Building a Smart Home? These Are the Brands Our Readers Trust Most

By the end of this year, 57% of Americans will own some form of smart home tech, according to a forecast by SourceReady . That's up from 48.5% in 2024. "The US smart home market has evolved from a luxury novelty into a standard utility," the research outfit writes.

SourceReady attributes this shift to the industry's widespread adoption of Matter , a global, open-source standard that allows for easy communication between internet-connected devices from different manufacturers.

Indeed, simplicity is key to consumers. According to a Statista Consumer Insights survey on people's motivations for adopting smart home technology, 40% of Americans say they want to make their lives easier. Meanwhile, 31% say they "love" making their home more efficient, and 25% say they feel safer with a smart home.

"The best smart home devices can add a lot of convenience to your daily routine with minimal effort on your part," says PCMag's primary smart home reviewer Andrew Gebhart . "Set up properly, a smart home can clean up while you're away, adjust to your preferred temperature and lighting when you get home, and much more." 

In September, we tackled smart home security in a separate Readers' Choice survey . Here, we explore the brands that help make your life easier and your home more efficient. This survey covers smart speakers and displays that can control entire homes, as well as smart lights, plugs, and thermostats. Plus, we've added robot vacuums to the mix, rather than covering them in a separate survey, as we have in the past .

When you're shopping for your smart home, the brands below come most highly recommended by our tech-savvy readership.

The Top Smart Speaker and Smart Display Brands for 2026

Apple hopes to shake up the smart assistant device market with the November release of its $299 HomeView display. But for now, the space remains mainly an Amazon versus Google affair. Both brands sell lines of speakers and displays powered by their respective AI assistants. Alexa+ is now the default for Amazon Echo offerings. And the latest Google smart home devices, like the Google Home Speaker , use Gemini for Home.

A few other manufacturers offer in-home wireless speakers that support either Amazon's or Google's voice assistants. Foremost among them is Sonos, which takes our Readers' Choice award for the best smart speaker system. The brand has also previously won four times in our speakers and headphones survey .

Sonos beats Amazon, Apple, and Google in most subcategories, with a notable exception being cost, where Google triumphs. Sonos earns a remarkable sound quality rating of 9.4 for its devices, well above the rest. ( Our reviewers tend to agree .) "Sound is reliable. I never have to recalibrate, as with my older speakers," says one Sonos user who adds that "the only drawback is price." One other drawback that readers apparently don't seem to mind: Alexa+ is not available on Sonos devices, only the old-school Alexa integration.

(Note: Click the arrows in our interactive charts to view various elements of our survey results.)

"Third-party device compatibility with Alexa and Google Assistant (now Gemini) has wobbled a fair amount over the years, and while they've supported both in the past, currently, Sonos speakers only support Alexa," says Will Greenwald , PCMag's principal consumer electronics reviewer. "They're generally great-sounding speakers. But Sonos' biggest draw is its ecosystem, and the ability to put together a whole-home audio setup smoothly."

With competitors such as Lenovo and JBL having stepped aside, the US market for smart displays has only two players at the moment: Amazon and Google, with their Echo Show and Nest Hub lines, respectively. Amazonfares better for overall satisfaction and reliability, earning it the Readers' Choice award. The brand also performs well in setup and ease of use.

Still, the contest is a close one. When it comes to their smart displays, Amazon and Google are tied for likelihood to recommend and sound quality. Google has slightly better numbers for screen quality and video streaming.  

"My Amazon smart display has been reliable and easy to use for everyday tasks like weather, timers, and music," says one survey respondent. "Even after several years, it still works well and has been a solid part of my smart home setup."

"Amazon has simply been staying on top of the category more thoroughly," Greenwald says. "Google's smart display catalog is pretty small, and they've been slow to update models. Right now, there's the five-year-old second-gen 7-inch Nest Hub and the seven-year-old, 10-inch Nest Hub Max, and that's it. Meanwhile, Amazon has five Echo Show models, with three tabletop models in five, eight, and 11 inches, plus two wall-mountable 15- and 21-inch versions that triple as digital picture frames and media streaming devices, complete with their own remotes and Fire TV interfaces."  

Greenwald anticipates Apple's HomeView being "a very big deal, considering how loyal Apple users are." He adds, "The HomeView is very expensive for a smart display with a seven-inch screen, but it looks great, plus it has the option for both tabletop and wall mounting."

To see which models dominate in our lab testing, read our roundups of The Best Smart Displays and The Best Smart Speakers .

The Top Robot Vacuum Brands for 2026

For the second year in a row (and third time since 2022), Roborock takes the top spot for floor cleaners overall (including mops and vacuums). It beats out the only other manufacturer to receive enough responses to place in our survey, iRobot, the maker of the Roomba brand. (iRobot filed for bankruptcy in late 2025 .) 

Roborock is almost two points ahead of iRobot for likelihood to recommend. The brand's stand-out scores include an 8.7 for battery life and an 8.9 for home mapping. Meanwhile, iRobot comes more than a full point behind Roborock in overall satisfaction, and even further behind in many other subcategories, including noise level ,cleaning speed, and battery life.

