The Best Black Friday Apple HomeKit Deals Still Available on Lights, Smart Plugs, Locks, and More

[MacRumors]

Happy Black Friday! There have been ongoing deals throughout the month of November, but Friday, November 29th is the main U.S. sales day and retailers have marked down smart home products as people shop for the holidays.

We've rounded up all the best smart home deals for those who are looking to expand their Apple HomeKit and Matter ecosystems.

Lights

• Philips Hue White and Color Bulbs 60W, 3 Pack - $76, down from $135
• Philips Hue White Bulbs 75W, 2 Pack - $41, down from $50
• Philips Hue 10ft LED Lightstrip - $49, down from $70
• Philips Hue Gradient Light Strip - $175, down from $250
• Philips Hue Go Portable Table Lamp - $112, down from $160
• Philips Hue Signe Floor Lamp - $223, down from $330
• Philips Hue Play HDMI Sync Box - $175, down from $250
• Philips Hue Festavia String Lights - $154, down from $220
• Lutron Caseta Smart Lighting Kit - $136, down from $170
• Lutron Caseta Dimmer Switch Kit - $56, down from $70
• Lutron Caseta Dimmer Switch 2 Pack - $120, down from $200
• Eve Flare - $70, down from $100
• Eve Light Strip - $35, down from $80
• Twinkly String Lights 600 LEDs - $140 (with coupon), down from $230
• Twinkly Flex Light Tube - $73, down from $210
• Nanoleaf Shapes Hexagons - $100 (with coupon), down from $200
• Nanoleaf Elements Wood Hexagons - $160, down from $250
• Nanoleaf Matter Permanent Outdoor Lights - $170, down from $200
• Nanoleaf Lines - $200, down from $300
• Nanoleaf Holiday Lights - $75, down from $150
• Nanoleaf Skylight - $200, down from $250
• Govee Permanent Outdoor Lights - $200, down from $300

Target has 30 percent off all of its Philips Hue products, including the two-pack Starter Kit, 40W Candle bulb, and individual smart bulbs.
Thermostats

• Ecobee Smart Thermostat - $170, down from $190
• Ecobee Smart Thermostat Premium - $215, down from $250
• Ecobee3 Lite Smart Thermostat - $130, down from $150

Cameras and Doorbells

• EufyCam 2C, 2 Pack - $110 with $20 coupon, down from $200
• Aqara 2K Indoor Security Camera - $40, down from $60
• Ecobee Smart Video Doorbell Camera - $130, down from $160
• Arlo Pro 3 Camera Set - $250, down from $500

Smart Plugs and Switches

• Kasa Smart Plug Mini, 4 Pack - $30, down from $50
• Kasa Outdoor Smart Plug - $17, down from $30
• Kasa Smart Dimmer Switch - $16, down from $28
• TP-Link Tapo Plug Mini, 4 Pack - $26, down from $45
• Meross Smart Power Strip - $33, down from $43
• Eve Energy Outlet - $40, down from $50
• Eve Energy Smart Plug - $30, down from $40
• Eve Energy Strip - $70, down from $100
• Philips Hue Smart Plug - $28, down from $35

Sensors
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Article Link: The Best Black Friday Apple HomeKit Deals Still Available on Lights, Smart Plugs, Locks, and More

 

[name99]

I'll save you the time:

Hue - yes, easy to use, works well.
Eve - probably works well, but generally overpriced if you can find a Hue equivalent.
Nanoleaf - just say no. Constantly failure, awful app, just miserable experience.

Ecobee - absolutely yes, better than any alternative.

Camera's mostly still suck. Most important issue is the latency. If they are battery powered, they will probably have terrible latency to try to save power. If you can't run a power cable to where you want, see if you can find a solar powered version with a fairly serious (not gimmicky) panel. That might be a combo that gives decent latency with no power issues.

Meross - oh god no. Endless problems pairing and connecting to HomeKit.

Aqara - maybe OK, but YET ANOTHER FSCKING hub. I have my quota of hubs, and Aqara arrived too late to the party. Hard pass until this is fixed.

Sonos - well, you know what happened to the app don't you? Use your brain!

 

[JosephAW]

Wyze has some deals with outdoor cameras for $9

 

[Will Co]

Tapo. Watch out in the UK as the UK versions of their power switches do not seem to support HomeKit even though the USA spec does. Which is odd because you’d expect more or less identical electronics and firmware.

 

[meneush]

Our various Meross devices work great.

 

[Burger Thing]

I recommend the Aqara products. Especially the ones connected to one of its hub. Very reliable and firmware updates (usually the hubs itself) are painless and robust. The Aqara app has way more powerful automation features than the Home App (e.g., if absence has been detected for 1 min then..., if someone is detected and no moves within 5 min, etc) and you can avoid setting up virtual switches and timers in Homebridge.

