Amazon.com: Customer reviews: Wemo Mini Smart Plug, WiFi Enabled, Works with Alexa, Google Assistant & Apple HomeKit

Four Lights, Three Wemos, Two Commands, One Alexa, and a cat named Snickers

Reviewed in the United States on June 4, 2017

Style: Mini Smart PlugPattern Name: Smart PlugVerified Purchase

I have bought three of these so far and definitely plan on purchasing a couple more, all are working well and as expected. I purchased one a couple months ago, loved it, and so I bought two more just this past week. I have the three of them set up to turn on/off four lights twice a day (three hours in the morning and 5+ hours in the evening) and also have them hooked up to Alexa with two commands. They are fairly easy to setup initially via the app and also simple to pair with Alexa, just follow the instructions and you're golden.

I'm not going to lie though, I did encounter a couple minor, super small hiccups during the setup but nothing that I couldn't figure out or would cause me to rate this any lower than a 5 star (maybe a 4.5 but since half stars aren't allowed we will round up). First tiny hiccup: the first wemo I purchased took a few tries in getting the app to recognize it but with some persistence, a dash of patience, and a couple of restarts of the wemo, wemo app, and iPad and it was good to go in less than 15 minutes and it hasn't given me any trouble since (the two other wemos I purchased a week or so after and together they took less than 5 minutes to setup). Second and last little hiccup (solved in less than 10 mins but still something for users to be aware of): getting Alexa to turn my two newest wemos on at the same time by saying one command, I thought I could be clever and name both wemos with the same name and Alexa would know to turn both on/off when I said their name, however, it turns out that you have to instead create a "group" within Alexa's app containing the wemos you want to turn on/off together and the caveat is they cannot have the same name within the wemo app. If anyone figured out how to side step this (besides creating a group or asking Alexa more than one command) let me know, but naming two wemos the same name just did not work for me (or Alexa).

Use one wemo for two lights! - My third wemo works double and controls our two small lights on either side of our tv, just plug a multi-socket plugin into the wemo plug and wah-la, a one plug wemo became a two plug wemo. :)

Lastly, and most importantly, our cat Snickers is a HUGE FAN of these wemos and appreciates them very much because it makes her feel like we are home if we get home late or go away for the weekend. And yes, Snickers told me this herself, she also said that her and Alexa get along great and that they talk at least a few times a day. I have not witnessed any of their interaction because she says they only chat when we aren't home, and trust me I've tried asking Alexa if she talk with Snickers and she just outright denies knowing who Snickers is altogether. I have also tried looking into Alexa's app for the conversations but to no avail, I suspect either Snickers is going onto my iPad and deleting their convos or Alexa is not recording them. I contemplated getting a security camera but as much as I want proof of their friendship I would just never forgive myself if I ruined it.

In any case, these are great and I definitely recommend purchasing more than one, at least enough to control all the lamps you turn on daily or even periodically because the wemo app also lets you set which days you want it to turn on/off.

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R. B.

A smart plug that switches lamps with fingertip or verbal command

Reviewed in the United States on September 18, 2017

Style: Mini Smart PlugPattern Name: Smart PlugVerified Purchase

I was somewhat alarmed at the number of negative reviews of the Wemo mini smart plug switch. I decided to take it slowly, ordering one or two at a time. I now have six with a seventh coming.
Set up was effortless. The process of connecting to Wi-Fi, naming the switch, connecting to Alexa, setting up single lamps, joining a group, and testing it took five minutes for the first lamp and with practice now takes three minutes. I easily set up groups of lamps controlled by a single command.
I have not tried timed lamps but it looks simple. I have not tried IFTTT. I did not download the firmware update since everything was working.
However, I did try causing trouble. I unplugged a switch and plugged it back in. I changed the name of a switch. I turned off the Wi-Fi and then turned it back on. I set up switches on different floors of the house than the router or the Echo. At no time could I get any of the switches to fail.
The oldest one I have is less than two weeks old, so there is the possibility of failure in the long run. Otherwise I am truly baffled at why some people have had so much trouble.

