The Smart Home in 2026: What's Actually Worth Buying

The smart home technology market has undergone a significant consolidation and maturation over the past two years, driven primarily by the widespread adoption of the Matter standard — a unified connectivity protocol supported by Apple, Google, Amazon, and Samsung. The result is a smart home ecosystem that is finally beginning to deliver on the long-promised vision of seamlessly integrated, interoperable devices.

The Matter Revolution

The Matter standard, which reached version 1.3 in 2025, has transformed the smart home landscape by enabling devices from different manufacturers to communicate directly without requiring manufacturer-specific hubs or cloud services. A Matter-compatible light bulb from Philips Hue can now be controlled natively through Apple Home, Google Home, or Amazon Alexa without any additional configuration.

The practical impact for consumers has been significant. The frustration of devices that only work within a single ecosystem — a common complaint in the early smart home era — has been largely eliminated for Matter-compatible devices. The number of Matter-certified devices has grown to over 4,000, covering virtually every category of smart home product.

What's Actually Worth Buying

Smart lighting remains the highest-value smart home investment for most households. The combination of energy savings, convenience, and the ability to create different lighting scenes for different activities provides genuine quality-of-life improvements. Philips Hue remains the premium option, while Govee and LIFX offer compelling value at lower price points.

Smart thermostats continue to deliver measurable energy savings, with studies suggesting average annual savings of $130-150 for homes that switch from manual to smart thermostats. The Google Nest Learning Thermostat and Ecobee SmartThermostat Premium are the leading options.

Smart security cameras have become remarkably capable, with AI-powered person detection, package detection, and facial recognition available at price points under $100. The privacy implications of these capabilities deserve careful consideration, however, particularly for cameras that upload footage to cloud servers.

What to Skip

Smart appliances — refrigerators, washing machines, and dishwashers with internet connectivity — remain a category where the smart features rarely justify the premium. The connectivity features are often poorly implemented, the apps are frequently abandoned after initial setup, and the security vulnerabilities introduced by internet-connected appliances represent a meaningful risk.