You can set a schedule (via the Kasa app) where your light bulb automatically turns on and off (see attached pic). This does NOT require an Amazon Echo device. The Echo devices prove convenient by also allowing you to turn the light bulb on and off by saying, "Alexa turn on/off device name." I would highly recommend getting an Echo device; the Echo Dot is affordable and does the job nicely.
An Amazon Echo device will also allow you to group 2 or more smart enabled devices. In my case, my living room ceiling fan has 4 light bulb sockets. I named each one LR1, LR2, LR3, and LR4 respectively. Using the Alexa app, I grouped all 4 light bulbs as "LIVING ROOM." In the attached video, you can hear me control the lights simply by saying, "Alexa, turn on living room". Note: I only had 2 light bulbs when I first created my video, but I got another 2 to complete the set during Christmas.
The reason why I knocked down 1 star from my review is the following:
1) The light bulbs tend to lose their connection to your home wireless router when using the light switch to turn them off. You would think that since it is already "paired" that it would remember the network name/password once the light switch is turned on again. This is not the case. When the power is cut off completely for a long period of time, you have to "pair" the light bulb again for some strange reason. I've had to do this twice already. And no... there are no firmware updates available. It's current and up to date.
2) Other TP-Link smart devices (light switch) have an "Away" feature available in the Kasa app where the device randomly turns on and off during a period of time of your choosing to give the appearance that someone is home. This feature, however, is not available for the light bulbs. I'm not sure of the technical reasons for disabling this feature on the light bulbs, but I would love for this feature to be available on the light bulbs as well.
