Best deals on smart home gear this Black Friday

As always, Amazon is heavily discounting its Echo line of speakers and displays. These are great for popping around the house, so you can ask Alexa to add things to your shopping list from every room or enjoy multi-room audio for a fraction of the price of companies like Sonos. The Echo Dot is just $23 (down from $50) at Amazon, Best Buy, and Target, and the Echo Pop is $18 (down from $40) at Amazon, Best Buy, and Target.

My favorite Amazon smart display, the Echo Show 8 (third-gen), is down to $79.99 ($70 off) at Amazon, Best Buy, and Target. You can read my review, but the widgets on this device make it super easy to use without having to rely on voice — just tap to see your calendar, smart home controls, play music, and see your shopping list. It’s also a great digital photo frame (but I highly recommend disabling all the random content Amazon likes to show you).

The very good Reolink Battery Doorbell is 30 percent off, down to $101.99, at Amazon. This wired or battery-powered buzzer doesn't have any subscription fees. It can record locally to a microSD card, Reolink Hub, or FTP server and works with Amazon Alexa and Google Home.The pint-sized Blink Mini 2 is a steal at $19.99 (down from $39.99) or $30 with the 15-foot outdoor power adaptor. This versatile wired camera can be used indoors or outdoors and can store footage locally on a Sync Module (version 2 or the new XR version), so there is no need for a monthly subscription. There are no smart alerts (unless you subscribe to Blink’s $3 a-month plan), and its 1080p HD quality is not the best, but it’s a great basic camera. The Blink Outdoor 4 with its new Sync Module XR, which promises to extend the camera's range up to 400 feet, is on sale for $59.99 at Amazon, a savings of $99. A Wi-Fi bridge for Blink’s battery-powered camera, the sync module XR can extend coverage up to 400 feet.  The second-gen Ring Indoor Cam, which is one of the first Ring cameras to work with its new 24/7 recording feature, is on sale at Amazon and Best Buy for $29.99 ($30 off). It’s a wired camera with 1080p HD resolution, a built-in siren, two-way audio, and a physical privacy cover. You’ll need a Ring Home plan for recorded video, and it’s $20 a month for the 24/7 recording.Nest’s indoor Nest Cam features 24/7 recording and is on sale for $69.99, $30 off, at Amazon and Best Buy. Thanks to its attractive design, this is one of my favorite indoor cameras. Google has made several improvements to the Google Home app since I reviewed this camera, and it’s now a lot easier to use.Arlo’s new Wired Floodlight Camera is seeing its first sale, selling at $99.99 ($50 off) at The Home Depot through November 29th, in-store and online. Arlo’s battery-powered Arlo Pro 3 Floodlight Cam, selling at $154.99 ($95 off) on Amazon, is one of my top picks for a floodlight camera, and the wired version means no more worrying about recharging it. However, Arlo’s monthly subscription plan for recorded video is expensive, starting at $8 a month.

Aqara’s inexpensive line of smart locks is discounted up to 47 percent for Black Friday. All its locks work with Apple Home and support Home Key, as well as Matter (in some cases through an Aqara hub), meaning they will work with most any smart home platform. The basic but great Aqara Smart Lock U50 is down to just $89.99 at Amazon (from $169.99) (read my review). The Aqara Smart Lock U100, which adds a fingerprint reader, is $100 off down to $129.99 at Amazon (read my review). The Aqara U200 — a retrofit lock that uses the Thread protocol, so it doesn’t need an Aqara hub like the other two — is $70 off at Amazon, down to $199.99. Aqara’s new lever lock, the Smart Lock U300, is just $179.99 ($50 off) and is a great way to secure an exterior door that doesn’t use a deadbolt. (Read my review).

Schlage is knocking about $80 off the Schlage Encode Plus and bringing this excellent lock down to its lowest-ever price of $246.05 at Amazon and $249.99 at The Home Depot (from $330). An Apple Home-compatible smart lock, the Plus works with Home Key for tap-to-unlock with your watch or iPhone, and uses the Thread protocol for better battery life and faster response times (although it doesn’t support Matter). Read our review. My top pick for a smart lock — the Yale Assure Lock 2 — is on sale in all its various flavors starting as low as $86.67 (down from $159.99) at Best Buy. Read my review for more details on the different variations to see which is the best fit for your front door. The svelte retrofit August Wi-Fi (4th-gen) smart lock is just $110 right now at Amazon, down from $229.99. This is a great price for this excellent retrofit lock that works with all the major smart home platforms and doesn’t require a separate bridge or hub to connect to Wi-Fi. Pro tip: Pick up a value pack of these CR123A batteries that are on sale for $40.52 at Amazon, as it eats through batteries, and batteries are expensive. Read our review.

If you’re looking to get started with smart lighting, the excellent Philips Hue Light Starter Kit is going for $152.99 ($27 off) at Amazon. It includes a Hue Bridge, three color-changing bulbs, and a button, which is enough to give you a taste of how much fun color-changing lighting can be. If smart switches are more your style, Lutron is discounting several of its Caseta starter kits up to 25 percent for Black Friday. My top pick is the Diva Dimmer Starter Kit, which is $89.95 ($30 off) at Amazon. It includes a classic-looking light switch with built-in smarts, the Caseta Bridge, and an excellent Pico remote. For a hub-free smart lighting option, Leviton has an excellent line of smart switches that work over Wi-Fi and support Matter, so they will work with all the major platforms. The Leviton Decora Dimmer is down to $34.99 from $44.99 at Amazon, and many other models are also on sale.Grab a bargain on adding some smart lighting to your Christmas tree or holiday decor this year. There are several smart holiday string lights on sale right now, including the new Govee Christmas Lights 2, which is available at Amazon in a 66-foot strand starting at $63.99 ($36 off). The excellent Hue Festavia Lights, my top pick for smart string lights, are also on sale at Amazon, starting at $153 for 65 feet, down from $219.99. These lights all support Matter, so they are compatible with most major smart home systems. For more about how smart holiday string lights work, read my guide. Smart plugs have all sorts of uses in the smart home, and you can snag several of the best for less right now. This includes the excellent Eve Energy Smart Plug that’s 20 percent off, $31.95, down from $39.95, at Amazon. This can monitor energy use as well as control any electronic device plugged into it. It supports Matter, so it works with the major smart home platforms. Another Matter-compatible plug that supports energy monitoring, the Tapo Mini, is down to $19.99 for a two-pack at Amazon.

Mill is offering $200 off its high-tech smart bin, which grinds and dehydrates kitchen scraps overnight into a compost-like material. You can buy the bin outright for $799, down from $999, at Mill’s website. It’s a great way to keep stinky odors out of your kitchen, reduce food waste, and cut down on how much trash you generate. Read my review for more.The gorgeous Google Nest Learning Thermostat (fourth-gen) is seeing its first discount since launch, selling at Amazon, Best Buy, and Google for $229.99 ($50 off). It supports Matter, so it will work with Apple Home and any other smart home platform, and it can intelligently control your heating and cooling. It also comes bundled with a temperature sensor to help eliminate hot and cold spots. Read more about its features in my hands-on ahead of my full review.