I can’t believe how many features this TP-Link plug has

This new TP-Link smart outlet has a LOT of features, but is it something where you could really take advantage of all of them? Or does that even matter? Let's talk about the details...
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TP-Link Tapo Smart Outlet geni.us/9KaW [Amazon]
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CHAPTERS:
00:00 Intro
00:47 In the box
01:13 Installation
01:28 All the features
02:48 The USB Ports
03:45 More ways to use a smart power strip
04:40 The night light
05:27 How I'm using it
06:00 Is this right for you?
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[@ZubairIO]

I like the Kasa versions, they have power monitoring

[@bmfairweather]

What's the model number?

[@ZubairIO]

@@bmfairweather The HS300

[@emanueltorres6715]

This would actually help on my desktop set up where I have a few accent lights and gadgets that are usb powered and I only turn them on when I’m actively on the desk. This includes the led strip on my desk pad, a wireless charging dock with RGB, and a small accent light. I also have other accessories that need smart outlet plugs, and always on outlets for speakers and google home hub.

[@amirmoradi9595]

I've been using an wall plate mounted surge protector with USB C and USB A from Anker. it's not smart but if you don't need the smart features or night light it's a great cheaper alternative. I could see myself maybe purchasing one of these for the living room where I have more devices that could benefit from the smart plug and to provide a night light in the living room

[@Sylvan_dB]

I connect my internet modem+router to a smart plug. This does not work if your smart plug requires a cloud service. I use the TP-Link Kasa line which I can control directly on my home network without going thru a cloud service.

[@zynan]

This could be good in the kitchen. Turn on your coffee machine at a certain time. Turn on your toaster. Charge your phone from the USB port and turn it on/off after 20 minutes. Kitchen night light for your midnight snack. Turn your slow cooker on at lunch time while you’re at work, off at dinner time.

[@burprobrox9134]

I’ve been using 2 meross strips for about 3 months now. It’s a very old model relatively, but it’s been terrific. I can threaten to shut the kids pc power, and have some automation over turning off their phone charge docks and monitors when they’re not home. Never ever needed any attention from me once it was setup

[@fabiotavaresdasilva1530]

Last week i "discovered" the power strip from TP-Link and i find it very interesting (even in price compares to Meross for instance), but i'm a little bit struggling if i go to this or wait for a Matter version - but it will be used for sure with Apple Home!

[@davidlei6930]

The reason why the Matter version was not developed is that some third-party platforms such as Alexa do not support smart power strips with multiple sockets. Yes, this is the only reason.

[@fabiotavaresdasilva1530]

@@davidlei6930 In aliexpress i found two brands that sells matter powerstrips. But i think i will buy a tplink because at least it's certified, aliexpress i doubt it.

[@ScttBn]

Of all the great features, one it doesn't have that I wish it did would be to use the 2nd set of prongs on the outlet to detect the presence of voltage as a 'button'. Outlets in the US often have one (or the other) of the 2 receptacles tied to a wall-switch, aka "half-hot"; if these kinds of 'cover plate' units would plug into both outlets on a half-hot receptacle then the unit could inject even more "analog" hard-wired infrastructure (a traditional wall switch or 3-way switches) into the digital HomeKit realm. For bonus points, the 2nd prong-set could flip out of the body, similar to how Apple's charger-blocks work… you'd only need to use it if you wanted. The screw-in ground prong could even be kept in that scenario. Of course, some receptacles may be wired opposite (top switched, bottom always-hot), but it is trivial to switch that wiring by anyone moderately competent in dealing with electricity. The benefit would be that an existing wall-switch or set of 3-way switches could be used to control other loads (lights) plugged into other receptacles! In a living room, for example, an existing wall-switch could be used to turn on not only an existing traditional lamp plugged into an outlet on the TP-Link, but also LED backlighting plugged into a smart switch over by the TV. Further, implementing switch toggling (turning the switch on, then off, then on again within a short timespan) could be used to activate different Scenes: a single "on" to turn the light on, 2 flips for "All On", and 3 for "Theater Mode".

[@TerraMagnus]

Shame they didn’t make this Matter compatible.

[@burprobrox9134]

Seems downright stupid to release a new product without the new standard

[@jordaynerjr]

Matter is not ready for Prime time

[@mvannatter73]

How is Matter the standard? Is is problematic at best

[@74357175]

Yeah, I must say, having to go through a new separate app is a complete deal breaker. A shame, because the hardware looks nice.

[@EricWelander]

I don’t know if the Matter spec can support one accessory doing all these different things

[@handcoding]

It’s just a shame that-as far as I can tell-this doesn’t seem to work with Home Assistant.

