TP-Link HS110 Smart Plug with Energy Monitoring, No Hub Required

I purchased this plug to try the whole 'Smart Home' thing and integrate it with my Echo. And if you are ever on the fence or remotely considering controlling your home appliances/lights . I can tell you that You Need this ! Just like the Echo - Its one of those things you didn't know you wanted until you actually own it . I am now in the process of getting more to control more stuff in my home Size -------- The size of this plug is definitely larger than what I expected and what looked like a cute little plug in pictures is certainly not little (cute maybe). It will cover adjacent ports on power strips or wall outlets . Your best bet is to mount it on the upper of the two outlets or an extension cord of you plan to use multiple outlets Construction & Build Quality --------------------------------------------- -The plug is well built with nice thick ABS plastic materials . - There is a small WiFi indicator light on the front face that glows green when connected and flashes red-green during the setup process. WiFi authentication errors are indicated by a Red light - The Plug can only use the 2.4 Ghz WiFi band for connecting to your network and in my opinion is a good thing as it gives you the flexibility of installing your plug at a greater range from your router. A modern router should be able to bridge your 2.4Ghz and 5Ghz bands anyway for network visibility. (If not , then you probably need to update your router) There is a very distinct click sound when the plug is operated On/Off via the app or Echo and this means only one thing - The plug uses a physical ElectroMechanical Relay for switch actuation. Now using electromechanical relays has its ups and downs (there are quite a few differences but I'm focusing mainly the differences in the context of my use case of a Smart Home) Ups: - Cheaper to produce , keeps overall cost low - Able to handle higher currents and thus even works for larger appliances Downs: - Just like any mechanical component , it will wear out eventually ( the two year warranty should give some peace of mind) - Slightly higher idle power consumption Initial Setup & The TP-Link Kasa App ---------------------------------------------------------- - The setup process if very simple and straightforward once you download the Kasa App & signup for a TP-Link Account. The app walks you through the setup process asks you to enter your device name like 'Living Room Lamp' etc - The app itself is simple and elegantly designed , and gives you the option to turn On/Off your appliance via it - It also gives you a total runtime for the day , week and month on how long your device was switched on . Not very useful but good to know anyway - The more useful feature is the scheduling and the Away feature which is just another glorified scheduling feature which allows you to program your lights/devices to turn off/On on set times and days - You WILL have to enable the 'Allow Remote Control' option if you want control your devices via Echo or while away from home Echo Integration ----------------------------- After a a brief <1 Minute setup you can start controlling your smart plug via Echo/Alexa . The process is simple and straightforward : - Make sure you have Remote control enabled on the Kasa App for the plug you want to control - Enable the TP-Link Kasa skill and enter your TP-Link account information for the Skill in the Amazon Alexa app - Ask Alexa to discover devices , & volia thats it ! - Once you have more plugs, devices you can form them into groups via the Alexa App otherwise it works just with "Alexa , Turn Off/On " Overall thoughts --------------------------- I love this smart plug and how simple and straightforward it is to convert your dumb Lamps and appliances around your home into 'smart' devices. I also like the fact that its less expensive than the WeMo Plugs/switches, However while ~$30 may not seem much at the beginning , but I promise you that you will come back for more soon wanting to control more devices via your voice/phone just like me and then you will start looking into Smart Bulbs like the Philips hue, connected thermostats, IFTTT etc. - And that, my friends, is a slippery slope & an expensive indulgence :)