IoT Devices – About The List
For this IoT devices list, we focused on IoT devices that are particularly popular, interesting or otherwise noteworthy. Please note that this is not a ranking; devices are arranged into categories and then alphabetically within each category. And if you know of additional IoT devices that you believe should have been on our list, feel free to note them in the comments section below.
Home Automation IoT Devices
Amazon offers an assortment of buttons that will order additional supplies of commonly used household products directly from Amazon.com. There are buttons for toilet paper, goldfish crackers, soap, laundry detergent, trash bags, cleaners, Gatorade, soup, razors, beauty products, baby formula and much more.
This smart home hub is essentially a speaker that can listen to users and respond to commands, it can play music, answer questions, read audiobooks, deliver traffic and weather reports, control lights and thermostats, order pizza, order an Uber and much more. The company has also released a similar, lower-priced device called the Tap.
Especially with the latest Fire Stick model that includes 4K streaming with Alexa voice remote, the Amazon Fire TV Stick is a streaming solution that meets many other household needs. Whether you’re ordering more detergent through your Amazon Prime shopping cart or pulling up live home security feeds on your TV, the Alexa-enabled Fire Stick gives you access to more than your favorite TV shows and movies.
With this device, you can see and converse with people at your front door via your smartphone. It also allows you to open the door, and it can record visitors that you miss. Prices start at $199.
A good option for people with asthma or allergies, Awair is an air-quality sensor that can send smartphone alerts and recommendations for improving your indoor air quality. It also has programs for improving sleep and productivity.
Belkin’s WeMo is a complete line of home IoT devices that includes smart switches, cameras, lights, an air purifier, heater, slow cooker, humidifier and more. The company has partnerships with several other firms that allows end users to control a lot of different devices with one smartphone app.
This cybersecurity hardware is designed to unify and protect all of your IoT devices, regardless of their native level of security and antivirus protections. The BOX application enables you to set custom security settings for each of your devices, create profiles and identify strange devices in your network, and catch a snapshot of overall network activity at any given time.
This all-in-one home security system captures video and audio and sends alerts to your smartphone. It automatically knows when you are home or away (no need to enter a security code), and you can also view the live video feed from your phone.
You don’t have to buy a new garage door opener in order to control it with your smartphone. Chamberlain MyQ products allow you to control your existing garage door with your iPhone or Android device.
Cinder’s website describes this product as “a cross between sous vide, the high-end slow-cooking water bath method used by restaurant chefs, and the George Forman grill.” It’s a countertop grill that connects to your smartphone to make cooking fast and easy.
This line of home automation products works with Apple HomeKit to allow users to monitor indoor air, outdoor weather, energy consumption and whether windows and doors are open or closed. The same company also offers a line of smart lighting products that can be controlled with Android or iOS devices.
Most smart thermostats allow you to control your home temperature with your smartphone. This one actually senses where your smartphone is and adjusts the temperature in each individual room accordingly. It works for multiple family members, keeping everyone comfortable.
GE makes quite a few different types of connected appliances, including wall ovens, ranges, refrigerators, dishwashers, washers and dryers, water heaters and air conditioners. Through GE’s WiFi Connect service and apps, consumers can control the appliances or receive alerts.
Honeywell Smart House Products
Honeywell also offers a huge lineup of products related to home automation and security. It includes thermostats, GPS asset tracking, locks, lighting, video surveillance and more.
This countertop oven aims to be “more efficient than your conventional oven, more precise than your toaster oven, and way more intelligent than either.” It includes digital core temperature probes, a built-in digital scale and a camera with a food recognition engine. The company is accepting pre-orders, and products are scheduled to begin shipping before the end of the year.
If your house is too hot in the bedroom and too cold in the family room, this device is for you. It opens and closes the vents in each room depending on the temperature in that area. It can also connect to Nest thermostats and smartphones. The first production run of the device sold out, but the company expects to have more available in the fall of 2016.