Update: I ordered two more plugs, numbers 8 and 9. This time I had problems. They would not detect the Wi-Fi. I recycled the plugs and the Wi-Fi to no avail. I unplugged all of the previous 7 plugs, as recommended by another reviewer, but still could not get the new ones to connect. I tried several more times over a period of six hours. I saw why others gave up at this point but i was encouraged to persist because the first 7 worked. Suddenly the new ones connected. I'm truly not sure why. However, a month has gone by and all 9 are operating perfectly. Once again I recycled the Wi-Fi and unplugged the plugs but could not get anything to fail. Clearly these plugs have quirks, but now everything works: Alexa, the Wemo app and the rules. My only sure advice is to persist and you will be rewarded with eventual success.

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MD

So far, so good...oops, spoke too soon.

Reviewed in the United States on October 20, 2018

Style: Mini Smart PlugPattern Name: Smart PlugVerified Purchase

Original review was Four Stars, and follows this update, which is just a few days later....

So, as noted below, after some struggles, I did manage to get it connected. BUT, it won't power my heater! It is supposed to, but, today, it started overheating and turning itself (and my heater) off. I woke up freezing cold, and saw that it was off, and learned, via a message in the app, that this stupid plug just overheats and shuts itself off! What it the point?! Very fed up now with Wemo.

Switch was also making electrical crackling sounds, not good. Fire hazard, for sure!

I am returning it, and don't care to try another one. I have ordered one of the units from TP-Link, and I'll see how that does. I did not order one of their "Mini" ones, since maybe they are too fragile for a space heater, but, if that's the case, then these companies should be forthright and state, up front, that the small versions are only for a 4 watt lamp, or whatever the limit is.

I found many similar complaints about this useless plug, the overheating problem, and apparently it comes down to a defective unit, since some can power a heater, just fine, and others, like mine, overheat and shut down.

Lousy quality control, minimal customer help, fire hazard, all bad. I'm done with Wemo.

ORIGINAL REVIEW, a few days previous....

Back in 2016, I ordered a Wemo Smart Plug, just to be able to remotely turn on the space heater at home, so my apartment would be nicely warmed up for my arrival, in winter. It worked so well I bought a second one, to do the same at my office. They were the "full size" ones, not a Mini version.

As usual, this year, I did not use them over the summer, at all, and have only just now needed them again. This year, the one at the office still works great, but, to my great frustration, the one at home simply refused to work anymore, and I wasted hours following every procedure I could find, to no avail. Wemo does a horrid job, in my opinion, on simplifying use and troubleshooting of these products. You have to hunt through basically other customer experiences and what they did, and the app itself now doesn't even have built-in help, but instead kicks you over to your browser to try and find any solution and you can't even connect to the Internet while trying to set up this thing.

For me, my original less-than-clever plug would not connect to the app anymore, and would also not do anything else after reset, it just blinked orange and would do nothing more, and refused to even go into pairing mode. I finally took a hammer to it, and felt much better!

BUT, based on how well it worked, when it did work, and based on my office one still working great, two years on, I opted to try Wemo again, this time selecting this Mini version, because it doesn't block the other outlet of the wall plug.

At first, I was getting frustrated again, and nearly reached for the trusty hammer, but it WOULD at least go into pairing mode, although it would not complete the set-up. Turns out that smart phones now annoy the smart plug, so I had to change settings on my phone so that no other network would interfere during the set up process. I just turned off 4G, and deleted all networks but one, so that the fussy little plug could complete the set up process.

Then, the app promptly forgot or deleted the plug, and it was gone, and I had to start over. As my hand almost involuntarily started creeping toward the hammer handle, I paused, took a deep breath, and began from the beginning. This time, I knew what to do at least, deleted all my networks but one, turned off 4G, let it set itself up, then added one network back to my phone, so it could talk to the plug, and, voila! Plug showed up in the app and works perfectly to turn the heater on and off.

So, definitely a star lost for very poor assistance with these things. I never did figure out why the other one stopped working, and, with this one, I was entirely on my own to figure out why it would not initially set up, beyond the mention of some "auto connection" feature on my phone, which I turned off, but which made no difference.

Just using guesswork, I figured too many available networks was confusing the not-so-smart plug, and that turned out to be the case. But, VERY frustrating process, and there just is not readily available (or easily applicable) help from Wemo on their products, which seems ridiculous to me, and likely is behind some of the many negative reviews.

