Going on vacation? These 7 smart home gadgets can watch your home for you.

Tom's Guide

25-05-2025

You've planned for weeks, left tabs open on airline websites to score the best tickets, bought a new suitcase, booked the time off of work way in advance, got your passport renewed, got to your flight on time, checked in and now, at the hotel pool, drink in hand you're wondering: Did I turn off the coffee pot? And did I actually remember to shut that upstairs bathroom window? Who left last, and did they shut the gate all the way?
The very last thing you want to do on your vacation is spend it worrying about what is happening back home. That's where the world of connected smart home devices are here to help you relax. From a wide variety of the best indoor security cameras to the best water leak detectors, there are a plethora of devices that can keep tabs on your home from top to bottom, while you sail, snorkle, hike or lounge. Here are some of our favorites:
Smart home security cameras placed indoors can keep a watch on the interior of your home and alert your smartphone through an app if they detect movement. Some of them can even use AI to let you know if they detect a human, or a pet, in a certain area and track that individual as they move across a room.
Outdoor cameras can do the same, but are weather-proof and some can add a spotlight for added security – or an alarm.
The Google Nest Cam is actually a great indoor wired smart security camera for a lot of reasons: Easy set up, impressive audio quality, 1080p video with good results both day and night, and three hours of on-board video storage. It has a wide field of view, but no on-board lighting.
During testing, we found the advanced motion processing and on-device facial recognition to be highly useful features especially since they'll alert you through the app so you know what's happening at all times.
You can get many more features if you add-on the $6/month subscription (cloud based storage, glass breaking detection, C02 detection and using Google Assistant devices to call 911). However, even without these we still found the Nest to be a great value for all the standard features alone.
Video doorbells are great because they contain a camera and a microphone, which enables you to "answer" your door virtually. You can see who is at your door, say hello, record the comings and goings of deliveries and get notifications sent right to your phone when the bell is rung. That means you won't miss any arrivals when you're busy in the basement – and you can appear to be at home, and responding to your doorbell, even when you're miles away.
Ring's Battery Doorbell is our choice for best video doorbell because it's easy to install, has a removable battery, 1536p HD video, a head to toe view of your front door area, and package detection. It also has motion detection and alerts, two-way talk and color night vision. You can answer your door through the app, or record standard greetings so that you can always see and record who comes to your doorstep.
The Ring Battery Doorbell can be paired with Alexa, and if you subscribe to the Ring service you have access to recorded videos for 180 days. There are customizable motion and privacy zones, and it will pair easily with other Ring products if you're already tied into that ecosystem.
Some smart locks can fit right over your deadbolt, while others contain a keypad or will even recognize the approach of your smartphone and automatically unlock. But all of them have security features that help protect your phone because they enable keyless entry using a variety of alternate methods like a passcode which means if you leave town, you can give a temporary code to your dog walker, a separate code to your neighbor to water the plants and a completely different code to your sister-in-law for emergencies.
You can set the codes to work at specific times, and you get alerts on when they're used or if your door isn't shut all the way when someone leaves. You'll never again have to ask yourself "Did I leave the door unlocked when I left the house this morning?"
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The August Home smart lock fits right over your existing deadbolt which makes it truly simple to install. It will work alongside smart home assistants like Alexa, Google Home and Apple HomeKit to notify you if your door is left ajar, when it is opened and when it has been locked.
You can use the app to create guest "keys" to allow folks like pet sitters, house sitters or visitors to stop by and check in, and revoke them when they're done. It also has a keypad accessory if you prefer, which is a nice option. August is also compatible with a number of smart home systems.
If you live in low lying areas, you know the hassle of having to check for leaks in the basement when it rains. And unexpected flood damage — say, from a burst pipe or water heater — is a real pain to clean up, especially if your stuff has been sitting in a soggy mess for the entire time that you've been away.
A water leak detector is designed to stay in a flood or leak prone place and give an alarm or send an alert if it senses excess moisture. Smart leak detectors can send alerts to a smart home assistant, like Alexa, or to your phone as well so you have time to either head home or call someone to come check on your home. It's not as smart as say, a door that can unlock itself, but it's a lot better than coming home and finding being surprised by water damage.
While the Flo by Moen is pricier than some other smart water leak detectors, there are advantages with going with this system: it can send alerts when it detects water, excess humidity or extreme temperatures; the entire length of the sensor is active; this bundle comes with three sensors whose raindrop shape is cute but also helps it fit into odd places – and if you pair the Flo with Moen's shutoff valve it can turn off the water in your home if it detects a leak. It can also work with Alexa, and analyze the flow of water in your home to check for any potential leaks.
If you're away from home for a few days and someone has left a window open, or worse, someone somehow opens a window, you're going to want to know about it, right? Smart window sensors are small, attach with adhesive and are generally easy enough to set up in minutes. Just stick them on the windows you want make sure they're making contact and connect them with an app. If a window is opened and the contact is broken, the app will alert you that the window has been opened (or closed).
It's an almost effortless way to make sure that you know exactly what's happening with the entrances to your home, since these sensors are easy enough to attach to doorways as well.
The reason we liked Arlo's Home Security System when we tested it, is because the Arlo sensors can be repurposed for anything. So buy several for your first floor windows to get notified if they're opened when you go out of town, and if you want to, you can re-task them on your return as door sensors, water leak detectors, temperature monitors or light sensors. In total, the Arlo sensors can monitor for eight different things, and you can add on more if you like.
Arlo's Home Security System was easy to set up, intuitive to use with the app, and works alongside Arlo's other products like home security cameras. It does also work with Google Assistant and Alexa. We particularly liked how easy it was to set up routines and automations with the sensors.
While there are still mechanical timers for lights, they're pretty old school compared to the capabilities of the smart lights available today – which can be scheduled to go off at certain times, randomly set on a 'vacation' mode to appear as though people are moving through a home, or adjusted through an app to be brighter, warmer or dimmer depending on the users preference.
Smart lights are great because you can operate them from miles away, and most of them work alongside smart home assistants as well so they can be voice controlled if you're home.
Wyze's Bulb works with Alexa and Google Assistant, are affordable enough to buy several at a time, are controllable right from the Wyze app where you can create specific schedules around times – there's even a Vacation mode that will randomly turn lights on and off in order to make it appear as though people are moving from room to room inside your home. They're also easy to set up, since they connect directly to WiFi, and easy to adjust warmer, brighter, dimmer.
Much like a broken window or a flood, you want to know right away if there's smoke or fire anywhere near your home. Which is why you have a smoke detector. And if you get a smart smoke detector it will still alert you – via an app – if it senses anything amiss about the air quality in your home, even if you're miles away.
Whether it's smoke, carbon monoxide or hazardous chemicals, many smart smoke detectors can alert a user on their phone if something dangerous is happening. Some can send alerts to multiple people, or work with smart home assistants to make sure help gets to the home right away whether you're inside at the moment or not.
Though it much resembles a standard smoke detector, the Kidde Smart Smoke Detector can also monitor for carbon monoxide and indoor air quality – and most importantly, send alerts about all three statuses to an Android or iOS device. You can set it to alert friends and family too, which is helpful if you have some nearby or if you have a neighbor who may be willing to receive alerts while you're away.
There's a Smart Hush feature to silence false alarms when you're home and it alerts for something that isn't an emergency. And it works with Alexa or Google Home, and will alert with audio alarms as well when it senses something harmful in the air whether that's smoke, harmful chemicals or other air quality hazards.