The best smart home tech at CES 2025

We've completed our trek across the vast halls of CES 2025 to round up the best smart home devices for Apple users. From robot vacuums to pocketable projectors, here's what we've found.

After nearly a week of wandering the halls -- and filling our Apple Watch rings -- we've surfaced from CES with our top finds. We focused primarily on Apple Home or Matter-enabled products, but there are some others that we threw in too.

Best of all, most all of these are shipping soon.

NeoPlants Power Drops

The first smart home product we found at the show was decidedly low tech.

At CES 2024, we saw NeoPlants, a plant that was scientifically modified to be better at cleaning your air than normal plants.

During the 2025 show, we saw an update of their progress. This time, it's a new powder called Power Drops.

Power Drops is a powder that you mix with water and add to the plants already in your home. When doing so, you convert your existing plant into a makeshift air purifier.

Based on their independently verified test results, your home plant can become up to 30 times better at filtering VOCs from the air.

That include benzene, formaldehyde, toluene, and more. This isn't going to replace a dedicated air purifier, but it's a great addition to any smart home.

A true air purifier will also add in additional filtration layers for larger particulate matter (PM2.5 and dust) plus a carbon layer for removing smells.

Power Drops are up for order now for as low as $5 a pack. Each plant needs one pack a month.

Evenflo Sensory Soothe

There are notably few baby products integrated into Apple Home or Matter. Perhaps because the few guide rails Apple has in place for children's accounts.

Still, the Evenflo Sensory Soothe Carrier is almost as good.

It's a baby carrier and car seat that has smart lights integrated into the handle. The idea is that the move, animate, and pulse in different colors and patterns to help soothe your cranky little one.

The pattern, colors, and brightness can all be adjusted based on what works for your child. And, since the idea is to be hands-free while you're in the car, it can also be controlled via Siri.

Evenflo is planning to start shipping their new car seat early this year.

Honeywell X2S

Much of the Residio ecosystem is outside of Apple's walled garden. They had an early HomeKit thermostat under the Honeywell brand, and First Alert does have the very cool Safe & Sound smart smoke detector with an AirPlay speaker.

Now, Honeywell has its latest X2S smart thermostat. From its face, it's... ugly. But Residio assures us that's the point, as it has a low price point and is supposed to be accommodating for those who are adverse to smart devices.

It is Matter enabled, meaning it works with Apple Home and Siri. When released, it will only run you about $80, making it one of the most affordable on the market and certainly the most affordable with Matter.

Aurzen Zip

Aurzen is known for its excellent projectors, but its new one may take the cake. Eve with its tiny size.

It's called the Aurzen Zip and it feels barely larger than a deck of cards. It folds into a "Z" shape with the top third comprised of the projector itself, the middle houses the speakers, while the bottom third holds the battery.

When in use, it can project for up to 90 minutes on a single charge. Fortunately, it also supports wireless charging and the optional MagPlay adds suction mounting and an extra 10,000mAh battery for up to 3 hours of play time.

For Apple users, it supports wireless mirroring via AirPlay without the need for Wi-Fi. That works from iPhone, iPad, and Mac and there is vertical support too.

It's available to preorder on Kickstarter where it has raised roughly a quarter million dollars at the time of publication.

Lutron

Lutron has been revered for its smart home products, all of which work with Apple Home, due to their uncompromising reliability. This often led to higher price tags.

Especially with their smart shades. We've always recommend the Lutron Serena shades but they're not the cheapest on the market.

Now, Lutron is introing new Caseta smart shades for a $399 price point for any size under 48 inches. They come in the most popular shades of white and grey in both roller and honeycomb styles.

You get all the perks of Lutron products. The unmatched reliability, Apple Home support, and they can be controlled with Lutron Pico remotes.

Govee

We've historically not covered Govee too excessively here at AppleInsider. While their products were nice and affordable, they didn't support Apple Home.

Thanks to Matter, that has started to change. Many new products now support Matter, bringing Apple Home support in tow.

At CES 2025, we got to see two new upcoming Matter-enabled products the brand had on display. Both coming early in 2025.

First, is a new floor lamp. This new model has a standard, adjustable downlight but also a unique upward-facing light.