I know there are a lot of phones and a lot of networks out there, but it seems somebody could make a product that connects more easily, or at least offer some step by step guides for troubleshooting, or something. I'm no tech or computer guy, so I probably don't have a clue how difficult that is to accomplish, and it's likely a case where it's best to just be thankful for a product that can miraculously turn on my heat from anywhere on earth (if my Internet is working, at least) but I can see where folks would give up on products like this, that are just so frustrating sometimes and refuse to do what they are supposedly made to do.

This is certainly as deep as I'll ever dive into "smart" products, and, no thanks, don't need my fridge monitoring me or microphones and cameras surveilling my every move. I guess people raised in this nightmare era of social media don't think it's a big deal (despite all that goes wrong due to broadcasting one's life incessantly), but, yup, a semi-smart plug is about all I want to deal with in terms of the Internet of Things or whatever it is called.

So, a star off for frustrations, but, I will say, regarding these, that when they work, they are a big help. I can figure out for myself when to order milk, but smart tech that lets me operate my heater from anywhere is pretty awesome, so four stars given, and deserved, in that regard.

I do recommend, but hide your hammer, because frustrations may come along with this item and help is definitely not easy to find.

8 people found this helpful

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Gadget Guru

Works for my needs, but could use some improvement

Reviewed in the United States on May 17, 2019

Style: Mini Smart PlugPattern Name: Smart PlugVerified Purchase

I have 4 Wemo minis that I use in tandem with 3 of the original plug switches, 1 Wemo insight plug and several light switches. I guess you could say I'm pretty well entrenched in the Wemo universe at this point.

All devices work great over my older wireless G router which is on the first floor in the kitchen of my home built in 1875. Not only do I have to contend with thick plaster and lathe walls (and perhaps some lead paint I'd rather pretend isn't there), thick hardwood framing and floors, 3 stories (including the finished attic, but I also have a metal tile ceiling in the kitchen. It's literally the worst case scenario, aside from maybe masonry.

Despite this, all my Wemo components across all three floors and even the detached garage manage to connect and show up in the app, both on the local and outside networks. I do see a lot of reviews that have an issue with this, but despite all the obstacles, I've had no issues. I do make the initial connection to the network on my first floor, but even after relocating the devices, they still show in the app with no issue.

I like using these switches for multiple reasons:

1) Automation: I can turn lights on and off based on sunset and sunrise times, exact time or any combination or sunset/sunrise and specific times. That means my porch light comes on at dusk and turns off at dawn and other lights turn on at dusk and turn off at the time I normally head to bed. This is especially great for holiday decorating.

2) Remote control: I can turn lights or other devices on or off from anywhere the internet exists.

3) Security camera control: I have several outdoor security cameras, but never wanted to have them inside since I didn't want to risk someone getting into the DVR and being able to view me indoors. With a Wemo switch, I can automate the cameras being on only when I'm not home or manually turn them on remotely at other times rather than activate or deactivate them through the security DVR. That means a hacker would need to have access to both the DVR and the Wemo switch to spy on me indoors. Granted, they would only see "public" areas on the first floor, but it's nice to have that extra security measure with two systems.

4) Access to lighting controls from anywhere in the house: It's nice to be able to turn on outside lighting from my bedroom using the app to investigate a noise I might hear outside. Whether it's a raccoon or a human prowler, it's nice to say "get off my lawn" from the safety of a lockable upstairs room using outdoor lighting.

Overall, installation, updates and use are pretty painless. I make it harder on my self by having MAC Address filtering turned on in my router, so I have to manually add each device address in before it will connect. Most people don't do this, so it's a problem I made for myself, not an issue for the device. Once I manually add in the MAC Address, things go pretty smoothly.

I have a password with special characters in it, so I can conform there is no issue with using them. The devices also see unfazed my using the newer WPA2 security.

Once you have one device connected, you can save those credentials to make adding more devices easier.

Overall, things are easy, but it's not entirely peaches and cream. Here are the reasons for only 4 stars:

1) The overall installation could be far easier if the app could simply read a QR code on the device and add it directly to the home network using the saved credentials that way. It's silly to have to connect to the device, send the credentials to it (or enter them manually if it's the first device), then connect back to the home WiFi network to use it with the other devices. Seriously: scan QR code through the app using the camera, input WiFi credentials (or select already saved WiFi network), plug in the device, then wait for it to connect and appear in the app. It should be that simple. It's not unworkable the way it is, but there's no reason for it not to be easier.

