The Home Tech I Actually Use Every Day

What is going on guys? Welcome back. If you know me, you know I love my home and I love my tech. I've bought an unnecessary amount of tech over the years. Some of it worth it, some of it not. But in this video I'm gonna be talking about the items that I absolutely swear by. If they broke today, I'd buy it again tomorrow. In my mind these things just make your life better day to day and I simply cannot live without them. So with that said, let's get into it. This isn't the updated newer version which I think is great because that actually makes the price cheaper. It's still a ridiculously expensive screen and that's why so many people hate on it because it is very overpriced and at the time it was a very old monitor as well. But if you're locked into the Apple ecosystem, it is a no-brainer. It's the best looking screen by far to look at and both aesthetically, it's so clean on the desk. It's got that Apple build quality and I only need one cable to connect my laptop to it. This thing runs seamlessly. I've had zero problems with it and I definitely plan to use it for many years to come. I really don't think an upgrade is necessary. Obviously there's a ton more on my desk that I love. This is my dream setup so if you guys want to watch a video, I'll have it linked in the description below for all of those other items. Now if you guys follow me on Instagram or even see my shorts, you will recognize this product because I'm talking about it time and time again but I'm just that obsessed with it. I have Philips Hue smart devices all around my apartment and they are genuinely life-changing. To me by far the biggest perk is being able to turn on and off the lights from either your phone or your smart device. I actually can't imagine having to go around and individually turn on and off all these lights every day. Absolutely not. So I've bought smart bulbs and put them in many lamps around the apartment and then right here over my shoulder I have a smart Hue lamp as well which was not cheap but I'm really happy with it and I think aesthetically it just really makes the room pop. And even on the TV I have the TV backlight which syncs with what's on the TV. You do have to pay $2 a month for that though to have an app because the other solution would be to buy the Hue box which was $600 give or take I think and I'm sorry I'm not doing that so I'll just pay the $2 a month for the subscription unfortunately. I cannot harp on how sick the TV backlight is though. It takes at-home TV viewing experience to a completely different level. I didn't think my girlfriend would like it and she loves it so I think that speaks volumes you know girls usually don't love that stuff. And on top of that I have all my scenes pre-loaded so no matter the vibe I'm feeling that night if I'm feeling more blue I can set it to that or if I just want something more calm and chill I can set it to red or a nice neutral color whatever your heart desires they got something for you. To be fair the one downside with Hue is once you're in the ecosystem kind of similar to Apple honestly you're in it and Hue is very very expensive but Govee is another good budget option that I would highly consider for other people too but I got into Hue and you know there's no going back. Now this next one's an item I've been wanting for years but I never really thought I would do it or just have a setup that made sense for it but I do now and that is the Samsung frame TV. This is the TV we have in our bedroom so it's our secondary TV and I think it's perfectly suited for that purpose because it's definitely not my best TV but aesthetically it is. If we're just talking about picture quality my LG OLED right here is a thousand times better I would watch games on that movies you can't achieve that same look in the bedroom that you can with the frame so I think this product is perfect for the person that really wants the best aesthetic and especially if it's gonna be in your bedroom that's solid I would not personally put it in your living room and have it be a main TV. You definitely can it's not a bad image quality by any means but just comparing it to OLED different leagues. I bought this gold frame from Amazon for a couple hundred dollars to make it look like a real picture frame and I think it makes a world of difference. It really is an impressive piece of tech though it's super slim and then there's just one cable running it to the box and that's where all your HDMI ports and everything plug into and Apple TVs and all that good stuff so I think it just makes for a really sleek minimal setup and speaking of the Apple TV 4k this is without a doubt something I think everybody should have in their homes and for me it's so nice I bought it twice I got it for both of our TVs. Now of course you don't technically need it and I'm always getting so many comments online anytime I do talk about this but the big difference is just the UI. It uses an iPhone chip I think the iPhone 13 and so it's just super snappy really responsive it's hard to beat but there are really two massive standout features that I think make it much more worth it than any other smart TV device. The first one being picture-in-picture so it's good for a couple scenarios when either my girlfriend's trying to watch a reality TV show and there's a big game on maybe it's the Bears I can put the game on in the corner and she can watch her show while we're in the same room which I think is the best case compromise. Now my favorite feature of this altogether is being able to connect your AirPods so seamlessly to your TV. It's crazy how many times this comes in handy whether I need to be filming a video and I need Lauren to put her AirPods in so I can't hear the TV but she can still enjoy it so if you're in a smaller space in general it's life-changing. I think if you're in a bigger house it might not make as much sense but even if I'm sitting in bed and I want to watch what I'm watching and Lauren wants to read boom perfect like it really just allows you to live kind of the way you want in my opinion. If you live alone this feature really doesn't matter but if you live with somebody else or have a family it's life-changing. We're sticking on the topics of home entertainment and the next item I'd recommend is the Sonos Arc Ultra. They say with the YouTube video if the audio quality is bad but visually it looks great people aren't gonna watch it just hits different when the audio is top-notch it's just far more immersive. It's nice that these TVs can get so thin now but because of that the speakers are pretty much dog water. So the Sonos Arc Ultra is a massive step up. I do think it is one of the most expensive on the market but again for good reason you get the ecosystem that you can play with. I'm just realizing all these things I'm talking about have an ecosystem that's how they get you but I do think it's very much worth it and to me aesthetics do matter and I think it's the most beautifully designed speaker that there is. So with this movies feel more cinematic the dialogue is super clear and just for the soundbar the bass is exceptional. For me this was one of those purchases I made on Amazon where I was like alright if I don't love