The top light combines with an aurora projector. It projects a moving swirl of lights on the wall and ceiling around it.

The second new light is a portable lamp that has a multi-color body and a speaker on the top. Two of them can be paired together in stereo with sound provided by JBL.

SwitchBot K20+

We aren't quite sure what to make of the SwitchBot K20+ system at CES. It's a unique idea that includes a robotic vacuum cleaner that can also help move things around your house.

Imagine your robotic vacuum coming over with a table and a drink on top. Or it moves your air purifier into the room that needs it most.

These are possible with the K20+. The robot goes on the bottom, under a rolling tray. Above that you can attach various accessories from air purifiers, to tablet holders, to a roaming security camera

The biggest question is how much of it is feasible to deploy in your home. How often does it make sense to change what's on top, or will you choose one an cleave it at that.

It's still an interesting concept though that will see the light of day in a shipping product. Plus, it works with Matter and Apple Home.

Experience Wonder

Experience Wonder is the brand that has brought us the smart bird feeder Bird Buddy. For CES 2025, they have a new smart camera designed for your garden.

It's the Petal modular camera with swappable lenses -- either macro or wide. It can be placed in the garden, wrapped around a brand, or attached to a stand with a solar charger.

Petal allows you to keep an eye on your garden and the creatures that pop up in it. It can also use Ai to monitor your plants and see how they were doing.

Of course, the app has an AI chatbot that allows you to talk to your garden. You can ask your garden how its doing, what it needs, how to attract different animals, and more.

U-Tec

U-Tec made waves during the tech show with what it pitches as the world's first ultra Wideband smart lock. While it does support Matter, this one comes with asterisks.

From a high level, the Ultraloq Bolt Mission UWB+NFC, supports UWB for quick unlocking, Wi-Fi, and a one-year battery life.

With Matter, it supports Apple Home. At the same time, it doesn't support NFC on iPhones or Apple Home Key.

Apple also supports UWB locks via Apple Home based on the Aliro spec. That spec isn't finalized yet though, or the chipsets it runs on.

Because of that, the UWB support is also not supported via the Home app. It will work largely the same though, it just makes it confusing for consumers.

We got to see a demo of lock during the show and were impressed by how accurate and fast it truly was. A more high-end version will ship with the Aliro spec is finalized and fully support Matter.

It will ship in Q1 of 2025 and will carry a price tag of $399. A more affordable version without UWB is launching with Matter and a fingerprint reader for $199.

Ecovacs

The new X8 Pro Omni is the latest flagship vacuum from Ecovacs. It carries a number of new benefits over the last generation models.

This updated model includes a new reservoir in the docking station for cleaning solution and an auto-cleaning mop.

The mop can extend out the side to clean against surfaces and its improved AI is better at recognizing objects. Like other Ecovacs products, it will soon support Matter.

It will become available in February for $1,399.

Flic

Button connoisseur Flic is out with its latest physical control -- the Flic Duo. This was teased prior to CES where we got our first look at it.

As the name implies, it's a smart control with two buttons on it. It also has various sensors to unlock even more functionality.

You can single press, double press, or hold each of the two buttons for different commands. Then the button can handle press and wrist flicks left or right and it can be rotated.

For example, you can rotate it to the left to dim lights and turn to the right to brighten them. You can press a button and flick the button to the right to cycle through different bulb colors.

It can be a bit overwhelming with each of these various commands. And it does support Apple Home via Matter and has a three year battery.

It's priced at $49 and will ship sometime in Q2 of 2025.

Aqara

Aqara went all-out with CES 2025, but the staggered rollout makes it hard to decipher what is wholly new for the show. Still, we picked our favorite devices we got to test out.

Starting out is the Panel Hub S1 Plus US. This is a touchscreen controller that can replace a light switch in your home.

You can control any Aqara accessories in your home as well as see live feeds of your Aqara cameras. Plus, since it's Matter-equipped, any Matter accessories will also show up here -- more reason to add more Matter devices.

We also liked the updated Doorbell Camera Hub G410. It's very similar to the existing G4 doorbell but has a wider field of view and can also act as a hub for your home.