2) You can't change your WiFi password on all the devices using the app. That means if you update your router password periodically (as you should), you have to first deprogram ALL the Wemo devices, change the router password, then manually add them all back in. Seriously. What moron thought that was a good way to do it? The app lets you save the Wifi properties for adding additional properties. You should be able to go into the settings and change it and have all the devices update in one shot. That's, like, how everything else in the world works. Stupid, stupid, stupid....

3) Switches don't resume their previous on state if power is lost, then restored. They seem to reconnect to my network fine, but it's annoying my outside light remains off after power is restored instead of remembering the state it was on (or comparing the current state to the running program) and turning on if it should be on. If Belkin is worried something could trip a breaker or do something else bad if the switch somes back on unattended, simply make it a check box function for each individual switch. That way I can decide what should come back on following a power failure and what should remain off. Further, they can program in a delay to ensure the system is no longer at risk of brown-outs to avoid the effects of multiple power drops.

4) These things aren't cheap. In comparison to other similar devices on the market, the price of the Belkin devices is becoming more out of line with the market reality. Fortunately, occasional sales make that less of an issue, but Belkin really needs to price their products more competitively to ward off competition from the cheap Chinese knock-offs.

5) Belkin seems to take far too long to respond to new feature demands. It's only recently as last year they finally added a dimmable light switch, for example. Other manufacturers were already out with options for that long before Belkin came out with their product. Likewise, companies like Lutron not only have app controlled switches, but have options for adding additional switches to lights without the need for a direct connection with them. While the Belkin WiFi based system would likely at least need a power connection to an add on switch, they absolutely need to create "add-on" switches that can control a main switch, essentially creating a 3-way switch option to lighting. These add on switches would read the state of the main switch and show the the state in the app, and merely trigger the on/off press on that main switch they connect to. In short, they would only act as a remote control for the main switch. Belkin already has the ability to do this, as evidenced by the addition of the "long press" rule, but they need an option for a dedicated add-on switch to avoid the cumbersome "long-press" option that is really a complete pain to use.

6) Belkin needs more options for the rules. Right now, the rules only let you set one on/off event for days that you choose. If you want a second or third on/off event, you need another rule. That means you need separate rules for work days and weekends, morning and evening, home and away, home and vacation, holidays and literally every single thing else you can think off. My thermostat lets me set all those options that can be accessed in an unattended manner for most (work day/day off, morning/evening, etc.) , and two touches for others (vacations, holidays, time of year, etc.). I should be able to use on rule to turn a light on in the evening and off at bed time, turn on in the morning and turn off when I leave for work and have separate times for my days off. There should then be a check box to enable whatever vacation or holiday rules I might have set. If you're like me and have a lot of devices, having individual rules for each occasion for each device means a whole lot of rules.

Now, some of these negatives I can live with because there is at least a work around, even if it's more cumbersome. In some cases, I choose not to use a Wemo switch unless or until that option becomes available (such as my foyer light that has a three way switch). In the case of making it a pain when changing my WiFi password, I took off a star for making me jump through unnecessary hoops a couple of times a year. That star also includes the somewhat cumbersome method of adding switches.

The fact is, once added, the switches do work great (for me, anyway). Belkin just needs to get on the ball and bring their product a few steps further to make them stand out from the competition that is in danger of eating their lunch.

23 people found this helpful

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David

Works great with Homekit

Reviewed in the United States on April 18, 2024

Style: 1-pack V4 w/ ThreadPattern Name: Smart PlugVerified Purchase

Works great with Apple Homekit integration, so far very stable and responsive using with Siri and home automation. The Wemo app is not great, but I'm avoiding it and using only Homekit. Currently using with a hot water kettle.

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Peter Franzke

Wemo App and Alexa Set-up.

