Can we just take a minute of Silence for those who are watching Tech Videos without buying anything

A dedicated home assistant setup is a game changer. Makes all of the standards talk to each other and allows so much customization

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I have a little over half the lights in my house on smart switches and it's really nice to run scenes like "coming home late" and "cooking dinner". But the best bang for your buck is definitely exterior lights and entryway lights. It's really nice to have those go on and off when it gets dark or light and/or when you come home. Also nice to be able to turn at least a few lights on and off when you are out of town so the house doesn't look vacant.

I picked up some WiFi plugs the other day. Being able to pair them up with Google assistant routines has been so handy for saving electric, and was damn effortless to set up

We have the Nest smoke detectors and I’d highly recommend them. When there’s too much smoke from the food I’m making, it’s really easy to dismiss the alert from the app instead of having to touch the physical device to silence it. I also like that they’ll alert you if the battery is getting low, instead of chirping obnoxiously in the wee hours of the morning.

For Hue lights, I strongly recommend the Lutron Aurora Dimmer smart switch. They just screw onto your existing switch, and are super easy to set up and use. Phillips also sells a module that you can wire into your existing switch to make it control your Hue bulbs

The best smart home feature in my house is to connect all halway lights to motion sensors and apply the following rule. "detect motion; after sunset; turn on light for 30 seconds" this has probably been one of the small things that really makes a big difference

Marques is so wholesome. Still keeps it real and isn’t worried about always having an overkill setup. It’s the simple things that make the quality of life improvements.

You forgot one buddy, home assistant, which makes everything compatible with all ecosystems

I have almost the same setup (Nest Thermostat, Nest Doorbell, 2x Nest Mini, Nest Hub, Hue in most rooms and 2x Chromecast) and I just wanted to add that the Google Home app also works great on iOS so no worries there :) The Nest Hub is a great device for the kitchen by the way. Yeah it's a glorified egg timer but it can handle multiple timers with labels so when cooking I can just say 'hey G, start 10 minute timer for X' and it works it's magic. Great for random food/cooking questions too and FINALLY they've added the date on the homescreen which is very handy for checking use bys etc.

Funny, I have the same setup except for lights I use Lutron switches with normal LEDs and wired Nest Camera. Orbi is pretty awesome!

That whole thing of not touching your phone until you're actually out of bed sounds like a great plan. I'll usually check my phone and lay around for longer than I care to

Depending on how much research went into your solar panel purchase could be cool to get a video on that. Different options and why you went with the ones you bought! Pros and cons

Thanks for this! I just upgraded to the eero WiFi 6E Pro and I'm pulling 900Mbps as well, iPhone and iPad. Changes the home game, no buffers anywhere 🙂

I needed this so much. Just moved into a new apartment and trying to make it a smart home from the ground up. Thank you!

Motion detection helps a lot for automization. In the home or outsids. For now we use it outside the most. We have lights in the garden at the front door that light up. Super handy when coming in the dark, while its also helpful for security.

You should invest in the Lutron Caseta light switch system for the whole place. Basically turn all normal lights into smart lights. It's regarded as the most reliable smart switch system that works with Google, Alexa, and HomeKit. Worth the price in my opinion!

I have the battery nest doorbell too. It'll trickle charge off your doorbells previous wiring too. It'll keep you from having to charge it during all except for the coldest months. Once you get below 30° though, it won't charge and you'll have to charge indoors again. And I highly recommend Kasa too. They have power strips and outdoor weatherproof power strips too. I use them for our grow lights, Christmas Tree, and outdoor Christmas Lights and decorations. Have worked flawlessly so far. One recommendation is to use their app for timers and schedules. I used Google Routines at first, but sometimes communication breaks down after updates. Kasa firmware updates usually fix the issue, but the gap sometimes is not tolerable when it comes to grow lights that keep indoor plants alive, lol.

I actually work at a company that installs and programs smart home with the KNX standard. You definitely need to at least take a look at it! We connect everything that attaches to a wire. Such as lights,HVAC,curtains,alarm,circulation, weather station, ipads, Sonos and other audio and home theater setups to name a few

You can also get NFC tags that you can place around your house and you can program them pretty easily (just with shortcuts on iOS) to do various smart home stuff

Home Assistant setup would be awesome content. Somewhat more DIY than others but you can customize it to your hearts content and have an amazing setup where all the ecosystems are integrated. Would recommend out of 10

Lutron casets & Kasa for light switches!!! Game changer! I have them on every light in my house and I never have to worry about leaving a light on accidentally. A smart universal remote is also amazing! Love Logitech even though they discontinued the harmony stuff...