LG divides its SmartThinQ line of connected appliances into categories for the kitchen (ranges and refrigerators), living (washers, dryers, robotic vacuums and air conditioners) and safety (robot vacuum doubles as a safety monitor with a video feed). They all integrate with the company’s smartphone app.
Nanit Plus maintains the features of traditional baby monitors while adding several smart features to track your baby’s sleep patterns. The device includes sleep stats to track metrics like sleep onset, time asleep, visits, and overall sleep efficiency, helping parents to sleep coach with real insights. Another personalized feature is Memories, which gathers photos and videos in a sleep time capsule over time. This device works when the internet goes down and can be paired with other IoT devices, such as Amazon Echo.
With this connected coffee maker you can use your smartphone to schedule coffee brewing, order supplies and receive maintenance alerts. The machine heats up quickly and uses single-serve coffee capsules.
Nest is best-known for its Internet-connected thermostat, but it also makes smoke and carbon monoxide detectors and cameras. Its products also integrate with IoT home automation products from a variety of other vendors.
This indoor security camera features built-in facial recognition to help keep your family safe. It also sends messages to your smartphone, letting you know when children, elderly relatives or intruders arrive at your home.
With Neurio, homeowners can track their energy usage (or energy production if they have solar panels installed) from their smartphones. It takes a little work to install the device onto your electrical panel, but it can help you identify opportunities for energy savings in your home.
OSRAM’s Lightify line offers connected lighting for home indoor and outdoor use. It also offers controllers and connected lighting for industrial spaces.
Philips offers a complete line of connected lighting products. It includes light bulbs, dimmers, light strips, switches, controllers and more.
Piper incorporates both home security and a home automation hub. It has a motion sensor and video camera for security, and the smartphone app allows you to control lighting and appliances. For added security, it can also integrate with door or window sensors.
The Ring Doorbell doubles as a door answering device and additional form of home security. With its built-in video camera, Ring senses and records motion near your door, allowing you to communicate with your visitor in real time or review the most important security footage later.
Roost’s most unique product is its connected battery. Designed for use in smoke detectors, this battery tells you when it needs to be changed so that you don’t get those annoying chirps at three in the morning. The company also makes smart smoke alarms and water leak/freeze detectors.
Samsung’s SmartThings Line includes smart outlets, hubs, motion sensors, multipurpose sensors, arrival sensors, water leak sensors and more. The company also sells a complete home monitoring kit that makes it easy to get started with home automation.
Long known for its deadbolts and doorknobs, Schlage is getting ready for the IoT era with two lines of smart home locks: Schlage Sense is a Bluetooth enabled smart deadbolt that integrates with iOS devices, and Schlage Connect is a similar smart locking system that integrates with alarm and security systems.
This devices allows you to control your other connected devices using gestures. Just raise a finger to control your lights, TV and much more.
This smart mattress was designed to automatically adjust to a person’s sleep patterns and to give them real-time data on the quality of their sleep. The 360 Smart Bed automatically adjusts temperature microclimates, firmness, position, and other features based on your movements and sleep cycle. With features like SleepIQ and Partner Snore technology, the 360 Smart Bed application also allows you to track and improve your sleep health over time.
Designed for music lovers, Sonos is a smart speaker system that you can install in a single room or throughout your house. Use the free smartphone app to control the music playing on the speakers—you can even play different music in each room .
For now, Whirlpool’s only smart appliances are washers and dryers, but its website seems to suggest that it has plans to offer more appliances that can connect to smartphones and tablets. Interestingly, the washer and dryer can also connect to the Nest thermostat to help consumers save money on their energy bills.
Wink is a smart home hub that connects together a lot of other IoT products from companies like GE, Nest, Philips and Schlage. Control your lighting, thermostat, door locks, appliances, blinds and more from a single console.
