When you purchase through links in our articles, we may earn a small commission. From overheating smart beds and privacy snafus to generative AI foul-ups and bricked smart thermostats, we had a bumper crop of smart home fails this year. Sometimes the smart home doesn't seem so smart, like when a cloud outage renders your devices useless or your smart bed starts roasting you in your sleep. We see these kinds of smart-home snafus every year, but 2025 was a tad different thanks to the arrival of generative AI assistants like Alexa+ and Google Gemini, which arrived with great fanfare but failed to truly blow our minds. So without further ado, we present the biggest smart home flops, fails, and foul-ups of the year, ranked in ascending order.

Fulu sets repair bounties on consumer products that employ sneaky features that limit user control. Just this week, it awarded more than $10,000 to the person who hacked the Molekule air purifier. Companies tend to be rather picky about who gets to poke around inside their products. Manufacturers sometimes even take steps that prevent consumers from repairing their device when it breaks, or modifying it with third-party products. But those unsanctioned device modifications have become the raison d'être of a bounty program set up by a nonprofit called Fulu, or Freedom from Unethical Limitations on Users.

Google has announced that it will no longer be bringing new Nest Thermostats to Europe due to the "unique" requirements of heating systems in the region. The company launched its redesigned fourth-generation Nest Learning Thermostat in 2024. "Heating systems in Europe are unique and have a variety of hardware and software requirements that make it challenging to build for the diverse set of homes," Google says. The third-generation Nest Learning Thermostat and the Nest Thermostat E will continue to function, receive security updates and be sold while supplies last. If you're in the market for a new thermostat that works with Google Home, though, you'll have to turn to a third-party option.

We may earn revenue from the products available on this page and participate in affiliate programs. The line between home and office has never been blurrier, so getting someone you love a gift that helps them cut down on their list of chores, improve their productivity, or help them relax has become incredibly thoughtful. This can mean gifting something practical, like a more comfortable office chair or an extravagantly large 4K TV. Many of these gifts are appropriate for both homeowners and renters, too. If you live with the person you're gifting these home upgrades to, you also benefit, which is a nice holiday bonus. One of the keys to a happy home during the holidays (or any other time) is a smart home, and a smart home needs a fast, consistent connection to the Internet. Eero's latest Wi-Fi routers support the latest wireless standard (Wi-Fi 6E), supporting speeds of up to 2.3 Gbps. For reference, Netflix recommends just 15Mbps to stream video in 4K, which is only .006% of the routers' total potential bandwidth. If you're shopping for someone who pays for a fast internet connection but finds their devices don't get the speeds promised--or they have places in their home where their wireless connection is spotty--this is the optimal solution. Amazon says this two-pack of Eero routers can cover an area of up to 4,000 sq. Every home or office needs an all-in-one printer for when a document needs to be scanned, printed, or copied.

Amazon's October Prime Day (aka Prime Big Deal Days) officially ended Oct. 9, but that doesn't mean every deal is done. Some companies have extended the discounts on their gear a little longer, and many no longer require you to have an active Amazon Prime subscription to take advantage of them. Some are still Prime subscriber exclusive, though, and if that's the case, you can sign up for a free 30-day trial here if you don't have one. However, you should add to cart now; there's no telling how long any of these discounts will last since they're no longer tied to an official sale. Google's Nest Thermostat is a particularly good Prime Day deal because it can actually help pay for itself over time. The Wi-Fi-enabled thermostat can learn your habits and schedule over time and activate your HVAC (Heating, Ventilation, and Air Conditioning) system more efficiently and less frequently.

Google's Nest thermostat is something of a godsend. Not only does it keep your humble abode feeling nice and comfortable, but it's also incredibly easy to install and it monitors your HVAC system, which is useful if anything goes haywire. I've got one in my house and I couldn't be happier with it. This little device saves me a good amount of money in heating and cooling costs. If you're looking to pick one up, good news!

Smart home tech can increase the value of your home. Installing smart home devices is an easy way to protect your property from significant damage, save on home insurance, and modernize your home. Most insurance agents recommend devices like smoke, CO2, or water sensors to offer enhanced peace of mind and protection for homeowners and provide savings opportunities. Protecting a property from potentially extensive damage means homeowners are less likely to need to file a claim, which may result in lower insurance premiums. Smart home technology can also increase a home's value as appraisers factor smart home systems into appraisals and homes with intelligent technology may sell faster and command higher prices.

Folks who like controlling aspects of their home using their voice or an app may be pleased to learn there's a sale on Google Nest gear at Amazon ahead of the retailer's Big Spring Sale. There are some solid discounts here, including one on the Google Nest Thermostat, which is down to 100. While that's not the lowest price we've seen for the thermostat (it has dropped to 80 in the past), it's still a solid deal. The Google Nest Thermostat is currently 23 percent off. The Nest Thermostat has been around for a few years now.

Google's Nest Thermostat is on sale for just $90 for Black Friday, with a tidy $40 discount. That's among the lowest prices we've seen, and close to the lowest it has gone for so far. Like most smart home devices, the Nest Thermostat grants control via smartphone, tablet, laptop or even a smart display like Amazon's Echo Show or Google's Nest Hub (both of which are seeing significant Black Friday deals). Since it's programmable and capable of knowing when you're home, the thermostat can save energy by not overly heating or cooling an empty house. Google designed it to be easy to install, and most people can do it themselves.

If you missed the sale last month on the Nest Thermostat, you have another chance to grab the smart home gadget for even less now. Amazon has the snow colored WiFi thermostat for $93, or 29 percent off its normal price. This isn't an all-time low -- the device briefly dropped to $80 during Black Friday weekend last year -- but this is the best price we've seen since then. Google debuted the Nest Thermostat in 2020 as an affordable alternative to the Nest Learning Thermostat. You'll notice a big difference in the design of the two gadgets: the Nest Thermostat is slimmer than its Learning counterpart and has a mirrored display, along with a touch-sensitive bezel that you can use to manually adjust temperature settings.