I have a Phillip's Hue in the bedroom. The TV is also Homekit compatible. The Hue is great for being able to dim the light rather than have to deal with a mechanical dimmer switch. I also love just being able to say "Hey Siri, goodnight" and have my tv (along with anything connected to it) and light all turn off together. So far impressed with the lifespan of the Hue bulb too. Haven't had to change it yet.

This is really awesome. MKBHD started his channel from his bedroom in his parents’ house. And now, he is filming from his own basement. Kudos man. Really happy to see your success. I do second the Sonos speakers (Amazing). Orbi mesh network is also great especially when you have a multi leveled house.

When I lived by myself I had a smart home security system set up. I used ring and didn't pay any subscription fees. (Those services I missed out on were mainly stored recordings and they notify police if the alarm goes off). So if you live by yourself I recommend it because it helped me feel less paranoid something would happen, especially at night

I’m all in with Kasa smart switches and plugs. Works great. I’m a caregiver for my wife so even that little bit of time to turn on a light is very helpful. Thanks for the vid. 👍

I've got assistant war in my home with both Google Mini and Alexa. With the Mini in my bedroom, it's less intrusive, but effective. My primary routine are a great way to wake (temporarily increases volume on the Mini, plays specific song and turns on bedside lamps). Not to mention the evening routine which turns on selected lighting around my home.

Are those smart golf clubs that automatically blur when on camera?

Probably the ONLY area in tech I'm on par with Marques. I have most of the same set up as you do in terms of smart home stuff. I tend to keep the smart home stuff around the house light. Regular bulbs/lamps with smart switches smart plugs and door bells all connected through Google Home

Just bought my first house and I've put Kasa Smart light switches everywhere. They're surprisingly cheap, look great and work flawlessly. Easy integration with Google routines as well. Highly recommend!

I love the Lutron Aurora Smart Bulb Dimmer Switch for Philips Hue Smart Bulbs. Solves the problem where the light switch is off making the smart bulb unavailable. Looks and works like a normal dimmer switch. Thanks for the great videos!

For people looking into setting up their smart homes, personally I would suggest going for Google instead of Apple (idk about Amazon but would assume it's similar to Google). Here are some reasons: 1. Last time I checked (1 ~ 2 years ago), there are far less devices compatible to Apple Home than Google smart home. Also, the devices are much more expensive. 2. Although Apple smart home does have some cool features (like you can transfer music to the Apple Home mini from your iPhone by tapping your phone on the hub), they're still relatively new and don't all work quite well (in my experience with the Apple Home mini). 3. I have Spotify but not Apple music. The Apple Home allows you to use the hub as a bluetooth speaker, but when you command it to play music, it only goes through Apple music. For Google Home, it goes through Spotify if you've linked it up, and for Nest Hubs, you can even command it to search videos on UKposts. 4. I prefer a screen on my control hubs so I have a Google Nest Hub Max. Apple Home doesn't have a screen. I personally have iPhone, Apple watch, and a lot of other Apple products, but I still went with Google smart home system and it has been great. Mainly I use them for music playing and controlling smart lights. I often find myself falling asleep without turning off the lights, so I set up a routine for Google to turn off the lights after a certain time. I also often forget to do stuff, and setting a reminder on Google Home really solved the problem. BTW, for iPhone users, you can set up a Shortcut to perform Google commands on your iPhone. I have 2 Shortcut Widgets on my home screen to turn on/off my lights. It still goes through the Google Assistant app, but I find it better than having to open the Google App myself :)

I think hue lights in your bedroom is great. You can have the button switch next to your bed to easily turn on/off your lights. And you can set the button to a schedule, so in the middle of the night you don't have full brightness when you press the button.

In addition to paying money for those smart home tech, assembling them together and making them work properly is the most difficult and complicated part for me, though they are pretty dope. I need a guy preparing all the stuff for me cuz I gonna spend lots of time picking those products as well as having a proper installation.

i Still got a NFC tags set up around my house, car, and work. I love them for the things i dont want controlled in routine

I love how MKB has a routine asking about traffic going to work. He can't be late. He's the boss.

