The best Prime Day 2022 deals on smart home tech

Photo by Jennifer Pattison Tuohy / The Verge

It's the second-best time of the year to get some smart home gadgets at good prices. Prime Day is an ideal buying season for those invested in the smart home since it is on the same day as Black Friday. If you're looking for some bargains on compatible gadgets, this is also true.

There are some great deals for Prime members on July 12th and 13th on everything from smart thermostats and smart locks to security cameras and smart lighting. If there is a room in your house that still doesn't have an echo speaker, it's a good time to buy more.

The best deals on smart home tech are listed here.

The best mesh Wi-Fi router deals

If you have a smart home, it's important that you have good wi-fi and a mesh network.

Amazon-owned Eero has a new top-of-the-line model. It covers up to 2,000 square feet with one unit and is compatible with the 6 GHz band. It is possible to go up to 2.5 Gbps.

• If you don’t need that much speed (or don’t have any devices that can take advantage of the 6GHz band), you can save $105 on the equally capable Eero 6 Plus dual-band mesh Wi-Fi 6 system, which can handle speeds of up to a gigabit and is selling at $194 for a three-pack (regularly $299).
• Surprisingly, the Google Nest Wifi mesh system is also seeing a Prime Day discount; you can pick up a two-pack of the routers for $141.55, a savings of 53 percent. Amazon is one of the only places you’ll find a two-pack of just the routers, which, unlike the “points” in the Google Nest Wifi system, don’t double as Google Assistant-powered smart speakers. The dual-band Wi-Fi 5 routers are the more capable devices in the system, however, featuring two ethernet ports and Thread radios. You can string two or three of these together to extend Wi-Fi all across your home. Read our review of the Google Nest Wifi.

Related

Amazon Prime Day 2022: here are the best tech deals

The best smart speaker deals

There are a lot of deals on the Amazon devices. For a full list, check out our list of the best Prime Day deals on Amazon devices, but if you are looking for a new smart speaker or display, my recommendation is to pick up a fourth-gen echo or echo show.

• The Echo Show 8 (second gen) is the best Alexa smart display and is on sale for $74.99 ($55 off), a new record low. It’s small enough to fit on a counter or mantle but large enough to be useful — you can comfortably watch a YouTube video or view your security camera through it. It’s also got decent speakers, and its 13-megapixel camera makes for a good video calling device. Read our review.
• The fourth-gen Echo is my favorite Amazon smart speaker since it also doubles as a smart home hub and will be a Matter controller and Thread border router when the new smart home standard arrives later this year. Now $59.99, you’re saving $40 on the impressive speaker, which offers excellent sound and an attractive spherical design. Read our review.
• The innovative wall-mountable Echo Show 15 is currently getting a $70 price cut, bringing it down to $179.99 — a decent price for this multitasking digital bulletin board that doubles as a small TV, with support for live TV through Sling TV and Hulu with Live TV. It’s also a good companion to a video doorbell or security camera, as it can automatically show a live feed when someone presses your doorbell or activates the motion sensor. Read my full review.

The Eufy Floodlight cam has a field of view that can be viewed in a variety of ways. Local storage of recorded videos is offered with it.

The best smart security camera deals

• Our top pick for the best floodlight camera, the Eufy Security Floodlight Cam 2 Pro, is selling for $199.99, down from $299.99. It's not a looker, but it will do a very good job of keeping an eye on your property.
• Aqara’s Camera Hub G3 — a smart home hub and indoor security camera in one — is on sale for $79.99 ($30 off). This is a good price for an excellent pan and tilt camera that works with Amazon Alexa, Google Home, and Apple HomeKit (including HomeKit Secure Bideo) and can serve as a hub for a bevy of useful Aqara smart home gadgets.
• Amazon-owned security camera system Blink is getting a huge discount, with the Blink Outdoor 3 camera kit retailing for $125 off. For just $124.99, you can set up a complete surveillance system around your home, should you want to. These AA battery-powered cameras don’t deliver the best audio and video quality, but they are very versatile and last up to two years on one set of batteries. If you pick up a Blink Sync Module 2 and a USB flash drive, you can get local storage, too — so there is no need to pay for any cloud storage fees.
• The indoor version of Blink’s camera is also seeing a decent discount right now, with the wireless three-camera Blink Indoor kit retailing for $113.99 instead of $189.99.
• If you want better video quality and wider smart home compatibility and are willing to spend a bit more, the EufyCam 2 Pro Wireless Security Camera System is down to $240 from $369.99 for a two-pack. These outdoor cameras offer person detection, work with Alexa, HomeKit, and Google Home, and get up to a full year of battery life on one charge. There’s no subscription fee, thanks to the included HomeBase 2 for storing your recordings locally.

