Tom’s Guide Smart Home Awards 2026: 25 gadgets and tools making our homes better, smarter and more stylish

Introducing the winners of the Tom’s Guide Smart Home Awards 2026. From robot vacuum (and pool) cleaners and air purifiers to security cameras and large home appliances, these are the gadgets, tools and accessories worth celebrating for making our homes the best they can be.

Whether it’s a smarter outdoor product to make yard maintenance easier or an appliance that automates a daily chore, these awards represent the best in smart living because they are practical, powerful, and ready to use right now.

The winners of the Tom’s Guide Smart Home Awards 2026 are the tools and devices that solve real problems, from the kitchen to the bedroom and beyond. Some help you save time without adding complexity, while others offer ingenuity that makes them stand out from the rest. Most importantly, they’re ready to fit into your daily routine right now.

Smart home

BLUETTI FridgePower Ultra-Slim Battery Backup for Refrigerators

Even in 2026, a power outage can occur at any moment, and if you do suddenly find yourself in a blackout, you’ll be infinitely glad to have the BLUETTI FridgePower in your home. This sleek and simple device is an easy-to-install battery system that keeps appliances like your fridge running via two standard AC outlets.

Thanks to the ultra-slim 75mm (2.95-inch) profile, you can place it vertically or horizontally for discreet installation behind refrigerators or anywhere within your kitchen. The system delivers 2,016Wh capacity — expandable up to 8,064Wh — paired with a low 4W idle drain to maximize efficiency during extended outages.

The system features a 10ms UPS switchover for near-instant protection of perishables and medicine. What we love so much about the BLUETTI FridgePower is how it solves a single, simple problem very well with the minimum of fuss.

Lockin Veno Solar smart lock

Smart locks can be power-hungry additions to your home, but the Lockin Veno Solar smart lock rewrites the script somewhat with an integrated solar panel. This means it can harvest ambient light even in heavily shaded entryways and eliminate the hassle of battery swaps and recharges. .

Beyond its eco-friendly aspirations, the Veno Solar can unlock your door using either your palm, face recognition, a pin code, or a traditional manual key. We also like the fact that it's Matter-compatible, so it'll work with pretty much any smart home system.

Best of all, this lock costs less than $200, making it not only functional, but affordable, too.

Zafro Auro Dual Window Air Conditioner

Summer heat is no joke without an A/C unit and the Zafro Auro Dual Window Air Conditioner is both an efficient and feature-rich way of cooling down your house. It’s a cinch to install as well as doubling up as a heat pump in the wintertime.

Instead of a traditional window air conditioner design that hangs the heavy compressor and condenser outside the window frame and risks falling during the installation or afterwards, Zafro’s Auro AC is balanced on the windowsill, in an inverted U-shape.

This design keeps the unit’s center of gravity firmly on the sill with less chance of it falling. You can power it via its remote control, its app or just with your voice thanks to Alexa and Google Home integration.

Tapo C675D Kit

TP-Link’s latest home security camera, the Tapo C675D Kit, includes not one but two 4K cameras in a single housing. One lens is stationary while the other can rotate a full 360 degrees. There's also a spotlight, a microSD card slot for local storage, and local AI for basic object detection, all of which are powered by the included solar panel. The C675D includes a 10,000 mAh battery that should last up to three months on a charge

This kit checks nearly every box of what you could want in a modern outdoor security system. It boasts 4K video, two independent cameras in a single housing, local AI combined with local storage, bright spotlights and night vision.

Video quality is superb, the lights are bright, and the motion detection range will make sure nothing gets past it undetected.

Dreame Aero Pro Steam

Cleaning up after pets or kids usually requires an entire closet full of vacuums, mops, and chemical sprays. The Dreame Aero Pro Steam solves that chaos by combining everything into one incredibly powerful machine.

We’ve seen plenty of wet-dry vacs, but Dreame takes it to a new level by blasting stuck-on grime with 200°C steam and 90°C hot water mopping, eliminating the need for harsh chemicals. It also packs a massive 30kPa of suction power and TangleCut 2.0 tech to prevent annoying hair wraps, while a front-facing foam spray neutralizes pet odors at the source.

What impresses us most is the smart sensor array, which automatically adjusts suction based on the mess it detects, alongside an ultra-slim lie-flat design that easily slides under low furniture. Add in an epic 80-minute cordless runtime and a self-cleaning base, and your chore list just got a lot shorter.

Eufy Omni S2

Eufy's latest flagship robot vacuum passes the smell test — literally. Not only is it a strong cleaner, but it can also make your house smell better in the process. That's because the Omni S2 has a built-in aromatherapy system, which diffuses pleasant scents as it cleans via a cartridge that lasts up to 120 hours. It left our house smelling fresh and pleasant.

