Hack your home for a steal. (Photo: Amazon)
Hacking your home has never been easier and more affordable. If you're looking to turn on your TV from your phone or brew your morning cup of coffee on demand, you can now do so for six bucks. No, this isn't some far-off technology dream à la The Jetsons, it's a current reality, and all you need to make it yours are smart plugs. Specifically, the TP-Link Kasa Wi-Fi Smart Plugs. They're a great choice to upgrade your home tech, and a four-pack costs just $24 (was $30) when you apply the on-page coupon at Amazon.
Simply plug one of these into a wall outlet, then plug in anything from a lamp or a TV to a coffeemaker. Connect the plug to your Wi-Fi network and use your phone to sync to the Kasa Smart app (it works with Androids and iPhones too). And that’s it. Now you can control just about anything in your home with your phone.
“Hands down, the best smart plugs we’ve purchased and installed,” wrote a five-star reviewer. “We have them installed throughout our home for all of our lamps, and even had several of our indoor Christmas decorations hooked up to them this past year, including our tree and pre-lit garland that wrapped along our stair railings.”
There are other smart-home plugs on the market, of course, like the Wemo Mini Smart Plug ($19 each). But Amazon shoppers seem to prefer the Kasa. “I have found that these Kasa Smart plugs work really well and bounce back from any power or network hiccups quickly,” shared a satisfied shopper. “The other brands I have around the house take some time to reacquire my network once powered back on. Sometimes I have to unplug them completely and replug them. In the case of Wemo, I've often had to reconfigure from scratch after a power [outage].”
You can even connect these smart home plugs to the Echo Dot or Google Home Mini to control things with your voice via either Alexa or Google Assistant. After you sync them up, just say "Hey Alexa (or Hey Google), turn on my TV." Easy peasy!
“The pairing with Alexa made turning them on and off a breeze with a simple command,” reported a five-star Amazon reviewer. "Through the Kasa app you can schedule certain ones to turn on and off at particular times or randomly turn on and off so it looks like someone’s home throughout the day when you’re at work or on vacation. Also, being able to also control the lights through the app is nice, too, when you’re out of town so you have even more control of making it appear like you’re home when you’re not.”
The plugs just make your life less stressful, and who wouldn’t want that? “These Wi-Fi plugs are incredibly simple to set up and use! With Alexa and Google Home integration, it makes it even easier to control your plugs with a voice command instead of having to pull out your phone to turn it on,” raved another happy shopper.
If you have Amazon Prime, you’ll get free shipping, of course. Not yet a member? No problem. You can sign up for your free 30-day trial here. (And by the way, those without Prime still get free shipping on orders of $25 or more.)
The reviews quoted above reflect the most recent versions at the time of publication.