This is a review of a free product received by TP-LINK as part of the review program.
When I first received this smart plug, it hadn't yet been fully integrated with Amazon Echo, and it was a bit clumsy to use with it because I had to call up the Kasa app first. Within days, however, Amazon announced TP-LINK's smart home connectivity, and a step has been taken out of the process, making everything run extremely smoothly. All I have to do is say, "Alexa, turn on the bedside lamp" within earshot, and it's done. Of course, I don't need an Echo or its companion the Echo Dot to work this plug. All I need is a smart phone with the TP-LINK Kasa app downloaded. Integration with Alexa, however, makes control voice-operated within the home.
Before you begin, you must download the TP-LINK Kasa app to your smart phone since there's no other way to configure it. As with most smart plugs, set-up requires you to leave your WiFi network to connect to the one broadcast from the plug in order to configure it and to get it on your home network. You can re-name your plug, assign it an icon, set a schedule, put it in away mode, and set a timer for it to go off/on after a programmable period of time -- all from your phone. If you want to use it with Echo, you also need to connect your Echo to Kasa via the Alexa app, again from your smart phone. You only need to do this once. From then on, any newly configured devices can be found by the Echo and added to your list. I have an Echo on one floor and an Echo Dot on another. It doesn't matter which of these I use to request control over the plugs -- both will do the correct action, no matter where the plugs are located in my house. Once you connect the plug to your home wireless network, you can configure additional aspects of the plug without having to go to the plug's WiFi signal -- unless, of coures, you switch routers.
The app makes programming easy. You do need to set your time zone properly for scheduling, so don't forget to do that. I'm a little surprised that the plug can't scrape the local time data from the internet, but then again, I haven't found a smart plug yet that could do that. (I had two plugs that reverted after two months to Greenwich Mean Time and couldn't be reset -- ugh.) Still, considering that other small devices like my FitBit can adapt to local time by using my cell phone, I expect that particular functionality to be present in future generations if not in future firmware updates. You can also monitor energy usage for each plug with the app. Although energy usage can be instructive, most people won't feel the need to check that information.
The plug isn't perfect, just a lot better than other brands that I've tried. One drawback is the large size of the plug. Right now, I have two HS110s, and both need to be plugged into three-prong power strips because they take up valuable outlet space otherwise. It would be fantastic if future versions would be smaller so as not to block outlets from other plugs. Note that it comes in three-prongs only for powering, although a two-prong can be plugged into its three-prong opening; this could cause a problem in older homes or with two-prong extension cords.
Because I am thrilled by how well the HS110 works with the Echo, I hope TP-LINK comes out with wall switches and other Internet of Things devices.
UPDATE: I now have the light switch version of the plug, and it's wonderful to use as a timer or to activate via Alexa as long as it's on a single switch. You cannot use it on the three-way one.
-- Debbie Lee Wesselmann
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Energy Monitoring Feature is Worthless
I am writing this review specifically about the HS110 model with energy monitoring (since Amazon likes to group related products together). That particular version is basically pointless, because the energy monitoring is so far off from reality. Since energy monitoring is the whole reason to buy the HS110 over the HS100, I believe that feature not working deserves a 1-star review.There are a few issues that I've found that have led me to return the product:1) Kasa app is terrible and doesn't seem to refresh most of the time without killing it (swiping up in iOS) then re-launching it. I tried just doing a "pull down to refresh" on the page that shows all my devices (just one in this case) and it acted like it was refreshing, but energy usage was still from yesterday or the last time I launched the app. Strike 1.2) Even when I force it to refresh, the energy usage is WAY off. Like 200% or more high. I was using this to monitor a dehumidifier with a 500W nameplate draw. When it was on, the HS110 was indicating 1100 watts! Almost had a heart attach until I realized the reading was faulty. Compared to a Kill-A-Watt and the Kill-A-Watt showed 566 watts. I double checked with a simple light bulb just in case there was a problem with inductive loads like compressors. Nope, still more than double what the Kill-A-Watt read. Strike 2.3) After reporting this problem to TP-Link, I got an e-mail from support with a .zip file containing a firmware update, with a random .exe file to run the firmware update. Not even a mention of "yes this is a known issue and this will fix it," just "here try this." I'm on a Mac, I'm not going to fiddle with firing up a Windows VM to try and update the firmware on something that should be working out of the box. There doesn't appear to be a way to update the firmware from the Kasa app or the web or anything like that. Strike 3.Just printed my return label, this one is going back.
Top reviews from other countries
fahad
Easy to setup, works perfectly
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on June 6, 2018kajutisg
Works well with Sense power monitoring
Reviewed in Canada on March 8, 2021Cody Selina
Easy to use, once scheduled these remember on / off times with or without Wi-Fi.
Reviewed in Canada on September 23, 2020
Cody Selina
Reviewed in Canada on September 23, 2020
You can also use the Kasa app on your phone to turn power on / off as desired with the press of a button. In the Kasa app you can also view your power usage, run time, etc.
Unlike some other smart plugs available on the market these units will not allow voltage to leak through the device when the power is supposed to be turned off, I had tried other brand / model smart plugs previously before purchasing 3 of these TP-Link HS110 units and my lights would stay faintly illuminated when turned off which isn't good for the plants I'm growing. This smart plug turns the power completely off when it's turned off as it should.
I can also remotely turn on / off the lights from work 30 km away from home as long as the smart plugs have a Wi-Fi connection.
These do exactly what I needed them to do for me, hassle free light scheduling for my two garden rooms.
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