Reviewed in the United States on March 21, 2019

Style: Mini Smart PlugPattern Name: Smart PlugVerified Purchase

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Keep trying. I have around 7 of the Wemo start plugs. Some are previous generations but the set-up process is the same. Having said that even I have had trouble adding a new plug to the Wemo app. The first check is if there is a firmware update. Secondly I reset the plug Itself by holding down the power button (follow directions in user manual) and try again. I will admit that it's taking me up to five try sometimes to get the plug to connect to the app for the first time. However, once it does I have never had an issue even when I have removed a smart plug from one wall socket waited a few days, plugged it into a different wall socket opened the appand there was. One other confusing thing occurs when you connect to the WeMo Wi-Fi for the first time . After the app had successfully connected to the Wemo' s Wi-Fi it doesn't always take you back to the WeMo app to continue the setup process. Depending on the phone you have what you often have to do is close out of your wifi settings and tbe Wemo app and then restart the app. Once you do that it will connect to the WeMo smart plug and continue the process. There's a video I put where you can see where this happens. Also when you do connect to the WeMo Wi-Fi for the first time there may be a message that pops up warning you don't have internet connection. You can ignore this message. Hit dismiss or don't worry about it till it goes away. I think sometimes people stop at that point. However even doing all of those things correctly it is true that sometimes it takes a while for it to connect the first time. That's about the only negative thing as far as function I can say about it. Once you are connected adding your plug to Alexa is fast. It's actually faster than the WeMo setup process. Setting it up with all the other Smart Home hubs is just as straight forward. Setting up widgets is simple as well once you have it up and running. . Form-factors a different thing but that's a discussion for another day.

PROS - Easy step by step setup. Excellent third party support. I've used with Samung Smarthings, IFTT, Apple Home and the native app.

New form factor allows use of second plug. I've purchased multiples of this device. When it comes to Smart plugs this one is my favorite.

CONS - it could use a second plug.

If you're looking for a small plug that's also a smart plug that works with multiple third-party vendors you can't go wrong with the WeMo product. You can plug in smart devices from other brands into this plug and have no issues.

If you found this helpful please click the link below. Thank you very much. Peter.

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Robert A. Morris

Works, but was a hassle to set up due to bad firmware version.

Reviewed in the United States on January 20, 2017

Style: Mini Smart PlugPattern Name: Smart PlugVerified Purchase

I purchased this item from Amazon on January 9th, as a pre-order from when they were released as a new item on January 10th, 2017. After receiving two defective units from Amazon, and before returning the second, I decided to play around with it more and do some more research online. I am posting this to help anyone else who purchased this and is having trouble getting it to connect to your local WiFi network. I did get the unit working fine, but I removed two stars from my review because of the hassle of getting it to work. I spent over an hour with WeMo tech support, who offered no solutions, and made me jump through a bunch of hoops in the process. Cycling a reboot of my router did nothing. Changing my WiFi password did nothing. Disconnecting my phone from cellular service did nothing. The issue with these early units lies in the fact that they seem to get "confused" if you have other WeMo devices in your home. When trying to set up this WeMo mini, the WeMo app on my iPhone would find the device after I connected to its WiFi. The screen would show the device, ask me to name it, and click "Next". After clicking next, it would get stuck trying to get the device to find my home WiFi network. I have 4 other "older" WeMo devices (none of which ever had any issue connecting). I have a WeMo light switch, and 3 regular WeMo smart plugs. Two of the other WeMo smart plugs were easily accessible, so I tried completely unplugging them (not just turning them off). I did a factory reset on the WeMo mini I purchased, went through the app process of connecting it again, and voila! It immediately found my WiFi network and connected. And then it immediately downloaded a firmware update. So it seems like WeMo is aware of an issue, yet their tech support wasn't informed. And so far, I seem to be the only one publicly acknowledging the issue with these early release devices and buggy firmware.

So long story short, if you have other WeMo devices in your household, and have trouble getting this WeMo mini to connect, try unplugging as many of the other devices as you can (they will automatically reconnect online after you plug them back in), factory reset the mini, and go through the setup process again. It should hopefully work.

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The Suburban Experimentalist

What an easy setup, and responsive Wemo App! With 4 month update!

Reviewed in the United States on July 13, 2019

Style: Mini Smart PlugPattern Name: Smart PlugVerified Purchase

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UPDATE: So I initially started using these in April, and it is now October 10th. I have had no problems with these, and at one point I was gone from the house for a month, turning the lights on and off, and have had no problem with this at all. Firmware has been updated at least twice since installing them, with no issues. It still works with Apple Home kit on my phone. I still rate them at this point great!

So i just recently starting using smart devices in my home. I do not want something that is always listening to me, so I do not want an Alexa, or Google Hub.

I set this smart plug up using the Wemo app in just a few minutes. This is contrast to another manufacturer I tried.

Can this work with Apple Homekit on your phone?
See the video, but the video, but the answer is yes! I was able to to use Apple Home kit to control this smart plug after I used the Wemo app to do a firmware update on the plug. At this time however, I was not able to do so on the Wemo light switch.

