Best Smart Home Technology for Apartments

Body

While a bathroom scale is a nice thing to have to see how you’re progressing toward your fitness goals, your weight on any individual day doesn’t tell you much. I’ve been known to fluctuate as much as six pounds in less than 24 hours. That’s why it’s way more useful to track your averages over time. For that, I’m using the Garmin Index S2 ($150) smart scale. It pairs with the Garmin app on my phone (which is also connected to my Fenix 6 Pro Solar watch and delivers 24/7 health tracking), and it tracks not just my weight trend, but also estimates BMI, body fat, muscle mass, bone mass, and body water percentage. It supports multiple users and automatically recognizes who’s weighing in.

Lastly, I am an occasional snorer. When I’ve had a girlfriend, she can throw a sharp elbow to the ribs to get me to roll over onto my other side. But, when I’m single, I may end up snoring the night away, getting worse sleep and sub-optimal oxygen intake. Recently, I’ve been using Smart Nora ($359), which is a system with a mic, pump, and air bladder that goes under your pillow. If the mic hears you snoring it will gently inflate the bladder to turn your head and encourage you to roll over, generally without even waking you up. It’s quiet enough that even if you do have someone in bed with you, it probably won’t disturb them.

Miscellaneous

I’ve always wanted to try growing my own herbs and greens. Unfortunately, the windows in my apartment face northeast, which means I don’t get a lot of direct sunlight. Enter the Rise Gardens Personal Garden ($279). As someone with an anti-green thumb, this is exactly what I needed. It’s basically an automatic, hydroponic garden with built in lights that mimic natural sunlight. It comes with eight little seed pods. Just pop them into the tray, add water, and you’re basically on auto-pilot from there. The app will alert you whenever you need to add water or liquid nutrients. It will tell where each plant is in its growth cycle so you know when to prune or harvest. It’s also really good-looking, so you won’t mind having it prominently featured. It got me the freshest salads I’ve ever had in my life.