Aqara Smart Plug, REQUIRES AQARA HUB, Zigbee, with Energy Monitoring, Overload Protection, Scheduling and Voice Control, Works with Alexa, Google Assistant, IFTTT, and Apple HomeKit Compatible

Purchased this smart plug to extend the network for my Aqara hub. I have temperature sensors in my kitchen and garage fridges and freezers that were dropping signal. Haven’t had any problems since I plugged this in at my kitchen.

Pleasantly surprised at how well it works, same goes for all Aqara products. They stay connected to the hub and work when you need them too.

Works great with Home Assistant (Though actually I use OpenHAB) and its 100% reliable. Takes a few (or more...) tries to pair it but eventually works. Sealed it with silicone caulk and its great outdoors.

It CUTS DOWN power twice when doing firmware updates! I have my computers and stereo system on this plug, such unexpected shut of power could cause data loss and damage the speakers. It’s not super hard to install. But it does require a hub device to work and cannot work alone because it doesn’t have wifi chip. Also, you cannot pair it in the Home app but instead you have to use the Aqara app. I used to buy smart home products from Aqara’s parent brand Xiaomi, which comes in cheaper price, and have no such stupid issue of power cycle, and has integrated Wi-Fi chip so it doesn’t need such a Hub to work. I came to Aqara this time for the HomeKit functions and thought it should be as reliable as other Xiaomi main brand products. Guess I’m just wrong.

In general I like aqaras IOT devices. I have a bunch of their motion sensors, door sensors, vibration sensors, temp sensors, and I would rate them at least 8 or 9/10. However, the false advertising is strong with this one. 1. This is clearly advertised as an energy monitor. I dont know if this function was just not implemented. The aqara app lists the voltage, amperage, and wattage as -. Its been 2 hr since Ive set the outlet up, it has not given me any real reading yet. 2. The energy monitor also ONLY exists in the aqara app. No where in homekit can this reading even exist. 3. The lag. When I said I liked aqaras other products, its because of the low latency. I open a door, the door sensor updates. I move around, my motion detector updates. This plug, which is connected to the same hub on the same network, lags by at least 5 minutes.

Ive been trying different HomeKit devices for the last few years and I finally decided to try the Aqara system. Along with the smart hub I also purchased 2 of their Smart Plugs. Adding the smart plugs into my HomeKit ecosystem literally took less than 30 seconds between when I opened the box to when I had each plug integrated into the Home app. The smart plug is a little larger than other HomeKit plugs I have, but when used in a standard wall outlet it wont block the bottom outlet so you can still plug other things into the wall. I have the smart plug integrated into a few automations in the Apple Home app and response is pretty quick, if not short of instantaneous. So far so good, and because the smart plug is part of a hub-based system, if ever my Internet connection disconnects, I can still control and monitor the smart plug (as with all of my other Aqara devices) through my LAN connection. Super quick setup, full compatibility with HomeKit!

Great product. Works very well

I bought the Aqara Smart Plug for a couple of reasons: 1) as a Zigbee signal repeater for an Aqara vibration sensor that kept going dark; and 2) as a power monitor for our basement clothes dryer, so I can set up an automation to alert us when the drying cycle has completed. As a Zigbee repeater, the Smart Plug works great. It immediately solved the connection problem with the vibration sensor, raising the connection quality shown in the Aqara app from Poor to Acceptable. I think if I add another Smart Switch somewhere in-between my current Smart Plug and the M2 Hub, I should be able to get the connection quality up to Good (the best of the three levels). So Im really happy about this. The build quality of the device seems really good too. Its solid, the switch doesnt feel wishy-washy, and it responds to on/off commands from the Home app really fast. And the price is affordable, so all good on these fronts. The disappointing aspect, and the reason I give this device only 4 stars instead of 5, is that it does not support the Smart Switch power measurement capabilities for automation purposes. As I mentioned, I have our clothes dryer plugged into this one, and in the Aqara app, I can see in real time as the power goes up above 4 watts when the dryer turns on, when it goes up above 200 watts while a drying cycle is running, and then when it falls back down to 4 watts when the cycle completes. So it would be very easy to create automation that would play a sound on a HomePod and change the color of a light bulb upstairs to let me know when the cycle completes. In fact, Ive been doing this successfully for years with the WeMo Insight plug. WeMo also doesnt let you create automation directly on power usage readings (accept to generate a phone notification through their WeMo app), but the Insight plug does support the In Use/Not In Use events. These events are different than On/Off. On/Off flags whether or not the plug itself is powered on. The In Use/Not In Use flag indicates whether or not the appliance plugged into the switch is actually drawing power. So these events are crucial to building automation that can let you know whether an appliance is actually running or not. So far the WeMo Insight is the only plug Ive found that supports the In Use event correctly in HomeKit. The problem with the WeMo Insight is that it has a really short lifespan. I basically had to replace the plug about every year. In fact, lifespan was so poor, that it looks like WeMo is no longer selling the Insight. Its no longer shown in the WeMo product line on their web site, and the only Insight units available for purchase here on Amazon are used products. So I had high hopes that the Aqara Smart Plug could be my new go to In Use sensing plug, but its not. But it is a fine Zigbee range extender if you need that, and in fact, Ill likely buy another one soon, since these plugs also respond a lot faster than the WeMos (even with a WeMo bridge). In an answer to the question I posted about this on this product page, Aqara responded that they are considering adding the In Use trigger feature to the Smart Plug. I certainly hope they decide to do so. Its a capability that should really be available in all smart devices, but the majority of manufacturers seem to ignore it. I hope this review explains to Aqara, and other makers, why it is important to support In Use/Not In Use as another set of triggers beyond the simple On/Off events.

I have 3 of these and noticed they do not turn back on after a power outage, they are not reliable.

I’ve never had any “no response” errors. Connects to the Aqara bridge, so using this instead of comparable alternatives saves on WiFi overcrowding. My only complaint is that this device, like most other plugs and switches, makes a loud click when activated or deactivated.