Talking Carts 14: Smart-Home Smart Buys

In the early 1960s, “The Jetsons” presented an animated vision of a future complete with robot vacuums, video calls, and flat-screen TVs. 

Flying cars aside, our present reality may be even more advanced than their fiction. Thousands of smart-home innovations now offer to do everything from watering your plants to tracking the inventory of your fridge. 

But are we genuinely benefiting from this technology or just inviting unnecessary complications into our lives? 

In this episode of the Talking Carts podcast, hosts Tanya Christian and Brian Vines are joined by CR senior home and appliances writer Daniel Wroclawski, who doesn’t just report on smart technology—he actually lives with more than 70 of these devices in his home. We address whether essential household appliances really need to be smart, discuss what happens when smart-home technology breaks down, and learn how to keep smart-home devices safe from hackers.

We also answer the most Googled questions about smart-home technology, including how to start building a smart home, which smart-home ecosystem (Amazon, Apple, or Google) is best for those just dipping their toes in these waters, and what the top-rated smart plugs and lighting devices are. 

Check out this smart talk on smart homes before adding another gadget to your cart.