Eve Energy 2 Pack - Smart Plug & Power Meter with Built-in Schedules, Switch a Connected lamp or Device on & Off, Voice Control, no Bridge, Bluetooth Low Energy, Apple HomeKit, Bluetooth, Thread

This product is certainly nice. The thread connectivity is unmatched. The outlet works well for a while, then inexplicably stops responding. I tried resetting it, following all the possible solutions in the manual. I finally managed to add it back to the home, but still wouldn’t respond. After a few hours of trying to get it working again, the device failed to function properly. It had to be discarded. This isn’t the first time this happened. Clearly, the manufacturer either needs to look at the microcode for their firmware and/or the have a hardware defect. Waste of money.

Ive tried a variety of smart plugs that are supposedly Apple Home / Homekit compatible from Wemo, Meross, and others, and they all are unreliable except this one from Eve. Even worse most require you to install some horrible sketchy likely spyware Chinese mobile app just to set them up and sometimes as the only way to use them. This plug from Eve is the ONLY one Ive found that ALWAYS works and no app is required to set it up with Apple Home. Further, the new version acts as a Thread mesh network repeater. So sprinkling these around your house helps your battery powered Thread devices communicate more reliably. These can save you serious money. For example I have a power hungry dehumidifier that always runs the inefficient fan/blower even when its not dehumidifying. Left plugged in all the time it was using about 6 Kwh per day or nearly $30/month to run. By using the Eve Energy I set up a simple Apple Homekit schedule to run it only twice per day for a few hours. Now it uses only 1 Kwh per day or six times less power at around $5/month. So just one of these Eve devices is saving me $25/month easily paying for itself many times over. Like a Kill-A-Watt or similar energy meter, you can use these smart plugs to monitor power consumption of devices over time. It could be anything from your TV to your window fan but even better if its something you want to automate or control remotely. One note is the Eve energy monitoring feature requires some time to work correctly. You cant plug something in and get a near instant reading of how much energy its using. Its designed to only be an accurate average over time. I think these are rated for 15 amps but I wouldnt use them, or any smart plug, for very high power devices like room heaters, kitchen appliances, etc. Some of the no-name Chinese smart plugs have been known to catch fire when used with high power devices.

Nice and easy to set up. The things that stood out the most to me was being able to track the actual energy consumption and being future proof, supporting thread. Will make it much easier to integrate and also manage my network locally

Works well! No complaint! Very happy with this product!

I ordered a 2-pack and it took awhile to get them. That was no fault of Amazon, they were in high demand and were back ordered. I eagerly awaited for them to arrive because they are the first Smart home devices that I know of that support the new connection protocol called Matter. For those that aren’t familiar these plugs work on thread, not WiFi. Thread and matter are far superior to WiFi and going forward that is all I will buy. It is faster than WiFi, each powered device functions as a “router” for other thread devices, and I could go on. Also these eve outlets are great because they have a built in power meter which is handy so you can keep track of energy consumption on whatever is plugged into it. Aside from being the most expensive smart plugs I’ve seen there is nothing not to like. However, I have to express my initial disappointment. When I finally got the 2-pack the very first one out of the box was completely dead. It wouldn’t power on or do anything. The 2nd one worked fine. I called Amazon’s tech support and was floored to hear that I had to wait 48 hours after I received them before I could initiate a return. What? That made no sense to me, but I let it go initially. Then I thought I would email Eve directly to see if maybe there was some way of resetting it or something. They were, to put it as nicely as I can, less than helpful. At first they seemingly didn’t read my long, well thought out email and only said that they had no control over Amazon’s return policy. I didn’t think they did, and that’s not why I contacted them in the first place. I contacted them to express my disappointment that the most expensive smart outlet I had ever bought was DOA upon receipt. I emailed back and re-expressed my concern and I was astounded at their reply. They essentially said in so many words, “ stuff happens” it’s not a perfect world. Not, “oh my gosh, I’m so sorry to hear about this, please let us know if Amazon doesn’t satisfy you”. If I treated my customers that way I wouldn’t have a job long. In Amazon’s defense I called back the next day and this time I got someone who was clearly in the USA and not a foreign call center. The woman that helped me was phenomenal and she took care of it in an expedient manner. She completely made me change my mind about the service after the sale aspect of this transaction. I have since received the replacements and both worked perfectly right out of the box. They definitely have some nice features and are certainly the most feature rich plugs I have. I will say that the Wemo brand Homekit thread plug is less expensive and works just as well, although it doesn’t have a power meter. All things considered I give the plugs 5/5 stars, the Eve app is great as well. I was very disappointed in Eve’s technical support and still am, and initially my experience with Amazon tech support was disappointing as well, although the 2nd person I dealt with more than redeemed it for me. She was phenomenal. All in all, they’re relatively expensive, but they are definitely nice. If you’re wanting a very similar plug for significantly less money (although with fewer bells and whistles) I would check out the Thread enabled Homekit Wemo smart plug.

