With so many of us working at least part-time from home, it’s important to have a WFH space that works well for you. Enter smart home products – devices such as smart lights, smart plugs, smart speakers and wireless printers – which, with an effective Wi-Fi router, boost your productivity and efficiency, while also offering greater convenience and increased power and safety. Set up a smart home office and start controlling your devices with your voice or your phone, know your schedule with a reminder from a smart speaker, and set the lighting to help you focus, then program it to turn off automatically at the end of your work day.

Use Your Voice: Smart Speakers

A GIF series of smart home office items, shown on various brightly coloured backgrounds. Products include Google Nest Hub, Nest mini and the Amazon Echo.

Smart speakers are already enormously popular in our homes but they’re also a clever addition to any home office. Use them to boost the audio quality of your hands-free calls and, when paired via Bluetooth to your computer, to enhance the sound for your video meeting. Rely on them to provide and store information through voice command. A smart speaker like the Google Nest Hub also has a display, so you can see – and not just hear – your search results, as well as details from your calendar and your to-do list. Though small, the Amazon Echo Pop packs a mighty punch. Place this compact speaker in the corner of your home office and play your favourite playlist to help you focus or set reminders to help prioritise your day using voice commands. 

What to Try

SEE ALSO: Laptop or desktop? How to Choose the Best One for You

Get Switched on with Smart Power and Light

A GIF series of smart home products shown on various brightly coloured backgrounds. Products include things like powerboards, light strips and smart bulbs.

All home offices need power but with the addition of smart plugs you can do so much more. Use the TP Link Tapo 3 Outlet Smart WiFi Power Strip to control the multiple devices you need for work such as lights, lamps, air purifiers and fans with your voice through a smart speaker in the office or with an app on your smartphone remotely. Even better, you won’t get caught out with a low battery before an important meeting, since USB ports on the smart powerboard are ready to charge your devices. 

With smart lights, you can use smart devices to turn lights on or off in your home office at pre-programmed times, which is a great way to save power or make it look like someone’s home even when you’re away. For ultimate light adjustability, try a Philips Hue Smart Candle Bulb connected to the Philips Hue Bridge. This setup allows you to use your phone to adjust the brightness of the light to suit your work needs or change the colour to create your desired ambience. 

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Simply Connected: Smart Printers

A GIF series of products to help with wireless printing, shown on various brightly coloured backgrounds. Products include the HP Deskjet, Canon Pixma and Epson EcoTank.

There’s no need to connect a cable from your computer to your phone, or email an image or a doc from your mobile device to the computer, before printing anymore. Smart printers such as the HP Envy and Canon Pixma are affordable wireless choices that mean anyone on the Wi-Fi network can print their documents from anywhere in your home. But if you’re doing a lot of printing, not only does the Epson EcoTank have Wi-Fi Direct connectivity, it comes with enough ink in the box to print more than around 11,000 colour pages or 14,000 mono pages. 

What to Try

SEE ALSO: 10 Ways to Refresh Your Office Tech

Stay Connected With Mesh Wi-Fi

A GIF series of products to help improve the stability of internet connection, shown on various brightly coloured backgrounds. Products include the Netgear Orbi and the TP-Link Deco.

One of the most crucial things in a smart home office is your internet connection. Products like the Netgear Orbi and the TP-Link Deco ensure you’re getting fast and consistent Wi-Fi even if your modem is on the other side of the house to your office. Having reliable internet means a solid and stable connection for video meetings – no more dropping out, freezing or losing sound while giving a presentation!

What to Try

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This article was originally published in 2023 and has since been updated.