Articles by Tom Westrick

There are several reasons why you might want to automate your home heating and air conditioning systems with one of the best smart thermostats for Alexa. Connected smart thermostats are an excellent investment whether for convenience, energy efficiency, or that “cool” factor. If you are in the Amazon ecosystem, there are a growing number of great options. The ecobee SmartThermostat with Voice Control is our top choice because it has Alexa built-in, includes a room sensor, and is easy to use.

Best overall smart thermostat for Alexa: ecobee SmartThermostat with Voice Control

Believe it or not, it’s only been a couple of years since ecobee launched the ecobee4 with Alexa built-in. Before that, we had to talk to Alexa from another device, like cave people! But in all seriousness, the concept was a hit. And now, ecobee has followed up on the success of the ecobee4 with its newer SmartThermostat with Voice Control, which is comparable to the popular Google-friendly Nest Thermostat.

So…

The best Android phones make it all too easy to quickly take a ton of photos that crowd their internal storage, but Google Photos can help you claw back some of that space. In particular, high-resolution photos and especially 4K or 8K video from a phone like the Galaxy S21 Ultra will add up on your phone’s limited internal storage, and tracking each file down on your own can become tedious if you’re not regularly micro-managing your media library. So, the tools built into Google Photos can come in handy in several ways, like helping you find photos that aren’t worth keeping or locate extra-large files.

How to free up space with Google Photos

Launch the Google Photos app.
Tap your user profile icon in the upper right corner.
Tap the “Free up…” option in the settings screen, which will show you how much storage is used by files that have already been backed up to the cloud.

Google Photos will take you to a new screen with more information. Tap “Free up X GB” on this screen.

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There are several reasons why you might want to automate your home heating and air conditioning systems with one of the best smart thermostats for Alexa. Whether for convenience, energy efficiency, or that “cool” factor, connected smart thermostats are an excellent investment. If you are in the Amazon ecosystem, there are a growing number of great options. The ecobee SmartThermostat with Voice Control is our top choice because it has Alexa built-in, includes a room sensor, and is easy to use.

Best Overall Smart Thermostat for Alexa: ecobee SmartThermostat with Voice Control

Believe it or not, it’s only been a couple of years since ecobee launched the ecobee4 with Alexa built-in. Before that, we had to talk to Alexa from another device, like cave people! But in all seriousness, the concept was a hit. And now, ecobee has followed up on the success of the ecobee4 with its newer SmartThermostat with Voice Control.

So what’s new or better, you may ask? It’s got a more modern, cleaner…

There are several reasons why you might want to automate your home heating and air conditioning systems with the best thermostat for Alexa. Whether for convenience, energy efficiency, or that “cool” factor, connected smart thermostats are an excellent investment. If you are in the Amazon ecosystem, there are a growing number of great options. The ecobee SmartThermostat with Voice Control is our top choice because it has Alexa built-in, includes a room sensor, and is easy to use.

Best Overall Alexa Compatible Smart Thermostat: ecobee SmartThermostat with Voice Control

Believe it or not, it’s only been a couple of years since ecobee launched the ecobee4 with Alexa built-in. Before that, we had to talk to Alexa from another device, like cave people! But in all seriousness, the concept was a hit. And now, ecobee has followed up on the success of the ecobee4 with its newer SmartThermostat with Voice Control.

So what’s new or better, you may ask? It’s got a more modern, cleaner design…

We’ve used some of the best DIY home security systems you can buy. And we’ll help you make the right choice between these two powerhouses.

Ring Alarm (2nd Gen)

Modular security

$160 at Amazon

Pros

Cheaper than the Nest system
Includes all the pieces you need to get going
No long-term commitments or cancellation fees
With Ring Protect Plus plan, you can get 24/7 monitoring

Cons

Includes single-purpose sensors compared to the Nest system
Doesn’t play well with Google Assistant

If you have a smaller home — or just don’t want to spend too much on your first security system — the Ring Alarm system may be for you. It is scaleable, connects with all the pieces you need to get started, and works wonderfully with Amazon’s Alexa smart assistant, Echo speakers, and Fire TV and tablet devices.

Nest Secure

Innovative integration

$400 at Best Buy

Pros

Integrates smoothly with other Nest and Google products
Includes more versatile sensors in the box
Included Nest Tags are …