After doing the firmware update using the Wemo App, the Wemo smart plug simply showed up when I clicked on the Home app on my phone.

From that point, I could just push the home button and ask Siri to turn the light on our off.

Responsiveness of the Wemo app:
The app is instantaneous as far as I am concerned. That again is in contrast to another manufacturer that has a lot of lag(delay) in turning the decide on and off.

What can you do from the Wemo app:
You can schedule the device to turn on and off at certain times, you can program an auto off timer, You can use a motion detector to turn devices on and off, but you need to install a Wemo Sensor, or Netcam to do so. There is Away mode, for vacation, and you can get motion alerts (again if you have a sensor). You can do firmare updates to your devices, you can see who has access to your devices, and disconnect those you don't want on your system, and you can setup control to Alexa, Google assistant, nest, etc. You can also use the app to get in touch with the makers of Wemo.

Reliability:
My Wemo devices will occasionally become disconnected for a few minutes, but I am not sure what the issue is. It doesn't happen often, and it is not troublesome to me.

I really like the Wemo devices over the other smart devices I have used.

I hope this is helpful!

Mark :)

3 people found this helpful

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Homekit News and Reviews

Now works with HomeKit without needing the WeMo hub

Reviewed in the United States on August 5, 2018

Style: Mini Smart PlugPattern Name: Smart PlugVerified Purchase

As many reading this a probably aware by now, WeMo recently announced that their Mini Smart Plug was the first ostensibly non-HomeKit compatible device to gain HomeKit compatibility, via the new Software Authentication protocol. Intrigued by this, I decided a purchase was in order, despite the fact that I’ve already got quite a few smart plugs to spare.

If you’ve read my previous reviews, you’ll be aware that I put a lot of stock into presentation (the packaging basically), and on this count I would say that WeMo have delivered admirably. As with many of the current manufacturers of smart devices, the container that the smart plug came in was super sturdy, being made of a thick recycled (?) cardboard, enclosed in a green and white outer sleeve. Green seems to be the colour of choice these days, with iHome and Vocolinc both also opting for this colour scheme. Whether this is an effort to imbue their products with some form of ‘eco-friendliness’ I’m not sure, but it certainly works on an aesthetic level.

Once you’ve taken off the outer sleeve, you can really see that WeMo have gone the extra mile, with a lovely design on the inside of the carton – something you’d only see once you had already purchased the product, so this isn’t just to entice you, it’s to encourage and excite you into taking WeMo seriously, in that they think about the smaller details.

After you’ve open the box fully to reveal the smart plug itself, you can see that it’s housed nicely within the centre of the box, giving it little chance to move around and potentially get damaged. There’s an included manual to help with quick setup along with any problems you might have with the plug, in the form of a list of troubleshooting tips.

At the end of the day, of all the categories of smart devices, smart plugs offer the most choice, and while some can do small things that others can’t do (like monitor electricity usage for example), they all basically do the same job of turning a ‘dumb’ device on or off, giving said device some level of automation. This device is no different to any of those in that basic respect. It’s fairly slim, or wide, depending on how you look at it, but being this slim it does offer the advantage of not taking up more than one wall socket, which in turn means that it can be stacked with another WeMo smart plug quite comfortably.

The design of the plug itself is quite unassuming, which would lend itself to blending into a typical, mainly white kitchen. Simple branding aside, the only other thing on the front is a rather convenient on/off switch, with a small LED that lights up in white, when there’s power going to the plug. Going back briefly to its dimensions, while it’s not quite as slim as the iHome iSPX6, it comes close, although it is slightly taller. it does beat out the iDevices Switch in the ‘skinny’ department, but once again it is wider/taller, so it really is down to the individual as to what works for them.

Onto the setup: As this device isn’t a ‘straight-out-the-box’ HomeKit product, with no HomeKit code provided – or even needed – the procedure was a little bit more involved; not necessarily complicated, but a little long-winded nonetheless. First off, you need to download the WeMo app to get things started. Once the app is downloaded and running, you simply plug the device into an outlet and let the app guide you through the process of initially setting it up to work with the WeMo app. Interestingly, even though the setup process for getting it to integrate with HomeKit comes later, the first thing you’re asked on opening the WeMo app is access to your ‘Home Data’, meaning your current Apple Home data. Once you’ve okayed this, you choose which device you want to set up, you’re then presented with a few tips as to setup process itself. This involves connecting your iPhone or iPad to the wi-fi signal of the plug itself in order to exchange you home wi-fi network settings. Once all that’s ‘in the bag’, the app will attempt to connect to the device itself, which in my case took a little bit of time.

