Skip to main content

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

Lowe’s Labor Day sale 2020: The 5 best smart home deals

Labor Day tends to bring with it notions of end-of-summer BBQs, back-to-work and back-to-school, which can be a mix bagged, depending on where you stand. But there’s good news, for everyone, in the Labor Day sales that arrive with the holiday. Some of the best sales are arriving early this year, and we’re here for them in a big way. Right now, at Loews Labor Day Sale, you can save big on some very affordable Smart Home gear, like security cameras, smart doorbells, and smart lighting systems. Now is a great time to make smart home improvements, at a fraction of the cost!

Soft White Dimmable Smart Light Bulb (2-Pack) — $15, was $25

Image used with permission by copyright holder

Illuminate your home, set your lighting remotely, and give yourself some security and peace of mind with these Soft White Dimmable Smart LED Light Bulbs from GE. The key to these bulbs is that they aren’t controlled from a hub. These bulbs Soft connect directly to Google Home devices via Bluetooth, so you don’t need to fuss with other apps, bridges or hubs. Once connected, they respond to voice control through Google Home; or use GE Smart Plug and Pair with Alexa or Apple Home. You can create lighting schedules to fit with your day, automate lighting for when you’re out or away. Setup is quick and easy, too.

Amazon Echo Dot (3rd Gen) — $30, was $50

Image used with permission by copyright holder

A smart alarm clock, a smart speaker, a smart home control device; the Amazon Echo Dot is hard to pin down because it does it all. The smallest version of the Alexa speaker, the Echo Dot is just as functional. Call up your favorite music, news, podcasts, or essential info like the temperature, weather, date, and time. It’s the perfect companion to sit next to your bed because it’s like an alarm clock that controls your entire home. Use your voice to set the lights, control the TV, or your home security system. And it learns; Alexa is always studying up to react more intelligently and efficiently to your custom requests. This is the smart speaker of your dreams, which is ironic because you’ll love waking up to it, too.

Ring Stick Up Wireless Outdoor Security Camera — $85, was $100

ring stick-up cam battery
Kim Wetzel/Digital Trends

Wireless security cameras are one of the fastest-growing sectors in tech products. This is a handsome, useful, and even fun outdoor camera that provides glorious 1,920 x 1,080 resolution video while shooting at 115 degrees. It’s water and weather resistant (that doesn’t mean we encourage you to leave it exposed to daily thunder or snowstorms) and has IR LEDs that permit low-light recording. Ring has gone to extra trouble to make sure the integration with your devices (particularly your phone) is smooth, with the Ring app. And it has easy battery operation. You don’t need to plug this in anywhere. It’s in the Amazon product range, so there’s an easy connection with Alexa (That said, it works great with Google Assistant, too)

Amazon Blink XT2 Wireless Outdoor Security Camera — $135, was $180

This is another fantastic outdoor security camera that operates by battery. The camera is super durable, so it can work both inside and inside. There’s motion detection and live-view recording that works with iOS or Android devices. There’s a 110-degree viewing angle, and two-way talk audio to communicate with visitors, and customizable motion detector zones, so you don’t get harassed by your own security system (notifications come to your phone). The camera might be more expensive than the Ring, but what can help pay for that are zero monthly fees, up to 7,200 seconds of video (it records in HD) stored for up to a year. The batteries last two years, too. That’s a whole lot of security for $135.

Ring Video Doorbell 3 — $150, was $180

Image used with permission by copyright holder

Some extra convenience from our friends at Amazon Ring. If you’re in the mood to spend a little more, about twice as much as for the Ring Stick Up Cam, you can invest in the Ring Video Doorbell 3. This is a security camera and doorbell in one that has motion detection, strong Wi-Fi, and customizable motion zones. This means that you can monitor who’s at your door from anywhere — it has night vision for the darker hours — just using your smartphone or other devices. You can record, save, and share video with the Ring Protect Plan, starting at $3 per month. It has a rechargeable, quick-release battery pack, that makes replacing batteries a cinch. That said, it can also be wired, with the option to connect to a standard AC doorbell system, so you’ll never have to charge it.

