Brady Snyder / Android Authority
I first got into smart home technology around 2015, right as smart speakers and connected devices started going mainstream. Within a few years, my home was filled with smart bulbs, cameras, speakers, switches, and just about anything else that promised automation or voice control.
By late 2020, I had mostly abandoned it all. The novelty wore off, the maintenance piled up, and the conveniences no longer felt worth the effort. Now, several years later, I have slowly started to bring smart home tech back into my life. The question is whether the experience has actually improved enough this time to make it stick.
Is smart home tech worth it in 2026? 5 votes Yes, absolutely! 20 % Yes, if you don't mind tinkering and troubleshooting. 40 % No, it's not worth it. 40 % Unsure / Other 0 %
What drove me away in the first place
Stephen Schenck / Android Authority
There was no single breaking point for me. Instead, it was a steady accumulation of small frustrations that eventually outweighed the benefits.
Cost was one of the earliest issues. While budget smart home products existed, they often came with reliability or compatibility trade-offs. To avoid that, I gravitated toward higher-end brands like Philips Hue. At the time, that meant spending $20 or more per bulb, even for basic white lighting, with color bulbs costing significantly more. Outfitting an entire home added up quickly.
The bigger problem, though, was fragmentation. There were platform standards, but no real sense of cohesion. Some products required dedicated hubs, while others worked directly over Wi-Fi but behaved inconsistently. Even when everything technically worked, it often felt fragile behind the scenes.
Voice control masked some of that complexity, but it did not eliminate it. Commands still passed through multiple platforms and services, and when something broke, troubleshooting was often more work than flipping a physical switch. At first, that tinkering was part of the appeal. Over time, it became exhausting.
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