Overview
Smart Plugs are one of the most basic building blocks of a smart home. The good news is that there are a ton of them on the market, but the bad news is that there are a TON of them on the market. The challenge is finding one that is the best for you comes down to a few things – compatibility, form, and price. Meross Smart Plugs fit nicely in all three.
Smart Plug Uses
Smart plugs are generally a small box that you plug into your existing home outlet and allow you to turn them on or off via your smart home devices (iPhone, Android, Google Assistant, Alexa, etc).
The are very useful in turning on or off some “dumb” devices, like lamps or fans, and provide a great way to connect a set of devices into an automation. For example:
- Turn on your living room lamp when you arrive home
- Set various lights around your home to mimic occupancy when you are on vacation
- Turn on a fan when the temperature goes above 80 degrees
Meross Smart Plugs
I came across the Meross Smart plugs when I was researching their Meross Smart Garage Door opener. My Koogeek smart plugs had become unreliable and I never like that they blocked the 2nd outlet. I bought a 2 pack installed them into my HomeKit enabled smart home in about 10 minutes.
These plugs work well and fit my 3 criteria for a good smart plug:
- Price: ~$12/device (my Koogeek plugs were a “deal” a few years ago for ~$20)
- Form: These plugs are small enough and designed to not block the 2nd outlet
- Function: These were easy to add to HomeKit and have been extremely reliable.
I won’t go into details on the setup process, but I do want to share an automation that I created between one of my Meross Smart Plugs and my Meross Garage Door opener. (Note: this works because they are all part of the HomeKit ecosystem, not just because they are both Meross devices.)
I setup an automation to turn on my Arrow Light (which is connected to a Meross Smart Plug) when my garage door is open, and to turn off when it is closed. It is helpful to know if I’ve left my garage door open with a visual cue.
I setup an automation to turn on my Arrow Light (which is connected to a Meross Smart Plug) when my garage door is open, and to turn off when it is closed. It is helpful to know if I’ve left my garage door open with a visual cue.
Conclusion
All said, the Meross Smart Plugs are a great addition to your smart home and should be among the first items you buy if you want to automate your home. With a cost of ~$10/plug (even less if you buy a 4 pack) and rock solid operations, they are hard to beat.