5 smart appliances to buy for your homes in 2024

Smart home appliances are a fun and functional means to liven up a home. The ability to monitor and interact with appliances and the home remotely, or even just from the comfort of your bed is an underrated luxury that’s worth spending a little extra on. Oh, and many of these upgrades aren’t even that expensive, while offering outsize quality-of-life improvements. Here are some that you should strongly consider.

5 smart appliances worth buying for your home

1. Smart speakers

2. Smart plugs and lights

3. Smart vacuum cleaners and mops

4. Smart washing machines

5. Smart air conditioners

1. Smart speakers

Smart speakers aren’t just for playing music, they’re AI-powered hubs that have almost the same capabilities as a smartphone or tablet. You could run your smart home, and most of your life using just voice commands while also enjoying some great music.

ALSO READ: 5 best smart speakers to consider bringing home today

Our picks in this category are Apple’s HomePod and the Echo Dot. The HomePod is a no-brainer for anyone who is heavily invested in the Apple ecosystem. At Rs 32,900, it is expensive, but it also happens to be one of the best-sounding speakers you can buy. You get deep integration within Apple’s ecosystem, and of course the power of Siri and customisable shortcuts. 

The Echo is much cheaper and a great entry point to the world of smart speakers. Both offer a wide range of AI-powered services and can connect directly with compatible smart home accessories.

2. Smart plugs and lights

Smart plugs and lights are a great pairing with smart speakers. The plugs let you turn any dumb electrical device into a smart one, and the lights will of course give you more control of home lighting.

A good smart switch to go for is the Tata Power EZ Home 16A switch. You can press a physical button to turn a connected appliance on or off, and you can do the same thing with a Google or Alexa assistant-compatible device. When it comes to lighting, you just can’t go wrong with the Philips Hue lineup. The Philips Hue 10W smart bulb is a great place to start.

3. Smart vacuum cleaners and mops

There’s nothing more tedious than a chore you can’t avoid, and this is true of most chores. However, sweeping and mopping are two chores that can be dealt with by just investing a bit of money into a smart mop and vacuum cleaner. Prices have dropped significantly over the years, and you can get a simple life upgrade for around 20k.

ALSO READ: 5 best robot vacuum cleaners that you can opt for

The Xiaomi S10 is our go-to robovac recommendation. It retails at Rs 22,999, can clean multiple surfaces, and integrates well with most smart home devices. It even includes a mop head for simultaneous mopping and vacuuming. For something that’s completely hands-free, we’d recommend the iRobot Roomba S9 Plus. It costs Rs 1,29,900 but is far more powerful and includes an automatic system for emptying the vacuum cleaner’s bin once it’s done.

4. Smart washing machines

A smart washing machine can be a surprisingly useful device primarily because you can schedule washes remotely and get notified when they’re done. This is useful when there’s a limited water supply, for example, or simply for when you need clothes washed at a time when you’re not home or sleeping. Additional features include notifications for any issues such as clogged filters or no water, the ability to more intelligently choose washing modes, and more.

Two great options here are Samsung’s lineup of SmartThings-ready washing machines, and LG’s ThinQ branded machines. We’d go with the Samsung WA10BG4546BVTL if you’re looking for a powerful top loader, and the LG FHV1207Z4M if you want a smart front loader. Both connect via Wi-Fi and include an extensive set of features for controlling washes and notifying the user.

5. Smart air conditioners

Lastly, we’d recommend getting a smart air conditioner. Such units offer a lot more control over the cooling in your home thanks to better feedback on environmental conditions and power consumption. You can even perform actions like pre-cooling your home just before you get back, schedule the AC to sleep at a certain time, and more.

ALSO READ: How to automate your home using a smartphone

The two options we’d recommend in this category are the Panasonic NU 7-in-1 smart AC if you’re looking for a split AC, and the LG TW-Q18WWZA.ASLG if you’re looking for a window AC. Both support Wi-Fi connectivity and app support for controlling and monitoring cooling performance.

Upgrading your home to a smart home is a worthwhile endeavour, and as you can see, a relatively inexpensive one as well. Pick from our selection of smart devices here, or simply head to the Smart Devices page on Croma.com to pick your next upgrade!