Welcome to TechCrunch’s 2019 Holiday Gift Guide! Need help with gift ideas? We’re here to help! We’ll be rolling out gift guides from now through the end of December. You can find our other guides right here.[1]
When it comes to smart home stuff, once you start, it’s hard to stop. As soon as you’ve got one light that you can turn on and off from your phone, you’ll want five.
As such, smart home gear can make great gifts for anyone who’s already started making their way down that rabbit hole.
Alas, there’s a lot of bad smart home hardware out there — mystery devices from brands no one has heard of, with apps that hardly work out of the box and will probably just silently stop working altogether the next time there’s a big iOS or Android update.
Looking to help someone make their already smart home a little smarter? Here’s some of the stuff we liked this year:
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TP-Link Kasa Plug
Smart plugs are a great way to introduce a person to the connected home. The TP-Link Kasa plugs are inexpensive but work with every popular voice assistant and smart phone. Smart plugs let you turn a basic lamp or coffee maker into a smart device without replacing anything.
Price: $28 for a two-pack on Amazon[2]
Wyze Cam Pan
The Wyze Cam Pan packs a lot of features for the price. At $35, the small 1080p camera pans, tilts and zooms, and sports a low-light mode. Best of all, the Wyze cam works with Amazon Alexa and Google...