Industrial IoT Devices
Safety is always a concern in the oil and gas industry. Aptomar makes IoT sensors and systems for detecting spills and increasing safety. The company also offers services for monitoring oil and gas facilities.
Focused on the transportation and logistics industries, ATrack offers GPS tracking for monitoring assets and vehicles. It supplies its technology to a variety of other manufacturers and tracking services.
With Awarepoint’s low-energy Bluetooth beacons, companies can track the locations of employees, assets, customers, patients and more in real time. The service is focused primarily on the healthcare, retail and manufacturing industries.
Bosch has set its sights on becoming a leader in the IoT space. It manufactures sensors that go into other IoT devices as well as some smart home appliances. It also offers a complete cloud platform for building IoT applications.
The CargoSense solution includes sensors that can be included with product shipments to track temperature, humidity, shock, light, tilt and pressure every five minute. That data is tracked by an integrated analytics system that allows manufacturers and logistics companies to see what is happening with shipments at every point in the delivery process.
These wearable sensors track how employees are moving. The goal is to improve safety and reduce risk by helping prevent injuries. The company also offers similar technology that can be used by health care providers to help assess injuries and recommend therapies.
Filament makes industrial sensors with long-range wireless capabilities. It offers two products—the Tap and the Patch—that can be used to monitor environments and transmit data back to the network.
This company sells a host of sensors, probes, modules, adaptors, convertors and networking tools that companies can use to connect their factories, warehouses and other facilities to the Internet of Things. The company also makes a line of home automation devices under the ConnectSense brand name.
Impinj claims to offer “the most comprehensive and widely adopted RAIN RFID platform.” It offers tag chips, gateways, readers, antennas and software for retailers, health care and other markets.
Meshify NOW
Designed for industrial settings, Meshify NOW is a starter kit that bundles together IoT gateways and analytics software. The gateways can collect data from a host of different types of IoT sensors and then transmit it for analysis.
Rethink doesn’t just make robots—they make smart, collaborative robots that can work together and learn, accomplishing precise tasks in manufacturing and testing facilities. You can either purchase one of their prebuilt robots with names like Sawyer and Baxter, or you can work with the company to build a custom bot for your purposes.
You can think of RoboCV as a robot forklift. Designed for warehouse, it can move pallets and boxes from place to place without human intervention. Users can control and monitor the vehicle from a centralized panel, and they can also integrate it with external IT systems if they choose.
This startup makes industrial IoT sensors for fleet telematics, energy monitoring, cold chain monitoring, asset monitoring and other purposes. The sensors transmit data to its cloud-hosted software where it can be monitored and analyzed.
Tachyus makes IoT solutions for the oil and gas industry. Their products allow producers to measure what is happening with their oil and gas extraction processes and then analyze and optimize those processes to maximize output.
Made by a company called Advantech B+B SmartWorx, this line of industrial sensors can track liquid or air temperature, current, liquid flow, vibration and levels for various types of equipment and tanks. The platform also includes a gateway for collecting and transmitting the data from the sensor network.
This company makes RFID tags and other technology for asset tracking in a wide variety of industries. Their tiny tags are small enough to be attached to medical supplies and surgical tools, and they are rugged enough for environments like oil and gas exploration.
Health Care/Fitness IoT Devices
AdhereTech makes smart, wireless pill bottles that help insure that patients are taking their medication. They are currently being used for research studies, but their use will likely expand to the general population.
Perhaps one of the most popular forms of personal IoT, the Apple Watch has been adopted by many users for its versatile communication and health-related functions. You can use an Apple Watch to call or text, get directions via Siri, listen to music, track your heart rate and daily activity, and even notify EMS during a personal emergency. Apple Watches pair with other Apple devices like iPhones, but you don’t have to have your phone nearby to use Apple Watch features.
Available by prescription, Bioflux is a ECG monitoring device that allows physicians to keep track of their cardiac patients 24 hours a day. The full solution includes the device, analytics software and a monitoring service that can contact patients and health care providers when patients are in distress.
