Investing in smart plugs is an easy way to make your home more efficient, intelligent and more energy-saving.
Smart plugs connect everyday electrical appliances like a lamp or coffee machine to your WiFi, opening up a world of possibilities for fine-tuning your household routine. Think turning your lights on and off while you’re away on holiday, getting the slow cooker started ready for when you get home, or for making sure you switched off your hair straighteners, all via an app on your smartphone.
Setting them up is as simple as pushing one in a socket, pairing it with your network, and then using it to switch on and off the appliance that’s attached to it. However, they do differ in the functions available via their associated apps and, although most work with Alexa and Google, not all work with all voice-control systems.
We put five products through their paces to discover which are the best smart plugs. Our test looked at how quickly they can turn on and off appliances, how easy it is to set up automations and what other additional features they offer, such as energy monitoring. We also tested out smart plugs that work with Alexa and other smart home devices. Read on for our verdict...
Best smart plugs at a glance
- Best overall / Best smart plug with energy monitoring: Wiz connected smart plug £17.99 - Jump to our review or Buy now from Currys
- Best smart plug to use with Alexa: Amazon smart plug, £24.99 - Jump to our review or Buy now from Amazon
- Best budget buy: 4Lite smart plug, £14.99, Amazon - Jump to our review or Buy now from Amazon
Best smart plugs - our reviews
Wiz connected smart plug, £17.99, Currys
Score: 10/10
Features at a glance:
- Requires Wi-Fi 2.4 GHz Wi-Fi network
- Requires the Wiz app
- Compatible with Alexa & Google Home
- Control with app or voice
- Works with Android and iOS devices
Pros
- Easy to set up
- Good connectivity to other systems, such as Alexa and Google Home
Cons
- User manual was quite basic
Getting started
The WiZ smart plug can make any socket smart - simply plug in your ordinary light or appliance and you can control them with your smartphone or voice-activated smart home device.
The device was very quick to set up, and once you've downloaded the free WiZ app and created an account, just follow the simple on-screen prompts to pair your device your Wi-Fi. From here, you can create ‘room’ set-ups within your home to control multiple devices via the app, as well as set up routines and schedules.
In the app, you can link your Wiz smart plug with Alexa, Google Home, Siri Shortcuts, SmartThings and IFTTT, to enable you to control it using your voice as well as the app.
We really liked that the app also has a function to allow you to monitor the energy usage via the smart plug - handy to have in the current economic climate when we're all keen to reduce our energy bills. Check out our round-up of energy monitors if you're looking specifically to measure your electricity consumption.
Results
Once set up, the smart plug reacted instantly when we used the app to turn a table light on and off, and you can also perform the same function using your voice if you link your Wiz app to a smart home device like Alexa or Google Home. With the ‘schedules’ function in the app, you can turn devices on and off automatically to fit your daily or weekly routines and save energy.
Value for money
At £17.99 with a one-year warranty, this is one of the more affordable plugs we tested. We felt its ease of use and connectivity to other systems such as Alexa and Google Home made it great value for money
4Lite smart plug, £14.99, Amazon
Score: 10/10
Features at a glance:
- Requires Wi-Fi 2.4 GHz Wi-Fi network
- Requires the Wiz app
- Control with app or voice
- Compatible with Google, Alexa, Siri, Samsung Smart Things
- Works with Android and iOS devices
Pros
- Great price point
- Easy to set up
Cons
- User manual was quite basic
Getting started
The 4Lite smart plug was very quick to set up, and then you need to download the free WiZ app and create an account. From here,follow the simple on-screen prompts to add the device and pair it via Bluetooth. You can then use the Wiz app to control devices, such as coffee machines, table lamps etc, to link and react to the app, where you can also set up schedules and routines.
In the app you can link your 4Lite smart plug with Alexa, Google Home, Siri Shortcuts and Samsung Smart Things to enable voice commands. The app also has a function to allow you to monitor the energy usage via the smart plug, which is useful to have if you’re trying to keep your energy bills down this winter.
Results
Once it was set up this smart plug reacted at once when we used the app to switch a table light on and off. You can also perform the same function using your voice if you link your Wiz app to your Alexa or Google Home-enabled device. With the schedules function, you can turn devices on and off to fit your daily or weekly routines and save energy.
Value for money
Priced at just £14.99, this smart plug comes with an impressive four-year warranty, which makes it excellent value for money.
Amazon smart plug, £24.99, Amazon
Score: 8/10
Features at a glance:
- Requires Wi-Fi 2.4 GHz Wi-Fi network.
- Requires the Alexa App
- Control with app or voice
- Works with Fire OS, Android and iOS devices
Pros
- Really quick and easy to set up
Cons
- Only works with Alexa-enabled devices or the Alexa but it does not support other voice assistants or smart hubs
- Quite a large, bulky design
Getting started
The Amazon smart plug works with Alexa to enable voice control of your power socket. This was super easy to set up - we plugged the device into a socket, downloaded then opened the free Alexa app (compatible with Fire OS, Android and iOS devices) on our smartphone. After tapping the ‘More’ icon we followed the on screen instructions to scan a barcode in the set-up manual and it just took a couple more steps to add the device to our Wi-Fi system and it was ready to go.
