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    Best Apple HomeKit Devices to Buy for 2025

    Have you ever wished you could light up a room just by walking in? Well, aside from relying on your sparkling personality, smart home devices are perfect for this, and they are simple to set up on Apple’s smart home platform – HomeKit.

    Read more: Best Smart Home Gifts for 2024

    HomeKit comes baked into every iPhone and iPad the electronics giant sells. Even better, HomeKit integration is a breeze. From pairing smart products to your HomeKit-compatible devices to setting up automations… it’s all at your fingertips.

    The range of products compatible with HomeKit is vast. You have a lot of options, including door locks, lights, plugs, cameras, a thermostat, motion sensors, window shades, you name it — and the Home app can handle all of it in one place.

    If you want a hands-off approach to controlling your budding smart home, Apple’s voice assistant Siri, will be happy to lock the door, dim the lights, adjust the air conditioning, run a smart home scene or whatever else you desire.

    The real question is which of these smart home devices are worth the cash — because a lot of them don’t come cheap. There’s a growing list of options, but we’re here to help you narrow it down to the best HomeKit devices for your smart home. Here are our top picks for Apple HomeKit products, all based on years of tests in the CNET Smart Home, which we update periodically.

    Pros

    • It sounds great
    • It’s small
    • It’s under $100

    Cons

    • Siri still isn’t the best assistant
    • HomeKit needs more compatible accessories
    • Other small smart speakers are $50 or less

    The long-awaited HomePod Mini bridges a strange gap between smart speakers, costing $99 like the Nest Audio and Amazon Echo, but in a small package like the cheaper Nest Mini and Echo Dot.

    This smaller, more affordable Apple smart speaker sounds great. Siri is on board for HomeKit control and general voice assistance. The HomePod Mini can serve as the output for your Apple TV, and you can pair two HomePod Minis for stereo. Features like Intercom and Handoff make living with the Mini a little bit more fun.

    In short, if you like Apple, you’re going to love this smart speaker. If you’re already living with an iPhone, Apple TV or original HomePod, the Mini makes sense as your next small smart speaker.

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    Pros

    • Great-looking design
    • Detachable mounting plates
    • Endless options for animated effects
    • Smart lighting’s best music-syncing mode
    • Supports screen mirroring effect via Razer Synapse
    • Seamless integration with Apple HomeKit, supports Google Assistant, too

    Cons

    • Overcomplicated app
    • Unreliable integration with Alexa

    First, there was the triangular Nanoleaf Aurora (2016) and then there was the square-shaped, touch-enabled Nanoleaf Canvas panels. But in late 2020, Nanoleaf launched the latest set of novelty wall panels: «Nanoleaf Shapes — Hexagons.» These six-sided LED light panels are sold in a seven-panel starter kit for $199, though they are often on sale for less.

    With vivid colors, easier mounting, a great design, and the same impressive list of features and integrations as its predecessors — including the excellent, music-syncing rhythm mode, touch sensitivity, and voice control via Alexa, Siri or Google Assistant — the latest Hexagons are the best Nanoleaf has to offer.

    Read more: The best smart lights for covering your walls in color

    If you’re putting together a high-tech game room, dorm room or decorating a kids room, then Nanoleaf’s color-changing wall panels will be right for you. But outside of that, the flashy lights are perhaps a bit too futuresque for most households.

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