Skip to main content

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

Smart home tech for your office

If you’re like most of us, you’ve increasingly spent time in your home office over the last few years and could benefit from adding more smart home tech to your space. Smart tech makes life a little easier and allows you to remove some steps and inconveniences from your routine. Not only that, but being able to issue voice commands or have lights and fans set up to activate when needed can improve your comfort and mood and even put a little change back in your wallet.

Govee Hexa Glide Light Panels installed on wall behind desk.

Add ambient lighting

Just because the downtown office has harsh fluorescents and bright white lighting doesn’t mean your awesome home office needs to be the same. It’s time to make your lighting funkier and less eye-strain-inducing.

Recommended Videos

Consider Govee’s new 3D Hexa light panels. These fantastic 3D light panels stick to your wall and change color, morph into different patterns, and mimic a really cool art installation. The panels come in packs of seven or 10, and each individual light can display up to six colors at once. You can set patterns and colors from the app and even set your lights to change with your music. Not only do the lights give off great ambient light, but you could also set them up in the background of your Zoom call to create a talking point. Another option is smart wall lighting from Nanoleaf.

Create flattering Zoom calls

If your business depends on live streaming, or if you spend a lot of time on Zoom or Teams calls, you may want to invest in a ring light. Kensington’s BiColor Ring Light will bring much clarity and detail to your calls. You can attach it to the Kensington Boom Arm to make the whole thing easy to pull in and move out of the way when you’re done.

An Echo Show 15 device sits on a desk with the streaming options showing.
Image used with permission by copyright holder

Get an assistant … a digital assistant

Once you have your smart home components in place, why not make it easy to activate all of them with a voice assistant? Amazon’s Echo Show 10 is a quality voice assistant, and as a bonus, it also has a video screen for streaming how-to videos and even some video calls, with a camera that will follow you as you move around your desk space. If you pick up a Ring Video Doorbell, you can see who’s at the door on the Echo Show 10 screen and even have a conversation with the delivery driver without having to leave your desk.

Connected plugs and switches can make old gear smart

Maybe you’re not ready to invest in a whole bunch of smart home gear for your office yet. We get it — that can get expensive fast. An easy way to add smart control in the office is to invest in a few inexpensive smart plugs or switches. Amazon’s Smart Plug is one of the least expensive options around, and you can plug virtually anything into it, meaning you get voice control over even “dumb” gadgets, like fans, lamps, or charging docks.

Two colors of the Ember mug against a background.

A home office needs coffee

Nobody gets work done without coffee! While you could walk back and forth to the kitchen for a warm-up, why not hunker down and stay productive by pouring that java into a warming mug? Ember makes the Ember Mug2, with a smart automatic warming feature that can keep your brew from getting too cool. Ember’s tech allows you to set the precise temperature of your hot drink from tea to coffee to hot chocolate.

Charging accessories

Since you’re sitting at your desk all day, there’s no better time to ensure your smartphone, tablet, and other gadgets are fully charged. One of the best ways to do this is with a wireless Qi charging pad. These pads make it easy to simply lay your smartphone face up on the pad so you can see the screen while delivering a full charge through the back of the device. We’re loving Mophe’s suede-look Qi charging pad both for its style and speed, but you can also check out some of the best wireless charging pads in this article.

Make your mouse work for you

If you want to take smart charging a step further, why not get yourself a wireless mouse that also charges itself while in use on its own mouse pad? Though it’s billed as a wireless gaming mouse, Logitech’s G Powerplay Wireless Charging System works just as conveniently for a home office. The mousepad delivers juice to the wireless mouse so it’s always ready to roll.

Executive washroom privileges

One of the perks of working at home is having your own bathroom all to yourself. Why not go full executive suite and trick out your bathroom to match your fantastic workspace? Sure a candle, room spray, and soft bath mat are all nice, but some tech could really make it a relaxing place to take a break.

A bidet dial beside a toilet and decorative plant.
Image used with permission by copyright holder

You can start by adding a motion detector and smart light bulbs to the mix. We are big fans of the Philips Hue lighting ecosystem here, and you can get a starter pack of Philips Hue bulbs for a pretty reasonable price and install one or two in the bathroom. Add one of the motion sensors somewhere in the bathroom, and the lights will come on when you walk in the door and turn off after you’ve left. Bonus: It’s a great energy saver too!

A toilet seat bidet like the one from Tushy can be swapped in for any standard toilet seat and then connected to your water line relatively easily, allowing you to, ahem, stay fresh all day without using tons of paper products.

The bathroom may be the final frontier for smart home tech, but we think it’s ready for its time in the spotlight.

Topics
Erin Lawrence
Erin has over 20 years of experience as a journalist in the media and news industries, with time both on camera and behind…
Ring Outdoor Cam Plus vs. Spotlight Cam Plus: which is better for your home?
The Ring Outdoor Cam Plus on a wall

While Ring is widely known for its lineup of video doorbells, the brand is also responsible for an excellent catalog of security cameras and spotlights. Two of its most popular options are the Spotlight Cam Plus and the new Outdoor Cam Plus. Both feature premium designs, impressive motion detection skills, and highly adjustable settings -- making them ideal for most properties.

But is the Outdoor Cam Plus or Spotlight Cam Plus better for your home? From pricing and resolution to monthly fees and installation, here's a closer look at how these two compare.
Pricing and monthly fees

Read more
Ecovacs reveals robot vacuum with new technology ideal for carpeted homes
The Ecovacs Deebot X8 Pro Omni in a home.

Ecovacs just launched the Deebot X8 Pro Omni in February, which we found to be an excellent choice for hard floors -- thanks to its innovative roller mop that tackles all sorts of spills with ease. For March, it looks like the focus is on carpets, with the newly launched Ecovacs Deebot T50 Max Pro Omni incorporating new technology designed to better extract debris from plush floors.

The Ecovacs T50 Max Pro Omni is the first Ecovacs product to use BLAST Technology. An acronym for Boosted Large-Airflow Suction Technology, the new system uses both suction and optimized airflow to better pull debris, dust, and pet hair from deep within carpet fibers. Using a high-toque 100W motor, Ecovacs says the robot can achieve a 50% higher discharge current while generating 50% less heat than traditional robot vacuums. In other words, it's built to have a longer lifespan while also providing you with a superior carpet cleaning experience.

Read more
Philips Hue and SmartThings teamed up to make your smart home better
Philips Hue and Spotify

SmartThings, Samsung's connected smart home platform, has announced a stronger partnership with Philips Hue and support for an expanded number of products. Hue worked with SmartThings to certify an additional 155 products as Works With SmartThings, or WWST.

So what does this mean in everyday terms? Basically, it's become easier for companies like Philips Hue to link products with SmartThings. The Certification by Similarity program, as it's called, allows companies to "certify" entire product portfolios with ease.

Read more