Amazon’s October Prime Day is almost here, and it’s another chance to save money on some of the best smart home products on the market today. With so much to choose from and so many deals around, should you consider getting involved?
This story is part of Amazon Prime Day, CNET’s guide to everything you need to know and how to find the best deals.
If you’re an avid user of Amazon’s Alexa and you’re interested in expanding the assistant’s presence throughout your home, then you’ll most likely want to give those deals a look. But other manufacturers of smart home products are likely to be in the mix, too. From smart lights to robot vacuums, it’s a safe bet you’ll be able to find Prime Day discounts across a variety of categories and manufacturers.
However, Prime Days aren’t the only days when you can save money. The Black Friday and Cyber Monday events are always good for folks on the hunt for bargain smart home gear, so keep that in mind. Your best bet might be to save any major purchases for then — but Prime Day can still be a great time to expand your smart home setup with a new device or two, or to try out something completely different. Here’s what you should know as you shop.
Read more: Best Cheap Alexa Devices of 2023
Prime Day pickings are slimmer than Black Friday
We’re definitely going to see discounted smart home tech for Prime Day, and some of those deals might indeed be pretty tempting. Historically, however, the best sales of the year come closer to the holiday buying season — specifically, on Black Friday and Cyber Monday at the end of November. Simply put, there’s a much, much greater number of shoppers ready to spend. In turn, that means a greater number of manufacturers pulling out all the stops to compete for your dollar.
On top of that, Prime Day pickings often lean heavily toward the Amazon side of things, with many of the best discounts reserved for Echo speakers and other Alexa-compatible devices. It isn’t all Alexa, though. Echo stuff aside, a good number of those third-party devices will work in Google Assistant smart homes and in some cases Apple HomeKit smart homes, too. Meanwhile, other retailers working to counter-program Amazon with sales of their own, like Best Buy and Target, might provide some additional variety among brands and devices. For the most part, Prime Day’s smart home deals are always going to skew toward Alexa. Maybe that’s exactly what you’re looking for — but maybe it isn’t.
All that being said, a deal’s a deal, so if there’s a smart home gadget you’ve been meaning to add to your setup and you find it at a nice discount in the coming days, feel free to pull the trigger. But if it’s a big purchase and you’re trying to find the best price of the year, consider holding your fire till Black Friday, when you’ll likely have more options to choose from (and the potential for better savings, too).
Try to avoid impulse purchases
It happens to the best of us — you aren’t shopping for anything specific, but a big sale comes around and you don’t want to miss out. You see a good deal on a neat product you hadn’t even considered for your home, and all of a sudden it’s on its way to your door. I get it.
With smart home gadgets, though, you’ll want to try to put a little more thought into your purchase. For starters, lots of devices won’t work with all platforms (Alexa, Google Assistant, HomeKit, SmartThings, what have you), so you don’t want to buy something only to find out it doesn’t work with the other devices in your home. And impulse purchases are always going to be somewhat ill-advised when we’re talking about internet-connected tech seeking a place in your home.
Your best course of action is to come into Prime Day with a plan. All deals aside, is there anything specific you’ve been meaning to add to your smart home setup? Maybe you’d like to try out a smart lock that works with your voice assistant of choice, or maybe you’re a smart light user who’d like to add a couple of extra bulbs to your setup. Whatever it is, understand your options ahead of the sale; then keep your eyes peeled.
Think outside the smart box
One last thing: You don’t have to buy new smart home gadgets on Prime Day to make your smart home better. With a wide variety of home goods marked down for the occasion, there’s room to get creative by picking up peripheral devices that pair well with your existing setup.
Here’s an easy example. Got an old smart plug sitting in a drawer? Keep an eye out for deals on desk fans or space heaters with a physical dial you can leave in the “On” position, because appliances like those work great with smart plugs capable of automatically turning them on and off. Or maybe someone gave you a smart sous vide cooking device for your kitchen — Prime Day might be a great time to grab a vacuum sealer or a cooking torch to go with it.
I’ll be keeping my eyes out for sneaky sales on smart home-adjacent gear like that as we sift through thousands of offers to monitor the best deals and discounts of Prime Day. If I spot anything interesting, you’ll be able to read all about it in our deals rundowns, so stay tuned for those.
This post was modified on 2023-10-04 15:04:11