Best smart power plugs for touch-free control must fit local plug type
Due to Coronavirus Disease COVID-19 pandemic, touch-free control is no longer a luxury but a necessity. By connecting home appliances to smart power plugs, we can control these appliances with app or voice. The scheduling and auto power off features are extremely useful for saving power while spending long hours at home.
One of the most common applications is to switch lamps like smart light bulbs but without the ability of recreating an atmosphere from millions of colors. Most smart plugs are compatible with smart speakers where we can control connected home appliances with voice.
Important Considerations for Best Smart Power Plugs
The following 2 factors determine whether the smart plug is the right choice:
- Is the power plug type same as the wall socket type used in our country?
- Is the power rating within the power supply range in our country?
Based on these 2 factors for Asian regions, US smart plugs are suitable for Japan and Taiwan. While UK smart plugs are suitable for Singapore, Malaysia, Brunei, Hong Kong and Macau.
Unlike other smart home devices, we do not recommend the use of traveler adapters for incompatible smart plugs. Smart plugs connected with traveler adapters are simply a bad combination. As far as smart power plugs are concerned, we strongly advise to choose models that are with both the correct plug type and power rating. Period.
TP-Link (SG version, US version).
As a standalone Wi-Fi device, TP-Link smart plugs come with standard smart plug functions. The energy monitoring model is HS110 which is useful for identifying energy cost of the connected appliances. However, the app design is not as user-friendly as we like. Click on the title to learn more.
Models: TP-Link Smart Wi-Fi Plug Mini HS105, TP-Link Smart Wi-Fi Plug HS100, and TP-Link Smart Wi-Fi Plug HS110.
Note: US power plug – type A /B, 120 VAC; UK power plug – type G, 230 VAC.
Wemo (US version here).
Belkin Wemo smart plugs are more expensive than other similar models. By comparison, the hardware design is more stylish and the app is more user-intuitive. Since they work as standalone Wi-Fi devices, they don’t need a dedicated hub to function. The Insight model comes with energy monitoring function in additional to the standard features. Energy monitoring function is useful to monitor appliances with high energy consumption. Click on the title to learn more.
Models: Wemo Mini Smart Plug, Wemo Switch Smart Plug, and Wemo Insight Smart Plug.
Note: US power plug – type A /B, 120 VAC; UK power plug – type G, 230 VAC.
Smart power plugs are useful for touch-free control of home appliances. They’re also good at saving power by switching off connected appliances automatically.
Explore here for more smart home devices which are working well with these best smart power plugs.
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