10 killer smart home gadgets that were left for dead

Imagine if that refrigerator you bought just five years ago suddenly up and died—and not because of some technical glitch, but because the manufacturer deliberately reached out and deactivated it, permanently. You’d be furious, right? And you’d probably want a refund, too.

As wild as that scenario sounds for a major appliance like a refrigerator or a TV, it happens more often than you’d think in the smart home world. From the doomed Dropcam to the abandoned Revolv smart hub, there’s a long, sad parade of smart home devices that have turned into paperweights.

We’ve compiled a list of 10 infamous examples of killer smart home products that—for one reason or another—were abandoned by their manufacturers.

These deactivated smart home gadgets have either mostly or completely ceased to function. In some cases, the makers of these bricked devices offered refunds, or a discount on an upgraded or replacement product. But in other instances, customers were left high and dry.

Read ‘em and weep.

10 stone-dead smart home gadgets

Amazon Echo Look

Launched: 2017
Original list price: $200
Date deactivated: July 24, 2020

Amazon

It was a heady concept: an Alexa-powered smart camera that could scan your daily outfits and give you fashion advice. Indeed, the Echo Look was one of the original “look what Alexa can do!” devices, predating such out-there Alexa gadgets as the Echo Loop (Alexa on a ring) and the Amazon Astro (Alexa on a robot).

But the Echo Look never really took off—in part, perhaps, because the Look’s camera lacked a privacy shutter, a minus for a device that’s supposed to sit on your bedroom dresser. In May 2020, Amazon announced that the 3-year-old Look would go dark just two months later.

Amazon did offer Echo Look owners a free Echo Show 5 in compensation, but still, the $90 smart display didn’t exactly cover the $200 asking price for the dead-as-a-doornail fashion camera.

Amazon Echo Connect

Launched: 2017
Original list price: $35
Date deactivated: February 29, 2024

Amazon

Landing right around the same time as the doomed Echo Look, the Echo Connect unlocked a killer Alexa feature: the ability to make phone calls on your landline using voice commands. All you had to do was plug your landline cable into the back of the Connect box, no additional fees required.

But as landlines gave way to cell phones and Alexa gained the ability to place calls from mobile phone numbers, the Echo Connect began to look increasingly outdated, and some bad reviews didn’t help.

Still, Echo Connect users were caught off guard when, in February 2024, Amazon gave them just a few weeks’ notice that the Connect would soon go dead. On the bright side, each Echo Connect owner got a $10 Amazon gift card for their trouble.

Revolve smart home hub

Launched: 2013
Original list price: $299
Date deactivated: May 15, 2016

YouTube

One smart hub to rule them all? That was the idea behind Revolv, a fire engine-red gadget packed with seven wireless radios that allowed you to control smart products from different manufacturers, all from a single app.

That was, at the time, a killer concept—so killer that Nest, which had itself just been acquired by Google, snapped up Revolv’s parent company in 2014 and promptly yanked the hub from store shelves.

Initially, Nest promised to keep existing Revolv smart hubs up and running. But by early 2016, Revolv owners learned that their hubs would stop working entirely by May of the same year, leaving them stuck with $300 paperweights while scrambling for alternatives.

Iris by Lowe’s Home Automation platform

Launched: 2012
Original list price: $50 hub, $99 Security Pack (with various contact and motion sensors, plus a keypad), $129 Automation Pack (contained Security Pack components plus a smart plug and button)
Date deactivated: March 31, 2019

Lowe’s

Lowe’s jumped into the smart home market early, going all-in with a hub (a second-generation hub landed in 2015 as a free upgrade for original hub owners) and a variety of sensors, security cameras, smoke detectors, and other smart components.

But from the start, Lowe’s Iris platform was beset with problems, from a lengthy and bug-ridden setup process to promised features that were slow to materialize (such as professional home monitoring), while support for third-party smart brands arrived only in dribs and drabs. Lowe’s eventually rolled out a raft of welcome updates to address the lengthy list of customer complaints, but the Iris platform never truly recovered from its rocky launch.

By 2019, Lowe’s finally threw in the towel, announcing that its Iris products would stop working by March 31 of that year.

While Iris users were faced with the prospect of rebuilding their smart home setups, Lowe’s at least offered to refund customers for any Iris products that wouldn’t work on any other platforms, while Samsung SmartThings stepped up to help Iris users migrate to its own smart platform.

Hive home security products

Launched: 2017
Original list price: Various
Date deactivated: September 1, 2023 (Hive Leak sensor), August 1, 2025 (all other Hive security products)

Amazon

UK-based Hive had big plans for the smart home back in 2017. Originally focused on smart heating and thermostats, the brand was poised to branch out into home security with the Hive HomeShield alarm and the Hive View indoor and outdoor cameras (pictured above), while the Hive Leak Sensor would keep its wireless-enabled feelers out for water leaks.

But by 2019, Hive began dialing down its smart home ambitions, first withdrawing from the U.S. and Canadian markets (Hive gave instructions to users in North America on how to dispose of its useless smart gadgets on a support page) and then announcing it would exit the home security market altogether, with its portfolio of camera and security devices slated to go dead by August 1, 2025. (The Hike Leak lost support and connectivity in 2023.) And as for refunds, the options aren’t great.

Hive chose to chop the products because “as a smart technology brand in the middle of a climate crisis, we know our focus needs to change,” according to a company statement.

Samsung SmartThings first-generation Hub, ADT SmartThings Home Security & Safety System, SmartThings Link

Launched: 2014 (first-gen Hub), 2017 (ADT SmartThings Home Security & Safety System), 2018 (Samsung Link)
Original list price: $99 (hub), $550 and up (ADT SmartThings Home Security kits), $40 (SmartThings Link)
Date deactivated: June 20, 2021