Smart homes have become much more affordable over time thanks to more competition, better products, and more innovation in the industry. As a result, one can start their smart home journey with as little as a simple smart speaker that can control other smart devices in your house with ease. When choosing smart home devices, keep these things in mind:

• Whether the device will be used indoors or outdoors
• The compatibility of the device with other smart electronics
• Whether children or pets will have access to the device

Here are some of our top picks for budget smart home devices that would get you started on your journey to have a more connected home.

Note: We have focused on devices that work with Amazon's Alexa voice assistant as a minimum benchmark for selection to ensure all our picks work with each another where applicable.

The Wyze Cam V3 is an excellent smart home security camera that doesn't break the bank for people adopting it as their daily driver for basic home security. Wyze has taken the market by storm since its inception in 2017. This is primarily due to the price point. It delivers cameras with features that used to be associated with much more expensive smart home solutions previously.

The Cam V3 is no different; it comes with vastly improved night vision compared to its predecessor, an excellent resolution, motion detection support, and local storage for those of us looking to save data without buying a cloud subscription. With its IP65 certification, the camera pretty much has all-weather support in addition to durability that allows it to be used both indoors and outdoors.

Some people might have a gripe about the fact that the Wyze Cam V3 has no battery options and must be wired at all times to get the job done. While this is an issue when compared to more premium options, we also feel that for the price, the camera does splendidly and as a result, you do not need to worry about battery life down the line, even if it adds some installation time initially.

The Amazon Echo Dot in its 5th generation is an even better version of the acclaimed 4th generation Echo Dot. While the base version skips the clock that a pricier version offers for $10 more, it does pack in an impressive amount of tech while retaining the same form factor as its predecessor. The Echo Dot is an Amazon product and therefore is built around the excellent Alexa voice assistant that also upped its game over time making this a good experience to have overall.

With a bigger speaker this generation and a plethora of sensors added to make your smart speaker even 'smarter' in terms of what it can do versus the competition and its own last-generation offerings, the Echo Dot pulls no punches as it aims to become the center of your living room, and if possible as many rooms as desired thanks to its ability to double as an excellent Wi-Fi mesh network via Amazon's EERO offerings.

All in all, the Echo Dot is a crucial part of any smart home on a budget and a potentially essential one of those looking for more premium options too. It is a reliable smart speaker that doesn't cost too much and provides a refined experience built on nearly a decade's worth of expertise from Amazon.

The TP-Link Kasa Smart Wi-Fi Plug Slim 4-Pack is an excellent budget option for Wi-Fi smart plugs that offers the desired amount fo control over a smart plug without complicating it or getting too bulky as a result. It delivers power of up to 1800W per adapter and works with a wide variety of Wi-Fi networks making compatibility a non-issue. With 4 of these in a pack, that works out at about $10 a pop, making these surprisingly affordable compared to some of their competitors while offering excellent, refined control over your appliances that works with just about every major virtual assistant in the market currently.

There are concerns about the TP-Link Kasa's futureproofing given that it supports only 2.4GHz bands currently which could potentially become an issue for users using 5GHz routers only. However, given the nature of said devices, it is unlikely that we will see a paradigm shift by most router manufacturers to eliminate 2.4GHz as a basic band given the longer range supporting routers provide and the reduced bandwidth doesn't really factor in for the Kasa which uses a very small amount of bandwidth to handle its day to day tasks.

A smart home would not deserve to be called one without having the somewhat mandatory smart lighting that fleshes it all out. The Govee Smart Light Bulbs are your answer to the question of what good budget smart bulbs look like. With support for both Bluetooth & Wi-Fi 2.4GHz in play, these A19-shaped bulbs can breathe new life into your quest for a smarter home at a price that makes it a no-brainer for both first-timers and smart homeowners looking to stock up on spares.

At the current sale price, the 4-pack roughly costs half of what a single unit would, making it an essential buy-one-get-one deal, an offer we feel is too good to pass up for some of the most capable smart lights in the market. The bundled Govee Home App offers excellent control: you can set up timings and schedule different colors for different times of the day, group bulbs together or handle each individually and even work with music-based lighting with a small caveat: It uses your smartphone's mic to capture sound for this effect.

The Nobent smart fairy lights are a super affordable way to completely transform an outdoor space. Able to be controlled with an app on Apple and Samsung devices (along with most other modern smart devices), these lights offer a wide variety of colors and preset modes that help set the mood for any occassion. In case the initial 16 feet of lights aren't enough, each Nobent light string is designed to connect to another, so it's a snap to add on more lights later.

Plus, they just look really nice along fence lines, balcony rails, dangling from an overhang, or even decorating an indoor space. The Nobent smart fairy lights are one of the cheapest, most versatile smart devices around, so why not grab a pack and spruce up a space for summer?

The Amazon Eero Mesh Wi-Fi router is an excellent entry-level router that offers an outstanding level of range for its price with support for numerous network devices and an easy-to-extend Wi-Fi mesh network. Its unique selling point is its ability to easily harness existing smart Echo Dot speakers as part of its mesh network as a Wi-Fi extender, allowing far better coverage using existing smart devices in your house to extend its range without giving up more real estate or spending extra sums of money to get the job done.

With a powerful 700MHz quad-core CPU with 512 MB of Ram, the Eero is no slouch and while it does take a hit in the performance department because faster routers are available in its price range, it is versatile enough to negate that end by offering excellent integration with Alexa to control the router as well as fine-grained control of bandwidth, internet policies and adding or removing devices from the network, all with the use of your voice (and a compatible Alexa device for voice commands).

If you do need more power, however, you can also consider the Amazon Eero Pro 6E Mesh Wi-Fi router which offers Tri-Band connectivity, Wi-Fi 6 support, and much faster internet transmission speeds allowing you to max out your ISP's provided internet connection better.

The Amazon Fire TV 50' 4-Series 4K TV is excellent value for money coupled with tight Alexa integration that is currently a hallmark of both the Fire and Echo device offerings of late. It comes with plenty of wired and wireless connectivity options and 4 HDMI ports, which is plenty for an entry-level TV, including an HDMI 2.1 port with eARC support out of the box. Its Fire OS does have its quirks but works snappily for the most part and gets the job done with ease for most smart home living room TV requirements, even if there is no hands-free voice control; that part can be remedied by adding an Amazon echo in the same room.

The VA panel here shows that the TV is a tradeoff by Amazon to offer a better price while compromising on both, brightness and color reproduction in addition to viewing angles, all of which some of its competitors do somewhat better than the Fire TV.

While it isn't the best TV money can buy under $500, it doesn't profess to be one either. The Amazon Fire TV is designed for people looking for a decent smart TV experience without breaking the bank and given the price point, we can't really find fault with the TV's tradeoffs that allow it to be offered at a bargain while the current sale lasts.

FAQ:

Q: What does a smart home setup cost?

A: As much as you wish to spend on it. The beauty of a smart home setup is that every user's needs are different and you can build it up in chunks instead of spending it all in one go. You can simply start with something as small as an Echo Dot or smart bulbs and work your way up to a truly smart home.

Q: What are the most popular smart home devices?

A: The most popular smart home devices would be smart speakers followed by smart lighting, both of which are excellent starting points for setting up a smart home over time.