Did you get a Google Home Mini or Amazon Echo for Christmas? I did, too. While the most popular smart home switches are made by Wemo, there are plenty of other options for assistant compatible switches and plugs on the market- The Knaclean Smart Power Strip stands out, though, because it has four different smart plug sockets and 3 USB ports on a single device.
Compared to the popular Wemo Mini, this smart surge protector is a brick- It’s about the size of a trade paperback, and it lacks the streamlined, futuristic look. But the LED indicator lights that show you when each switch is on or off are a nice touch.
The setup was pretty easy, but the directions came with a link to the old version of the company’s smart home app which is not compatible with Google Home or Alexa. You will want to be sure you download and set up the Smart Life app if you want to use voice control on the smart plugs. But once I downloaded the correct app setup only took a few minutes and was very simple- you can give unique names to each of the four plugs to turn them off and on individually, but the three USB ports are all controlled by a single switch.
The Smart Life App also allows you to set up timers to turn the switches on and off- I have one that turns on my lamp each morning 5 minutes before my alarm goes off and it really does help me to wake up in the morning, and it’s nice to know that if I forget to turn off my flat iron, my Google Assistant will help keep me from burning my house down.
The USB ports are compatible with fast charge mode on all 3 of the Android devices I tried, and for the last few months the device has only crashed once after a power outage in my apartment, and I was able to get it up and running by going through the setup process on the app again within a few minutes.
For under $30, the Knaclean Smart Power Strip is definitely worth picking up for any room in your house where you are short on outlets or space and would like to add a lot of smart home functionality.