Most people will be excited for the FP300 -- its latest presence sensor. Presence sensors are far more accurate than motion sensors but they're more expensive, so there have been very few available in Apple Home thus far.

It uses a combination of mmWave and PIR sensors to accurately detect when a person is in the room versus other motion. Plus, compared to the previous models, it's entirely battery powered.

Over Thread, the battery will last two years and with Zigbee it will last three. Like the FP2, it can be set up to create multiple virtual zones for separated automations.

Finally, we have the long-awaited Camera Hub G5 Pro. It's an indoor/outdoor camera with both Wi-Fi or PoE versions available.

PoE gives you constant power and wired internet for improved reliability which is quite unique in the smart home space right now. This marks the first outdoor camera for Aqara, alongside the also coming G100 camera.

These new devices will all be launching in the first half of 2025 with pricing yet to be announced on most of them.

LifX

Now revived, LifX is back at CES with new wares for 2025. The best of all the new products is the LifX Luna.

This is a multi-color smart light with an oval shape. It can be mounted on the wall or ceiling and works both horizontal and vertical depending on your home.

Instead of being one light that can be different colors, it can show multiple colors at once for a more vibrant and unique appearance.

This will ship in February for $149.

Nanoleaf

Canada-based Nanoleaf has finally entered the floor lamp market with its new Smart Multicolor Floor Lamp. It has a round base and a tall matte black beam where the indirect light emanates from.

They say it supports over 16 million colors, music syncing, and gradient displays that can be configured in the Nanoleaf app. The new lamp supports Matter over Wi-Fi and works with the companies new Sense+ switch.

The Smart Multicolor Floor Lamp is priced at $99.99USD and is available for pre-order now on Nanoleaf's website.

Ecobee

Going with a similar strategy as Honeywell, Ecobee is launching its new low-cost smart thermostat -- the Ecobee Essential. It's much better looking, but has a slightly higher $129.99 price tag.

It looks familiar to any Ecobee fan with a rounded square body and a polished black face. The body is now white plastic, compared to the metal on the higher-end models.

The screen is slightly smaller than the others as well, and while it is compatible with their sensors, none are included in the box. The same as the preexisting mid-tier option, too.

Otherwise, you get many of the benefits of the Ecobee ecosystem including native support for Apple Home.

It will begin shipping in February.

Roborock

There was a wealth of new products on display at the Roborock booth during CES. Including the Saros 10, Saros 10R, and Saros Z70 -- the last of which has a full-on robotic arm.

Starting with the Saros 10 and 10R, launching in January or February for $1,599 each. They're very similar, yet have some notable differences.

The Saros 10 has 22,000Pa of suction, the latest VibraRise 4.0 mopping system, and the tried-and-true LDS navigation that can now retract while the Saros 10R has dual spinning mops, similar suction, and the new Starlight navigation system with AI.

Both bots are comparable to one another and which to buy depends on your home. Best we can decipher, the Saros 10 is better if you have glossy floors while the 10R is better if you have textured floor, such as laminate.

Neither quite compare to the eye-catching Saros Z70. While the other two launch soon, the Z70 will be coming between May and June and features a robotic arm.

The OmniGrip arm has 5 axis and can clean objects as it goes. Currently, the arm is able to detect socks, sandals, tissues, and towels under 300 grams and more will be added via updates.

Once an object is detected, it will put it in its correct place. You can train it to know that socks go near the laundry room while shoes go near the door.

It also features the rest of the latest tech including the dual spinning mops, next-gen Starlight AI navigation, and 22,000Pa of suction.

We got to see this demoed in person and while it was clearly in a controlled setting, we're beyond eager to try this out in our home.

TP-Link

TP-Link has continued to expand its Tapo line with the new Tapo C840. This is a baby cam that works directly with Apple Home.

This unique device has dual cameras, one a tele lens to see the baby up close and one wide lens to see the whole crib or room at the same time.

There aren't many baby cameras for Apple Home, giving it a great market advantage. On top of that, using the Tapo app, you can get AI alerts when the baby's face is obscured or they start crying.

TP-Link has multiple mounting options, including a table top holder or a crib attachment. It will ship "soon" with a price to be announced.