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.