Amazon Smart Plug review: how to make an older appliance smart

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Got older appliances like lamps, a coffee maker, or a heater or fan that you wish had smart connectivity of voice control? There’s a way you can make older or dumb appliances smart; that’s by using a smart wall plug.
A smart plug lets you plug in almost any appliance and gain remote app control or voice control over whatever’s plugged into it.
Amazon makes an Alexa-ready smart plug that could be a solution for Alexa smart homes.
IN this video I’ll tell you about Amazon’s smart plug, what you can use it for, what it works well for and what it doesn’t. And if you stick around we’ll also get to price and whether I think it’s a good buy for your smart home.
While there are a lot of smart plugs on the market, many of them sold by companies you’ve never heard of, and it’s tricky to know which plugs will be a good value and which will fit into your home automation system without issues. Some plugs and devices say they are compatible with Alexa or Google Assistatn but then it’s a hassle to actually make it work.
An Amazon smart plug, however, guarantees it will work with your Amazon Echo and Alexa-ready devices and smart psekaers.
The Amazon Smart Plug is compact, built to fit in a standard wall plug while leaving room to make the other outlet useable. It measures 80mm by 57mm by 38mm and is rated to 120VAC at 15 Amps.
There’s a button on the side of the plug used to turn the plug on or off and connect to the Alexa app.
You won’t need a hub of any kind, and with both products being from Amazon, there’s no extra step or app in the middle to confuse things. Take care of set up, and suddenly you’re connected to Alexa.
To get Setup, Simply plug the Amazon Smart Plug into an AC outlet, and open your Alexa App. The app should recognize the plug right away and add it to your device list, as mine did. If not, you can add it the usual way by tapping the devices icon at the lower right of the screen and tapping the + icon to start the connection.
After that, you can immediately say, “Alexa, turn on First Plug,” as that will be the default name given to the first plug you set up.
By the way one note with this one: The Amazon Smart Plug connects to a 2.4 GHz network but doesn’t support 5G or peer-to-peer networks. Also: It’s made for indoor use only.
So… What can a smart plug do?
Once Alexa recognizes the device, you can add it routines or create new ones specifically for the plug. You’ll also be able to use voice commands via an Amazon Echo device or the Alexa app on your phone to turn the plug on or off.
Combining the plug with other smart home devices could be a bright idea, allowing you to activate a home security routine where you can add a motion detector that will then turn on the smart switch to activate a light.
Alexa will also allow you to create time-based routines so that the plug could turn on at 7:00 am to activate your coffee maker or turn on a light source at dusk.
You could use it to turn on holiday lights, or tie it to a motion sensor and have it turn on a light in the garage or basement when you walk down there. Of course you can just call out to Alexa and ask her to turn things on too.
You might also connect the plug to a fan or heater and have Alexa turn the switch on when a certain temperature is reached. There’s lots of possibilities, and I’d love to hear your uses and how you’ve got it working for you so post in comments below.
One caveat here: This plug won’t work on devices that themselves need to be switched on manually; some coffee makers for example don’t just turn on when power if flicked on at the plug, that’s a safety feature, so with this, you’ll need to ensure that whichever appliance you connect will work without any other input or switches.
Managing the plug is easy inside the Alexa app. You can use the app as a remote control or talk to your Echo device.
Overall this is a convenient solution for adding smart control to non-smart appliances and devices. The plug is small, only take up one outlet and it’s easy to set up and use. And at $35 CAD or about $25 USD it’s probably a lot cheaper than buying smart light bulbs, or replacing your existing lamps and appliances.

[@samyrodriguez5036]

I was just about to talk on how my coffee maker don’t work with it until you said it 😂😂 never mind

[@CanadianBeachcomber]

Yep. I’ve own a couple for years. They are great for turning on lights when you are out of town. That saves programming a timer.

