Features:

  • Works with Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant for voice control. Power your devices without lifting a finger. Does NOT currently support SmartThings, Homekit.
  • Track power usage for connected devices and figure out which devices use the most energy. You can effectively cut your usage so that you can save money on your next electric bill
  • Easy to install and stable connection. Controlled from different devices and manage your home on your smartphone or tablet from anywhere
  • Get ready to have a smart home and create customized schedule to automatically turn on and off any home Electronics or appliances such as lamps, Christmas Lighting, coffee maker, etc
  • NOTE: A secured 2.4 GHz Wi-Fi network is required, 30-Day money back, 2-year warranty and lifetime support.
Fantastic TP-Link HS100 alternative.

I had installed a TP-Link HS100 to test out controlling a lamp via Alexa in our home and had good experiences with it, other than how physically huge that unit is. Configuration was easy, integration with our Echos and Dots was cake and things "just worked". Then I saw these, their high-star reviews, price-point and finally, their physical footprint. I couldn't hit "Proceed to checkout" quick enough. Two days later they arrived (thank you, Prime!) and I got them up and running quickly. The VeSync app is not as clean as Kasa is, but it gets the job done -- hopefully that gets worked on in the future. My test for this was simply two lamps grouped together. Easy peasy, simply define the two plugs in VeSync, discover them with the Alexa app, make a device group for them and BAM, you're in business. As long as these two survive the next couple of weeks of use, I'll be ordering more for sure and will absolutely recommend them to family and friends. The value proposition for the two-pack cannot be beat at this point!

These are awesome!

I have seen other reviews claiming these are junk, well I am here to these are great! I got them because another reviewer indicated that you can set an event to turn off the outlet when the demand drops. So for like a cellphone charger, once the device is charged, the demand (watts) of electricity drops considerably. This is PERFECT for preventing the overcharge problem with cellphone batteries! Once the demand drops I have it configure to switch off. There are 2 apps for this device, there is one called VeSync which doesn't have ALL the capabilities represented, and there is VeSyncOutlet. The outlet app give you all the extras (use the same VeSync account for both apps). I plan to purchase these for everything they work with in my home. There is a limit of between 8-10 amps of demand, so it might not be compatible with some Windows AC units, space heaters, coffee makers, etc. Don't let that discourage you though! I am even going to put one on my garage door opener so I can disable that at night and not worry if someone got a hold of the opener from the car. Remember, you have to have 2.4GHZ WI-FI (the older standard) for these to work. They don't work with 5ghz, but also don't require your phone / tablet to stay on 2.4ghz after the initial setup of the outlet is complete. And the don't require any kind of hub, which can cost up-to a couple hundred extra dollars. They retain configuration after being unplugged, and moved around, which is also nice. Just a great product!

and this smart plug performs the best

I've tried two other brands (HAUSBELL and TP-LINK), and this smart plug performs the best. Its smaller and and you can configure it so the light only activates when the WIFI link is dead. Its smart phone app is easy to use and set up various timers for multioke devices. The connection to Alexa works after you add the smart home skill for the app Versync. These plugs also monitor energy usage for plug so you can use it for more than a remote for lights.

Wifi plugs working great ......finally.

Had a little difficulty getting them set up and working with Alexa. First was my fault. I transposed two characters of my wifi password. Took a while to figure that out. Second, the plugs named themselves with a name that Alexa could not understand. I finally figured out how to rename the plugs with simple names that Alexa could comprehend. I planned on using Alexa to set timers for my lights to turn on and off......super difficult for Alexa to do.....However, I found that this capability is included in the plug app itself....... no mention of this ability by Etekcity or any instructions included. Figured it out on my own......don't need Alexa, but she can turn them on and off by just asking her. I called Etekcity for customer support help. They tried and said they would call me back. I figured out things finally by myself but they did call me back the next day to make sure I got things working...... very responsive customer support. A+A+A+

Great Smart Plug and Budget Priced!

