Memorial Day weekend gets sold as the best smart home sale of the spring, and the carts fill up fast. The catch is that most of what’s discounted phones home to a cloud account, a paid subscription, or a server in another country. When that pipeline blinks, your lights, locks, and cameras blink with it. […]
6 Smart Home Upgrades for Memorial Day That Don’t Require the Cloud Read More
For years, if your friend asked which security camera to buy, you said Ring. That answer’s starting to feel dated. The default has shifted, and the shift didn’t come from where you’d expect. Price: $99 (Discounted from $149.99) Where to Buy: Amazon It came from a $90 camera most American buyers haven’t heard of. TP-Link’s
The 7 AI Security Cameras Quietly Beating Ring in 2026 Read More
Today is Earth Day. Every April 22, we get a wave of “green” tech, and a lot of it is just marketing. Recycled boxes around a gadget that still eats 40 watts on standby. A “carbon neutral” sticker backed by shaky offsets. A bamboo sheet glued to the same plastic shell as last year. The
10 Eco Gadgets Worth the Hype This Earth Day Read More
Xiaomi isn’t just making phones anymore. The company’s smart home lineup has quietly grown into one of the most complete ecosystems in consumer tech, covering everything from robot vacuums with triple-camera AI systems to espresso machines that wouldn’t look out of place in a specialty coffee shop. While brands like Google and Amazon grab smart
5 Xiaomi Smart Home Devices That Stand Out in 2026 Read More
Four out of five security cameras that launched in Q1 2026 come with zero subscription fees. The fifth charges just $5 a month. That alone would have been unusual a year ago. But these cameras also run on solar power, most pack two lenses instead of one, and handle smart detection right on the device
5 New Security Cameras Just Changed What You Should Expect Read More
The wireless outdoor security camera market looks completely different than it did two years ago. Solar charging has gone from novelty to expectation, subscription-free AI detection is no longer a budget compromise, and 4K resolution has trickled down into cameras that cost less than a decent dinner out. A few of the cameras on this
Best Battery Powered Outdoor Security Camera for Homes in 2026 Read More
The baby monitor aisle used to be simple. You picked up a box with a camera and a screen, maybe debated whether you needed night vision, and called it a day. That version of the market still exists, technically. It just happens to sit inside a category that Renub Research now values at $1.22 billion
Baby Monitors Got Smarter: What AI Can Do And What It Cannot Yet Read More
Floodlight cameras are great at catching porch pirates and lighting up dark driveways. They’re not so great at making installation painless. Most of them need a hardwired electrical connection, which means you’re either hiring an electrician or getting creative with extension cords that weren’t meant to live outdoors. Reolink’s new Solar Floodlight Cam takes the
Reolink Solar Floodlight Cam: Wire-Free 2K Security, Now $87.99 Read More
Every smart home camera on the market right now forces you to pick an ecosystem first and figure out compatibility later. Aqara just changed that equation with the Aqara Camera Hub G350, the first indoor security camera to earn Matter certification, which means it can work across Apple Home, Google Home, Amazon Alexa, and Samsung
Two Lenses and a Smart Home Hub in One Tiny Camera Read More
Something shifted in the sub-$100 gadget space this year, and it’s not the usual incremental creep of slightly better versions of last year’s budget picks. The products landing in this price range now have features that sat firmly in the $200-plus tier barely two years ago: full smart TV platforms inside pocket projectors, hot-swappable mechanical
6 Gadgets Under $100 That Do Way More Than They Should Read More
NEWS – We keep hearing about AI in the cloud, but SwitchBot’s new AI Hub flips that model. It runs a Vision Language Model directly on the device, processes up to eight camera feeds locally, and hosts Home Assistant without needing a separate server. That challenges the assumption that serious AI work requires cloud infrastructure.
What Happens When a Smart Hub Processes AI Locally Instead of in the Cloud Read More
ARTICLE – Most budget security cameras cap out at 2K resolution, which is the quiet compromise between affordability and image clarity. You get enough pixels to confirm motion, identify that someone is near your front door, and review general activity patterns. What you don’t get is the ability to read text on a package label
Xiaomi Put a 6MP Sensor in a Budget Security Camera Read More
REVIEW – For someone who has cameras covering every room of my apartment to keep an eye on my pup Addy, I wasn’t really in the market for another security device. But I live on a street in Seattle with frequent vehicle break-ins, and my truck sits exposed every night. That said, when the chance
REVIEW – Hello, my name is Julie and I’m a security camera addict. There, I said it and I embrace it. I love having lots of cameras on my property. I have five PoE cameras that I run through my Synology Surveillance Station, and for areas where I can’t run Ethernet cables, I have several
Tactacam DEFEND 360 Cellular Security Camera review – Another winner from Tactacam! Read More
REVIEW – Last year, I reviewed the ANNKE FCD600 dual lens PoE outdoor camera. I ended up permanently installing it on my detached garage to add it to my home security setup, which uses the Synology Surveillance Station software. Recently, ANNKE asked if I would like to review an updated version, the FCD800 PoE dual lens panoramic outdoor
ANNKE FCD800 PoE dual lens panoramic outdoor security camera review Read More
REVIEW – I love being able to know what’s happening at my property when I’m not there and even when I am there. I like to be notified when someone pulls into the driveway or comes to my front door before they ring the bell. I do that with security cameras and today I want
myQ Outdoor Battery Camera review Read More
REVIEW – One of my favorite and most used tech genres is security cameras. I’ve had multiple security cameras around my home for many years. I started with budget WiFi cameras from Wyze and Blink, but in recent years, I’ve switched over to PoE cameras and haven’t looked back. Today, I am going to talk
eufy PoE NVR Security System S4 Max review – Wired can be much better than wireless Read More
REVIEW – I’m a little (ok, a lot) obsessed with seeing what’s going on at my house/property when I’m home and when I’m away. Some areas of my property aren’t within WiFi coverage, so when the offer to review the Elysoo 4G LTE security camera came in, I was happy to accept it. Let’s set
Elysoo 4G LTE solar security camera review – Put it anywhere and 10x zoom! Read More
REVIEW – My current philosophy on power banks is that you can never have enough. They’re great for power outages and mobile charging. When I saw that the Zygnatek 4K HD hidden camera was disguised as a power bank and could also charge devices, I knew that I had to try it out. ⬇︎ Jump to
Zygnatek 4K HD hidden camera review – A power brick that hides a camera in plain sight Read More
REVIEW – When you live in a somewhat secluded wooded area like I do, you want to be able to monitor your property when you’re home and away from home. I’ve had multiple security cameras around my house for years, but only in the past year have I “graduated” to PoE cameras, and I love
ANNKE FCD600 PoE dual lens panoramic outdoor security camera review Read More