[@CanadianBeachcomber]

Congratulations on 50k subscribers. 👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼

[@ErinLawrenceTV]

Hanks Chris! 😁

[@harleyb-ham266]

This is the 5th video I've watched in regards to "smart plugs". Why doesn't anyone show the app and the download process. When I search for the so called "Alexa App" there is nothing called Alexa App that shows up. WTF!!!!!!!!!

[@reznoire]

Own 2 of these from different times they've been on sale for a dollar lol

[@МихаилБадаев-э5ф]

👍😄 Now everything that Macaulay Culkin did with the light in the movie Home Alone can be done by everyone using the Amazon smart plug! Thank you beautiful Erin for the nice review!

[@ErinLawrenceTV]

Thank you! :)

[@МихаилБадаев-э5ф]

@@ErinLawrenceTV your welcome! :-)

[@cindyOC1]

We are traveling 94 miles from home, will this work ?

[@gratwood]

Will the smart plug setup be interfered if you have Wifi extenders?

[@silviastreeter270]

Do you have to have an Alexa or eco in order to uses these?

[@AmirA-gl1uv]

Congratulation Erin for the 50k subscriber ❤👍👍👍

[@ErinLawrenceTV]

Thank you! 😃

[@asewell5612]

How do you set these smart plugs up to turn on at a certain time (sun set) and turn off at a certain time (sun up)???? Sure could use some help.

[@ErinLawrenceTV]

If you’re talking about these Amazon ones, in particular, you would do this in the Alexa app. Look inside the Alexa app for “routines“.

[@daveswanson5350]

Love amazon smart plugs I use nothing else I have about 15+ in my house runs lights ceiling fans tv air fryer and

[@ronm6585]

Thanks Erin.

[@ErinLawrenceTV]

You bet!

[@jdscown]

Hi Erin, thanks for this video. It would be great to see a similar video for HomeKit users.

[@ErinLawrenceTV]

Great suggestion!

[@oobenoob]

I’m using them for Christmas lights.

[@Auroramystic]

I really do think that the amazon smart plug is overrated. There are other options like Wyze and tp link witch can be cheaper. The amazon smart plug is well amazon smart plug so no google. With the tp link or the wyze smart plug they have their own app along with support for google along with all the features of the amazon plug. Now I would say these tons of other smart plugs you can find on amazon but tp link and Wyze just haw a better brand Recognition and the wyze smart plug is Etl approved and I don’t think the amazon plug has the etl or Ul listing witch can give you a extra sense and trust of safety in case of something bad.

[@ErinLawrenceTV]

Thanks for the info!

[@johnlmoore]

I have been using some smart bulbs although they have not been reliable. I can only guess that they loose WiFi connectivity and then I have to go through the set-up process again. Any similar experiences with the Smart Plug? I don’t want to order a few to have the same problem.

[@paultopping7413]

I have a number of these and have routines set up, also i turn the appliances connected to then on and off using Alexa voice command however i have to use 2 commands to turn on and the to tell Alexa to turn it off after a certain length of time. With my echo speakers i can say ‘play xxxx for 30 mins’ but that does not work for the plugs. Is there a way to do this with the plugs?

[@10OF9OFBORG]

Nice! 👍🏻 Can it control from smart phone? Nice t-shirt with it’s said “Go outside”. 👍🏻 😆

[@ErinLawrenceTV]

Yes you can! and .. thanks! :)

[@Kashvidaurri1]

Mine simply doesn’t want to work maybe i just have a very old lamp idk 😢

[@ErinLawrenceTV]

Oh, I'm sorry to hear that!

[@rickb9348]

You must know more about these smart plugs than I do. However, are you sure they are safe to use with space heaters? I know extension cords can cause a fire if hooked up with one. The cords can become too hot to even touch (210 degrees Fahrenheit). If this smart plug is as incompatible then 210 degrees next to my drywall can be extremely risky. What do you know about this? Perhaps you should reconsider your suggestion and edit this video to avoid liability? 🤷🏻‍♂️

[@debbiekelley9968]

❤