By no means are smart plugs the flashiest part of our HomeKit homes, but they serve a key role in making our homes smarter and can actually fill some gaps in devices that HomeKit seems to have forgotten about .  And with a little clever thinking, we can get some pretty awesome results.  There is no shortage of choices when it comes to smart plugs on the market, so finding one that stands out amongst the competition is challenging, but we think the Aqara Smart Plug is definitely one to consider for your HomeKit setup.

Check out review video of the Aqara Smart Plug that has some great ideas for smart plug automations.

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Features

• single grounded outlet
• scheduling / timer
• energy monitoring
• overheat / overload protection
• child-safe design

Need to Knows

• Zigbee device; requires an Aqara hub
• 15A / 1875W maximum power draw
• operating temperature: -10° – +40° C
• dimensions: 67 X 37 x 45 mm

Pros

Not all smart plugs these days have energy monitoring and it’s not something that can be added via a firmware update, so I do appreciate this being included in the Aqara Home app even if it isn’t supported in HomeKit…yet

As this is a Zigbee accessory that does require an Aqara Hub, it’s response time is faster than a speeding bullet… OK well maybe not that fast, but it does seem to respond quicker than my WiFi outlets and if your WiFi goes down, you can still control this device remotely..

Speaking of Zigbee, the Aqara Smart Plug is a Zigbee signal repeater.  So if you are starting to amass a collection of Aqara sensors and such, this smart plug can help to strengthen that network.

Cons

We mentioned earlier that one of the benefits of this smart plug is that it has energy monitoring and we can see a daily and monthly log of energy consumption in the Aqara app, but unfortunately we can’t create automations based on this energy draw r consumption and this would definitely be a welcomed feature.

The Aqara Smart Plug is also relatively bulky when compared to other smart plugs on the market with the same or similar functionality.  While I’ve found that in many casses there is sufficient space to connect another plug,  it might not leave enough space for another smart plug.

Finally, the Aqara Smart Plug is priced slightly higher than other smart plugs out there, currently coming in at $27.99 in the U.S.  However, considering that its regularly on sale AND its unique functionality in the Aqara ecosystem, the few extra bucks aren’t a huge deal

The App

The Aqara Home app really has a lot to offer users of its products. It is worth noting though that while Aqara products do work with HomeKit, its app does not integrate your other HomeKit devices. So, in order to take advantage of the extras of Aqara’s Home app, you’ll need to use their devices. Finally, I won’t go into the smart plug’s functionality in Apple’s Home app as it it is exactly the same as any other smart plug in HomeKit.

While the energy monitoring is fantastic, and we already mentioned our issue with the lack of automation support here, the Aqara Home app enables users to create custom push notifications and to set delay timers before an action happens. This can be extremely useful particularly for a smart plug.

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In addition to push notifications and delays, we can, of course, have the plug turn on or off based on a particular event. We can also easily setup an by where the smart plug turns on and off allowing us to power cycle whatever device we have plugged into the smart plug. This is great for sleepy routers that could use a jolt.

I also really like that through the app we can set a maximum power threshold that can limit the amount of energy the smart plug will draw before turning off. Furthermore, there is a “Charging Protection” feature which will turn off the plug after it detects a draw of less than 2W of power for a 30-minute period. This is great for any device that you may be charging like a phone, tablet, power tool batteries, etc.

We mentioned earlier that the Aqara Home app doesn’t integrate other HomeKit products and it doesn’t, but this doesn’t mean that you can’t use your other HomeKit sensors to trigger the Aqara hub’s alarm and you can do it with the Aqara Smart Plug and here’s how…

Final Thoughts on the Aqara Smart Plug

The humble smart plug is a ubiquitous part of our connected homes and will continue to be for some time to come. As with really any smart home accessory goes, we want our smart plugs to be reliable, quick, secure, and cost-effective. I think the Aqara Smart Plug ticks all these boxes when you look at it from a global perspective and actually has some features that no other HomeKit smart plug. If your a fan of HomeKit and of Aqara, it is a MUST for your setup.

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NOTE: Aqara sent us a review unit for this review, but it is not sponsored and all of the views expressed in this post and in the videos have not been influenced by anything other than my personal experience with the product itself.