About Smart Home Guide

Independent reviews. Real testing. Zero sponsored rankings.

Who I am

I’m SUJI KIM — the writer and tester behind every review on this site.

I started Smart Home Guide in 2025 because I was tired of “Top 10” lists that turned out to be paid promotions or AI-spun rewrites. Most product reviews online are written by people who have never used the product. I wanted to do this differently.

How I test

Real homes, not labs

Every product I review is tested in a real home (mine, plus 4 beta-reader households across the US, Korea, and Canada). Test windows are typically 3-6 months — not “I unboxed it yesterday.”

Measurable criteria

I score products on 6-14 measurable factors per category:

Air purifiers: CADR, dB at 1m, kWh, filter cost, lifespan, smart integration
Robot vacuums: pet hair pickup, edge cleaning, obstacle avoidance, mop quality, maintenance cost
Smart locks: ANSI grade, locksmith pick resistance, battery life, app reliability
Sleep products: support firmness, motion isolation, temperature, durability, value-per-night

Affiliate transparency

I earn 1-4% Amazon Associates commission if you purchase via my links. This does NOT affect product rankings — products are scored on testing criteria FIRST, then affiliate consideration is separate.

I’ve turned down 8 brand sponsorships in the past 6 months because they conflicted with reader trust.

What you can expect

30-day refund on every digital product I sell (no questions asked)
48-hour email response to every reader question (sometimes faster)
Quarterly updates to product lists (next: June 1, 2026)
8-language coverage — English, 한국어, 日本語, Deutsch, Español, हिन्दी, 繁體中文, Português
Honest “skip this” calls — I tell you what NOT to buy, too

The 5-Tier Trust Framework

Every product review on Smart Home Guide passes a 5-tier review process:

Tier 1 — Independent purchase: I or beta readers buy with our own money
Tier 2 — 30-90 day daily use: No “first impressions” reviews
Tier 3 — Measurable scoring: 6-14 criteria per category, normalized to 1-10
Tier 4 — Failure tracking: Returns, repairs, customer service experiences logged
Tier 5 — Quarterly re-test: Top picks re-verified every 90 days

What I do NOT do

❌ Accept payment for placement on any list
❌ Use AI-generated reviews without human testing + editing
❌ Cherry-pick products with the highest commission
❌ Recommend products I have not personally tested or seen tested by a beta reader
❌ Hide affiliate disclosures (full disclosure on every page)

AI use disclosure (EU AI Act Art. 50 transparency)

I use AI tools (Claude Opus 4.6, ChatGPT-5, Gemini 2.5) to:

Synthesize background research from peer-reviewed sources
Draft initial outline structures
Translate disclosures across 8 languages
Compile comparison tables from raw data

I do NOT use AI to:

Generate fake product reviews
Write recommendations without human testing
Auto-publish without my human review

All articles are human-edited and verified by SUJI KIM.

Contact

📧 Reader questions: contact form or hello@smarthomeguide24.com

💬 Press / partnership: hello@smarthomeguide24.com (subject: Press)

🔄 Refunds: suji092083@gmail.com (subject: refund)

Legal + transparency

By SUJI KIM · smarthomeguide24.com · Started 2025 · Independent for life · Updated 2026-05-01

⚠ AI-assisted research synthesis · human-edited and verified by SUJI KIM