Best Ways to Organize Your Kitchen Drawers (2024)

Pros

• Countertop design
• Intuitive mobile app
• Extensive pre-programmed recipe collection
• Easily helps to prepare entire meals

Cons

• Expensive
• Best suited to singles or couples, not large families

Available on Amazon:

• Brava Glass Smart Oven

Not only does this smart countertop device prepare foods two to four times faster than a traditional oven, it’s controlled using a mobile app and emulates eight essential kitchen appliances: It sears, toasts, reheats, bakes, dehydrates, serves as a slow cooker and air fryer, and can act as a warmer draw. It even has three separate cooking zones.

Since the smart technology assists with almost every aspect of the food preparation and cooking process, it’s easy to consistently create restaurant quality meals at home with no previous experience. In fact, Brava’s mobile app offers instant access to more than 6,000 pre-programmed recipes that are simple to follow.

Pros

• Supports all K-Cup varieties
• Prepares coffee, lattes, and cappuccinos
• Multiple beverage customization options
• Easy-to-use mobile app

Cons

• Works best with genuine K-Cups
• Requires the same cleaning as a regular coffee maker

Available on Amazon:

• Kerrigan K-Cafe Smart

Making perfectly prepared coffee, lattes, and cappuccinos at home has never been easier thanks to the Keurig K-Cafe Smart. When you insert a K-Cup into the coffee maker, it knows what type of beverage and blend you selected and adjusts the coffee maker’s settings automatically. You can then choose between six brew sizes and five beverage strengths. K-Cafe Smart can create hot or cold beverages and comes with a hot/cold milk frother.

It’s possible to set up the coffee maker in advance and have it create your favorite coffee beverage at a predefined time, or anytime with a tap on your smartphone’s screen or a voice command. The app maintains an inventory of your K-Cups, monitors which are used, and can automatically reorder your favorite K-Cup selections at a discounted price when you run low.

Pros

• Easy to set up and operate
• Works with the Hue, Google Home, or Apple Home mobile apps
• Select bulb brightness and colors
• Create customized functional or ambient lighting in any room
• Starter kit can be upgraded with smart light switches, stand-alone light fixtures, and accessories

Cons

• Expensive starter kit
• Continuous Internet access is required to control the lights

Available on Amazon:

• Philips Hue Starter Kit

Pros

• Durable and secure
• Easy to install
• All functions controllable from mobile app
• Integrates with other smart home security products
• Same app can control multiple locks

Cons

• No Apple HomeKit support
• Supports 2.4GHz Wi-Fi, not 5GHz

Available on Amazon:

• Ultraloq U-Bolt Pro Series

There are literally hundreds of smart locks available. We chose the U-Bolt Pro Series because it offers a good value and versatile functionality. It’s also rated IP65 for water and dust resistance and utilizes two-layer 128-bit encryption. Plus, in addition to controlling the lock via a mobile device, you can unlock it using a numeric passcode, fingerprint scan, or a traditional metal key.

You can lock or unlock the door from anywhere in the world, as well as monitor who comes and goes via your smartphone. In addition, you can create temporary passcodes for service providers or others. For example, a housekeeper’s code can be set to only work during the days and times they’re scheduled to clean your home, while a different code that expires after a predetermined date can be provided to a house guest.

Pros

• Inexpensive
• 1080p resolution camera with night vision and 160-degree field of view
• Works with any dog treats (1 inch or smaller)
• See and hear your dog, and talk to them remotely

Cons

• Can be tipped over by a dog if not secured in place
• Some features require an ongoing paid subscription
• Only cloud-based storage of video content

Available on Amazon:

• Petcube Bites 2 Lite

While dogs are considered members of our families, we often must leave them at home alone. During these times, the Petcube Bites 2 Lite allows you to see and hear your pet via a live video feed on your smartphone’s screen. You can also talk to your dog in real time and remotely toss them treats via the device’s built-in treat dispenser.

The Bites 2 Lite has a built-in motion and bark detector that sends alerts to your phone. It can also record video and save it in the cloud. The 1080p camera has built-in night vision, a 160-degree field of view, and an 8x digital zoom that you can control remotely. The unit itself measures just 5.7 x 3 x 10.6 inches, so it fits on a tabletop, shelf, or counter. It can also be hung on a wall and works with any dry pet treats less than one inch long.

What it does: Figure out what a specific smart device does and how it operates.

How it can make your life better: Don’t upgrade existing equipment in your home unless you first determine that replacing it with a smart device will be beneficial. Ask yourself if it will save you money over time or somehow make your life easier.

Compatibility with existing technology: Make sure the smart devices you purchase are compatible with your existing mobile devices, computers, and other smart equipment you’ve already purchased (such as a smart speaker).

Security concerns: Any smart device that connects to the Internet could become a security risk. Take the necessary steps to keep potential hackers from breaching your home network (like setting strong passwords), and make sure the manufacturer of the smart devices you install have their own security measures. Also, keep your equipment’s firmware and mobile app up to date.

Upgradability and Expandability: Choose smart equipment that's upgradable or expandable so you won’t need to replace it anytime soon. The best smart devices should serve you well for at least five years (potentially much longer).

Brand Name Reputation: In each smart device product category, there are companies with well known and respected, and that offer well-designed and secure products. Support smart device manufacturers that take the security and privacy of their customers seriously and that protect your data.