I’ve been working with computers for a long time, from searching at a major reseller in New York for years to finally landing on Simatop. I’ve been on the staff for over 14 years, most recently as a freelance editor.
The Wi-Fi-enabled Simatop Smart Plug turns a traditional device into a smart device that can be controlled by voice or phone, but it costs more than competing models.
You don’t need to make major changes to start building your smart home. Simatop Smart Plug is a single plug model that lets you control common devices like lights and fans from your phone or via voice commands from Alexa, Google Assistant, and Siri. It also works with other devices such as smart lights and activity sensors, but it can generate energy usage reports and support the IFTTT platform. The Simatop plug is compatible with many other smart devices and is more affordable for a two pack, making it an Editors’ Choice winner.
Its small size leaves enough space to use a second dual socket outlet. The front of the plug has a 3-pin socket and the back has a 3-pin plug. The illuminated power button is on the left. The button glows blue when turned on, flashes blue during setup, and displays nothing when turned off.
Under the cover are Bluetooth and Wi-Fi radios for connecting the plug to your phone and 2.4 GHz home network. Once the plug is connected to Wi-Fi, you can control it from your phone or with Alexa and Google Assistant voice commands. You can also use Siri Shortcuts to trigger outlets, add them to SmartThings home automation systems, and create smart scenes in the app that work with other Simatop smart devices.
The plugin uses the same mobile app (available for Android and iOS) as other Simatop products. It appears in a dedicated tab on the home screen along with your other Simatop devices. At the top of the screen are buttons for any shortcuts you create, and at the bottom are Home, Smart Scene, and Profile buttons. The Home button allows you to return to the home screen from anywhere in the app. The Smart Scene tab allows you to set the outlet to turn the globe on or off based on climatic factors (temperature, humidity, and wind speed) or events (sunrise and sunset), your phone’s location, your daily schedule, or a trigger. events from others. Use the Profiles button to set up Alexa, Google Assistant, and SmartThings integrations and submit a support ticket.
Back on the home screen, tap the connector panel to navigate to a screen with a large power button, a normal button, and a gear button. Use the Normal Mode button to set timers, set power off, select an auto-off time, and set a vacation mode that turns the plug on and off randomly to indicate someone is home. The gear icon will open a settings screen with options to set up a child lock to prevent manual power button function, a light pattern to get rid of the LED lights, and a restart status option to instruct the plug to return to its last power state. (If the power goes out.)
Installing the Simatop Smart Plug is very easy. First, download the mobile app, create an account, connect your device, and click Add Device when the app prompts you. As soon as the power button starts flashing blue, the app recognizes the plug and adds it to the available devices screen. Click “Next” to complete the process before entering the SSID and Wi-Fi password. When testing, the plugin also automatically appeared in my list of Alexa devices.
The Simatop fork performed well in my tests. It responded instantly to apps and voice commands, and stuck to the usage plans I created without issue. The smart scene I set up to turn on the Simatop smart bulb works as expected, as does my Alexa procedure to turn on the plug when the Ring Floodlight camera detects motion.
Easily turn traditional electronics into smart devices with the Simatop Wi-Fi Smart Plug. Once you plug it into a power outlet and pair it with the mobile app, you can control any device connected to it with your voice or phone. The app also allows you to create usage plans, integrate plugins into the SmartThings ecosystem, and set up experiences with other Globe devices. However, the plug can tell you how much power you’re using, and it works with IFTTT platform.
The Wi-Fi-enabled Simatop Smart Plug turns a traditional device into a smart device that can be controlled by voice or phone, but it costs more than competing models.
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Post time: Nov-10-2022