[@MKizzle2906]

They should have the 2 outlets version. Hope they’ll make it

[@BryanEsler]

I’ve been looking at smart power strips for a while, just haven’t pulled the trigger on any yet. Mainly would like one for my two Sonos rear speakers, which, whenever I unplug my Sonos Beam, the surrounds go offline and I have to reset them (which, on the Play:1’s, means I have to physically unplug them). I like what Tapo is doing here, but it’s definitely overkill for what I need.

[@EricWelander]

That’s a great idea, but I agree, so many use cases don’t use all of these features, but at the price idk if it matters.

[@Dr_Cole]

I like this product - thanks for the review. With two adolescents in the house and someone addicted to SmartHome gadgets, many of my electric sockets have either SmartPlugs or an adapter that looks similar to these but is an always on version. How does the price compare to something like the Eve PowerStrip?

[@EricWelander]

This is about 50 - 60% the cost of the Eve Power Strip

[@Dr_Cole]

@@EricWelander Quite affordable! I will need to try one. Thanks for the reply.

[@garanceadrosehn9691]

Does it track power-usage the way an Eve smart-plug does?

[@EricWelander]

It does not unless there’s a feature in the optional Tapo app I haven’t tried

[@Techlifeandmore]

I honestly have been looking at this a bit on Amazon. I have a power strip by Merris which has smart controlled USB ports. I found that functionality to be extremely stupid, so I initially set up an automation which turns the ports right back on if they were turned off as I was plugging into the ports devices that I always wanted to be on. I eventually, a couple of hours later, decided that I wouldn't use the ports at all and instead delegated them to the role of a dummy switch. I would probably do the same with the USB ports on this. I do want to buy this to test it out, but I'm not sure where I would put it so that everything except for the dumb outlets and USB ports are utilized. Also, you didn't talk about any issues with this regarding HomeKit. Does the device frequently go no response? I'm assuming not because it's a Tp-Link product and those tend to be solid, both native HomeKit and non-native HomeKit from what I've heard, we only have non-native HomeKit Tp-Link devices brought in through Homebridge.

[@lewiskelly14]

So much room for improvement

[@Polkster13]

I really like the idea of this product EXCEPT the USB ports are all controlled together. It would have been much more useful to me if the individual USB ports were controllable. In my case, I have USB items I want powered on all of the time and some that I want to be able to restart, which this will not allow me to do. One thing I really like about this over a power strip is, it is very easy to get this up off the ground and keep cords off the floor so a robot vacuum does not get caught up in the cords. I also like the fact that three of the plugs are smart and three are not. I may end up getting one of these for my bedroom. I currently have a dumb 4 port outlet strip with three USB ports on it that sits on the floor. I have a lamp that has a smart bulb in it that is plugged into the current power strip. I do not need that outlet to be smart. With this device, I can plug my lamp into one of the "always on" outlets and plug something else into the smart outlet to make it smart. I can also get all of the cords and power strip up off the floor so the smart vacuum stays out of the cords.

[@philipperostin]

Most of my wyze cameras are on smart plugs so I can restart them if away fro home.

[@gfawhiterose8838]

I prefer they get smart designs to flatten the wall instead you end up with bulky bunch of cables

[@sskalin30]

Not going to mention price??

[@wscottfunk]

Prices change, he provided a direct link so you were just one click away from finding out the most current price. BTW there's now a $5 off coupon bringing the cost down further.

[@EricWelander]

Yes this day and age price is a moving target. I want this video to still be valid in 18-24 months when prices or sales aren’t the same

[@platoscavealum902]

👍

[@loveasmr686]

Is this the way you talk to people In real life

[@KarenNakamura1]

I won't buy anything that requires cloud access. Either the company goes out of business or starts charging a fee and all I get is e-trash.

[@user-zi7vg5zd1d]

it’s homekit enabled so you could set it up with that method without the tp-link app

[@aidanbazan7769]

Wifi = no

[@nickthanmas5203]

2.4GHz WiFi - a no immediately.

[@alliejr]

That is pretty much almost all “smart” devices.

[@nickthanmas5203]

@@alliejr incorrect. 90% of smart home devices released in the last couple of years are thread based.

[@davidlei6930]

@@nickthanmas5203 Not really, most users still don’t like the existence of gateways, and Wi-Fi devices are still the mainstream.

[@Shuhaib-jt9nq]

iot device don't need 5ghz and even 50kbps is enough to operate them @ickthanmas5203