Basement home studio, Nice!

i work from home, none of this stuff really interests me at all. I don't mind switching lights on and off depending on where I am, or making coffee, or picking up my phone to access something. In the future when everything can be automated and done way better than we can do it, I'm sure I'll have some stuff done for me, like cleaning the floor, dishes, etc. Till then...

Smart light switch is a must for Philips hue lights. The hue switch is good, and it lets you turn them on normally and cycle through selected scenes with multiple taps.

Home assistant is the DOPEST tech and kasa light switches are a super great bang for the buck, they've been running flawlessly for a year now. An unconventional trick I did too was using a Bluetooth hygrometer to trigger kasa light switches to turn on the bathroom exhaust fan, that way no one ever has (or forgets) to turn the fan on or off again :) Doubles down as a humidity controller for the home for humid seasons too.

There are various brands of fingerbots that you can use to integrate older devices that still have buttons (like coffee makers). Also, programmable infrared pods that work with your smart home assistant to control anything that’s normally controlled via handheld remote.

Kasa makes smart dimmers/switches. They set up easily and work very well with assistant

i have a google routine set up for my alarm in the morning. It will tell me weather, news, and calendar events for the day as soon as i dismiss my alarm. that way im not having to look any of that up while im getting ready in the morning. Eventually I will add in lights and certain appliances to it as well.

Highly recommend getting the Nest Secure paired with Nest Detects on windows and doors if you’re concerned about security. The Secure was discontinued but it still works great if you can find one! Unlocking with the Nest x Yale locks disables the security alarm as well.

I’m liking the home stuff, solar panel updates would be great 👍🏼

I highly recommend Flic buttons for smart light control. I put it right above or to the side of my switches and it works with Hue lights and is/will be Matter compatible. They are fantastic and relatively inexpensive. They even have a new one coming out with dimmer controls. Battery lasts a year or more with a 2032 watch battery. They are also easy to hide in places like under a desk.

For a smart light switches, I would highly recommend Lutron Caseta. They are the best "smart" things I've installed in my house! Plus you can get a remote that can then be programmed to interact with multiple devices. You didn't show us the smart blinds, but mentioned them at the end. Which ones did you end up going with?

I'm personally a fan of the Home Assistant route, but I'm glad you're satisfied. I would put everything I can on a Wi-Fi plug so only the power, and not the device, are communicating with the internet/intranet.

I think Ubiquiti would be a good option to switch to in the future. You don't have to pay someone else to monitor your own security system. I hear a lot of great things about UniFi Protect.

I think home assistant is also up there if not above with the 3 home environment you mentioned and with the recent HA UI change and matter this is arguably going to be way batter then other options.

I just got a Nest thermostat & really like so far. I like that it senses when you're nearby & can display info like the weather outside.

Broadlink's RM lineup is a very useful smart device. It's basically a universal IR and Radio remote that you can configure to function anything from your tv or record player to your garage door, your blinds or your awnings. Some of them also double as a temperature and humidity sensors, so can be useful to set routines

It's wicked to see some of the tech you live with on a day-to-day basis! Of all the smart tech I live with I think my favourite has to be the Fyrtur blinds from IKEA - super affordable & battery powered so no need to hire an electrician either. Would definitely love to see the solar panel setup tour too!

Highly recommend Lutron for the smart switches. Replaced every switch on every level of my house and absolutely no regrets. Gets easier after the first 2-3

Great video! Thanks for getting more personal with us and allow us in one of rooms. This really helped out of what I need to put in my home.

Awesome video as always Marques. I know its early still but I’d love to see a mini-video or podcast segment on Matter implementation into a setup like this when it launches. Keep up the awesome work!

I love how nowadays you are realising videos so fast great thanks to techtober obviously ✌️ Absolutely love to watch more and more tech

You should look in to the company PLEJD. In Sweden, Norway Finland it’s becoming almost standard in new homes. It’s basically a smart switch/dimmer for all your lights and sockets. No need for Filips hue. Works great with all light types.

Nice one MKBHD! I have a similar setup with Google Assistant. If you don't even want to touch lights, speaker volumes, alarm system etc., I suggest to play around with a Raspberry Pi and Home Assistant which is super easy to set up, configure and automate. It is compatible with practically everything!!

