Kasa Smart Plug Power Strip HS300, Surge Protector with 6 Individually Controlled Smart Outlets and 3 USB Ports, Works with Alexa & Google Home, No Hub Required , White

Update 1-2-2021: Well it seems I made an error in my original review. If you do change your wifi name or password you can re-connect the device without loosing all your settings. The key is to not select reset device when re-connecting it, which is what i did. Then it will go straight to the wifi setup section without loosing names or schedules. However this isnt mentioned anywhere in the manual (which is just a little card telling you to use the app). I had to get the information from users at the Kasa forum and it took a while to find. So Im uping my rating, but still docking 1 star for this to not be documented in the user guide or app. Original Review: I liked this thing so much that I bought another one. They were both super easy to set up and the app works great to controll each outlet individually and create schedules to help save energy. The plugs are spaced far apart enough to be able to plug in USB power supplies and other wall warts without covering an adjacent outlet. Overall the thing is great and I would have given it 5 stars easily. And now for the bad, and I mean really bad! I routinely change my wifi password about once a month as recommended by security experts. This is where it completely fails. The app has no place to change this. Not even in the settings for the device. Their support says I have to reset it to factory settings and set it up again! This is a major failure. So now I have to setup 12 outlets again with names and schedules. I was going to buy a couple more of these, but now forget it. 12 outlets is enough to have to redo every month. Unless TP-Link pushes out a firmware or app update to correct this horrible oversight I wont be getting any more. Thats why I only gave it 3 stars. When and if they fix this issue it becomes a 5 srar product.

I love the individual Kasa plugs because I can use them for energy monitoring without needing an account or cloud access. For some reason, though, this one is different and requires you to set up an account to set it up on wifi. Like the individual plugs, this can be controlled locally without the cloud and integrates beautifully with Sense, and so I am still a fan.

I have 4 of those spread around the house. I use mostly for my plant room, cabinets and etc. It’s very easy to use, reliable and straightforward. You can set up individual commands for each plug as you wish. The only silly detail, which can be worked around, is that it’ll follow the timing of your phone. A different time zone will interfere with the schedules set

Overall this is an excellent product — six separately controlled outlets, with individual energy monitoring, for about $10 per outlet. One small downside is the wall-mounting process. The plastic back of the plug strip is moulded with keyhole cutouts for mounting screws, except that at the shoulder where the circular hole meets the straight slot of the keyhole, there is a small plastic post that prevents the screw head from sliding into the slot. You’ll have to use a Dremel tool or similar with a tiny circular blade to trim away the small plastic post. Another oddity is that the overload reset button is on the back. So if you have it wall-mounted and the overload does trip, you’ll have to remove it from the wall to reset it. Finally, my main use for these smart plug strips is for energy monitoring, not remote control. In the iPhone app, the screen showing power consumption for an outlet just shows a static instantaneous reading. It would be better if it updated live. It would be even better if the app let you view the live power consumption for all six outlets at the same time on a single screen. Fortunately for me I use these Kasa HS300 smart power strips in conjunction with a Sense whole-house energy monitor, and the Sense iPhone app does let you see the power consumption of all monitored outlets in a single view, with continuous live updating. Perhaps the TP-Link engineers thought that polling the smart power strip once per second to get live data might create too much Wi-Fi traffic, but if my Wi-Fi network can stream 4K HDR Netflix video without any problems, I think that it can probably handle one request/response per second to the smart power strip.

I have 2 HS300s that I bought about a month ago. I like the build quality, the ease of setup, and Alexa integration. However, I am having problems with each plug’s energy consumption reporting. For example, I have 2 27 inch LED monitors plugged into 1 of my HS300s. One plug is currently reporting Current Power of 4027 Watts while the other monitor is reporting Current Power of 6504 Watts (see picture). I would expect each monitor to be using less than 30 Watts. Ive tested this on other devices as well. It seems that the HS300 is reporting 100 times the wattage that it should be. I then spent an hour with tech support before they confirmed that there was a bug, that there was a patch available to fix the bug, and provided me with a private link to the patch which I did not install. Im curious if anybody else has had this issue. My hardware Version is 2.8. 10/30/21: I changed from 3 stars to 2 stars since Kasa still hasnt publicly posted their firmware fix. 10/30/21: Firmware fix is posted. Broken firmware is 1.0.3. Firmware fix is 1.0.11. Seems to be working. Changing from 2 stars to 4 stars

If you’re looking for a “standard” layout power strip with Wifi capability and 6 individual control capability then this one works great! No issues, app works just fine with my iPhone 13 pro utilizing 2 out of the 6 plugs. iOS 15.6

I want to give the Kasa smart power strip its due as the best there is. I wrote a far different review less than a month ago panning the strip because while I had four of them working as intended within the Kasa app, the strips plugs were not recognized by the Alexa app. The technical support units of both Kasa and Amazon Alexa pointed fingers at each other. I was dubious of a promise by the latter that a remedy would be forthcoming within a week of my complaint. However, a very effective change was made to the Alexa app user interface and presto all of the plugs were recognized! I just bought a fifth Kasa strip to voice-control various lights and devices on a total of 30 plugs! Everything is working as intended. The TP-Link Kasa smart power strip is the best there is!

This is the third one I’ve purchased. I like the usb features and that you can turn individual outlets on it on/off. It’s very easy to set up and use with Alexa and the Kasa app.

Simple IOT device providing remote of plugged in devices. Quick response through app because of use of wifi. Con that it requires creating an account to use. Haven’t tried controlling from outside the app though. Like feature to monitor run time and power usage.

Why is it great for tinkerers/homelabs you may ask? Its a power strip thats regularly on sale for $45. You may think thats a lot for a power strip, but once you realize that it has not only INDIVIDUAL CONTROL on each outlet, but also power monitoring on each outlet? Thats an INSANE feature to have. Currently, I have one on a 3D printer. It controls the printer itself, the light, and the monitor (which doesnt always have to be on) - the ability to see a rough estimate (I havent verified the accuracy of the power usage) of the power usage, and integrate with OctoPrint to automatically turn the printer and light on/off is amazing. I ordered a second one to use for the server rack and be able to monitor the power usage of the core network (Modem, Router, Switch) as well as a quick remote reboot for them all. Its plastic, so its not the most sturdy power strip ever. WiFi signal is actually pretty good, never had communication issues with it even when other devices struggle. The firmware is old enough that it can be directly accessed/toggled, though this isnt guaranteed to be the case for long - the smart plug minis have been updated (so I hear) to disable it due to security concerns, who knows if that affects or will be applied to this. Sure, you can get more open ones, or even ones that work better with your setup. But for the price, and the feature set, Id 100% recommend this hidden gem just because it has much more than you expect at first glance. But only on sale, I dont believe its worth the full price of $80.