The video doorbell has two cameras that can be used to catch both packages and visitors, as well as local storage, package alert, and compatibility with Amazon and the internet.

The best smart video doorbell deals

• Blink is offering up a very good deal on its Blink Video Doorbell full system, my pick for the best budget video doorbell. It’s selling for just $50.98 (regularly $85). The full system comes with a Sync Module 2 for local storage of video, and if you can hook this battery-powered doorbell to doorbell wires, it will also ring your indoor chime.
• The Ring Video Doorbell 4, the company’s flagship battery-powered doorbell and our top pick for a wireless video doorbell, is on sale right now for $169.99 ($50 off).
• If you want a battery-powered doorbell that can see everything at your front door, top to bottom and side to side, the Eufy Dual with HomeBase is down to $179.99 from $259.99. This doorbell’s trick is to have two cameras, one pointing down at the floor and the other toward the visitor. Read my full review of the Eufy Dual.
• The excellent, if aging, Google Nest Doorbell (wired) gets an $81 price drop for Prime Day, and you can pick up this wired video doorbell for $148. It’s the only video doorbell that can record 24/7 (with a subscription fee), and it makes my list of best video doorbells.

Related

The best video doorbell cameras for 2022

One of the best vacuums on the market is this one. The sonic-mopping technology lifts up the mop so it can still vacuum your carpets without getting them wet.

The best smart robot vacuum deals

Related

The best robot vacuum you can buy right now

The best smart thermostat deals

• Amazon’s inexpensive Smart Thermostat, which does almost everything its more expensive competitors can, is at a new all-time low for Prime Day, retailing for just $41.99. Using a feature called Hunches to control your climate, the thermostat can intelligently create a schedule for you as well as determine if you’re out of the house and set back a few degrees to save some energy. Read my review.
• The new Google Nest Thermostat, which isn’t as good as the old Google Nest Learning Thermostat but is a lot less expensive and a decent option for Google Home households, is also seeing a Prime Day discount. Right now, you can pick it up for $89.99 instead of $129.99. Read our review.

Other great deals on smart home gear

August's newest door lock is the wi-fi smart lock. It doesn't need an external bridge for wi-fi and is easy to adapt to. It works with a number of home automation devices.

• The excellent and reliable fourth-gen August Wi-Fi smart lock is down to $149.99 (typically $229). It does get through its rather expensive batteries at a rapid pace though, so factor in that cost to those savings.
• Philips Hue, one of the best smart lighting systems, is offering a great deal on a set of its white and color LED smart bulbs, which work with or without a Hue Bridge. A three-pack is on sale right now for $79.99, down from $134.99, a savings of over 40 percent.
• Another good option for smart lighting is the Kasa Outdoor Smart Dimmer Plug, which is currently selling for $16.99 with the on-page coupon (regularly $30). One of the few outdoor plugs that also dims, it's a good option for adding smarts to outdoor lighting such as string lights.
• The new Aqara Curtain Driver E1 — which turns your curtains into automated smart window coverings — is receiving a 20 percent discount today, dropping the price of the track and rod versions to $71.99 and $79.99, respectfully.
• Furbo’s new rotating 360-degree Dog Camera is on sale for just $147, down from $210, if you need a treat-tossing, panning camera that can follow your pet and take selfies for you when he or she looks at the camera.

The best tech deals of the week can be found on the subscribe page.