I added Shelly 1 behind the existing light switches to make them smart. Works awesome with Google home 👍

I love how you're literally one of the only UKpostsrs who protects their home and not posting everything online.

I own the hue paddle, the hue button, and the lutron dial smart switches. The lutron dial is by far my favorite; however, the branded switches are incredible because you can setup time of day profiles. The switch in my bedroom is super dim in the morning, so I don't wake my wife. It's a nice little touch.

Love the Kasa outlets. So effortless. For home media, the Logitech Harmony is a great addition of you can find it.

Co-sign on the Sonos speaker set, they sound so good it's crazy. Definitely going to be a guilty pleasure purchase for me at some point

Best smart lock i have used is the ultraloq smart lock, after trying brand names how unresponsive and eating up batteries, I settled on this smart lock. Not only does the fingerprint sensor works as fast as my phone fingerprint sensor but I can go without replacing batteries for about 7 months in a front door that's gets unlocked multiple times a day. Totally recommend

Definitely recommend setting up Home Assistant! It’s a game changer! Me and my roommates moved into a rental and we’ve teched the place out with Home Assistant being the brains. It’s super nice because it connects our lights from all kinds of brands, smart plugs, cameras, TV, google speakers, sensors (motion, temp, brightness) etc. The TV stuff is cool because we have a Harmony Hub (they don’t make them anymore 😕) but it can turn on the TV, game consoles, sound system, etc and switch inputs. We also have scenes set up for when you watch TV. We get alerts from our cameras and motion sensors when we’re away and we can see who is home. It’s also nice because the ecosystem doesn’t matter, most of us have apple phones but the one guy doesn’t, I’m the only one with an Apple TV and HomePod but they still integrate in and of course our google nest speakers integrate into the system so we can control the house and cast music throughout the house. We also have mixed brands of smart tech as well which is nice because we could use what we had and what is cheapest. Plus we only need one app to manage it once it is paired. We have a ton of automations set up, and it’s so cool to be able to walk into a room have it turn on and then know when to turn off. Or have the lights blink red when someone is at the door. Also, personally I do not like the google home app. You can’t easily control single lights in a room. It’s layout is poor and not customizable compared to Apple’s home app. The routines are okay but I hate that you can’t have a separate goodnight and bedtime routine as google won’t let you change the default words. They also are no where as powerful as apple’s automations/Siri shortcuts. I can have Siri get data from websites extremely easily (I used to use it to check if school was open). I also love the new design of the home app, it’s so clean!

These kinds of setup are the best, no nonsense fancy items but rather making all available things "smart" and interconnected 🧠💡

I'm actually starting on the basement build-out project which has started me down the smart home path. I have even less smart products than you but look to expand on those in the coming months. the one thing that I'm really interested in are smart down lights, especially in the studio and office. my design is pretty heavy on lighting so I want to have more control over them. I would love to replace my existing thermostats with Nest but, since I work from home, I don't adjust my temp very often so I wonder how much I'd actually use them.

I’ve always wondered what you have used for your home. Thanks for posting this!

My biggest gripe with the nest x Yale lock is that you can't automate unlock procedures "for security reasons". August smart lock will do it, but I prefer to have everything in the nest app so I'm kinda tied to it. I just think it'd be so awesome for the smart lock to unlock when: A) the doorbell cam detects a familiar face B) my car pulls in driveway, or when my phone unpairs with my car Bluetooth

I have a similar setup. Maybe you can look into the motion sensor of your home max, so it can detect when you walk into the room and turn on the light ! They just added that feature with your home and away routine

Can strongly recommend motion sensors in hallways or bathrooms. Using Hue ones, and they work great. Esp since you can set the light brightness to times of day, so during the day the light is brighter, and from 9 it gets quite low, to make winding down and going to bed easier :)

I would love to see a video about your solar and battery setup. Looking at switching to a smart electric panel, battery backup/car charging port and solar setup and would definitely be interested in what route you went. Great video!

When a sponsoring brand requires you to blur out any other unrelated brand/logo, it just draws my attention to what’s been blurred out and their insecurities. In any case, looks like you also play with a Mavrik fairway 😏

I'd be more than happy to see a solar panel video like you mentioned at 1:14 and maybe this could lead into a video about sustainable technologies/gadgets that could help people save on electric costs

Glad that this wasn't overboard. Yes, a smart home is something many people want. But at the same time people seem to get thousands of dollars with of equipment so they can... turn on the lights when they enter the room and then nothing else. As I've heard more and more, just get smart switches instead of smart lights. Especially with a dimmer function and whatnot, it becomes much more usable.

