Your first apartment after graduation is probably not your forever home, but you can make it something you're proud of with gadgets that do your bidding. You can automate your lights, keep an eye on your pets and clean up your floors more efficiently with relatively affordable devices that won't eat up too much of your paycheck. We've tried out a lot of smart home tech over the years and here's what we recommend for newbies and those with tight budgets. Think of the smart display as your smart home command center. This one works with Alexa, fits just about anywhere and is comparatively inexpensive.

Amazon's Echo Show smart displays with Alexa voice control are already a good value next to the competition, but a bunch of deals are making them even cheaper. The Show 5 is the best one, on sale right now for just $40, or 53 percent off the regular price. And if you want a larger screen, you can find great deals on the Show 8 and Show 15 -- including a free Show 5 with the latter. The Echo Show 5 scored a very solid 85 score in our Engadget review, as it's small size is ideal if don't have a ton of space on your desk, nightstand or countertop. It has a 5.5-inch, 960 x 480 resolution display that shows things like weather forecasts, calendar events, photos and more.

SHOPPING: Products featured in this article are independently selected by our shopping writers. If you make a purchase using links on this page, MailOnline will earn an affiliate commission. If you like a bargain but missed out on Amazon Prime Day, then you're in luck, as right now, you can score the Echo Show 5 for only £39.99 - that's its lowest price ever. Amazon is giving tech lovers the opportunity to score the highly-rated smart display with Alexa for £35 off with the promo code SHOW5PROMO. Combining the smart voice control of Alexa with a 5.5-inch touch screen, the device lets you make video calls to friends and family, watch your favourite shows, listen to songs and control your smart home devices, as well as a long list of other features.

Amazon's smallest smart display is back on sale at one of the best prices we've seen. If you missed the chance to pick up the Echo Show 5 on Prime Day, you can get it now for only $40. That's 53 percent off its normal price and only $5 more than it was during Amazon's two-day shopping event. You're getting the most up-to-date model here, which is the 2021 version with a 2MP camera for video calls. The kids version of the gadget has also been discounted to $50, which is nearly half off its regular rate.

If you've been waiting to upgrade your home with the latest gear, this weekend might be the time to do so. From robot vacuums to Instant Pots, there are a number of great sales for connected appliances and kitchen gadgets for Memorial Day this year. As you can imagine, there are quite a lot of them, so we've collected some of the best ones below. Anker's Eufy RoboVac 11S is one of our favorite budget robot vacuums thanks to its slim profile, smart features and affordable price. It doesn't have WiFi, but it does have a remote control.

If you missed the previous sale earlier this month, you have another chance to grab one of Amazon's Echo Show 5s for less. Both the first- and second-gen versions of the compact smart display are on sale right now, with the original Echo Show 5 going for $45 and the updated version, which came out earlier this year, only $10 more. Unlike the new Echo Show 8, the Show 5s are designed to fit neatly on your nightstand and act as smart alarm clocks. Each have a 5.5-inch, 960 x 480 touchscreen that shows the time along with things like weather forecasts, news headlines and more. They are also capable of making video calls thanks to their built-in camera and mics, and if you have multiple Alexa devices in your home, the Show 5s can be part of your larger intercom system.

Want a smart alarm clock to help you get back to work (or school) now that September is fast approaching? The internet giant is running a sale on Echo devices, and the latest Echo Show 5 is on sale for only $55, or an even $30 below its official price. You'll get a similar discount on the Echo Show 5 Kids model, which sells for $65 (down from $95) with a year of Amazon Kids service thrown in. Both prices are much lower than we saw just a few weeks ago. If you'd prefer something larger, the current-generation Echo Show 8 has dipped to $100, a $30 savings. And if you prefer Alexa on your face, the second-generation Echo Frames are down to an all-time low price of $180 (versus the usual $250).

I'll admit, I wasn't impressed when Amazon added a rotating base to the new Echo Show 10. Sure, the swiveling screen is useful for following you around the room during video calls, but it also felt gimmicky and unnecessary. Plus, it needs a lot of room to move around so you're losing a significant amount of counter space. That's why I'm glad the Echo Show 8 and 5 haven't repeated that design. In fact, Amazon has changed very little between this edition and the last, but trust me when I say that's a good thing. It's the Echo Show 8 that has seen the most changes, but most of those are under the hood: It now has a faster octa-core processor plus a much-improved 13-megapixel wide-angle camera (the previous model only had a 1-megapixel sensor).

Next, you can decide whether to allow other members of your household to view a live screen of the Echo Show's camera (more on that in a little bit) and whether to enable Amazon's Sidewalk neighborhood network (ditto). Finally, the display will also run a few free Prime trials by you before Alexa takes you on a brief tour. I've already covered the controls and button along the top edge of the Echo Show 5, but I'm going to highlight a couple of them: the mic mute button and the camera shutter. When you press mic mute, the Echo Show will both disable the microphone as well as electrically shut off the camera, while three visual indicators--a red line at the bottom of the screen, a "mute" icon in the corner of the screen, and a red light on the mic mute button itself--will let you know that Alexa can't see or hear you.

The Show 5 (second-gen) is one of several new touchscreen displays from Amazon this year, including the all-new Echo Show 5 (second-gen) Kids edition and the recently-revamped Echo Show 8 (second-gen). This is the first time that Amazon has refreshed the Echo Show 5 since 2019, but the upgrades are minimal between the first and second-gen models. However, if you're on the hunt for a compact Alexa display and don't already have one, the new Echo Show 5 is worth a look. The second-gen Show 5 comes with a white power adapter (15W) that spans about five feet in length. Plug the cord into the display, connect it to the internet, and follow the on-screen prompts to complete the setup process.