5 Smarthome purchases I wish I'd never bought

We all make mistakes when building our smart homes. In this video, I count down the 5 products I wish I'd never bought - from Philips Hue to Amazon Echo - and explain what I learned from each one. These aren't necessarily bad products, but they taught me expensive lessons about cloud dependency, local control, and what I actually wanted from my smart home. If you're just starting your smart home journey, this video might save you from making the same mistakes I did. # Chapters 00:00 Intro 00:49 5: Philips Hue 03:08 4: Blink 05:42 3: Nest Learning Thermostat 08:08 2: Samsung Smartthings 10:00 1: Amazon Echo 11:23 Final thoughts / Outro # Links How my smart home philosophy changed: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jTM3fuAjfrE Govee Amazon store: https://amzn.to/4qorRJq Aqara Amazon store: https://amzn.to/3ZqDrIX Ikea smart home: https://www.ikea.com/gb/en/cat/smart-home-hs001/ #smarthomeregrets #philipshuereview #nestthermostatproblems #amazonechoalternatives #smartthingsvshomeassistant #smarthomemistakes #avoidclouddependency #localcontrolsmarthome #homeassistantintegration #zigbeedevices #smarthometips2026 #worstsmarthomepurchases #smarthomebuyersguide --- # My links: My blog: https://foxleigh.me Discord: https://discord.gg/tPdaADbM2N Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/c/foxyslab LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexfoxleigh/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/foxleigh81 GitHub: https://github.com/foxleigh81 # Gear + stuff I use My studio kit, homelab builds and recommended gear are listed here: https://www.foxyslab.com/resources # Support the channel If you like my videos and want to help me keep making more of them, Patreon is the best way. You also get Discord roles, behind-the-scenes chats and your name in the credits depending on the tier. If you just want to send a one-off tip then you can do that over at ko-fi: https://ko-fi.com/foxleigh81 If you want to support me but you can't afford to donate money then simply engaging with my videos with a like or a comment goes a long way, I'd be especially grateful if you shared a link to my videos to someone else. However you choose to support me, I will be very grateful :) Disclaimer: Some links in this description are affiliate links. If you buy through them, I earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. This helps support the channel! Transparency: Unless stated otherwise, all products were purchased by me. Opinions are 100% my own.