Smart Homes: Popular smart home products
Thanks to its convenience and ease of use, smart home technology has exploded in popularity over recent years with all manner of gadgets available on the market that can do everything from monitoring your security to adjusting your thermostat automatically, or even remotely through a smartphone app.
Smart home devices connect to your Wi-Fi so that you can monitor and control them from your phone or tablet, giving you greater control over your home even when you're out and about. From automatically switching off lights to heating individual rooms and monitoring your home security, smart home devices can save you money and provide you with peace of mind.
But which are the most popular smart home products in 2022?
We've looked at user reviews and 2022 Google search data, and compared this to last year's search data to find out which products are getting the most attention!
The most popular smart home products
- Ring Floodlight Cam Wired Plus Smart home score: 8.96/10
This motion-detecting security camera takes first place thanks to its 1966% increase in search volume, taking first place for the factor. It also ranks in the top three for user ratings and the top ten for Google searches in 2022.
- Ring Floodlight Cam Pro Smart home score: 8.17/10
Up next is the second Ring product on the list. The Ring Floodlight Cam Pro shares second place for its user reviews and ranks in the top five for its increase in searches with 412%, taking it to second place overall.
- Ring Alarm Outdoor Siren Smart home score: 7.88/10
Taking third place is the Ring Alarm Outdoor Siren It ranks highly for its average user rating sharing third place for the factor. The product also had a moderate increase in demand of 23% between 2021 and 2022.
The most popular
Now that we've taken a look at how all the products measure up against each other, let's break them down by category to find the most popular smart home products for security, heating, electrical and lighting.
Smart security product - Ring Floodlight Cam Wired Plus
Smart home score: 8.94/10
The most popular smart security product is the Ring Floodlight Cam Wired Plus, thanks to its enormous increase in Google searches between 2021 and 2022. It also has some of the highest ratings, sharing third place for the factor and lands in the top ten for searches in 2022.
Smart heating product - Hive Multizone Thermostat
Smart home score: 8.26/10
The Hive Multizone Thermostat is the most popular of all the smart heating products we looked at, ranking in the top ten for Google searches this year and third for its increase in searches. It also takes third for user ratings too.
Smart electrical product - Google Nest Hub 2nd Gen
Smart home score: 7.33/10
The most popular smart electrical product is the second generation Google Nest Hub, scoring 7.33/10 against its competitors in the category. The Google Nest Hub has more than 16 times the searches of its closest competition in 2022, taking first place for both this factor and its increase in searches.
Smart lighting product - Hive Active Light GU10
Smart home score: 6.67/10*
The Hive Active Light GU10 takes the top spot as the most popular smart lighting product. Although demand for Hive smart lighting products has declined, this product has proven more popular than the rest, only dropping by 25% between 2021 and 2022. It also had three times as many searches as second place too.
The highest-rated smart home products
- Drayton Wiser Room Thermostat, Honeywell Single Zone Round Thermostat, Netatmo Smart Alarm System with Camera
Average rating: 5/5
Three products share the top spot with the highest user reviews. The Drayton Wiser Room Thermostat and the Honeywell Single Zone Round Thermostat are smart thermostats which allow you to control your heating on the go from your phone or tablet, making your home energy efficient and cutting down on heating bills.
Sharing first place is the Netatmo Smart Alarm System, equipped with a camera to offer protection against potential break-ins. The Netatmo Smart Alarm System with Camera works with other Netatmo products to offer complete peace of mind if you're worried about your home security.
- Ring Alarm Contact Sensor, Ring Alarm Motion Detector 2nd Gen, Hive Active Heating Thermostat Stand, Hive Active Plug
Average rating: 4.8/5
Sharing second place are four products. Two created by Ring and Hive, two of the biggest smart home product manufacturers on the market!
Ring's products, the Alarm Contact Sensor and the second generation Alarm Motion Detector are both smart security devices that secure your peace of mind by connecting to your smartphone to alert you to any disturbances in your home.
Hive's products are focused on smart energy consumption, with the Hive Active Plug allowing you to remotely switch your gadgets off at the wall when not in use and the thermostat stand allowing your Hive thermostat to fit comfortably anywhere.