I use Home Assistant primarily with a Zigbee network, but also use Google/Nest/Yale devices mixed in too. Works great and I have a gazillion automations running everything from my 3D printers to setting up the house and TV for my dog when everyone leaves. Nice thing about Home Assistant and Zigbee is that it allows things to run locally so you aren't hogging up the wifi or sending commands over the internet. My house will continue to run just fine without internet other than a few devices. I even have NFC tags in vehicles, on my trash cans, and other places around the house that can be quickly scanned with my phone and it kicks off various automations.

I highly recommend smart lights and motion sensors as combo. Smart lights alone I find are a bit of a novelty. once you go down the motion sensor route you will never go back. Especially with scheduling based around time or light sensors.

Wow, I totally did expect you to have a lot more smart stuff and for your stuff to be all locally controlled instead of cloud-based, maybe through Home assistant/Hubitat. Go figure haha The basement studio is looking really nice

I have a smart air purifier and a smart space heater, you can climate control rooms individually with more expensive systems, but on a budget the smart heater and purifier are great. Also going to get a smart kettle, so I can select the exact right temperature to steep tea, because otherwise it's difficult to not burn or under-heat the tea.

Sonos Beam + Sub = best hometheatre I've had without much wiring. I have a small place so it is perfect for the space.

I'm setting up my basement home office and this is a great video to get ideas. For starters, I will add smart lights w/ dimmers, Alexa devices and smart desk. What I haven't integrated yet is the home thermostat.

The perfect examples of tech not having to be extravagant. It really just is the simple things sometimes.

Hue Light switches are great. Can program them with multiple commands. 1 tap 2nd tap, 3rd tap, 4th tap. Long press, etc. Each one programmable. Touchscreens are nice, but there’s something about the good old standard light switch, now enhanced with smart features. I Long-press the off button to turn off all the lights in my house as I jump into bed. Hue sensors are great for some rooms. Auto turn on and off. Great add on that really enhance the hue experience. Not all smart home devices have to be controlled only from a home or a tablet.

I work in home automation and control4 and savant are pretty neat systems. You need some pieces of hardware but I feel as though home automation is all about how convenient you want things and what you want simplified

I've liked the C by GE light switches. Having a physical switch that can also be controlled is ideal. We have the bulbs too, and they're nice but the switch let's you have the best of both worlds

My dad’s contemplating on making his home solar powered so it would be dope if you could share some of your experiences with us :D

I have Vivint & it is honestly the best home automation system I have ever used.

Something that you could try is the Google nest minis they are great

Interesting stuff. Will mention, we used a previous version of Netgear's Orbi for a small office with thick walls. It did great but shortly after the two year mark, the satellite died and we couldn't get a replacement of the same generation. Eventually, the original main unit got demoted to serving wifi around the archive hall. Good performance, good software with decent frequency updates but the reliability seems to need some work in our case. Before dying I should mention it would connect devices to it, assign IPs but not pass internet. So watch for that in case things start to misbehave. It MAY be a sign of the device on its way out.

Interesting video however there are two other options that you missed. Wyze, and Home Assistant. Both really interesting. Home Assistant being a wider platform than one manufacturer. Highly recommend having a look at both!

@MKBHD Just a recommendation, if you’re willing to configure (or pay someone to configure) the Home Assistant project within your house, you can merge different ecosystems under one central portal, it’s rock solid

I picked Wyze and I'm very happy with it. Appreciate you sharing yours.

Great video! Highly recommend Lutron Caseta for smart switches. Used them for years and rock solid. Their proprietary protocol on the hub is the key. Very fast and very stable. Works well with Sonos too.

You just validated all the smart home choices I made. I literally have exactly all the same smart home equipment in my home. Thank you.

Damn I love watching a video and seeing how Marques uses all the tech that I already have. Always reassuring when your own research is matched by a tech guru.

I had Netgear for years, upgraded to Ubiquity all the way love it

This was super cool to see what tech you’re actually using at home, thanks for sharing!

You feel good when you see Marques call out your exact smart home hardware for what he's doing with his own.