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Netgear took a significant departure in price from the inaugural Orbi it introduced back in 2016 with this new Orbi Mesh Wi-Fi System. We liked the original model, but it cost a whopping $400. Fast-forward three years and Netgear is back with a whole new Orbi, this time for just $100. 

For your money, you get a two-pack Orbi system that’s designed to cover up to 3,000 square feet and works with Alexa and Google Assistant voice commands. 3,000 square feet isn’t quite enough to blanket the large CNET Smart Home in Wi-Fi, but Netgear does offer three- and four-pack kits for $230 and $300 if you have more ground to cover. 

Read more: The Best Mesh Wi-Fi Systems

At close range, the Orbi clocked the faster top speeds during our testing, impressing us with its signal strength and general ability to keep up with the pricier Nest Wi-Fi and Eero systems. 

The Netgear app could use a redesign, but the Orbi Mesh Wi-Fi System offers a great overall value and is well worth considering if you’re not quite ready to make the move to Wi-Fi 6 (but want a solid Wi-Fi connection throughout your house).

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The Wyze Bulb is an unassuming choice for best light bulb. It only costs $10 a piece, a fraction of what Philips or Lifx charges — and yet, it earned top marks in our testing. That only makes its incredible value all the more impressive.

Wyze’s smart bulb is a dimmable white-light LED with a scheduling function and an adjustable color temperature. 

Download the Wyze app, screw in the Wyze Bulb and follow the simple setup steps — and you’re just a few minutes away from having app-controlled lighting. Wyze Bulbs work with Alexa and Google Assistant as well, if you want to use a voice command to adjust them. 

Read more: The Best Smart Bulbs

While the app is easy to use and the dimming, scheduling and color temperature settings work well, I do wish the app had a sunrise/sunset setting that automatically adjusted the schedule based on the time of year. I have three Wyze bulbs in covered outside light fixtures and have to occasionally adjust my schedule to account for the changing seasons. 

Still, they’re excellent bulbs at a great price; we highly recommend them. 

Note: Wyze Bulbs are technically indoor lights, so make sure to follow Wyze’s guidelines when you install these yourself.

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Let’s get the annoying stuff out of the way first. At close to $400 for a two-camera pack, the Arlo Pro 3 is expensive. This kit also includes a required hub that you have to connect to your router. Arlo claims the hub helps extend the Wi-Fi range of its Pro 3 cameras and improves the battery life of each camera’s rechargeable battery, but feel superfluous compared to all of the non-hub Wi-Fi security cameras out there. 

Read more: The Best Home Security Cameras

That said, the Arlo Pro 3 is my favorite home security camera. It’s weatherproof and can go anywhere, as long as your Wi-Fi network reaches it. It has easy-to-remove rechargeable batteries that can last for months on a single charge (battery life will vary based on use). And the camera itself has a built-in spotlight and siren to startle potential intruders. 

With an Arlo Smart subscription, starting at $3 per month, you’ll receive custom motion alerts that tell you whether it sees a person, a car, an animal or a package — and get 30 days of access to recorded motion clips. Arlo cameras are compatible with Alexa and Google Assistant.

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Unlike the pricey (but awesome) Arlo Pro 3, the $150 Arlo Video Doorbell is reasonably priced for a smart doorbell. The Arlo Video Doorbell has all the basics, including HD live streaming, motion alerts, night vision and two-way audio. It also has a wide 180-degree field of view in a 1:1 aspect ratio (meaning it’s easier to see packages left on the front porch than a traditional landscape view). 

Read more: The Best Video Doorbells

When the doorbell detects motion, or if someone rings the bell, a motion alert goes to your phone so you can see who’s there — and talk to them. The doorbell also comes with prerecorded messages if you don’t want to talk to them directly. 

This hardwired doorbell has a built-in siren like the Arlo Pro 3 camera and offers the same optional Arlo Smart cloud subscription plan, starting at $3 a month. With Arlo Smart, you’ll get 30 days of saved custom video clips that specify whether the motion was a person, a car, an animal or a package being delivered.

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So, if we’re ruling out the variety of Amazon- and Google-branded smart displays for the purposes of this post, I’m going to side-step all of the third-party displays out there too. 

Instead I’d suggest a regular ol’ tablet: the Apple iPad. I know, I know. Two Apple devices in a row, but CNET’s Scott Stein recommends the newest iPad — the 10.2-inch, released in 2021 — as an obvious affordable choice at the top of his list of favorite tablets. 

Read more: The Best Smart Displays

The iPad has the same Home app as an iPhone, meaning you can check in on and control all of your smart home devices on the iPad’s larger display. It also has Siri built in, so you can use a voice command to turn on the reading light or open the living room shades.

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