"I put the purchase of my Roborock in the top three of tech purchases ever for me," says one survey taker. "I had concerns prior to buying it that it wasn't going to do what was advertised, but it far exceeded my expectations. Its strongest point is its vacuuming capability. I believe it has stronger suction than our in-home vacuum system. Amazing." 

"Roborock vacuums traditionally perform well in my testing, and the brand also tends to be the most innovative robot vacuum manufacturer," says PCMag's Gebhart. "One recent model has a robot arm to pick up after you , and an upcoming bot named Saros Rover can actually climb stairs while cleaning . Don't overlook iRobot, though. After some recent struggles, its latest announced models show a lot of promise."

To see which robot vacs clean up in our lab testing, check our our list of The Best Robot Vacuums .

The Top Smart Lighting Brands for 2026

For smart lighting, two aggressively priced brands, Wyze and Kasa Smart (a wholly owned brand of TP-Link ), tie for overall satisfaction, each earning an 8.4. But Wyzetriumphs thanks to having the best scores in all the other subcategories in which it appears. (It's the brand's first Reader's Choice award for lighting since 2020 .) Notably, Wyze scores 8.8 for both reliability and ease of use, and 8.9 for its mobile apps.

In the few subcategories in which Wyze doesn't appear—like voice controls, color choices, and location services for lights—the top brand is Philips Hue, which released the first commercial smart light 14 years ago . But Philips Hue is not cheap; its cost score is the only figure below 6.0 in the chart this year.

"These smart light bulbs by Wyze have been extremely reliable," says one reader. "Only one out of the eight I have in service failed, and it was replaced by Wyze at no charge. Also, the purchase price per bulb was very reasonable, especially since I haven't needed to make another bulb purchase in over four years."

"I'm a big fan of Wyze smart lighting products," says Angela Moscaritolo , PCMag's managing editor for consumer electronics. "After using the Wyze Bulb Color in my own home, I bought a pack for my mom and dad. The colorful bulbs worked perfectly in one of my parent's antique lamps, letting them change the colors seasonally and control the light with Alexa voice commands.

"If you want to accent an architectural feature or add ambiance to your home entertainment setup, Wyze offers some of the most affordable strip lights around, with very few limitations compared with pricier brands," she continues. "And don't sleep on the Wyze Night Light ; it makes my midnight kitchen runs a lot safer by automatically illuminating my hallway when it senses motion. You can install them anywhere in minutes, and recharge them via USB-C when they run out of power." 

To see which lighting products shine brightest in our lab testing, read The Best Smart LED Light Bulbs .

The Top Smart Plug and Power Brands for 2026

In our smart home plugs and power category, Kasa Smart earns an 8.5 for overall satisfaction, the lowest satisfaction score it's earned in our survey history. But it's still enough for Kasa Smartto win the category for the fifth year in a row.

Kasa Smart's competition comes from Amazon and its Basics line. Kasa bests it in most categories, including mobile app quality, cost, reliability, and likelihood to recommend. Amazon Basics, however, leads by just a little over Kasa for voice controls (thanks to the Alexa interface) and ease of use.

"I've used Kasa Smart plugs for several years, and they've been extremely reliable," one reader says. "Setup is quick, Alexa control works flawlessly, and the price makes them an excellent value." Another says, "Nothing bad has happened to my Kasa Smart plugs. Only weak Wi-Fi signals have caused problems." 

"In general, smart plugs make for an excellent smart home starter gadget, because you can easily add connectivity to any of your old dumb electronics and discover the joys of controlling them from your phone," PCMag's Gebhart says. "I appreciate the reliability of the Kasa Smart plugs that I've used, and reliability is what I'm looking for in the category to begin with."

To see which brands dominate in our lab testing, read The Best Smart Plugs and Power Strips .

The Top Smart Thermostat Brands for 2026

Since 2020, the smart thermostat Reader's Choice award has been passed back and forth between Ecobee and Emerson/Sensi. This year, Emerson/Sensi didn't make the cut, and Ecobeepulls out its third win. It beats the remaining competitors, Google Nest and Honeywell, in every single category except one—it ties with Google Nest for voice controls at 8.3.

Ecobee scores an 8.9 for scheduling, mobile apps, and reliability, and a 9.0 for its automatic temperature controls. Google Nest generally comes in the middle of the pack, but earns the lowest score for cost.

"I have a two-stage furnace, so most smart thermostats wouldn't work for me. My Ecobee thermostat worked great," says one respondent. "I was able to use Copilot to give me detailed instructions on how to hook up all the wires. I've had no issues since installation." Another says of Ecobee, "This is a smart company; they are way ahead of the others with their technology. They are constantly adding new features and refinements." 

"Ecobee has been making excellent models for a long time, and I'd recommend one with a remote temperature sensor," Gebhart says. "With a sensor, the thermostat can make adjustments based on the room where you want to be comfortable, instead of the hallway where the thermostat is located." 

To see which thermostats heat up our lab testing, read The Best Smart Thermostats .

The PCMag Readers' Choice survey for smart home products was in the field from April 29 to Aug. 24, 2026. For more information on how we conduct surveys, read our methodology.

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