The Omni S2 proved to be a capable cleaner in our tests, thanks to 30,000 pa of suction power, and its mopping system also kept our hardwood floors shiny. Its 3D vision system, which can detect over 200 objects, successfully avoided obstacles, too.

After a built-in scent diffuser, who nose what will come next?

Home appliances

GoveeLife Smart Nugget Ice Maker Pro

Whether you’re hosting a party or simply want unlimited ice (without the long wait) in your household, GoveeLife's portable Smart Nugget Ice Maker Pro is a great option. What’s more, this countertop ice maker can be remotely controlled via the app — even when away from home.

The machine can produce nine bullet-shaped ice cubes in just six minutes and 26 pounds of ice cubes in 24 hours — enough to get the party started. It also features a dual water tank system that can hold up to 15.6 pounds of ice in a single session, which caters to around 60 drinks (impressive). It also comes with a handy app and voice activation, which is smart enough to notify you and stop making ice once the basket is full or out of water.

Beyond its high-quality performance, this gadget operates whisper-quietly and boasts impressive energy efficiency — making it perfect for frequent daily use and the ideal summer gadget.

Hisense TopLift Smart Dehumidifier

Having one of the top dehumidifiers is essential if you want to instantly reduce moisture in the air — but one major gripe is emptying (and carrying it without spillage) the collected water in the tank. This is why the smart Hisense TopLift stands out by solving a common problem with its more ergonomic design.

Designed with an internal pump, it quickly extracts collected water upward into an 18-pint top-mounted cartridge, which can be easily removed and carried around the home fuss-free. This eliminates the typical mess and heavy lifting associated with traditional tanks.

This is convenient, especially since it can remove up to 50-pints of moisture a day with a coverage of 4,500 sq ft — making it ideal for any room. Additionally, we know the perils of having a noisy dehumidifier, but the Hisense top-lift comes in at a low 46 dB, which is quiet enough to watch your favorite Netflix show in peace.

What’s more, connect via Hisense's ConnectLife app to monitor real-time humidity levels, adjust settings and schedules, and receive alerts from anywhere. It's also fully Matter-certified and compatible with Apple HomeKit, Google Home and Alexa.

Cosori Iconic Stainless Steel 6.5-Quart Smart Air Fryer

The Cosori Iconic is one of our favorite air fryers right now, mainly for its quick results at cooking up tasty treats, ease of use, and eye-catching design.

Alongside its impressive power, it comes with six cooking modes, five fan speeds, and temperature settings ranging from 90 degrees to 450 degrees. It also has a decent capacity of 6.5 quarts (serves 3-5 people), which is ideal for a family. Perhaps its winning feature is the stainless steel exterior and tempered top glass, which gives it that premium look. Plus, all the touch-sensitive controls live beneath that glass.

You can also control the Iconic using Cosori’s VeSync app, which is very easy to use. For instance, you can send the cooking time, temperature, and settings straight to the unit and monitor cooking progress from your phone.

LG Signature Smart Induction Slide-In Range

Whether you’re a pro cook, enjoy cooking up feasts, or run a large family, you’ll want the best range that can do it all. And if you want to monitor how well your food is cooking in real-time, without leaving your seat, this smart LG Signature Induction range is impressive.

Built with an AI Gourmet camera inside, it allows you to take pictures of your tasty treats that you can even show off to your family or friends via the app. What’s more, the app provides a host of recipes that are tailored to your specific ingredients at home to help you decide what to cook for dinner.

Besides its impressive tech, the range comes with a ceramic induction cooktop for faster and more responsive heating, and its Dynamic ProBake Convection, which allows for evenly cooked and tasty food. It also comes with an air fry, sous vide and pizza mode — to suit everyone’s tastes.

Plus, with its sleek 6.8-inch LCD color touch display and premium Flex Control knobs, it certainly looks the part and will bring premium style to any kitchen.

Blueair CoolDrift Air Circulator Fan

Typically, powerful fans are noisy, especially when cranked up during a heatwave. But this Blueair Cooldrift circulator fan offers an ‘ultra-quiet’ operation, designed to help you sleep peacefully.

Despite its compact size, the Cooldrift does exactly what it says — its powerful whole-room circulation can quickly cool down a space and maintain a consistent temperature. This is thanks to its wide horizontal and vertical oscillation, which reduces hot and cold spots.