 

[Razorpit]

Would love to have the disposable income to build the one Nonoleaf Skylight Best Buy shows. By my count twenty one boxes required, $4,200. Hey at least they’re on sale, right? 😄

 

[DEMinSoCAL]

I'll save you the time:

Meross - oh god no. Endless problems pairing and connecting to HomeKit.

Our Meross garage door gadget has been 100% reliable and fast, unlike the MyQ gadget I bought a few years ago that frequently won't respond or open. Not sure what your issue is but mine is awesome (and it was cheap!)

 

[alexandr]

I'll save you the time:

Hue - yes, easy to use, works well.

Meross - oh god no. Endless problems pairing and connecting to HomeKit.

Aqara - maybe OK, but YET ANOTHER FSCKING hub. I have my quota of hubs, and Aqara arrived too late to the party. Hard pass until this is fixed.

Hue is great.

Meross is great — I own 2 of those power strips and they work flawlessly.

The listed Aqara camera does not require a hub.

 

[ChrisA]

I'll save you the time:

Hue - yes, easy to use, works well.
Eve - probably works well, but generally overpriced if you can find a Hue equivalent.
Nanoleaf - just say no. Constantly failure, awful app, just miserable experience.

Ecobee - absolutely yes, better than any alternative.

Camera's mostly still suck. Most important issue is the latency. If they are battery powered, they will probably have terrible latency to try to save power. If you can't run a power cable to where you want, see if you can find a solar powered version with a fairly serious (not gimmicky) panel. That might be a combo that gives decent latency with no power issues.

Meross - oh god no. Endless problems pairing and connecting to HomeKit.

Aqara - maybe OK, but YET ANOTHER FSCKING hub. I have my quota of hubs, and Aqara arrived too late to the party. Hard pass until this is fixed.

Sonos - well, you know what happened to the app don't you? Use your brain!

I generally agree. But with Nanoleaf, some of their products can connect via Matter, so you can avoid using their app. You have to evaluate each product not each brand, as some exceptions exist. That said, all the Hue stuff is good if you can afford their price.

I have some Aqara that uses Zigbee. If you have a Zigbee network already Aqara/Zigbee is reliable. But yes, you do need a ZigBee radio someplace to save as a controller. I have a small USB dongle for that purpose.

As of 2024, there is no good single brand that does everything.

 

[name99]

Wyze has some deals with outdoor cameras for $9

Wyze cameras are cheap, yes, and powered (helpful).

BUT the ecosystem is horrible. Awful app, impossible to figure out which of nine, constantly changing in name and price, plans you want to subscribe to, and no scrubbing function (ie easy way to slide through what happened over the past 24 hours or whatever, to look for something specific. Nest used to do a great version of this, but Google in their infinite wisdom killed this functionality with Google Home.)

 

[parameter]

Our various Meross devices work great.

I was going to ask about the other post that said Meross devices don't connect/work well?

I'm looking at their smart garage door controller that's listed in the article. Have you tried it? In theory it sounds great.

But now after reading the post above yours, I'm wondering if Meross devices are truly reliable? I also was looking at some water leak sensors that they make, which are obviously super critical that they function reliably.

Just curious to hear which Meross homekit devices you've had luck with if you have time? Thanks.

 

[ChrisA]

Wyze cameras are cheap, yes, and powered (helpful).

BUT the ecosystem is horrible. Awful app, impossible to figure out which of nine, constantly changing in name and price, plans you want to subscribe to, and no scrubbing function (ie easy way to slide through what happened over the past 24 hours or whatever, to look for something specific. Nest used to do a great version of this, but Google in their infinite wisdom killed this functionality with Google Home.)

NEVER buy any "smart home" accessory that requires an Internet or "cloud" subscription to work. Several reasons...

1) Do you really want some Chinese company to record every time you open a door or turn on a light? OK, you have nothing to hide and don't care?

2) Do you want your light switch to stop working when the Internet disconnects? It is very annoying to need to use a flashlight when you need to reboot a router

3) what happens years from now when the cloud company decides your equipment is obsolete and no longer worth supporting? Then you need to replace it all.

4) Latency is poor if the data has to do a round trip to some far away server. It simply works better then the connection is local to your house.

Look for stuff that works without the need for data go over your Internet connection

 

[name99]

NEVER buy any "smart home" accessory that requires an Internet or "cloud" subscription to work. Several reasons...

1) Do you really want some Chinese company to record every time you open a door or turn on a light? OK, you have nothing to hide and don't care?

2) Do you want your light switch to stop working when the Internet disconnects? It is very annoying to need to use a flashlight when you need to reboot a router

3) what happens years from now when the cloud company decides your equipment is obsolete and no longer worth supporting? Then you need to replace it all.

4) Latency is poor if the data has to do a round trip to some far away server. It simply works better then the connection is local to your house.

Look for stuff that works without the need for data go over your Internet connection

OK, that's all reasonable advice.
Not at ALL sure what relevance it has to my comment that you quotes, but whatever...