I've written about a bunch of great smart-home tech, but these are the gadgets I use every day — here's why

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As a kid who grew up with futuristic video games, reruns of "The Jetsons" on TV Land, and an overactive imagination, I'm more than ready for the "house of the future."

But with so many smart-home products on the market, it's hard to separate the good ones from those that aren't quite ready for primetime.

I've used all the products on this list, except for the last one, and all of them have made my apartment smarter, and my life easier.

Amazon Echo

Every smart home needs a hub. Whether you opt to use Apple's HomeKit and Siri, Samsung's SmartThings and an app, or the Amazon's Echo and Alexa.

After going back and forth for almost a year about whether I was comfortable having an "always listening" device in my apartment, I decided to take the plunge. It's been great. In addition to being able to ask the Echo a whole bunch of questions about the news or weather, it gives you the ability to interact with smart-home products using only your voice. It's amazing.

Voice operation removes a layer of friction between me and my smart-home devices that I didn't know would be there. It's so much more natural and fluid than fumbling through an app. All of the devices on this list are Echo-compatible, and honestly, I wouldn't buy a smart-home product if it wasn't.

Amazon Echo, $179.99, available at Amazon

Philips Hue bulbs

My first post-Echo purchase was Hue bulbs. At first, they seem absolutely unnecessary, and while they're a definite luxury, they're extremely useful. My apartment only has one source of light — a ceiling lamp. It got annoying to get up and cross the room to flip the light switch before going to sleep each night. Instead, I say, "Alexa, turn off my bedroom lights," and boom, they're off.

I can also set the bulbs to rotate between different colors, which is nothing more than a fun party trick, but hey, it's nice to have fun once in a while! These bulbs were the smart-home device I was looking forward to trying the most, and they haven't disappointed.

Philips Hue Starter Kit, $179.99, available at Amazon

A Philips Hue Lightstrip

In the same family as the Hue Bulbs, the Hue Lightstrip is a very thin, but very bright light strip. Once you have one set of Hue devices set up, it's dangerously simple to add more. This light strip lives in my kitchen, underneath a set of cabinets. Having these on all night (and able to be turned off with a single voice cue) has saved me a bunch of stubbed toes during nighttime trips to my bathroom.

Like Hue's bulbs, the power strip can be dimmed, which is great because I need these to be a room-filling nightlight, not a beacon.

Philips Hue Lightstrip Plus, $89.99, available at Amazon