It also features a smart Night Mode with auto-dimming that adjusts to the temperature over an 8-hour cycle to keep you cool and comfortable throughout the night. This is also ideal for a home office or even a nursery room where comfort is key. Plus, we like that you can customize your settings and schedules through the handy app, anywhere in the home — to tailor to everyone’s needs.

Home Office

LiberNovo Omni

Spending time at your desk feels more like taking control of a starfighter when you're sitting on the LibreNovo Omni, thanks to its sleek, sci-fi styling and extremely comfy cushioning. While other chairs have adjustable lumbar depth mechanisms, the Omni’s is motorized and will change position with just the press of the button inside the left armrest. What’s more, it leans back to a full 160 degrees.

But what makes this truly stand out is the OmniStretch feature that uses the motorized actuator to slowly lift and lower your spine repeatedly for five minutes. It helps relieve tension and straightens things just like you’d expect from a trip to the chiropractor.

Secretlab MAGNUS Pro

The Secretlab Magnus Pro may be a gamer-focused piece of furniture, but even if you’ve not picked up a controller since high school, you should be consider this for your office. It’s got a sturdy steel build with an integrated power supply column and full-length cable management tray.

What’s more, there’s a robust set of accessories available to help you get even more from this desk, including a bespoke mat that protects the entirety of the Magnus Pro’s surface. You can also pick up a magnetic cable anchors to keep loose wires in position. Whether or not you’re a gamer, this is one of the best electric standing desks you can get.

Simple Furniture Height Adjustable Desk

As you might have guessed from the name, the Simple Furniture Height Adjustable Desk is all about nailing the basics and not charging you a premium for it. This electric sit-stand desk marries minimalist aesthetics with solid durability with a scratch-resistant, UV-stable Thermally Fused Laminate top. It won’t be defeated by an early morning coffee spill.

The intuitive LED handset features four programmable memory presets that make switching postures effortless and you’ve also got integrated cable management and a 5-year warranty. If it’s a clutter-free powerhouse built for lasting productivity.

Satechi ChargeView 140W Desktop Charger

Considering the myriad of devices we always need to keep charged up these days, every home office needs an integrated charging solution and they don’t come much sleeker than the Satechi ChargeView 140W Desktop Charger.

You can position it either horizontally or vertically to fit with your desk setup and the live per-port digital LCD display shows real-time power distribution across all four of its USB-C ports. Powered by advanced GaN technology and supporting USB PD 3.2 AVS for the fastest iPhone charging, it’s an efficient, clutter-free solution built to keep your entire workspace fully charged.

UPLIFT V3 Standing Desk

The Uplift V3 is a further refinement of what made its predecessor such a great standing desk. The assembly is more straightforward and the cable management tray is wider and even more adjustable. This desk’s real value also lies in its ecosystem You have the option to start with the base model first and upgrade it later on piece by piece (like adding different power grommets), turning it into a truly long-term investment.

If you're looking for a smooth, stable, and highly customizable standing desk you can use reliably for years to come, look no further. Its ability to grow and change with your setup makes it a true long-term investment and a worthy prize winner this year.

Garden and Outdoor

Yarbo Y Series

What we love about the Yarbo Y Series is that it combines lawn mowing with clearing leaves and snow, making it our first snow-removing robot. This all-season robot lawn mower is designed for large yards and challenging terrain. In fact, it can operate on slopes up to a 70% grade.

The gearbox-free design also reduces mechanical noise, lowering operating sound from ≤75 dB to ≤60 dB, making the Y Series better suited for early-morning or late-night yard care without disturbing the neighborhood.

Yarbo's latest offering has also undergone a core upgrade and now features a dual-hub-motor drive system, improving mobility, torque, speed and acoustic performance. What’s more, its maximum travel speed has increased, enabling faster, smoother operation across larger sites.

Aiper Scuba V3 Ultra pool cleaner

Aiper’s Scuba V3 Ultra lets you get the most out of your swimming pool without getting your hands dirty. What we love is that it’s an all-in-one system with six functions that covers your pool's maintenance.

Designed with homeowners in mind, it cleans the floor, walls, waterline, surface and shallow sun shelves, while dispensing chlorine to keep it hygienic without manual intervention. Using cognitive AI and a dual-camera system alongside ultrasonic sensors it can identify over 20 types of debris, and use learned behavior, weather patterns, and pool conditions to optimize when and how it cleans.

It delivers up to 8,500 GPH suction and a multi-layer MicroMesh system that filters particles down to 3 microns without clogging. It also employs BioClaw robotic arms to guide floating debris, such as leaves and insects, into the intake, and WaveLine™ technology to ensure the waterline is scrubbed clean. Battery life stands at up to 4 hours of floor cleaning and 8 hours for surface cleaning.

