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How to pick
This is the category with the most gadgets that end up unplugged in a drawer, so buy for a problem you actually have. Smart plugs on a couple of lamps are the one thing almost everyone gets value from, because a house with lights coming on looks lived in when you are away, which is worth more than most alarm gadgets. The thing that kills people's enthusiasm is ending up with four brands and four apps. Pick one system, Apple, Google, Amazon or SmartThings, and buy things that work with it. Look for Matter on the box, which is the standard that lets different brands talk to each other.
What I recommend
Start here
This is the category with the most gadgets that end up unplugged in a drawer, so buy for a problem you actually have. Smart plugs on a couple of lamps are the one thing almost everyone gets value from.
Smart plug
A plug that sits between the socket and a lamp, so you can turn it on from your phone or on a schedule. Two of these on lamps make an empty house look occupied, which is worth more than most alarm gadgets. Cheap, useful, nothing to learn.
- Makes an empty house look lived in
- Nothing to learn, it is just a plug
- Cheap enough to buy several
- Works with any assistant
- Only works while the Wi-Fi is up
- Bulky ones block the second socket
- Cheap brands have poor security records
- Does
- Switches a lamp from your phone
- Best use
- Making an empty house look lived in
- Check
- Works with your chosen assistant
- Learning curve
- None
Smart bulbs
Change colour and brightness, and come on with a schedule. Best in lamps you use in the evening. Avoid putting them anywhere with a wall switch someone will turn off, because then the app cannot reach them.
- Dimming and warmth without rewiring
- Good for evening lighting and routines
- Cheap to try one
- Useless if someone flips the wall switch off
- Cheap bulbs flicker when dimmed
- Colour bulbs cost noticeably more than white
Keeping it all in one place
The thing that kills people's enthusiasm is ending up with four brands and four apps. Pick one system and buy things that work with it.
Matter compatible smart hub
Matter is the standard that lets different brands talk to one another, so look for it on the box if you plan to expand. Pick one system, Apple, Google, Amazon or SmartThings, and stay in it.
- Lets different brands work together
- Keeps everything in one app
- Some work locally, so they keep going if the internet drops
- Matter support is still patchy in practice
- Another box and another socket
- Overkill for two smart plugs
- The standard is still settling down
- Matter
- Lets different brands talk to each other
- Pick one
- Apple, Google, Amazon or SmartThings
- Why it matters
- Four brands means four apps
- Buy for
- A problem you actually have
Related reading
Ended up with four apps?
Very common and usually tidyable. I can get things onto one system so you are not hunting for the right app every time.