it I'll return it and if I like it so be it and it was one of those things where right when I watched my first movie I said okay like this is this is not going back so I imagine most people would have the same experience too. I'm not gonna lie this next item even surprised me because I didn't think it would do that good of a job but a robot vacuum and not just any robot vacuum this is the Dream LS 10 Pro I believe it is. I got it on Amazon for only $400 and it is exceptional. I'm not even trying to glaze it that hard but I genuinely I have an $800 Dyson vacuum that I've showed you guys before. Never use it hardly ever other than to do the carpets here because the vacuum can't the robot vacuum can't go on it. I have it scheduled to go off every morning when I go to the gym so by the time I'm home each morning the floors are vacuumed mopped and just in perfect shape. I think a robot vacuum is only right for a certain person if you live in a one-story place or apartment and don't have stairs and don't have too much carpet that's a huge caveat but I'm not kidding you this thing has surprised me so much it's been the best purchase and I would recommend it to a friend ten times over and on the topic of keeping things clean I think everyone should have an air purifier. Lately I've been using the Drio 530s which has been really nice because for some reason none of the windows in our apartment open up which is really annoying. There are a few key features that the Drio air purifier has that I think separate it from the rest. First up's got to be the filtration system which personally is probably the most important thing to me too. It has a three-in-one HEPA Pro filter and as you guys know we have a dog so it does a really good job of accumulating those allergens and dust. Another really unique feature that this has is real-time air quality which is great because then I can just leave it in its corner on its own it can do its thing and automatically detect what's in the air and adjust the fan based on what it's reading. I don't know if you guys have ever used an air purifier but some of them can be obnoxiously loud. This is extremely quiet. For real though this is what it sounds like going full blast. That is nothing it is so subtle. And if you're a real techie they even have the option to choose RGB lighting so if you want to have it be fun and colorful you can do that or you can simply turn it off depending on what you like. It's also got enough power to be out here in the living room or in the bedroom. I picked the bedroom simply because we noticed it getting really stuffy in there and as of late I definitely feel like I've noticed a difference. Air purifiers can also help with odor so not only is it making your place smell better but in my opinion it makes it feel more clean too. So if you guys want to check out the Drio 530s air purifier I'll have it linked in the description below for you guys and thank you to Drio for sponsoring this video. I've showed this item a whole lot on my channel even though I only got it a couple weeks ago but I already swear by it because it has changed how I view coffee which says a lot coming from me. Granted we were using a crappy Nespresso before but I upgraded to the Ninja Luxe Cafe Pro. This thing's insane. Now before I talk about any of the specs or anything I think what I love about this most is it's so approachable. It probably took me two days and making about five coffees to actually figure this thing out and I feel like a pro now. It only takes me about three minutes and it has a ton of different settings. You can make cold coffee, hot coffee, pretty much whatever you want and there's even a built-in frother. The options are unlimited. I'm telling you I get so excited talking about this because I've been debating this again for literally five or six years and it's been life-changing. At the end of the day if you're a coffee drinker I think this upgrade is a no-brainer. As you guys know I went to Greece recently. The Fredo Espressos and Fredo Cappuccinos over there are to die for. I've just been ripping them at home and the fact that I can make the same quality at home is like the coolest thing. This has probably got to be my favorite sleeper pick and that's the Hatch Alarm. A couple things I love about it. First and foremost is the white noise machine. You can use your phone for that but it just does not hit the same. The speakers on this are honestly really really strong and it just drowns out all the noise in the room but I don't know maybe you're not a white noise sleeper. I personally that's the only way I can sleep. Plus waking up to these alarms is so peaceful. All the sound options are great and the sunrise feature is really nice. A lot of times I'll wake up before I even hear my alarm because I notice the light starting to go off and not in an annoying way but your circadian rhythm immediately picks up once it notices light and so it's a very natural way for you to wake up. I think my favorite thing about it is just not relying on your phone. Yes there are cheaper alarm clocks for sure but again I think it's worth it. In my opinion smart home devices can be a bit hit-or-miss but I bought the Amazon Alexa Echo 8 that is. It's really nice. I used to have the HomePod mini and that thing is trash. Other than setting alarm it really couldn't do much and I'm quite impressed with how many things that this can answer for me. Like the other day I was asking it what the macros were of a burger from a local burger joint P Terry's and it knew that. I was really impressed by that. Now to be fair I don't use 90% of what that's capable of. I like to use it for setting alarms in the kitchen and more so controlling all the smart home devices that I have like my Philips Hue lighting. Check this out. Turn off all the lights and turn the thermostat to 69 degrees. All lights are off and the thermostat is set to 69 degrees. It's too easy. It just makes it super convenient and it's very very well worth it. Now this might be the most random one and I don't know if it fully qualifies as home tech because it's technically portable but I think a JBL flip is really nice to have. I'm a big fan of keeping mine in the shower. It's waterproof so that's not a problem and I think it makes showering way more enjoyable. The speakers bump, the Bluetooth is reliable and it's just a good product all around. And what impresses me is the battery life. Like I said I leave it in the shower and I don't know maybe it's on for 20 or 30 minutes at a time but I recharge it maybe once a month so it's really nice. It's not an annoying thing to go have to charge every so often. And obviously it doesn't have to stay in the shower. I take it to the golf course as well. It even made it to Greece when we traveled there too. It's just a great item to have around the house because you never know when you're gonna need it and I promise you you will use it more than you think. And those are all my favorite home tech items that I personally think are worth every penny. But you guys can let me know in the comments if you think I'm wrong or if I missed something because I'm always looking to make some upgrades. As always thank you guys so much for watching. See you on the next one.