You can tell Alexa which appliance it’s connected to, for example a lamp, and you can then ask it to turn it on and off or set up schedules remotely, handy for when you’re away. With multiple Amazon smart plugs, you can control multiple electrical sockets - all you need is an Alexa-enabled device like Echo, Fire TV, Fire tablet, Sonos One, or even just the Alexa App on your phone.
However, the Amazon smart plug works exclusively with Alexa-enabled devices or the Alexa, so it does not support other voice assistants or smart hubs. It also doesn’t come with any built-in features to monitor energy consumption.
Results
Once set up the smart plug reacted instantly to voice commands to turn a table light on and off via the our Alexa-enabled smart speaker as well as via the app. You can use the Alexa App to create routines you can launch with a single click - for example, a morning routine that automatically turns on your bedside lamp and your coffee machine at the same time. We found this was quick and easy to set up and worked really well.
Value for money
This plug costs £24.99 and comes with a one-year warranty. We felt it offered good value for money, especially if you are already a household that used Alexa-enabled devices in your home, as the set up and functions were all really easy to co-ordinate.
Trust smart plug, £22.08, Amazon
Score: 7/10
Features at a glance:
- Requires Wi-Fi 2.4 GHz Wi-Fi network
- Requires the Trust Smart Home app
- Control with app or voice
- Compatible with Google Home, Google Assistant, Amazon Alexa
- Works with Android and iOS devices
Pros
- Helpful instruction manual
Cons
- App doesn’t seem to have as many functions as some others we used
Getting started
This smart plug lets you control electrical appliances via the free Trust Smart Home WiFi app or your voice with compatible smart speakers. After you download the app and create an account, plug in the smart plug and switch it on, then press and hold the on/off button on the plug until it flashes rapidly. Click ‘add a device’ and follow the simple instruction on the app to pair the device with your WiFi. The whole set-up was pretty quick and easy, and there’s no hub required either. Once set up and paired with your Google Home or Amazon Alexa device you can control your plug using your voice as well as via the app.
Results
Once set up, the smart plug reacted instantly when we used the app to turn a table light on and off. However, we had trouble trying to get to connect it to our Alexa, so weren’t able to test out the voice control option.
The Smart Scenarios function in the app allows you to control several devices or lights at the same time, so you can create 'scenes' using timers and conditions. The Automation function allows you to set your smart plug automatically according to conditions such as the weather, device status or time, while the Tap-to-Run function lets you control multiple WiFi devices with one tap, or by using an AI-enabled speaker through voice commands.
Value for money
At £22.08 with a one-year warranty this was one of the more costly smart plugs we tested. Although it worked very well, its accompanying app didn’t seem to offer quite as many functions as some of the other plugs we tested, so we felt it offered only fair value for money.
Philips Hue smart plug, £29.99, Philips Hue
Score: 6/10
Features at a glance:
- Requires Wi-Fi 2.4 GHz Wi-Fi network
- Requires the Philips Hue app
- Bluetooth enabled
- Hue Bridge enabled
- HomeKit compatible
- Add any light to your Hue system
- Instant control via Bluetooth
- Control with app or voice
- Compatible with Amazon Alexa, Google Assistant, Apple HomeKit (Via Hue Bridge), Microsoft Cortana (Via Hue Bridge)
- Works with Android (10.0 and above) and iOS devices
Pros
- Great addition to your home if you have Hue lighting system
Cons
- Expensive
- Confusing to set up
Getting started
This smart plug allows you to turn any light – even one in which you can’t place a Hue bulb – into a smart light and control it via the Hue app or voice command. You can use Bluetooth for instant light control, or connect to a Hue Bridge (available to purchase separately) to unlock more features. Before starting, you need to download the Hue Bluetooth app and create a user account. Then you plug in the smart plug, scan a QR code in the instruction manual and select the device to set-up i.e. a smart plug. Next, you need to go to ‘settings’ and ‘lights’, where the app will find the plug via Bluetooth and add it to your app.
However, we did find the set-up quite confusing and long-winded. The app seems heavily geared to users with a Hue lighting system already set up at home, so there are a lot of elements that aren’t so relevant to wade through. Although this smart plug doesn’t need a hub to work, if you do have a Hue Bridge you can access more features.
Results
Once set up, the smart plug reacted instantaneously when we used the app to turn a table light on and off, and when we used voice control via Alexa. However, unless you have Hue-compatible bulbs, many of the other functions on the app, such as creating lighting ‘moods’, aren’t applicable if you’re using the smart plug on its own.
Value for money
Priced at £29.99, but with an impressive two-year warranty, this was the most expensive smart plug we tested. Although it worked very well, unless you have a Hue lighting system set up at home, it is costly if you’re just going to use it as a basic smart plug on its own.
Looking for more energy-efficient appliances?
Where to buy the most energy-efficient...
