Smart Homes are quite expensive, but if you’re not able to able to afford all the lights, controllers, hubs etc. There is a way you can do it all for under $100, even if it is a bit difficult!
Voice Assistant: Google Home Mini ($25)
Smart Plug: Kasa Smart Plug Power Strip
Smart CCTV Camera: Blink Mini
Smart Lights: Nitebird Dimmable Bulb
Total: $98
Voice Assistant
We’ve selected the Google Home Mini (1st Gen) to work as your voice assistant and Smart Home Hub. On sale, you will often find these at around $25 – $30. Considering these are going to be the brains behind your Smart Home, you can’t really go wrong.
Occasionally Google will partner with other vendors such as Spotify to offer ‘free’ Google Home Mini’s if you sign up to their service.
If you’re not a fan of Google, don’t worry! Simply wait until Black Friday. You will often find the Amazon Echo for just under $20 during this period or Prime Day.
Smart Plug
Most Smart Plugs on the market are generic, there’s plenty of brands out there that will do the job with a varying price tag and not much difference between them. Amazon has its own Smart Plug which does come at a considerable price, however, we suggest the Kasa Smart Plug Power Strip which offers you 3 plug sockets and 2 USBs at $22.
Alternatively, you may wish to pick up a pack of 4 single smart plugs for around $17 which are third-party.
Smart CCTV Camera
We’ve decided to go with the Blink Mini, there’s plenty of Smart CCTV Cameras on the market but for quality and price tag, the Blink Mini is our top pick. If you can’t nab one of these due to popularity, don’t worry too much, just keep your eyes on it. They’ll come back!
It’s a full 1080p HD camera with motion detection and two-way audio, the night vision is surprisingly good and if you want to store footage locally you can use the sync Module 2 and a USB stick you already own.
At around $34, it’s honestly a fantastic choice for the price.
Smart Lights
We’ve reviewed plenty of bulbs and for a Google Home Setup on the cheap, we decided to go with the NiteBird Dimmable Warm White bulbs. At around $16 they’re not the best in terms of brightness, but they’re fantastic for setting a mood or making the atmosphere comfy.
You’ll get two bulbs that don’t require a hub and works with Google Assistant, they do have their own App but you can also use the Google Home app as well. One downside is that these bulbs don’t work on a 5GHz frequency, so they will need to be on your 2.4GHz network.
