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

I have it in the same room as the usb hub. It’s good signal . So far the plug is big so 2 won’t fit. So I have to use a different brand smart plug in the other outlet so I can have use of 2 smart plugs. I can see improvements if you were to design them to make 2 fit in one receptacle. And also designing a 16A smart plug to be able to use a bit more watts would be great too. But It’s working great with ifttt and the temperature sensor too but temp sensor could be a bit more durable. When it accidentally drops the appliances goes crazy and they all turn on and the temperature be way off for a while. Anyway, I notice one great feature is we can set a watt limit , so if we don’t want whatever is plugged up to go over a certain amount of watts then the plug will power off if it does. And the count down timer is way awesome too. I’m new to Aqara’s products but so far so good. Most of all I’m glad temp sensor is accurate unlike some other competitors sensors I’ve been using.

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!

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.

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.

Temperature/Humidity sensors work great, serves its purpose.

We live in an older home with all of our lights integrated into our electrical system and all of our fans on the ceiling. I realized after we purchased this that we didnt have much use for this plug in the traditional sense - no traditional fans, no lamps, no hidden sockets.... I also realized that all of our devices that this could be convenient for (electric kettle, dyson fan, etc) require more than just a power on/off to start. Ultimately, because this was so affordable and we are bad at returning items, we decided to use this on the powerstrip that houses all of our electronic devices and chargers. Essentially we are using it to save on electricity and eliminate phantom power in our home. While this may not be absolutely necessary, it has made it easy to turn off the power to the power strip at any point during the day and doesnt require us to remember before we leave the house. Baby steps to saving the environment.

The shape and size make it bulky and odd. I got it to act as a repeater but see NO benefit. I see it in the app and it is on but was zero help extending the signal.

Good. Easy to use

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.

Really good plug but expensive