Skip to main content
  1. Home
  2. Deals

Digital Trends may earn a commission when you buy through links on our site. Why trust us?

Increase your productivity with these 5 gadgets

By

This year’s unexpected transition for many of us to working from home and remote schooling our kids places greater focus than before on home productivity, communications, and security. As we approach the holiday season and continue to work, learn, and play from home, this is an ideal time to upgrade digital technology. The following five digital devices, available at Best Buy, can boost home productivity and bolster your digital connectivity, convenience, and communications capabilities. Now that Black Friday is around the corner, you can even find them at lower prices than you can even imagine.

Netgear Orbi Mesh Wi-Fi System, 2-pack — $330

Image used with permission by copyright holder

When one or both parents work from home and the kids are remote learning, speedy and secure internet connections are more important than ever. With Netgear’s Orbi Mesh Wi-Fi System, everyone can keep working smoothly without bandwidth conflicts or connection hiccups. Two-way video calls involve enormous amounts of data in and out of your home network. Simultaneous video calls — when your kids are online with their teachers and classmates and you’re on a work-related video conference — can easily push beyond normal network limits. Streaming 4K videos or playing resource-demanding content also stretches network capabilities. Netgear’s Orbi Mesh system automatically manages home network bandwidth so that you won’t get knocked off video calls and movies, and games play without interruptions.

This two-pack bundle delivers up to 3Gbps Wi-Fi, suitable for multiple simultaneous 4K streaming applications in a home up to 5,000 square feet. Integrated Smart Parental Controls allow families to manage individual content and online time with any Wi-Fi-connected device.

Related

TP-Link Kasa Smart Wi-Fi Plug

— $15, was $18

TP-Link Kasa Smart Wi-Fi Plug
Image used with permission by copyright holder

The TP-Link Kasa Smart Wi-Fi Plug lets you turn on or off electronics plugged into the device with a downloaded Kasa mobile app on your smartphone or tablet instead of pushing physical switches or buttons. In addition to the undeniable convenience of switchless operation, you can also check the status of devices plugged into the TP-Link Smart Plugs. Best of all, you can use the Kasa app to schedule on/off times for lights plugged into TP-Link Smart Plugs. For example, when you’re traveling or on vacation, you can configure TP-Link Smart Plugs to turn on plugged-in lights following your typical daily schedule to give the impression the house is occupied.

In addition to mobile app control, you can use the Kasa app to connect TP-Link Kasa Smart Wi-Fi Plugs with Amazon Alexa or Google Assistant smart devices to add voice command capabilities to control individual plugs or groups of plugs. For example, if you have elaborate holiday lighting this season, you can save the hassle of switching on lights by controlling groups of plugs by asking, “Alexa, turn off holiday lights.” The TP-Link Kasa Smart Wi-Fi Plug’s small overall size won’t block adjacent outlets, and every time you connect another home device to a TP-Link Smart Plug, it frees you from the need to constantly turn devices on and off.

Blink Mini — $25, was $35

TP-Link Kasa Smart Wi-Fi Plug
Image used with permission by copyright holder

The Blink Mini Indoor 1080p Wi-Fi Security Camera has the power you need at a price that lets you put one in every space you want to protect in your home. Whether you’re on babysitting duty or overseeing your kids’ homework, you can use the Blink Mini to keep an eye on them with live view video and answer questions or give directions with integrated two-way audio capability. You can also configure a Blink Mini to start recording and send an alert to your smartphone when the built-in motion detector senses movement. You can control the Blink Mini with the Blink app or pair it with an Amazon Alexa device for voice access and control.

Amazon Echo Show 8 — $65, was $130

Image used with permission by copyright holder

The powerful and feature-packed Amazon Echo Show 8 smart display gives you many options for communication, education, entertainment, and even home security. Use the Announcements feature to call throughout the house to gather your family for dinner and make hands-free video calls with Alexa. You can check the news and weather, display your own digital photos, set alarms and timers, or see live video or stored video clips recorded by your home security cameras such as the Blink Mini.

The timer and alarm functions can be super productivity boosters. Alexa timers come in handy while you’re cooking, but you can also use timers for video game playing time allotments, chores, nap or meditation times, or even time-outs. You can use Alexa alarms to remind kids of scheduled school live-stream sessions and help parents be ready for video conferences or team calls. The Echo Show 8’s display is a convenient size to follow recipes while cooking and listening to music at the same time.

August & Yale Smart Locks

Image used with permission by copyright holder

In addition to their convenience and security aspects, adding smart locks to your home can boost everyone’s productivity by keeping track of who’s home and who left. When kids have scheduled remote-learning classes, study meetings or parents who are working outside the home want to be sure a tutor, nanny, babysitter, or some other family member has arrived, the ability to check a smart lock access log can be a real time-saver and anxiety-reducer. August and Yale are the two top smart lock brands.

