GUIDE · Home Automation
Smart Home Products Actually Worth Buying
Most smart home gadgets get unplugged by month three. These are the categories that stick.
The Smart-Home Devices People Actually Keep Using
Usage data from 14 months of logging, not opinion.
By Daniel Reyes, Smart Home Editor · Published August 11, 2026 · 2 min read
Photograph: Matthew Henry / StockSnap
We instrumented a 90-device home and logged every trigger for 14 months. The retention curve is brutal.
The retention curve
Median device interaction fell 71% between week two and week twelve. Automation-driven devices — lighting schedules, heating, locks — held steady.
Why things get abandoned
Anything requiring you to open an app to get value loses to the manual alternative. Automations that run without you survive.
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