Give the Gift of Convenience With the Best Smart-Home Gifts for 2026

The Blink Mini 2 is an affordable little camera that packs a surprising amount of features in its compact form. CNET's Tyler Lacoma tested the Blink Mini 2 and came away with two thoughts: "First, it's amazing just how much a tiny little camera can do, packing every feature possible into a model that sits easily in the palm of your hand. Second, the Blink app is one of my favorite home security apps for its quick setup and viewing, getting the job done easier than nearly any other."

Smart plugs are an easy way to upgrade your existing devices and can be used for many things, including automating lights, small appliances and more. Emporia is our choice for the best smart plug you can buy and a CNET Editors' Choice Award winner. In our testing, CNET smart-home expert David Anders appreciated its energy management features and easy setup.

Amazon's fifth-gen Echo Dot is budget-friendly and feature-packed, which is why it's a CNET Editors' Choice Award winner. While it doesn't include Alexa Plus, the company's AI upgrade to Alexa, it offers a number of other capabilities including a temperature sensor, an Eero mesh extender and the ability to tap it like an alarm clock.

Our smart-home team tested hundreds of smart bulbs, and Wiz came out on top, thanks to its affordability and ease of use. It fits in any standard socket and works with all your devices without a hub. Plus, you can choose from millions of colors and use Siri, Alexa or Google Home to control it.

The newest Echo Spot is a great option for those who want Alexa smarts with a digital clock display. CNET's David Carnoy calls it "a nice smart alarm clock that sounds decent for how small it is." This second-gen version offers improved audio quality and a bigger, bezel-less screen compared to its predecessor. You can choose from a number of custom-designed clock faces for the touchscreen display. And, of course, it's Alexa-enabled, so you can use your voice to check the weather, set alarms, play music and issue commands to your other Alexa smart-home devices.

LED strip lights are a great way to instantly liven up a space and create a little extra flair. We especially like these strip lights from Govee. They're compatible with both Alexa and Google Assistant, come in various lengths, and you can customize colors and sync the lights to music (with 11 different music modes).

If you're looking for a security camera that works well both inside and outdoors, the Arlo Pro 6 is packed with smarts, and it's our top pick for the best home security camera for 2026. It offers a 160-degree field of view, color night vision, two-way audio and motion detection that can identify people or packages left on your doorstep.

Video doorbells are a game-changer, which is why they’re a perfect gift for those you know who would appreciate an added home safety measure. The Google Nest Doorbell could not be easier to set up and provides two-way audio, live video feeds and up to three hours of recording, all without a subscription, which sets this apart from some of its competitors. Of course, you can also upgrade to a subscription -- they start at $10 a month -- for even more features, such as 30 days of event history storage.

Give the gift of a clean home. iRobot's Roomba 205 DustCompactor Combo robot vacuum makes a tedious chore a whole lot easier and will save your loved ones hours of vacuuming and mopping time. This robovac offers a lot for its midrange price, and did well in our testing, scoring 82% sand pickup from hard flooring, which places it right up there with some of our more expensive picks.

If your loved one is looking to improve their home internet, one of the best things you can give them is to upgrade them from a traditional router to a mesh Wi-Fi system. TP-Link's Deco W7200 is a tri-band Wi-Fi 6 system that costs less than $250 for a two-pack. That might be the best mesh router value we've seen. According to CNET's Ry Crist, the best part is that "it performs like a champ, with fast, stable speeds, decent range and a setup process that's about as easy as it gets."