Breathe into the Mint device, and it will tell you how effectively you are brushing your teeth. (Yes, essentially, this is an IoT device that tells you if you have bad breath). It gives you a grade and tracks your progress towards better oral hygiene.
Fitbit leads the market for wearable fitness and health trackers. Devices are available in a wide variety of styles and colors, and they can help consumers track progress towards a wide variety of fitness goals.
This line of fitness trackers is focused on people who consider themselves to be athletes. It tracks your heart rate, pace and times, and it includes tools for a wide variety of sports.
Misfit makes several different fitness and sleep trackers, including one waterproof model designed for swimmers and the no-frills Flash model, which is one of the least-expensive products of this kind on the market. The company also offers some connected lighting products.
Peloton is a home-based bike workout with built-in classes, instruction, and social engagement opportunities with other users. The Peloton IoT is designed to help you track your heart rate, resistance, and other fitness metrics in real time, and your Peloton Bike can pair with other IoT devices, such as Apple Watches, so that your activity is accurately tracked across your fitness devices. Although it is an at-home workout, your Peloton device allows you to build a community and communicate with other riders around the world.
This dustproof, water-resistant fitness tracker features a curved display and long-lasting battery. It can also receive alerts about emails and text messages, and it integrates with Samsung’s S Health app.
Tempo Studio combines features of both a gym membership and home workout, with all weights and workout equipment included in the membership subscription-based home set. Through a central “studio” that uses AI to give personalized coaching and weight recommendations for each user, as well as a growing library of live and pre-recorded classes, the program is tailored to provide a smart touch to your home workout.
Withings Blood Pressure Monitor
Extremely easy to use, this blood pressure monitor slips over your arm, takes your blood pressure readings and sends the results to your smartphone where they are tracked over time. The same company also makes other health-related IoT products like fitness sensors, oxygen sensors, baby monitors, scales, thermometers and more.
Miscellaneous IoT Devices
If you thought gardening was a low-tech activity, meet Click and Grow, the smart indoor garden. The company claims it helps balance oxygen, water and nutritional ingredients to help plants grow better and faster.
Designed for fisherman, Deeper is a portable fish finder that transmits sonar readings to your smartphone. Simply attach Deeper to your line and cast it into the water. Then check your phone to see the water depth and temperature, bottom contours and where the fish are hiding.
Furbo was created to address all of your dog owner anxieties when your pet is home alone. This IoT can alert you when your dog is barking or howling, send photos and video clips of your dog’s activities to your phone via the cloud, and even toss them treats when you are away from them. Although the system primarily focuses on dog activity, it can also notify you of home emergencies related to your smoke or CO alarms.
Mimic GO is a small, portable advice that you can attach to anything from a gym bag to a dorm room door. Anywhere that you want to track unwanted movement or potential theft, Mimic GO sends immediate notification of any disruption. Activate your Mimic GO device through your app, and it will notify you if movement or other environmental changes are detected nearby. You can also set up the device to sound an alarm and ward off unwanted visitors.
Designed for the retail and hospitality industries, Theatro makes a wearable WiFi-based communication device designed to improve worker productivity. It weighs just an ounce and a half, and helps hourly workers stay in touch with each other and receive quick answers to questions.
Have a dog who likes to run? Whistle is an Internet-connected collar that tracks your pet’s location and activity level. It can also monitor your pet’s health trends, making it a little bit like a Fitbit for dogs.
Development Boards IoT Devices
Arduino sells a variety of IoT development boards and related accessories, many of them based on open source hardware designs. They offer special collections for kids and home hobbyists as well as more serious products for inventors and developers.
This organization offers credit-card sized computers under the BeagleBone brand name. Most of the boards can run Linux or Android, and they are based on open source specifications.