Induction Hardware 36" Outdoor Built-In Induction Griddle

Induction Hardware has introduced the first outdoor induction griddle, allowing you to enjoy the benefits of precision cooking outdoors. It delivers the performance chefs expect from induction, while eliminating the fire hazards of cooking with a traditional gas griddle outside.

Apart from looking sleek, the 36” grill features a removable carbon-steel griddle that unlocks four oversized square induction coils, while offering single-zone, dual-zone, and bridge functions for even, full-surface heating.

We’re impressed by its functionality and by the fact that, once the griddle is removed, it reveals a full induction cooktop. It’s not designed for your everyday budget BBQ, but we’re impressed with how it could take center stage in a modern outdoor kitchen and deliver anything from seared steaks to hearty pasta.

Thermacell LIV 2.0 On-Demand Mosquito+ Repellent System

The LIV is a mosquito-repellent system that emits a vapor mosquitoes hate, and it’s controlled by a Smart Hub that communicates with up to 10 satellite-based repellers. It works by creating a large, scent-free zone of protection against mosquitoes, no-see-ums, and biting midges, covering up to 3,000 sq ft.

The user can activate, schedule and monitor the system through app control, while it’s also compatible with voice control via Amazon Alexa and Google Home. It’s not a cheap setup and will need to be installed, but the technology provides on-demand protection season after season, offering a smart outdoor living solution for pest control.

Birdfy Feeder Metal 2 4K

If you love watching birds in your yard, the Birdfy Feeder Metal 2 4K AI-powered smart bird feeder is designed to bring them within range without disturbing them. The sharp camera brings the birds to life, capturing their fine details and subtle movements often missed by the naked eye. What’s more, the AI tech identifies each species and offers you real-time alerts through the app. It’s a real plus for those not quite sure of the feathered creatures that come to visit and want to track all visits without being present.

We’re impressed by how the bird feeder invites nature into your backyard and wildlife into your home. And during testing, we appreciated its durability, the multiple ways it can be installed, and how easy it is to fill.

Bedroom and sleep

Amerisleep AS3

The popular Amerisleep AS3 is available as either a hybrid or all-foam mattress and is a great option for both side sleepers and light-average weight back sleepers, too. The Bio-Pur memory foam molded to the body better than you might expect and offers good support at the same time.

The edge support and motion isolation on this mattress are also excellent. If you share your bed with a restless partner or are a light sleeper, you're unlikely to be disturbed by the AS3 as the Bio-Pur foam absorbs motion successfully. It also does a great job of temperature regulation throughout the year.

Blueair Mini Restful Sunrise Alarm Clock Air Purifier

BlueAir’s Mini Restful Sunrise Clock Air Purifier can lay claim to being your ultimate bedside companion by marrying air filtration with routine-enabling sleep tech. It comes in a soothing Coastal Beige colorway and boats a compact footprint that won't clutter your nightstand.

We especially love how it reinvents the morning routine by eschewing jarring alarms for customizable sunrise lighting and gentle sounds to wake you naturally. All while Blueair’s signature HEPASilent filtration works away under the hood to clears 99.97% of dust, dander, and allergens from a 140-square-foot room in just 12.5 minutes.

You can manage the Mini Restful Sunrise Clock Air Purifier through a companion app for custom schedules to personalize this all-in-one sleep sanctuary.

ComfortNext Lux

If you’re looking to level up your mattress game, then the ComfortNext Lux is the way to do it. This is one of five new smart mattresses from Sleep Number and promises better pressure relief, cooling and support. There are 100 different firmness levels controlled by the internal air chamber that you can select from the accompanying app.

The thick top layer of foam makes this a soft mattress but, providing you have an adjustable base, you can enjoy a range of motion from the bed’s top and bottom sections. And finally, you’ll get personalized sleep insights delivered to your phone every morning. This is the future of sleep.

RENPHO x Headspace Eyeris Zen Eye Massager

The RENPHO x Headspace Eyeris Zen Eye Massager is a calming way to shut the world out and get a few moments of valuable relaxation time. Wrapped in an exclusive soft-matte purple finish, its feather-light build won’t weigh you down while you unwind. We especially love its phone-free approach to relaxation: right out of the box, it comes pre-loaded with nine guided Headspace meditations targeting sleep, anxiety, and daily mindfulness, allowing you to completely disconnect from digital noise.

Under the hood, the newly engineered ZenTech motor operates at a near-silent 40 dB, ensuring your tranquility remains entirely undisturbed. It delivers highly customizable comfort, offering three dynamic compression modes and three soothing heat levels to melt away screen fatigue and temple tension.