It eventually spots the plug and asks you to name the device (if you so wish – I stuck with ‘Wemo Mini’). You’ll then be prompted to provide an email address to complete the process before it proceeds to finally connect directly to your home network. After that is complete, you then get to choose whether you’d like it to send you notifications.

As I already mentioned, this was a lengthy, if straightforward process, but once you’re at this point, you’ll see the smart plug show up as a device that can now be programmed or controlled within the WeMo app. Chances are that there will be at least one, if not two firmware updates awaiting you. One of these will be for the plug itself, which is reassuring to know that kinks are spotted and ironed out by way of these updates. The other is to enable the plug to work with HomeKit, which is the whole reason this is being reviewed of course! Once you’ve updated the firmware, you’ll finally get to the section that allows for HomeKit connectivity. You’re given options for connecting the plug to IFTTT, Nest, Alexa and finally, the Apple Home App. Google isn’t on this list for some reason, but you can connect to Google assistant via the Google Home app.

We’re on the home straight now, so it’s just connecting the plug to the Home app, which in most respects appears in the same way it would if you were adding a standard HomeKit compatible device, minus the part where you have to scan a code.

From here on in, like with a standard install, it’s simply a case of choosing which room the plug resides in, whether it appears as a Light, Powerpoint or Fan, and whether you wish to add it to your favourites. It will then appear in your standard Home app, along with any 3rd party apps you may use.

I’ve only been using it for about 24 hours, and so far I’ve found it to be as responsive as all my other plugs, with no real sign of extra lag from touching the tile in the app, to the corresponding on or off. The device itself emits a small ‘click’ when it’s turned on or off (which may be good for some and terrible for others), and the LED above the physical switch turns white or turns off respectively.

As previously stated, it does work with other platforms, and while it isn’t compatible with Wink, unlike the aforementioned iHome smart plug, it does have IFTTT, which may actually be of more use.

After setting the device up, I unplugged it from mains power briefly, to see if it would reconnect without any issues, and it did reconnect after about a minute or so. However, I did a second test, where I left it disconnected overnight, and on this occasion it took a full uninstall and reinstallation to get it back to where I had it, which in fact took two attempts, with the first take managing to somehow render the physical button unresponsive. A second full reset solved the issue and once I’d gone through the lengthy installation process again, it was all good.

In my final assessment, it’s great to see how devices are going to work with the new Software Authentication process, and I’m hoping that when other manufacturers do get on board, the set up isn’t as long as this one was, even though I can see that most steps seemed to be necessary. However, there are a ton of choices for smart plugs out there, and while this device is a little cheaper than many of them, you do find some good deals occasionally, which essentially boils this down to just another smart plug.

Pros
slim, so easy to stack with another of these if needed
relatively cheap
good support from a reputable company

Cons
long-winded set up process
not great at remembering settings if left unplugged
Still, I’d recommend it for those on a budget who also don’t want to obscure two wall outlets with one plug.

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AH

I really wanted to like it, but the failure rate & modes are shockingly high & incompatible with safe, sustained use (updates)

Reviewed in the United States on March 10, 2017

Style: Mini Smart PlugPattern Name: Smart PlugVerified Purchase

I really, really wanted to like this product & technology, but the failure modes and failure rates are astoundingly high.
Relevant background to my skill levels:
I bought a couple of the plugs so that I could experiment with how to automate my home. I am neither a software or hardware engineer, however I am a (very highly) qualified engineer and I have self taught myself a lot about network hardware & application of software packages. I have an advanced router with repeater, fully LAN & WAN connected house, with network switches, POE devices etc. that I installed & runs pretty cleanly.

First of all the app - I am still on 2nd level support waiting for a response to an issue where I am patient zero. I can create a rule, but it does not give me the choice of days. It is the same rule every day or no rule at all. I have tried installing the app on 2 i devices, same issue(the even have different itunes accounts to further firewall them from each other) So the app is highly buggy. App version 1.17.1.

