One of my great joys in life these days is building my smart home, and if you think that sounds boring, I’m afraid you might be in the wrong place. I love adding new gadgets to my setup, and whilst it usually happens slowly throughout the year, Black Friday is the perfect time to stock up.
Now that the deals have properly kicked in, there are some brilliant discounts on smart home tech. You can check out our smart home live hub for the full list, but since I’ve been doom-scrolling deals for days, I thought I’d round up a few favourites I wish I’d spotted sooner.
1. Amazon Echo Show 8 (2025)
When I first started building my smart home, I would’ve loved the newest Echo Show 8 to be its central hub. That wasn't possible because it only launched two months ago, but if I were starting from scratch today, this would be my first buy.
The redesigned 8.7" display gives you 15% more screen space than the 2023 model, and there's Omnisense tech for better personalisation. The audio also got a big upgrade, with up to 2x more bass compared with the original.
Its Black Friday discount isn’t huge (just £20 right now), but I’m keeping a very close eye on it in case it drops further.
2. Philips Hue Smart Plug (2-pack)
My smart home is pretty much 80% Philips Hue, especially when it comes to the best smart lights. However, when it comes to smart plugs, I somehow wandered over to Meross and Eve. If I’d seen this deal though, I’d have added them to my Philips Hue portfolio.
At Argos, the 2-pack is just under £36, which works out to less than £18 per plug. For Philips Hue, that’s basically unheard of, so I'd really recommend snapping it up as soon as possible.
3. Reolink Video Doorbell (Battery)
Reolink is a newer smart home brand for me, but I’ve been really impressed ever since finding it. I reviewed the Reolink Video Doorbell earlier this year and ended up keeping it – which is a lot rarer than you'd think.
If I’d known in previous years that it would drop by £30 for Black Friday, I would’ve jumped on it sooner. It has brilliant battery life, excellent video quality and colour night vision, and pretty much ticks every box I have for a video doorbell.
4. Nanoleaf Desk Dock (2-pack)
One of my favourite smart home finds this year is the Nanoleaf Pegboard Desk Dock. It’s part smart lighting, part desk organiser, which if you know anything about me, is completely up my street.
The only downside was the price…but now that's a totally different story.
Right now, both the single pack and the 2-pack are discounted in Nanoleaf's Black Friday sale, but the 2-pack is much better value. I also think they look so much nicer side-by-side, and my whole desk setup feels calmer since adding them.
5. Alexa Smart Kettle
Every Black Friday, I consider buying the Alexa Smart Kettle. I love the idea of adding smart kitchen appliances to my ecosystem, and whilst it would be extremely hard for me to betray my beloved Smeg KLF03, I’m not ruling anything out.
You can switch it on from anywhere using Alexa, Google Assistant, Siri or the Smart Life app, and you can even control it with your voice. You know what… I’m still very tempted. This might be the year.
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