The 4th-generation August Smart Lock lets you lock and unlock your door remotely, sends a real-time alert to your smartphone if a door isn’t closed, and lets you assign unique digital keys to family members and other people authorized to enter your home.  You can use the August mobile app to check the record of the comings and goings of people with assigned keys. You can also pair the August Lock with the August Smart Keypad so individuals with assigned codes can unlock the door without a mobile device. The Yale Assure Smart Lock can also send alerts to let you know who arrives or leaves and maintains an access log, combining a smart deadbolt lock and touchscreen keypad in a single unit. You can use both the August Smart Lock and Yale Assure Smart Lock with Amazon Alexa or Google Assistant voice commands if you connect the locks with a compatible Alexa or Google Assistant device.

August Smart Lock and Keypad — $310

Yale Assure Smart Lock Smart Lock — $280

Editors' Recommendations

Topics
Bruce Brown
Bruce Brown
Contributing Editor
Digital Trends Contributing Editor Bruce Brown is a member of the Smart Homes and Commerce teams. Bruce uses smart devices…
Best PS5 SSD deals: Add more storage to your PS5 from $120
A 2TB WD Black

When the PlayStation 5 was originally released, it had the option to expand its internal memory, which was quite small at the time at a little under 900GBs. Of course, the issue is that there weren't any SSDs that worked on the new standard the PS5 was using, so even if you wanted to upgrade, you couldn't. Luckily, since then, there have been a lot of great SSDs for the PS5 that have been released, and upgrading its storage is pretty easy and can be done by pretty much anybody, provided they have a screwdriver. So, whether you picked up a PS5 from one of the PS5 deals or already have a PS5 and want to upgrade, be sure to check out the SSDs that will work great for your PS5 below.
Our favorite PS5 SSD deal

It wasn't that long ago that you'd have to pay well over $100 to get an SSD for your PS5, and often, it'd be slower than the pricier alternatives. These days, you can buy a Samsung 980 Pro 1TB SSD with heatsink for just $120 from Best Buy, thereby saving $45 off the regular price of $165. The SSD offers speedy performance while also having its own nickel-coated high-end controller to help deliver effective thermal control. It means it won't overheat and performance won't be compromised. Being a PCIe Gen 4 SSD, you get twice the data transfer speed of PCIe Gen 3 which is useful. Offering maximum read speeds of 7,000 megabytes per second, it's a good upgrade to go alongside your existing hard drive with 1TB offering plenty of extra space at a shrewd price.

Read more
3 foldable phone deals you should seriously consider today
The Google Pixel Fold with the screen open.

For those who are thinking about getting a foldable phone, we've rounded up three foldable phone deals for you to consider as your next purchase. Motorola is currently selling the Motorola Razr at $200 off, which brings its price down to $500 from $700, and the Motorola Razr Plus at $300 off, which lowers its price to $700 from $1,000. Meanwhile, the Google Pixel Fold is available from Best Buy with a $500 discount that slashes its price to $1,299 from $1,799. You can be sure that you won't regret purchasing any of these devices because they're all included in our roundup of the best folding phones, but you need to hurry because the offers may expire at any moment.
Motorola Razr -- $500, was $700

The Motorola Razr features a 1.5-inch external OLED display and a 6.9-inch Full HD+ internal pOLED display, with decent performance provided by its Qualcomm Snapdragon 7 Gen 1 processor and 8GB of RAM. It's got a 64MP main camera and a 13MP wide-angle camera at the back, plus a 32MP selfie camera inside. The folding phone features a metal chassis that's surrounded by soft but durable leather, and it folds without a gap.

Read more
Best Buy just knocked $300 off this 85-inch Sony 4K TV
Sony - 65 Class X80J Series LED 4K UHD Smart Google TV

You should be ready to spend some serious cash if you're on the hunt for 85-inch TV deals, but there are some relatively affordable options like the 85-inch Sony X80K 4K TV from Best Buy. From its original price of $1,600, a $300 discount brings it down to $1,300, which is within reach for more families who are planning to upgrade their home theater setup with a massive screen. You're going to have to hurry with your purchase if you're interested though, as the bargain may disappear at any moment.

Why you should buy the 85-inch Sony X80K 4K TV
Sony is a mainstay in our list of the best TV brands, and that's partly because of its strong offerings across all budget ranges. The 85-inch Sony X80K 4K TV is an excellent example, as it's a feature-packed TV for its price, considering its size. Its 4K HDR Processor X1 creates smooth and clear picture with 4K Ultra HD resolution, Triluminos Pro enables billions of accurate colors that will make onscreen images very lifelike, and Motionflow XR makes sure that there's no blur during action-packed sequences.

Read more