I have several of these on my HomeKit system. Easy set up and reliable

I wanted to use my fairy lights with apple HomeKit (nothing more annoying than having to physically plug and unplug the lights to turn them on/off) and these smart plugs make that possible. SUPER easy to set up, literally all I had to do was scan the barcode in my home app, pick the room it’s in, and give it a name and it was working instantly. I do want to note that I have a Thread network in my home, and these are Thread devices so they respond instantaneously. I’m not sure how well they work/how fast they respond without thread (i.e. just on Bluetooth), and I also can’t speak to how they work with Alexa or Google home, but if you use apple HomeKit and have a thread compatible HomeKit hub (either a HomePod or Apple TV 4K) then you NEED to get these. It can be harder to find good accessories for HomeKit than Alexa/Google, so these are a must have because they’re tried and true.

TL/DR: Do they work? Most of the time. Are they easy to program? Sort of. Do I recommend? Yes, with the reservations listed below. The product is sleek and appears to be solidly made. I appreciate the green lighted button on the front that you can use bypass the app when (not if) you need to. The size and shape is also great; big enough to securely hold the plug, but not so big that it gets in the way of using the other outlet. If there was some way to make the plug with the holes on the side, it would be easier to use in tight places like behind furniture. To use it behind a side desk table, I had to cut a 6 x10 inch hole in the back of it. A side plug hole would be much more flexible (and would have saved me from hacking-up a piece of furniture). There are a couple of other things they could have done better. One is placement of the QR code. After plugging it into power, my phone’s camera couldn’t see the code, which was on the other side of the plug. It’s often dark behind furniture and the code is printed in a very light gray color, so it was hard for the phone’s camera to find it. Having the code printed on both sides of the plug would be great. Typing the code in myself wasn’t THAT big of a deal, but then it didn’t connect with my phone after several frustrating tries. So I decided to send them back. However, I tried once more the next day, and it worked. The manufacturer made beautiful, high quality Apple-like packaging, but they followed the habit of many companies nowadays of making the directions only 2-3 pages long with inadequate graphics, and in very faint print. There’s too little info in the booklet or on their website to help explain how to install and connect it, at least for “old people” like me. A few times, as others have noted, the product seems to lose connection with the app too. I don’t know exactly what the problem is, but, given enough time, it’s been able to fix itself (so far). I worry about setting up an automation to work the lights while away on vacation. What if the plug stops working and can’t fix itself? Then the automation wouldn’t work and I wouldn’t even be able to command it remotely. Would the light just stay on, or would it not come on at all? Another issue I have is having two different apps that control the switch - the Eve app and Apple’s HomeKit app. HomeKit has more functionality (potentially at least) because you can program a Siri Shortcut. I found the Eve app nicer though, because their on/off button is a simple toggle. You open the app and push the button once and the switch is either on or off. With the HomeKit app you have to open the app, tap the button for the switch, then move a slider switch up or down. Unless there’s some reason HomeKit has to do it that way, that’s just another step. I’ve exhausted efforts to find a way to make a Siri Shortcut to create a simple toggle switch. Of course, I realize that all I have to do is say: Hey Siri, turn on the Office Desk Lamp, and she does it right away. But, if I say Hey Siri, turn on the “desk light in the office” instead of “office desk lamp”, she says she can’t find it. She doesn’t seem to know that lamp and light CAN be interchangeable terms. She could at least ask for clarification - “did you mean desk LAMP?” Much of this may be construed as whining, but I feel like the product isn’t yet “ready for prime time”. Real consumer testing (not by the “boffins” who made the product) and opinion panels could help bring out products that ARE ready for prime time. Diatribe over.

The Eve Energy plugs are generally very nice and easy to install, if you are in range of a hub. The thread networking range to the Apple TV 4K is ~ 20 feet so you have to daisy chain thread devices across the house to reach distant locations. This can lead to numerous thread devices that are unused. The Eve Energy plug can monitor the voltage and power of the socket but the voltage measurement is well hidden. There is no notification possible with a desired power threshold. Low-cost, stubbed thread extenders would be nice. Also, it is too easy to shut an Eve Energy plug off. There should be a setting preventing that action. They will not fit recessed floor sockets and will not fit well behind furniture or appliances.

This is a great product and seamlessly connected to the Apple Home App in 2 mins! Do not purchase the Meross product as it’s total garbage. I’ve returned all of them and spent the extra money with the Eve brand. Absolutely no regrets and an excellent experience setting the Eve up!