Smart Home Black Friday & Christmas Buying Guide – The best discounts for smart home gifts
Rather than a generic Black Friday deals post, I thought it would be easier to put together buyers guide for the smart home on the run-up to Christmas and try to keep the deals up to date from there.
Amazon Alexa Devices & Google Home
Black Friday in the UK wouldn’t have been this big without Amazon ramming it down our throats, so it is always the best time to buy any of their own equipment. So much so I would recommend not buying Amazon hardware any other time that Prime Day and Black Friday.
For the Echo Dot, I’d probably get the 3rd generation over the newer one, it is quite a bit cheaper and I can’t see any difference in the speaker specification
Further Reading: Amazon Echo goes spherical – Echo 2019 vs 2020
- Our most popular smart speaker: now with a fabric design and improved speaker for richer and louder sound.
- Voice control your music: stream songs from Amazon Music, Apple Music, Spotify, TuneIn and others. You can also listen to audiobooks from Audible.
- Bigger, better sound: pair with a second Echo Dot for rich, stereo sound. Fill your home with music with compatible Echo devices in different rooms.
- Ready to help: ask Alexa to play music, answer questions, read the news, check the weather, set alarms, control compatible smart home devices and more.
- Connect with others: call almost anyone hands free including UK mobile and residential numbers (from UK only), other Echo devices, Alexa app and Skype. Link your Vodafone account to make and receive mobile calls. Instantly drop in on other rooms in your home or make an announcement to every room with a compatible Echo device.
The Echo Show 8 is a much better device than the Show 5, the Show 5 is basically an Echo Dot with a display, but the Show 8 has dual 2-inch speakers so it can be quite loud.
- Compact 5.5" smart display with Alexa, ready to help.
- Voice or video call friends and family with compatible Echo devices or the Alexa app.
- Manage calendar, make to-do lists, get weather and traffic updates and cook with step-by-step recipes.
- Watch films, news and TV programmes. Listen to songs, radio stations and audiobooks.
- Voice control compatible devices or manage them using the display.
I just got the Echo Flex which and bought the motion sensory with it (which is not discounted). This works amazingly well in my hallway for notifications and automatically controlling the Philips Hue Lights
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Echo Flex – Voice control smart home devices with Alexa | Buy on Amazon | |
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Made for Amazon Motion Sensor for Echo Flex | Buy on Amazon |
Alternatively, if you prefer Google, the Next Mini, Audio, Hub, and Hub Max are all discounted on the Google Store and Curry’s. Currys have the Nest Mini for just £19.99
Philips Hue & Smart Lighting
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![Philips Hue Starter Kit White and Colour Ambiance Smart LED Lighting [B22 Bayonet Cap] Includes 3X Light Bulbs + 1 Hue Bridge. Works with Alexa, Google Assistant and Apple HomeKit](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/316CGXIccZL._SL160_.jpg)
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Philips Hue Starter Kit White and Colour Ambiance Smart LED Lighting [B22 Bayonet Cap] Includes 3X... | Buy on Amazon |
Philips Hue is an annoyingly expensive obsession, once you get one light it is a slippery slope.
One particularly good deal, to get you hooked, is the new Echo Dot, three Hue Colour bulbs and the bridge all for £98.99 which you can find here
Currently, there are only Black Friday deals for the bulb starter kits, I have my eyes on the light strip and light bars
Automation – Plugs and Sensors
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Echo Flex – Voice control smart home devices with Alexa | Buy on Amazon | |
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Amazon Smart Plug, works with Alexa | Buy on Amazon |
For smart plugs, TP-Link Kasa is my go-to brand, I especially like the HS110 which can keep an eye on how much electricity I am using with all my tech running.
Currently, there are no Black Friday deals for Kasa yet, but the HS110 has been consistently £15 for a while now.
The Amazon Smart Plug costs more a bit more, but this has a microphone built-in allowing voice control of the plug directly.
Smart Home Heating
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tado° Smart Thermostat Starter Kit V3+ - Intelligent heating control, works with Amazon Alexa... | £99.00 | Buy on Amazon |
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V2 Previous Model 2014 | Buy on Amazon |
I personally use Heat Genius, and there are not many Black Friday deals on for Smart Heating in general yet.
The best is Hive Active Heating + a hub and an echo dot all for £134, and Hive also have the radiator valves reduced to £43.20 or a 5-pack for £159.20
I’d keep an eye on Tado which dropped the price to £99 back on Prime Day
Smart Home Surveillance
I constantly recommend the Eufy range with the EufyCam 2C my favourite, and also the one that is discounted for Black Friday
With Ring and Blink being under Amazon ownership, there are some excellent deals to be had there too.
