Throw the ultimate Super Bowl party with smart home tech

The Super Bowl is only one week away. Regardless of what team you’re rooting for in Super Bowl LVI, the right smart home accessories will make the big game that much more exciting to watch — especially if you’re hosting a party.

If you have friends coming over, we’ve got a few gadgets here that should make the whole day easy to manage. You can also use them to impress your friends –or distract them when your team loses. Here are the best items to throw the ultimate Super Bowl party, from lights and audio to food.

From the outside in

First, let’s start with the tech that will be outside. Having a smart video doorbell and door lock is essential with guests coming over. You’ll be able to see who’s at the door and unlock it without having to get up from your spot.

One of the best smart door locks is the August Smart Lock 3rd Generation. It has many features, including virtual keys and unlocking from your phone, and it’s generally not very expensive. The August lock also retrofits over your existing deadbolt which means even people living in apartments can use it.

As far as video doorbells go, the Ring Video Doorbell 4 is an excellent choice. It has customizable chime options, two-way audio, and can run on simple battery power. In addition, the Alexa Greetings feature means your smart assistant can answer the door for you.

On the big screen

One of the most significant pieces of tech for a Super Bowl party is the TV. A big smart TV will allow you to stream the game and see every bead of sweat in high resolution. Plus, with all the streaming options available, you’ll have plenty of channel choices. Of course, you can also get a streaming device such as the Apple TV 4K or the Chromecast with Google TV if your TV isn’t smart.

One of the best recent smart TVs that you can purchase and won’t break the bank is the Hisense 65-inch U7G Android Smart TV. Besides having an impressive picture quality, this TV is also made with gamers in mind if you like to wind down with some Call of Duty in your downtime.

What’s a great picture without great sound, though? Nothing, that’s what. An intelligent speaker setup will allow you to have surround sound with wireless satellites that also have the features of a voice assistant. So not only will it provide excellent audio for the game, but after your team wins, you can play your very own celebration music.

Some of the best smart soundbars and speaker combos we’ve seen are the Sonos system — specifically the Sonos Beam paired with Sonos Ones. These speakers will cost a pretty penny, but they will provide a fully wireless and clean look, all the while being able to access Siri, Alexa, and Google Assistant. You can also stream nearly any audio streaming service to them and use Airplay 2 as well.

Light and Action

Another great way to spice up your home for your Super Bowl party is with lighting. You can have lights behind the TV or just festive team-colored lights in all of your fixtures. One option is the Philips Hue brand of smart light accessories.

Hue offers its Play Gradient light strip that attaches to the back of nearly any TV and syncs the lights up with whatever content is playing. A light strip like this will be perfect for the legendary halftime show we should receive on Sunday. Something about the lights really immerses you into whatever you’re watching. Of course, you can also keep them a static color or theme Play Gradientif you want.

You can then use Philips Hue colored bulbs to show a bit more team pride by having them match up to the team’s colors. These bulbs showcase millions of colors and can be dimmed. Through an (admittedly slightly involved) process of connecting ESPN, IFTTT, and the Philips Hue bulbs, you can have them flash a specific color whenever your team scores. This effect will make sure every guest in the home knows someone just got a touchdown.

Having a smart display is also an excellent way to keep up with information about the game whether you’re watching the TV or in another room. Unless you’re strictly in a Homekit-only household, the Echo Show or Nest Hub will keep you up to date with scores, injuries, and any other bits of information. Maybe you just need to set a time for the food hands-free.

What’s a game without food?

Speaking of food, there’s actually a device that could help you ease the burden of cooking wings for the party. The Breville Smart Oven Air Fryer can intelligently cook various foods you through at it, but let’s not kid ourselves; wings are likely the top of the list. The Breville Air Fryer has plenty of presets depending on what type of food you want to cook and will intelligently and automatically adjust the heating process for even cooking. It’s also big enough to cook more than just a couple of items at once.

Following this list and either picking up or incorporating one or more items here will be sure to enhance your game day party. So how are you going to set up for the Super Bowl? Alexa, Siri, or Google Assistant? Maybe you’ll give out virtual keys to each guest, or you’ll show your team pride with smart bulbs.

More importantly, though: Who’s going to win?

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