2nd, the switch(es) I have RMA'ed one of my 2 as I still could, the first one I am stuck with. The 2nd one experienced worse functionality issues than the first one. It had to go as this is a defective unit.
The rules limited me, so I tried anyway.
Initial first time setup was quite smooth & I was initially impressed. (Hadn't realized the rules issues yet)
Paired it to Alexa, that was pretty smooth too (Still impressed)
Ran it for a few days, had fun having Alexa switch it on & off etc.
Then we had a power outage. Big system failure on the WEMO.

After restarting power, everything else came back up properly.
I tried restarting the first switch (the still semi functional one that is not RMA'ed) several times to see if it would boot up, it actually would not boot up until I had pushed the power button several times & actually physically unplugged & replugged it several times.
The WEMO devices were not recognized by the app on my phone, until I switched it to the same wifi network as they were running on. This i snot helpful when you are trying to make a remote access switch.
So after trying & rebooting I have given up.
I cannot set up a smart house with devices that require a full factory reboot and me to delete the app, reset all rules from scratch, every time the power fails or blips.

So sadly I have to say the devices are junk, the app is junk and they need to be fully redesigned before both parts of the system become stable & reliable.

Sorry Belkin, but you also have a lot of people on your own Community pages with many similar problems & your own support is not the one finding solutions, it is other users who have more time to do this than most of the rest of us have.
So, folks, if you read this far, don't waste your time & money, these devices are great in concept, but are far from Implementation Ready for mainstream use.

I have never been paid to write a review - good or bad and I have never been given anything for a review, except for one thing that was sent to me that I didn't want & I contacted the vendor & asked for an RMA (They said donate it - so I did). What you read is my genuine experience.
Sadly 1 star reviews get pushed out of sight on Amazon & they are hard to access (even your own ones).
Thanks for your time.

Updated 3/17 to add rules screenshot showing the app issue with no days selectable. App version 1.17.1 (420001) that I am trying to deal with on 2nd level support. I still struggle with the concept that I am the only person with this issue & that it is identical on 2 unrelated Apple devices that are on different accounts.
Just a side note - when Customers are on the phone with your reps, when discussing the product, it really makes a better impression of your company when they are aware of who your major competitor(s) are. 1st level support had never even heard of TP Link (check the recording it you don't believe me).

3/30/2017 update.
I found a workaround out of sheer frustration & anger &, well, it is still strange.

I had a blank screen for the days selection when creating rules. Nothing showed up at all, ever, I have deleted & reinstalled the app 3 times, done a full hardware reset on the switches 3+ times, had Belkin 2nd level support on the phone - you name it. (That was a whole different story - see the response comments!)

So I was giving it one last try to see if it would work, I reinstalled everything from scratch.
Set up a new rule - still nothing snowing in the days area of the screen.

So I was really very angry about how much time & energy I had spent on this whole exercise & I was absentmindedly tapping my phone screen repeatedly, when I suddenly noticed that it was highlighting days of the week.

So I played around some more.

I can get it to highlight, at most, 6 of 7 days, in any combination.

I have to guess where the day is to be selected on the screen, then I can find it.

I sometimes have to tap that spot several times to get the day to select (no it is not my touchscreen, both devices have the same response)

What I then found out was, if I select a day & I can now see it, that means that day is one in which the rule will NOT work. It Will work on the days that are not selected & still invisible on the screen.

I have attached a couple of random screen shots so you can see what is going on.

Is the issue fixed - no, not at all, it is still there & the software still has a huge flaw.
Does it work enough that I want to continue to try to experiment with it - yes
Will I want to see a software update to fix this issue - yes
Do I want to continue to use this switch for the short term - yes
So in short, I will not send it back, yet. There is something going on.

I tried this workaround on 2 different Apple products (Iphone 6 & Ipad Mini 3) and the workaround works on both.

Is it still fatally flawed - yes.

Please can you pass this on to your 2nd or even higher level Engineers as there is still a problem that must get fixed, but this is a partial workaround.

By the way, I also tried changing the screen color settings to see if it was screen contrast or color related - no it is not, the Apple devices are working exactly as they should, it is your software with the bug.

If you want me to try anything else, have your engineers get in touch & we can see what we can do.

I have still lost significant confidence in the product & am very unsure if I want to invest in any more of them to automate other parts of my home at this time.

291 people found this helpful

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