Expert's Rating
Pros
- Excellent performance
- Quite stable
- Energy monitoring and overload protection features
Cons
- High price tag compared to the competition
- Can only be used with Aqara’s proprietary smart home hubs
- Oversized design means you can’t use two in one duplex outlet
Our Verdict
Aqara’s smart plug works well, but an old design and high price tag keep us from recommending it to anyone other than Aqara Hub users.
Best Prices Today: Aqara Smart Plug
Commonly sold in bulk at prices that hover around $10 each, Zigbee smart plugs long ago entered commodity territory. What then to make of Aqara’s plug, which has a list price of $42, is too large to fit two in a dual-plug receptacle, and ties you to Aqara’s proprietary platform?
Design
Let’s start with the basics. Like most devices on the Aqara platform, this device is designed for use exclusively with one of Aqara’s smart home hubs. While Aqara recently expanded support for a small number of its products to the Samsung SmartThings platform, the U.S. edition of its Smart Plug is not on the list. As such, I tested the Aqara Smart Plug while testing Aqara’s in-wall Smart Switch (review forthcoming), both of which were paired to the Aqara M2 Hub I reviewed earlier.
A unique charging protection feature turns the Aqara Smart Plug off if less than 2 watts are drawn for 30 consecutive minutes.
As with the in-wall switch, setup couldn’t be simpler once you have your hub online and the Aqara Home app installed. Select the device from Aqara’s exhaustive list of supported products, press the button on the plug—its only hardware function—to activate it, and wait for discovery to conclude. A small blue light (which can’t be disabled) illuminates when the plug is turned on. I was able to add two Aqara Smart Plugs to my network in a matter of minutes.
This review is part of TechHive’s in-depth coverage of the best smart plugs.
The biggest problem with the device is the dated hardware. It’s an oversize design measuring about 2.6 inches tall and 1.8 inches wide. This means you can only use one Aqara Smart Plug per two-outlet receptacle, and you’ll need to use it in the upper socket if you want to use the second outlet; otherwise, the upper socket will be blocked.
Aqara’s app reveals some of the unique features of the Aqara Smart Plug, including the ability to limit how much power is drawn through it.
Aqara’s app reveals some of the unique features of the Aqara Smart Plug, including the ability to limit how much power is drawn through it.
Christopher Null/Foundry
Aqara’s app reveals some of the unique features of the Aqara Smart Plug, including the ability to limit how much power is drawn through it.
Christopher Null/Foundry
Christopher Null/Foundry
Aqara Smart Plug app
Within the Aqara Home app, you’ll find the standard Aqara control features, including a countdown timer that will turn the plug either on or off, in-depth logging of every on/off action, and an energy-monitoring feature that measures both current power draw as well as total usage over the last day and the last month.
Unique to the plug is a charging protection feature that will turn the plug off altogether if it detects that less than 2 watts are being drawn for 30 consecutive minutes. That’s a nice add for people concerned about so-called “vampire” products that draw electricity even whether they’re ostensibly powered off. And while the plug supports a maximum of 1875 watts (and 15 amps), you can dial this down if you want to restrict the total wattage pulled by the plug to as little as 100 watts, should you wish to prevent an overload on the circuit.
Aqara provides a full-featured app for controlling its Aqara Smart Plug.
Aqara provides a full-featured app for controlling its Aqara Smart Plug.
Christopher Null/Foundry
Aqara provides a full-featured app for controlling its Aqara Smart Plug.
Christopher Null/Foundry
Christopher Null/Foundry
As with the in-wall switch, the Aqara app has an intuitive and effective automation engine that can be used for time-based scheduling and to control multiple Aqara devices together. Support for Alexa, Google Home, and IFTTT lets you extend this to other ecosystems easily. And as with the in-wall switch, I encountered no issues with any of these features, finding the plug quick to respond to both hardware button presses and app commands, with automation features working as expected.
Should you buy an Aqara Smart Plug?
Aside from the design constraints, the price is another concern. The list price of $42 is egregious in today’s market, and even after its current deep discount, the sale price of $26 is still double what you’ll pay for any other Zigbee plug on the market. The extra features like energy monitoring and in-depth logging are nice, but I wouldn’t recommend investing in this plug unless you a) are already on the Aqara platform, and b) absolutely need those features on the device to which you’re connecting.
Best Prices Today: Aqara Smart Plug
Author: Christopher Null, Freelance Contributor
Christopher Null is a veteran technology and business journalist. He contributes regularly to TechHive, PCWorld, and Wired, and operates the websites Drinkhacker and Film Racket.