Cypress recently purchased Broadcom’s IoT product portfolio. It includes Bluetooth sensors and smart tags, microcontrollers and system on a chips (SoC), as well as the WICED IoT Platform for developing IoT applications.
Aimed at hobbyists, students and engineers, Flutter modules incorporate ARM processors, long-range wireless capabilities, built-in battery charging and an integrated security chip. The organization says its products are “an ideal choice for robotics, wireless sensor networks, consumer electronics, and educational platforms.”
Although Gemalto is primarily a security company, it also offers a portfolio of IoT and machine-to-machine (M2) products. It offers modules and terminals based on a variety of standards for automotive and industrial use.
Intel describes its IoT development board as “an excellent learning platform that can meet the demands of advanced projects.” The Gallileo Gen 2 Board features an Intel Quark SoC processor, 256MB RAM, multiple ports and support for Arduino.
Also based on the Arduino platform, Microduino boards and related modules are about an inch square and stackable. Basic modules start under $10, and the company also offers kits for building your own robots, quadcopters, weather stations and more.
This firm offers open source IoT hardware, including computing modules, interface boards, and battery modules. Pre-built devices are somewhat more expensive than many other open source boards, with the OpenMote-CC2538 computing module retailing for 90.00€.
OpenPicus positions itself as an end-to-end platform provider for IoT, and aims to help other companies get off the ground with their own IoT products. Its development board is called the FlyPort Pro, which comes in a wide variety of models. Starter kits are also available.
CrowdSupply Pinoccio
With Pinoccio’s Arduino-compatible Scout nodes, users can build a highly efficient mesh network (which Pinoccio calls a Troop). A single Scout costs $59, or you can get a starter kit for $149.
Undoubtedly the best-known of all the IoT development boards, the Raspberry Pi is actually a complete computer the size of a credit card. The third-generation model includes 1.2GHz 64-bit quad-core ARMv8 CPU, Bluetooth, 1 GB RAM, 4 USB ports, an Ethernet port, a Micro SD card slot and much more. It costs around ÂŁ30.00, and purchasing is available through a network of distributors.
Short for “solar powered data acquisition,” SODAQ offers Arduino-compatible boards, modules and sensors that are powered by the sun. The company also develops custom IoT solutions for clients.
Tessel is a modular IoT and robotics platform designed to enable fast prototyping. Boards come with Node.js preinstalled, and prices for boards start under $50.
This company offers boards based on open source hardware designs. It’s primary products are the introductory-level Neo ($49.90), the more powerful Quad/Dual ($135) and the x86, which is being funded through Kickstarter but is available for pre-order.
Virtual Reality (VR) and Augmented Reality (AR) IoT Devices
A surprisingly low-tech approach to virtual reality, Google Cardboard requires users to slot an Android smartphone into a cardboard (or plastic) viewer that they can make themselves or buy. For nostalgic toy lovers, there’s also a viewer that looks like a Mattel View-Master.
Designed primarily for enterprise use, Microsoft HoloLens is an augmented reality device that can assist with design work, communication, training and more. Development Edition devices sell for $3,000.
Facebook’s Oculus Rift device offers consumers a virtual reality experience for playing games, watching movies and other entertainment experiences. Devices cost $599, and in order to use them buyers will need a compatible PC.
Powered by Oculus technology, Samsung’s VR headset integrates with its Galaxy line of smartphones. Key features include a Super AMOLED display, wide field of view, precise head tracking and low latency.
IoT Devices: Maximizing Value
By any market estimate, the list of top IoT devices is growing exponentially – and is poised for continued extremely rapid growth.
Manufacturers are clearly jumping on board the IoT trend and have begun adding Internet connectivity to a host of products. A quick Internet search turns up literally hundreds of “smart” or “connected” products.
Many of them are consumer IoT devices in the home automation space, but the industrial Internet of Things device market is also picking up steam. Additionally, there are many companies offering components and boards for makers and inventors interested in creating their own IoT devices.