- Ring Quick Release Battery Pack, Ring Alarm Outdoor Siren, Hive Multizone Thermostat, Ring Alarm Keypad, Yale Small Safe, Eufy Security Entry Sensor, Yale Alarm Pir, Ring Alarm 5 Piece Starter Kit, Hive Smart Bulb Colour, Hive Active Light E14
Average rating: 4.7/5
11 smart home products share third place with a user rating of 4.7/5 and all but three are security devices. The majority are Ring products, including a siren and floodlight camera for outdoor use, an alarm keypad and a five-piece starter set too.
Two of Yale's security products also rank third, including a safe and the Yale Alarm Pir, a smart motion-detecting burglar alarm.
Two Hive lightbulbs also share third place, both can be controlled with either your smartphone or simply your voice, if they're connected to an Alexa or Google Assistant.
The most in-demand smart home products
- Ring Indoor Cam- 507,600 searches
This year's most-searched smart home product is the Ring Indoor Cam, topping half a million searches. The compact security camera simply plugs into the wall and connects to your phone, so you can monitor your security from anywhere.
- Nest E Thermostat- 283,700 searches
In second place is a smart thermostat, the Nest E Thermostat has had over 283,000 searches this year. The smart thermostat can be controlled from either your mobile or a compatible home assistant and programmes itself according to your preferences, saving you both money and energy.
- Hive Hub- 164,400 searches
Taking third place is the Hive Hub, the smart device that connects to your router and functions as the nerve centre of your smart home by linking to other Hive products and allowing you to control them all from your smartphone. The Hive Hub had 164,400 total searches over the last year.
The smart home products with the biggest increase in demand
- Ring Floodlight Cam Wired Plus- 1,965.5% increase
Taking first place is the Ring Floodlight Cam Wired Plus with an increase in search volume by almost 2,000% between 2021 and 2022. This motion-activated floodlight camera offers two-way talk to see and speak to visitors through your smartphone and can connect to other smart devices to alert you to wherever you are.
- Google Nest Hub 2nd Gen- 778.21% increase
Up next is the second generation of the Google Nest Hub, this device acts as a dashboard to control your smart home, as well as keep your family connected with calendars too. Searches for the product increased by 778.21% between 2021 and 2022.
- Ring Video Doorbell 4- 730.4% increase
The second Ring product on the list, the Ring Video Doorbell 4, has had a 730.4% increase since last year! The fourth generation of this doorbell features enhanced motion detection and has a longer battery life than previous models too.
The biggest home technology qualms
If you're looking to add some smart technology to your home, it's important to research
any problems or issues that might make installing or maintaining your smart home difficult.
So now that we've taken a look at the most popular smart home products, we can examine some of the most common questions people ask when they're looking to upgrade their homes.
- How do smart thermostats work? 7,670 searches
By far the most popular question on the list is about smart thermostats, the programmable thermostats that connect to your smartphone via an app to give you greater control over your heating no matter where you are. This question has had over 7,500 searches over the last year.
- What is Alexa Guard? 5,960 searches
Up next is a question concerning Alexa Guard, with just under 6,000 searches in 2022. This free feature for Amazon Echo devices can detect the sound of smoke and carbon monoxide alarms and send notifications to your phone, making it a valuable safety feature for smart homes.
- How do doorbell cameras work? 3,740 searches
Taking third place with 3,740 over the last year is "how do doorbell cameras work?". These nifty gadgets have become increasingly popular over the last few years, triggered when a visitor approaches your door, captures audio and video, and alerts you via a mobile app.
Methodology
We wanted to find out which smart home products are the most popular. To do this, we gathered a list of Plumbnation's smart home products and analysed them on a number of factors. We then gave each product a normalised score out of ten on each of the factors, before taking an average across each of these scores to reach our final overall score out of ten.
The highest-rated smart home products: the average user rating of each product according to Amazon and Curry's.
The most in-demand smart home products: the total number of searches for each product in 2022 according to Google Ads.
The smart home products with the biggest increase in demand: the percentage difference between the total number of searches in 2021 and 2022 according to Google ads.
The biggest home technology qualms: the total number of searches for each question in 2022 according to Google Ads.