of design, and the August Wi-Fi Smart Lock is beautiful. It's a knob on the inside that comes in matte black or silver, and it's invisible on the outside, so you don't have to change your existing lock and deadbolt. The August senses your phone's Bluetooth and automatically unlocks your door when you approach it from the outside. It's extremely reliable, too. One of our testers said that its unlock accuracy was 100%. It always recognizes when you approach your home. There are plenty of other unlock options, too. You can unlock it remotely from your phone, you can manually lock and unlock using the app, and you can grant access to guests with an unlimited number of distinct virtual keys. They just need to use the app to get in the door. And setup is super easy. All you need is a screwdriver to replace the inside of the lock, and the August snaps into place. The Samsung is a great refrigerator all on its own, with its highly organized storage and beverage center, which has a water dispenser and a self-filling pitcher. But I love the well-designed 32-inch screen that runs tons of apps, like Google Calendar, a web browser, YouTube, the weather, a photo gallery, notes, streaming live TV, Spotify, and more. Plus, you can open the doors by voice command or touch a sensor, which is handy when you're bringing in groceries and your hands are full. Or they're covered in flour from baking. Speaking of groceries, the camera inside the fridge makes shopping easier. Using Samsung's mobile app, you can see what's on the shelves while you're at the store. And Samsung's AI Vision uses a wide-angle camera to identify food as you load or remove it, creating a real-time digital inventory that you can access on the screen or with the SmartThings app. TCL QM8L TV. The on-screen colors are exceptionally bright, rich, and vibrant. I love that they're vivid but natural, and the picture quality is amazing. The audio is by Bang & Olufsen, making for great sound quality that delivers clear dialogue. One of our testers said it felt like she was watching a movie in a theater. The operating system uses Google TV, and you get quick access to Gemini, which includes features like Ask, Learn, Briefs, and Create. These can give you information about the things that you're watching, create data visualizations about various topics, and create images and videos directly on the device. And that's it! All these products were carefully selected by Forbes editors and testers. We hope you'll love them as much as we do. For more smart home products we recommend, check out all the winners of the 2026 Forbes Vetted Smart Home Awards at the link below.