Articles by Michael Brown
Best smart dimmers and switches for your home's lighting
In-wall smart lighting controls will deliver convenience, security, luxury, and sophistication to any smart home.
Best smart speakers & displays for state-of-the-art smart homes
Whether you prefer Alexa, Google Assistant, or Siri, we’ll help you find just the right model.
Kidde says its new smoke detectors respond 25% faster than competitors
The new Kidde Detect product line consists of battery-powered and hardwired smoke and smoke plus carbon monoxide detectors.
Jasco's Eternity Lights can be installed just once for all seasons
With these outdoor LED string lights in your home’s eaves, you’ll have smart decorative lighting for every holiday season—and for entertaining rear round.
These are the best water leak detectors
Fires can be devastating, but water damage is a far more common risk. These smart devices will alert you if your home springs a leak, so you can take action quickly.
Flo Smart Water Monitor & Shutoff review: To protect and to save
Moen’s second-generation smart water valve protects your home from water damage and tracks your home's water consumption, so you can use less of it.
The new Ring Pan-Tilt Indoor Cam can surveil an entire room
Ring’s latest indoor security cam features a better pan/tilt motor than the base it sells as an add-on for its Ring Stick Up Cam, but you can't use it outdoors.
Yale Assure Lock 2 Touch with Wi-Fi review: Pretty, but problematic
This smart lock has a bevy of great features, including a fingerprint sensor, but its numeric keypad is very hard to see in direct sunlight.
Eufy Floodlight Camera E340 review: Tops in surveillance, lighting
Eufy’s excellent floodlight cam has twin high-res cameras, local storage, an option to add terabytes of network storage, and genuinely optional cloud storage.
Yale Approach with Wi-Fi is an affordable retrofit smart lock
Smart home dwellers looking for an easy way to upgrade their existing deadbolts have a new retrofit option from one of the world’s oldest lock manufacturers.
Proscenic Smart Lock L60 review: Affordable front-door security
This low-priced smart deadbolt offers five options for entry: your fingerprint, a PIN, an NFC card, a physical key, or its mobile app.
Ring Battery Doorbell Pro review: A marvelous front-door sentinel
Ring brings its 3D motion detection and Bird’s Eye View features to its most powerful battery-powered video doorbell, and it expects to fetch a pretty price for it.
Amazon Echo Hub review: A robust, easy-to-use smart home hub
This well-designed accessory will be particularly attractive to smart home enthusiasts with lots of devices to control. Ring Alarm users will find it compelling, too.
Latest Kasa Smart device controls a ceiling fan and the fan’s light
TP-Link’s new Kasa Smart KS240 in-wall controller can adjust both a ceiling fan’s speed and dim its integrated lights.
Ring Battery Doorbell Pro delivers wire-free radar detection
Ring's latest consumer flagship doorbell doesn't require hardwired power to deliver a birds-eye view of who's on your porch—and how they got there.
The new Abode Lock converts your deadbolt into a smart lock
Abode Systems' retrofit smart lock and keypad bundle promises to make it easier and less expensive to add the convenience of keyless entry to your home.
Manage family schedules on the massive Skylight Calendar Max
Skylight says its 27-inch touchscreen smart calendar makes it easy to keep track of an entire family’s activities, ranging from appointments and holidays to chores and meal planning.
Ring Flood and Freeze Sensor review: Mitigating water damage
This addition to Ring Alarm and Ring Alarm Pro security systems alerts you to water leaks, giving you a chance to act before you need high-cost home repairs.