Smart Display - Smart home

With holiday gift-giving, start someone off with a Smart Home. Smart devices make life easier, safer, and more comfortable. That said, all of our friends and family are unique in their own way. They have different interests, hobbies, and priorities. Thankfully, smart home gifts are now for everyone. To prove this point, let’s look at the different types of people in our life, and what smart home products they benefit from. 

Smart Security Cameras - Smart home

The Home Improvement DIYer

We all know someone who embraces do-it-yourself projects. They don’t mind rolling up their sleeves to build, fix or improve things around the home. This type of person will enjoy smart home products that require installation. 

Smart security cameras are a great gift idea for DIYers. Remember, there are both wired and wireless camera systems to choose from. To help you decide, first choose between outdoor and indoor security cameras. Think about the areas they want to be covered by cameras and if there are power sources nearby. This is valuable information to help you decide which smart security camera system to get. Read this buying guide to learn about the different types of smart home security cameras available today.   

Smart Display2 - Smart home

The Cook

Every family has a master chef. They cook the big meals during their holidays and hold all the family recipes by memory. If you know someone who spends a lot of time in the kitchen, give them a smart display. It’s both a smart virtual assistant and a display in one. The master chef can use it to find and follow recipes, set timers, add to a grocery list, or listen to podcasts. It’s like having a sous chef in the kitchen. Best of all, smart displays work with video calls. Video call grandma and get remote cooking lessons from her kitchen to yours. 

Google, Amazon, and Lenovo all make smart displays. This buying guide explains the different features and types of smart displays so you know which one to get the chef in your life. 

Smart Speaker - Smart home

The Inquisitive Child

Kids naturally ask a lot of questions. Young, inquiring minds want to understand everything. If you know a child whose favourite word is “why”, get them a smart speaker. With voice assistants built-in, kids can ask any random question that comes to mind. It’s a great discovery tool for answering all of life’s riddles. Smart speakers are great for any school-aged child. Parents can set parental controls to ensure age-appropriate information.

As voice assistants become more commonplace, smart speakers give kids an early start. From setting reminders, scheduling homework timers, or listening to kids-focused audiobooks, smart speakers are great gifts for curious minds.

Smart Doorbell - Smart home

The Online Shopper

Do you know someone who is always shopping online? If so, they’re likely getting a lot of deliveries sent to their front door. The perfect gift for online shoppers is a smart doorbell. This lets them see, hear, and speak to anyone at their front door. It’s a great way to track deliveries. When they are not home, they can have two-way communication with the delivery driver and provide instructions on where to leave the package. 

Smart doorbells also record any activity at your front door. If someone tries to steal their package, they have video evidence in HD. For frequent online shoppers, smart doorbells provide a lot of peace-of-mind tracking new packages as they arrive. 

Smart Gardening - Smart home

The Gardener 

Many people enjoy gardening in the spring and summer months. A great gift is bringing the garden indoors with smart gardening. These are vegetable or herb gardens with a built-in computer. It takes all the guesswork out of growing plants. Whether you have a green thumb or not, a smart garden will do all the work for you. They include light and self-watering pots that monitor the oxygen and nutrient levels. 

Instead of traditional seeds, smart gardens use capsules or pods with embedded seeds. You can grow both vegetables (i.e. lettuce, arugula, strawberries) or herbs (i.e. basil, thyme, cilantro). It’s best to place smart gardens in or near the kitchen. Pick off some fresh herbs anytime and use them while cooking. Once the harvest is complete, refill capsules are available. 

Gardeners can’t do much outside during fall and winter. With smart gardening, grow food 365 days a year. It’s a great gift for novice gardeners or pros. Best of all, it’s perfect for all ages. Smart gardening gets people excited about growing their own food. 

Smart Water Detector- Smart home

The Worrier

Some people worry a great deal, especially unnecessarily. Believe it or not, a smart home can put their mind to ease with Safety Sensors & Detectors. These devices detect something dangerous in the home and warn you of its presence. Typically, this is done by a loud audible alarm and/or app notification. It could be smoke, carbon monoxide, radon gas, or water. 

There are different types of safety sensors including CO and Smoke Detectors, Water Leak Detectors, Weather Stations & Air Quality Monitors. Each comes with an app that provides real-time notifications. This is great for frequent travelers who want the peace-of-mind knowing everything is okay at home. For example, if a pipe bursts during the winter, a water leak detector will notify users right away. It doesn’t matter if they are home or away, they will receive a push notification on their smart home. It’s the perfect gift for worriers because it gives them peace of mind. If anything, they will have to find something else to worry about. 

Smart home gifts are for everyone

The holidays are the perfect time to set someone up with a smart home. From DIY security to indoor smart gardening, there really are smart home gifts for everyone. The best place to start is with this smart home buying guide. It provides a list of all the smart home devices available. By understanding how smart homes work, you’ll be able to find the perfect gift for anyone in your life.

For more holiday gift ideas, don’t forget to regularly check the Best Buy Blog.  

Andy Baryer
Andy Baryer aka “Handy Andy” is a technology journalist, gadget reviewer, and DIY/how-to content creator. Known as the handyman of tech, Andy enjoys fixing poor wireless networks, building smart homes, and cooking with the latest kitchen gadgets. He’s a competitive whistler, a budding woodworker, and loves gardening in his home-built smart garden.