4 Simple-To-Use Smart Home Gadgets You Can Buy At Costco

We may receive a commission on purchases made from links.

If you're shopping for smart home products, don't skip out on Costco. It's running some great deals on everything from security cameras and smart locks to speakers and smart lights, and the best thing is how easy they are to use. The Govee 180ft Permanent Outdoor Lights Elite, for example, can be controlled completely from the Govee Home app on your smartphone once they're installed. That's not uncommon with the gadgets on this list; ease of use was a chief consideration in the selection process.

Ideally, once you have a few of the essential smart home gadgets installed, you'll want to pick a smart speaker from Costco like the 2nd-gen Apple HomePod. It lets you control other aspects of your smart home just with your voice by calling out commands like "Hey Siri, lock the front door." And to keep everything safe and secure, a Ring doorbell will monitor your home 24/7 and send an alert to your phone if anyone approaches the door.

A smart doorbell from Ring is a cost-effective and easy-to-install way to add an extra layer of security to your home, and the Ring Wired Doorbell Pro and Indoor Cam Plus Bundle makes it easier to keep an eye on things from your phone.

Originally $249.99, it's currently marked down to $179.99 at the time of writing. The bundle includes the 3rd-gen Wired Doorbell Pro to keep track of anyone who approaches your door as well as the Indoor Cam Plus, which can rest on a tabletop or be mounted on a wall or ceiling to monitor an area of your home for potential intruders (or, more likely, funny things your pet does while you're away).

The 3rd-gen Wired Doorbell Pro features Retinal 4K video quality and up to 10x zoom for clear pictures, which is useful in the event that you need to identify someone, capture a license plate, or read the label and name tag on a delivery worker's uniform. When it gets too dark to record normally, the Wired Doorbell Pro activates a night mode filter to continue capturing in near-darkness. Since this bundle includes the wired version, the doorbell won't run out of battery, but you will have to connect it to your home's power source. If you'd rather use a rechargeable battery, the Ring Battery Doorbell Plus (2nd Gen) is also available at Costco for $269.99.

A smart lock like the Yale Assure Lock 2 Plus DoorSense and Wi-Fi Module ($189.99 at Costco) is a  smart home gadget even your grandparents would love. The smart lock pairs perfectly with the Ring doorbell as between the two, you get total security and peace of mind knowing that you'll never have to leave the front door unattended or forget to lock it again. But it's perfectly usable on its own too.

The Yale Assure Lock 2 comes in three finish options, including satin nickel, oil rubbed bronze, and black, and the front-facing side features a simple touch keypad for easy entry via code. You can also lock or unlock the Yale Assure Lock 2 using your phone, smartwatch, or Apple HomeKit and Google Home speaker for convenient coming and going (it'll auto-lock, too). It also comes with IPx5 resistance out of the box, meaning it should hold well against rain or accidental water spills.

The Apple HomePod (2nd Gen) brings everything in your smart home together. It's a premium smart speaker that enables voice commands for other smart products, like locking or unlocking the Yale Assure Lock 2. Aside from integrating with other smart gadgets, the HomePod can perform a number of handy actions like setting timers, checking the weather, or converting measurements (such as cups to ounces while cooking). 

It does have the Apple logo on it, though, which means you can't expect it to be cheap. At Costco, the Apple HomePod (2nd Gen) sells for $339.99 and comes in two colorways: white and midnight (dark grey). But for that premium price tag, you get premium features and build quality like a high‑excursion woofer and five beamforming tweeters for powerful bass and immersive audio fidelity, smart sound optimization for any room it's placed in, and a sturdy 5.16-pound (2.3kg) mesh and silicone frame.

If you're in the Apple ecosystem — that is, you have an iPhone, Apple Watch, AirPods, Apple TV, or Mac — the 2nd-gen HomePod has even more features you can use, like connecting with the Find My app to locate your lost iPhone or Apple Watch. Costco carries surprisingly few smart speaker options (in their online retail section, at least); if you're not interested in the HomePod, the Sonos Era 100 Wireless Smart Speaker Set, available for $409.99, gives you Amazon Alexa control rather than Siri.

Smart lights like Govee's Permanent Outdoor Lights Elite ($339.99) are simple smart home gadgets and a great way to spruce up the house for any occasion. You can change them to festive colors during the holidays, your team's colors during sporting events, or even just a dim, warm light to brighten up the area around your house a little at night when you're expecting someone home late. And it's all done from the Govee Home app on your smart phone, so once they're installed (with the included tape, clamps, and cables), they stay up year-round and customization is as easy as a few taps.

If you want to get creative with it, there are all sorts of different effects you can use, like rainbow wave or strobe, and there are preloaded 'scenes' (preset light colors and effects) in the Govee app for occasions like Halloween. You can also edit the lights in zones, so if you want the front of the house to show a normal white light while the backyard is lit up in different colors for a party, you can do it straight in the app. The string lights are IP67 water resistant, too, so they're safe in typical rain and snow conditions.

In order to find these smart home gadgets, we went through an exhaustive list of available options on Costco's official website. We carefully analyzed the gadgets in the Smart Home, Security & Wi-Fi section to select four products based on a number of key factors. Apart from ease of use, which was our primary consideration, we also factored in the product's price, performance, design, and availability. We used expert and user reviews to assess how these smart home gadgets perform in everyday settings.

With the data compiled, we then narrowed down the picks for this list based on how well the products perform in each of the key categories mentioned, as well as which are most applicable to the majority of buyers in the smart home market.