Editors' Recommendations

Jacob Silver
An avid cook, boxer, reader, and binger of Netflix (and Hulu, HBO Max, Amazon and more) Jacob Silver writes deals posts about…
Our 5 favorite gaming laptop deals in Best Buy’s ‘3-Day Sale’
Asus ROG Zephyrus M16 placed on a desk.

Gaming laptops are typically quite expensive. To have an effective one, you've got to get good storage, a nice processor, and likely throw in above-average RAM. We've all seen the big towers of pre-built desktop computers — they're big, and that space is totally non-existent in a gaming laptop. In other words, a gaming laptop is a feat of engineering. That's why we're particularly interested in gaming laptop deals, whenever they come up. And right now they're coming up via Best Buy's 3-Day Sale, an aptly named sale that lasts for... three days. It's ending Sunday, so go check these deals out now.
HP Victus 15.6-inch Gaming Laptop — $550, was $800

The key stat/hardware line (AMD Ryzen 5 7535HS processor, 8GB RAM, NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2050 graphics card, 512GB SSD storage) of the HP Victus can sound intimidating, even with 8GB of RAM. That's why we're delightfully shocked that this laptop is nearing the $500 mark after discounts. For your gaming needs, it also has an anti-glare monitor with 144Hz refresh rate. While it still won't beat using the best ethernet cables, the WiFi 6 standard will help you get your games downloaded fast. Other features gamers will enjoy are the full keyboard with numpad (traditional ASCII-based roguelikes, anyone?) to AI noise removal for clear communication with your teammates.

Read more
Our 5 favorite TV deals in Best Buy’s 3-day sale — from $350
The LG C3 Series OLED 4K TV in a living room.

Best Buy is one of the biggest retailers in the world, and it’s living up to its name this weekend with a 3-day sale that includes TVs. In it you’ll find some great opportunities to upgrade, expand, or build from scratch your home theater, as some of the best TV brands have models discounted. You can find some massive savings on some of the best TVs from LG, Samsung, and TCL. We’ve scoured the sales bins and pulled out some of our favorite TV deals in Best Buy’s 3-day sale. Reading onward you’ll find our favorite, which start as low as $350 and include savings as high as $450.
Insignia 65-inch F30 Series 4K Smart TV — $350, was $500

The Insignia F30 Series is a 4K smart TV that offers impressive affordability, with this 65-inch model offering tremendous value. The F30 presents all of your favorite content in breathtaking 4K resolution, and HDR technology provides a wide range of color details and sharper contrast that make movies more immersive and things like sports more impactful. This TV also offers smart features like Alexa voice control, DTS Studio Sound, and Apple AirPlay. And because the Insignia F30 is a Fire TV, it will give you instant access to over 500,000 streaming movies and TV episodes, and access to thousands of channels and apps.

Read more
The best October Prime Day robot vacuum deals happening now
Digital Trends Best Prime Day Robot Vacuum Deals

Cleaning a home can be tedious, especially if you live somewhere that has a lot of pollen, sand, or dust; it's so easy to accumulate any of them if you don't vacuum or clean up regularly. It's often no fault of our own, either; with busy lives, even folks who work from home might have a hard time picking up a vacuum and doing some cleaning. Luckily, there is a solution in the form of Robot vacuums, and while they're ordinarily quite expensive, Amazon's Prime Big Deal Days 2023 event has lots of great robot vacuum deals you can take advantage of right now.

Not only will it help you with keeping your home clean, but you can actually get some big savings by grabbing something now, and you likely don't even have to wait until Prime Day itself to see the best deals. Even better, it's not only Amazon that is offering great deals and, in fact, we're seeing some excellent Prime Day deals on robot vacuums from various retailers. There are even a lot of great Prime Day TV deals you can grab, and even some substantial discounts on the best smart home devices on the market. Whatever it is, you'll likely find something to make your life easier during Prime Day in October.
Today's best Prime Day robot vacuum deals
iHome Juno Robot Vacuum — $99, was $199

Read more