Are you looking to automate your house on a budget? Don’t want to pay $32 PER outlet at the big box stores for a $amsung $martThing? Then look no further! Slightly more expensive than a WiFi controlled bulb but they don’t burn out like bulbs! New to the smart home world, I purchased an Amazon Echo Plus to get the built-in hub. This device however does NOT require a hub. It doesn’t even require an Echo! You can run this straight from your smartphone and WiFi network. The included directions say it takes a minute to set up. I doubt it even took that long. I downloaded the VeSync app, set up an account, and tapped the “+” to add a device. I already had the smart plug inserted into the recetacle, and the bluish-purple light illuminated by itself. The app recognized it in no time. I picked my WiFi network and entered the password (only had to do this once, the app remembers for successive modules). I named the device and I had control! Super easy! As far as Alexa control, all you need to do is add VeSync to your Alexa skills. The VeSync app is actually very useful, allowing you to set a schedule, timer, and away modes for each unit installed (I bought the 3-pack). It also tells you the active time the module has been switched on, and the energy used by the connected device in kWh. I currently have mine connected to the Christmas tree and other lighted decorations. The actual module is quite small at 2-1/4” in diameter except for the bump-out area at the bottom giving it a height of 2-1/2”. The unit is 1-1/4” in depth when plugged into the receptacle. The bump-out area at the bottom gives space for a small power button to allow manual control if necessary. On the back it has a QR code for both iOS and Android that takes you to the respect App Store for the free app. The module even fit in my weatherproof exterior outlet enclosure! Yay! Automated Christmas lights! I looked at the different options offered on Amazon - single, 3-, and 4-packs. I bought the 3-pack because it was cheaper per unit. Then a couple days later I bought the two-pack on Black Friday special for even less! A couple days into ownership, a customer service rep from Etekcity reached out to me to make sure all was going well. She included troubleshooting steps and suggestions for safe operation of the device. How many Amazon vendors even do that? Very few for me. I’m very impressed with this product, especially since it was so much cheaper than any other module I’d found. I’ll happily buy from Etekcity again!

Works well with no problems

Works well with no problems. I own several other brands of smart plugs, but the Etekcity Voltson smart plug is my favorite. I especially like the VeSync Outlet app that is used to control them. Very responsive and it notifies me if the smart plug goes off line due to a wifi interruption. The one big plus with this smart switch is it's ability to resume the exact state it was in after a power failure. In other words ... if the switch was either ON or OFF, after the power is resumed the switch will return to the same ON or OFF position. All the other smart witches I've tried resumes to the OFF position regardless of were it was previously. That's a problem if you are at a remote location. You won't be able to turn the "other brands" of smart switches back on until you physically return to the same location as the switch and resume a connection on your smartphone to the same wifi network. That's a big deal if you are using a smart plug at a summer home, winter home, vacation home, or any place you might be away from for an extended period of time. This Etekcity Voltson smart plug will resume in the same ON or OFF it was in when power is restored. Exactly what I needed.

A good cheap smart plug

I like these plugs since they integrate with Google Home. I was able to set these up and add them to Google Home so I can now turn them on and off by voice commands. I have one setup on a schedule to turn off and on in the middle of the night to reset a T-mobile wifi router. It has worked great for that. The other one is on our bedroom light. It allows me to turn it on and off from anywhere in the house by voice command. The setup was a little difficult with one of them. The first one setup through APN mode (neither would configure through wifi mode on a 2.4 Google mesh network) and worked as the instructions read. The other one wouldn't pair through wifi or APN mode. I had to reset it and kept trying to finally get it to connect and configure. Now that it is setup it works fine. Be aware these are about an inch deep. They won't fit in tight spaces and they need to be in the bottom outlet if you are going to use both outlets in a plug. If you need to control light power devices like small appliances and lights, they are perfect for that. I plan to get a few more for some other lights in the house. There are warnings about the power load they can handle. Just be aware of this before you buy them for power intensive appliances and devices. For the money these are a great smart plug device and seem to work as promised.

