These Are the Most Popular IoT Device Categories

We are starting to see a lot of connected devices hit the market, and a lot of interested consumers are buying them, but just what kinds of device are finding the most popular among buyers?

A smart watch: considered by many to be an IoT device

Smart Speakers

These always on and always connected speakers allow most importantly for music streaming, but they are also used as smart assistants that can respond to requests or perform tasks using voice commands. These main features have helped this device category reach millions of users, and encouraged other companies to offer their own products with more options to select from. With the wireless speakers already being popular, adding new features to them, as well as having effective marketing, certainly convinced many buyers that this device is something that will help them in their day-to-day life.

Smart Thermostats

Clever and feature-rich devices that can be used to do some really amazing home automation tasks, like pre-heating and pre-cooling the house before residents arrive, they also allow users to program a schedule that specifies what temperatures to set throughout the day using internet-enabled devices like a smartphone for example with the appropriate app. What made these devices very popular was the ease of use and number of features they added to regular thermostats, which were already widely used, without using complicated or very recent technology, the components inside these devices and the software they use were already available and reliable, but the finished product is an advanced smart home gadget.

Connected Home Security

Another part of home automation that attracts a lot of new customers who might want better security for their homes or just want to experience the luxury that these devices offer:

Cameras:

These cameras are a better, simpler to use alternative to normal security cameras which record footage continuously and store it on a storage device for the user to check later or display a feed on a monitor. Features of the newer connected cameras include motion detection, face recognition and live notification updates sent to the user's smartphone informing them and showing them what the camera is seeing on a dedicated app.

Connected doorbells and some connected locks can have cameras on them that offer similar features to standalone connected cameras, but these usually have a better video quality.

Locks:

Connected locks' main function is to lock and unlock doors without using a physical key, usually using a smartphone app, even if the user is away from their door they can grant access to a friend or family member who's at the door remotely using the same app. Some of these locks offer additional unlocking methods like a keypad or fingerprint scanner, and can also have cameras on them.

Connected Plugs

The one thing that these devices have in common is that they can be plugged into a socket and pass through to a socket on them, because almost every one of them offers a unique feature for a special use case, the most useful one probably is the Alexa compatible one, allowing to turn any electric appliance on using a voice command, the second most useful are the ones that monitor energy usage and can turn off after a limit is reached. Another unique feature offered by one of these connected plugs is air monitoring.

Connected Lights

Change the color of the light and the mood of the room using an app that's connected to one of these light bulbs or desk lamps through Wi-Fi or Bluetooth, or if you already have a home automation setup that's compatible with the light you can program it to turn on/off or change the brightness with a voice command or at a time of the day.