5 star? read on

Months later review: I've been using these now for a while, in a family of 'power' users, meaning our pg&e bill can get high. With these I can monitor what is running and for how long, and have the option to turn things off if needed (like my fridge). A few handy things for me are: 1) I can track our refrigerator's usage over days/weeks, its not all bad until it turns on the defrost cycle! 2) I've used a few to turn on / off AC grid tie inverters (with battery packs) to mitigate our power usage during high-use times. And I can see the reduction on our rainforest smart meter monitor, confirming the power reading on these smart plugs which is a great feature to have. 3) I like the app, its fairly straightforward, and has triggered power on/off functions which I like. I use that to turn off chargers once they fall below a watt level where they are no longer providing much charge. I've inadvertently had the 'new trigger' turn off when power exceeds ___W, and they would instantly turn back off. I initially thought I had a problem, but the notification told me otherwise, cluing me on my error... Some things I think would be helpful: 1) wifi access but no internet (you know, just in case it goes down LOL) the app can still access the smart plugs if my local wifi network is still alive and my phone is connected to it. (internet hasn't died just yet, but don't want to find out with working wifi, the smart plugs no longer work) 2) work with the Stringify app. Stringify needed a public API to be able to use Etekcity's smart plugs. This makes both a powerful tool when it comes to monitoring things. For example, if my smart meter goes over a preset power setting, I could tell it to turn on/off certain smart plugs. Alexa is nice to have, but its short lived. Alexa doesn't have the same monitoring Vesync has or any app pass-through feature which would allow other apps to use Alexa as a control or host. 3) if #2 is simply impossible, create a new function in the "new trigger action" menu to turn on or off other smart outlets in my menu. For example, if outlet 1 power drops below xxx watts, turn on outlet 2. This would allow you to cascade functions to accomplish doing more with them. 4) notifications don't show up on my cell, only within the Vesync app. email works, but it lags by minutes/hours. 5) for some reason, if I'm in a monitor menu and I press the super button to get me back the phone, when I reopen Vesync, there is a different smart plug picture and none of the readings work. Hitting back a few times gets me to the smart plug menu, guessing that's a bug. You might be wondering, why all this? PG&E and deregulation (which hasn't happened). I pay rates 2-3x higher than someone who lives a few miles down the road. Does solar help? sure, but PG&E's payback is a nickel per kWh, and charge you 20c per kWh used and then there's the penalty stage if you go over the baseline which seems to be based on nobody at home from 8-5, m-f. My bill is lower because I can see / manage my power usage better, thanks to Etekcity's smart plugs. Yeah, I've tried Dlink, range is worse, their update bricked one that actually measured power, and their cost is higher. And they were constantly losing connection even in line of sight (50') to wifi. So Etekcity's have better range (I have 4 smart plugs in another garage on my lot), better reliability (yeah i got 3 customer returns -poorly packed was the clue- that I returned, lost some hours I wont get back) but overall, better performance for your money. Pointers: Check the monitor watts menu to see you're within its power rating too. I'm working these fairly good, 2-3x / day up to 1000W for hours at a time, varying locations on my lot and with noisy equipment. So mine are seeing a fair amount of use. Problems with initial connection? Closing the app and restarting helps. I've checked to see how many things were on my network and if it was full, there was no indication that it was... I paid for all my smart plugs, received nothing for this review other than the (replacements for duds) and satisfaction using them. Hope that helps someone deciding to buy or not.

Just installed 4 and connected to Alexa

I just installed 4 of these and connected to Alexa and have ordered more as gifts. Setting up the first outlet takes a few minutes but is very simple. First you need to download the Vesync app and create an account. Plug in the first outlet and hit the +. As a note, this will not work on 5g wifi; only 2.4g. The app tells you this while trying to configure an outlet. It took me a few minutes to figure out how to get it to switch but still simple. I had downloaded the app onto my iPad which is connected to the 5g by default. My wifi, which I assume is most residential installations at this point, has two bands for wifi. Both the 2.4 and 5 have the same network name but the 5 has -5g listed after it. I opened my iPad wifi settings and switched to the 2.4 and then reopened the Vesync app. The outlet then was quickly located and configured. I then renamed this device so I would remember which one was located where in my home. The next three outlets were even simpler as the app remembered the network name and configured each outlet. After I set up each outlet I opened my Alexa app and enabled the Vesync skill. It located all 4 outlets and I created a group called Christmas as I have Christmas lights plugged into each outlet throughout my home. Now I just tell Alexa to turn Christmas on/off and they all turn on/off. I can also turn them on/off individually. I also have each outlet set up to come on at 6pm and off at 10pm through the Vesync app. You can also monitor usage through the outlet and estimate costs by entering your local kWh cost. The last two things were a pleasant surprise. If you're having difficulty connecting these outlets I would suggest that you connect your phone or tablet to your 2.4g wifi network as that appears to be the only way that these outlets connect. I don't imagine it will work if your phone is not connected to your home wifi. As a note, I used an Apple iPad and had no difficulty with connecting.

Full Reviews